Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media · Holland code ARC

Special Effects Artists and Animators

Create special effects or animations using film, video, computers, or other electronic tools and media for use in products, such as computer games, movies, music videos, and commercials.

Also called: 3D Artist (Three-Dimensional Artist), Animator, Artist, Graphic Artist, 3D Animator (Three-Dimensional Animator), Digital Artist, Motion Graphics Artist, Multimedia Producer.

O*NET 27-1014.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $102,030; Middle half earn $75,490 to $139,130. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 53% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +2% · Slower than average; 57,100 jobs in 2024, projected 58,000. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Special effects artists and animators".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Design complex graphics and animation, using independent judgment, creativity, and computer equipment.
Create basic designs, drawings, and illustrations for product labels, cartons, direct mail, or television.
Participate in design and production of multimedia campaigns, handling budgeting and scheduling, and assisting with such responsibilities as production coordination, background design, and progress tracking.
Implement and maintain configuration control systems.
Script, plan, and create animated narrative sequences under tight deadlines, using computer software and hand drawing techniques.
Create two-dimensional and three-dimensional images depicting objects in motion or illustrating a process, using computer animation or modeling programs.
Develop briefings, brochures, multimedia presentations, web pages, promotional products, technical illustrations, and computer artwork for use in products, technical manuals, literature, newsletters, and slide shows.
Make objects or characters appear lifelike by manipulating light, color, texture, shadow, and transparency, or manipulating static images to give the illusion of motion.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.9 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.8 / 5
Critical Thinking3.8 / 5
Speaking3.3 / 5
Writing3.1 / 5
Active Learning3.1 / 5

Knowledge areas

Computers and Electronics5.0 / 5
English Language4.4 / 5
Design4.2 / 5
Communications and Media4.1 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.9 / 5
Sales and Marketing3.9 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic45
Investigative30
Artistic100
Social20
Enterprising27
Conventional36

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

3D modeller · DE 3D-Artist/3D-Artistin · FR modélisateur 3D/modélisatrice 3D
special effects artist · DE Spezialist für digitale Effekte/Spezialistin für digitale Effekte · FR infographiste effets spéciaux
stop-motion animator · DE Stop-Motion-Animator/Stop-Motion-Animatorin · FR animateur stop motion/animatrice stop motion
animation layout artist · DE Layouter Trickfilme/Layouterin Trickfilme · FR layout man/layout woman
animator · DE Computer-Animator/Computer-Animatorin · FR animateur 2D et 3D/animatrice 2D et 3D
3D animator · DE 3D-Animationstechniker/3D-Animationstechnikerin · FR animateur 3D/animatrice 3D

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Graphic and multimedia designers (2142)123,000 employed
Artists (3411)64,500 employed
Arts officers, producers and directors (3416)113,500 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.71. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (27-1014).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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