JobAfterNext

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.

Wages

Median annual wage, U.S.$102,030
Employment, U.S.19,970
Median hourly wage$49.06
Annual wage percentiles, U.S., May 2025
10th25thMedian75th90th
$58,600$75,490$102,030$139,130$177,110
By state (34)
StateEmploymentMedian annualLocation quotient
Alabama110Not available0.40
Arizona190$89,6500.45
California7,410$130,5403.17
Colorado210$91,2900.56
Florida1,530$85,8701.20
Georgia350$81,3900.56
Illinois630$81,1800.81
Indiana300$75,2500.73
Iowa$47,530
Kansas$62,720
Kentucky40$50,9700.16
Maryland170$85,8300.49
Massachusetts$80,640
Michigan230$86,6300.40
Minnesota30$64,9900.08
Missouri80$65,4700.21
Nebraska90$50,8300.65
Nevada370$97,3501.84
New Jersey320Not available0.58
New Mexico80$54,0000.68
New York1,540$96,7701.24
North Carolina370$88,3500.58
Ohio200$67,0000.28
Oklahoma$66,980
Oregon870Not available3.43
Pennsylvania300$71,7600.39
Rhode Island$80,040
Tennessee90$83,0800.21
Texas$78,930
Utah320$88,2101.44
Virginia380$81,5100.73
Washington1,130$133,4802.48
West Virginia40$60,9400.46
Wisconsin210$64,8900.55

Similar occupations

Similarity is our measure: the cosine of importance x level over all 120 O*NET skills, knowledge areas and abilities. It is not an O*NET finding. More.

#OccupationJob ZoneSimilarity
1Art Directors40.956
2Film and Video Editors40.954
3Graphic Designers40.951
4Web Administrators40.942
5Web and Digital Interface Designers40.941
6Media Technical Directors/Managers40.938
7Prepress Technicians and Workers30.935
8Desktop Publishers30.934
9Media Programming Directors40.929
10Radio Frequency Identification Device Specialists40.929

One skill away

Among the 50 occupations most similar to Special Effects Artists and Animators, those at the same Job Zone or lower, where exactly one skill rated at least 3 in importance needs a level more than 0.75 points higher (on O*NET's 0-7 level scale). Our definition. Change the thresholds.

OccupationSkill to buildLevel gapSimilarity
Prepress Technicians and WorkersOperations Monitoring1.120.935
Remote Sensing TechniciansMathematics1.500.919
Document Management SpecialistsWriting0.880.906
Digital Forensics AnalystsWriting0.880.905

Software to learn next

Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Special Effects Artists and Animators, excluding software Special Effects Artists and Animators already lists and any you named. Ranked by how many of them use it, weighted by how much more common it is among them than across all occupations (lift). Our ranking.

SoftwareSimilar jobs using itLift
WordPress7 of 2015.4x
Perl9 of 206.3x
Atlassian JIRA8 of 207.0x
Google Analytics7 of 208.1x
Content management systems CMS4 of 2030.8x
Web content management system CMS software4 of 2030.8x
Microsoft Visual Studio7 of 207.0x
Microsoft SQL Server9 of 204.4x
TypeScript4 of 2023.1x
Adobe FrameMaker4 of 2018.5x

Skills

From O*NET data. Importance is rated 1 to 5 and level 0 to 7.

SkillTypeImportanceLevel
Active ListeningEssential skill 3.88 3.88
Reading ComprehensionEssential skill 3.75 4.00
Critical ThinkingEssential skill 3.75 3.75
SpeakingEssential skill 3.25 3.50
Active LearningEssential skill 3.12 3.38
Judgment and Decision MakingTransferable skill 3.12 3.12
WritingEssential skill 3.12 3.00
Complex Problem SolvingTransferable skill 3.00 3.25
MonitoringEssential skill 3.00 3.25
Time ManagementTransferable skill 3.00 3.00
CoordinationTransferable skill 2.88 3.62
Learning StrategiesEssential skill 2.88 3.00
PersuasionTransferable skill 2.88 3.00
Systems AnalysisTransferable skill 2.88 3.00
Social PerceptivenessTransferable skill 2.88 2.88
InstructingTransferable skill 2.75 3.00
Service OrientationTransferable skill 2.75 2.88
Systems EvaluationTransferable skill 2.75 2.75
NegotiationTransferable skill 2.62 3.00
Management of Personnel ResourcesTransferable skill 2.38 2.50
Operation and ControlTransferable skill 2.25 2.00
Operations AnalysisTransferable skill 2.12not rated
MathematicsEssential skill 2.12 2.38
ProgrammingTransferable skill 2.12 1.62
Operations MonitoringTransferable skill 2.00 1.88
Management of Financial ResourcesTransferable skill 1.88 1.88
Management of Material ResourcesTransferable skill 1.88 1.88
Technology DesignTransferable skill 1.88 1.75
Equipment SelectionTransferable skill 1.88 1.12
Quality Control AnalysisTransferable skill 1.75 0.88
ScienceEssential skill 1.12not rated
TroubleshootingTransferable skill 1.12not rated
Equipment MaintenanceTransferable skill 1.00not rated
InstallationTransferable skill 1.00not rated
RepairingTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Knowledge (33) and abilities (52)
Knowledge
NameImportanceLevel
Computers and Electronics 4.95 5.15
English Language 4.38 3.79
Design 4.22 4.28
Communications and Media 4.11 4.57
Customer and Personal Service 3.94 3.64
Sales and Marketing 3.87 3.79
Telecommunications 3.45 2.74
Engineering and Technology 3.19 3.81
Production and Processing 3.15 2.84
Geography 3.01 4.11
Administration and Management 2.94 2.63
Fine Arts 2.89 3.46
Administrative 2.80 2.81
Mathematics 2.47 3.00
Education and Training 2.20 3.18
Law and Government 2.17not rated
Personnel and Human Resources 2.04 1.76
Psychology 1.97 1.64
Economics and Accounting 1.85 1.20
Sociology and Anthropology 1.77not rated
Public Safety and Security 1.71 1.10
Foreign Language 1.60not rated
Mechanical 1.50 0.81
Biology 1.47 0.92
History and Archeology 1.45 0.90
Transportation 1.45 0.75
Philosophy and Theology 1.40not rated
Physics 1.31 0.62
Therapy and Counseling 1.29not rated
Building and Construction 1.17not rated
Medicine and Dentistry 1.15not rated
Chemistry 1.01not rated
Food Production 1.00not rated
Abilities
NameImportanceLevel
Oral Comprehension 4.12 4.12
Oral Expression 4.00 4.00
Visualization 4.00 4.00
Written Comprehension 4.00 4.00
Near Vision 3.88 4.12
Visual Color Discrimination 3.62 4.00
Deductive Reasoning 3.62 3.75
Problem Sensitivity 3.62 3.50
Originality 3.50 4.00
Written Expression 3.50 3.75
Speech Clarity 3.50 3.25
Fluency of Ideas 3.38 4.00
Information Ordering 3.38 3.38
Inductive Reasoning 3.25 3.38
Speech Recognition 3.12 3.12
Category Flexibility 3.00 3.62
Selective Attention 3.00 3.00
Far Vision 2.88 3.12
Arm-Hand Steadiness 2.75 2.88
Flexibility of Closure 2.75 2.75
Perceptual Speed 2.75 2.75
Mathematical Reasoning 2.75 2.38
Finger Dexterity 2.62 2.62
Speed of Closure 2.50 2.75
Time Sharing 2.50 2.38
Number Facility 2.38 2.50
Control Precision 2.38 2.38
Manual Dexterity 2.25 2.25
Memorization 2.12 2.62
Depth Perception 2.00 1.75
Wrist-Finger Speed 2.00 1.50
Auditory Attention 1.88 1.75
Hearing Sensitivity 1.88 1.62
Rate Control 1.88 1.00
Reaction Time 1.75 0.75
Trunk Strength 1.62 1.12
Multilimb Coordination 1.50 0.50
Response Orientation 1.50 0.50
Dynamic Strength 1.25not rated
Dynamic Flexibility 1.00not rated
Explosive Strength 1.00not rated
Extent Flexibility 1.00not rated
Glare Sensitivity 1.00not rated
Gross Body Coordination 1.00not rated
Gross Body Equilibrium 1.00not rated
Night Vision 1.00not rated
Peripheral Vision 1.00not rated
Sound Localization 1.00not rated
Spatial Orientation 1.00not rated
Speed of Limb Movement 1.00not rated
Stamina 1.00not rated
Static Strength 1.00not rated

Software used

Examples from O*NET data. "Hot" and "in demand" are O*NET flags for technologies often listed in job postings.

All 130
  • Python hot
  • Trimble SketchUp Pro hot
  • UNIX hot
  • jQuery hot
  • ACD Systems Canvas
  • Ability Photopaint
  • Adobe AIR
  • Adobe ActionScript
  • Adobe Director
  • Adobe Dreamweaver
  • Adobe Flex
  • Adobe FreeHand MX
  • Adobe ImageReady
  • Ambient Design ArtRage
  • Apple DrawBerry
  • Apple Final Cut Pro
  • Aqsis Renderer
  • AutoDesSys form Z
  • AutoQ3D
  • Autodesk 3ds Max
  • Autodesk 3ds Max Design
  • Autodesk Alias Design
  • Autodesk Alias Surface
  • Autodesk Combustion
  • Autodesk MotionBuilder
  • Autodesk Mudbox
  • Autodesk SketchBook Pro
  • Autodesk SoftImage
  • Blender
  • Bohemian Coding DrawIt
  • Bunkspeed HyperDrive
  • Bunkspeed HyperMove
  • Caligari Corporation trueSpace
  • Celsys RETAS
  • Chaos Group V-Ray
  • Character Studio
  • Cheetah3D
  • Code libraries
  • Component libraries
  • Corel CorelDraw Graphics Suite
  • Corel Painter
  • Crytek CryEngine
  • Cybermotion 3D Designer
  • DAZ Productions Bryce
  • DAZ Productions Carrara
  • DX Studio
  • Drupal
  • Dynamic hypertext markup language DHTML
  • Electric Rain Swift 3D Xpress
  • Extensible hypertext markup language XHTML
  • Freeverse Lineform
  • Google Sites
  • HASH Animation:Master
  • Indigo Renderer
  • Inivis AC3D
  • Luxology Modo
  • Luxrender
  • MagicTracer
  • Massive Jet
  • MaxScript
  • Maxon BodyPaint 3D
  • Maya Embedded Language MEL
  • Mental Images Mental Ray
  • Microsoft Expression Design
  • Microsoft Silverlight
  • NVDIA Gelato
  • Nevercenter Silo
  • NewTek Lightwave 3D
  • Next Limit Maxwell Render
  • NodeBox
  • Object-oriented programming languages
  • Perforce Helix software
  • Pixar RenderMan Studio
  • Pixarra TwistedBrush
  • Pixelmator
  • Pixologic Zbrush
  • Quad Software Grome
  • QuarkXPress
  • RealFlow
  • Satori Paint
  • Serif DrawPlus
  • Side Effects Software Houdini
  • Skencil
  • SmithMicro Anime Studio
  • SmithMicro Manga Studio
  • SmithMicro SoftwarePoser
  • Social media sites
  • SplutterFish Brazil
  • Sunflow Render System
  • TechSmith Camtasia
  • Three-dimensional graphics software
  • Trapcode Particular
  • Two-dimensional graphics software
  • VectorDesigner
  • XML User Interface XUI
  • Xara Designer Pro
  • YouTube
  • e-on software Vue
  • sK1
  • solidThinking

Where it concentrates

Metro areas ranked by BLS location quotient: the occupation's share of the area's jobs divided by its share of all US jobs. Above 1 means more concentrated than the nation. Metros employing fewer than 100 are left out.

Metro areaEmploymentLocation quotientMedian annual
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA4,6505.77$124,590
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL9605.30$91,150
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA1,4404.71$136,770
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA6904.43Not available
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA1,0303.84$134,120
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA5103.48$156,950
Madison, WI1202.28Not available
Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV2601.76$87,300
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT1701.64$101,730
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ1,5601.28$96,760

More metros, other thresholds