Search form

Work Hours for Animators

27 posts / 0 new
Last post
Work Hours for Animators

Hello
I originally posted this question a while back on another forum section but only recieved a few responses and would like a second opinion, because, frankly, this issue is very important to me in deciding whether to pursue an animation career. So with that said, I was wondering what the typical work hours were for an animator per week. Is it a 40 hour work week? Do animators get weekends off? Is it usaully easy to get days off for vacations, etc? I would like to be an animator, but I do not want the work to control my life. I would want reasonable work hours so I can spend time with my family and friends and would not want to work daily or spend the night in the studio, as I have heard from others' experiences.

Thanks

From my experience on the VFX in the US, the hours typically start at 50 hours per week and then go from there.

If you're taking a salary job (flat rate per week) and they promise that they almost never go into overtime, then plan on working 60+ hours a week and at least Saturdays.

If you're taking an hourly rate, then it can go either way, depending on how tight the schedule is, how well the production staff has things planned out, and how much the company wants to burn on OT.

Vacations generally aren't a problem as long as you tell them well in advance and it isn't during a "crunch" period.

Basically, it's alot of hours, so you better like it. Most people love it. I have always said, and I've heard it from many others, I'd probably be doing this in my spare time anyway, so it's nice to be paid for it.

One tip: Living as close to work as you can (and still feel like you're getting away) is a good thing to try for. Take it from me, the last thing you want is to have a 10 hour day turn into a 12 because of the commute.

Good luck!

Producing solidily ok animation since 2001.
www.galaxy12.com

Now with more doodling!
www.galaxy12.com/latenight

I am going a little off topic, but if the problem gets too bad you could complain to the Dept. of Labor. It might be rocking the boat, but I have no idea of how bad things were.

I have work for companys that did the same thing, but they compensated us in other ways. A carrot, stick thing.

If only it was that easy, the whole country suffers from the same exact problem, in some industries more than others... We animators have so much consideration in this country that when you go to the dept. of finance to get enrolled as a freelancer there ISN'T a designation for our job, I have friends that are enrolled as film projectors (?), painters, house painters, teachers, etc, etc... I myself was once enrolled as a (let's see if this translation comes out right) author of his/her own work!! Yep, that's the translation of it word for word.
We don't even have a union...
We animate for the love of animation... it isn't surprising that most of us are trying to leave the country, so that we can carry on being able to live and to animate.

"check it out, you know it makes sense!" http://miaumau.blogspot.com/

If you want a 40-hour work week, don't become an animator.

This is not the career for you if you are not prepared to work 10-12 hours days, weekends, and forego vacations until a project is completed. It may not be what you want to hear, but its been the reality of the biz for the last 20 years of my career in Animation.

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

I think people who are really good animators let animation take over their life, but that doesn't mean that they're slaving away 10 - 15 hours a day. It means that you go out and experience life and when you do, you always think about animation. You gather more inspiration and material to draw from in your craft. People who work 10 - 15 hours every day and think it's "normal" and "Hey, at least I'm animating instead of selling vacuum cleaners" are just kidding themselves. They're button pushers who are being taken advantage of by greedy bean counters, and since the industry is so saturated with people willing to work those hours, it brings the industry as a whole down. Look at the stuff happening with gaming and the whole "EA spouse" debacle a few months ago.

The "Hey, at least I'm animating" excuse only goes so far. I could tell you that from my job experiences thus far (none of which exceeded on average a 9 to 6 day), I'd ALWAYS rather be animating at home on my OWN stuff than at the company. I have friends who are at major studios who are working regular hours but still dislike what their doing. Chances are if you're in the industry for any length of time, you're going to be working on a project that you don't want to work on, that has no real vision, that isn't interesting, or is just mismanaged. Not every show turns out as good as The Incredibles or Lord of the Rings, and most turn out really bad. "At least I'm animating" seems like a cop-out or an excuse.

The "Hey, at least I'm animating" excuse only goes so far. I could tell you that from my job experiences thus far (none of which exceeded on average a 9 to 6 day), I'd ALWAYS rather be animating at home on my OWN stuff than at the company. I have friends who are at major studios who are working regular hours but still dislike what their doing. Chances are if you're in the industry for any length of time, you're going to be working on a project that you don't want to work on, that has no real vision, that isn't interesting, or is just mismanaged. Not every show turns out as good as The Incredibles or Lord of the Rings, and most turn out really bad. "At least I'm animating" seems like a cop-out or an excuse.

One always has the option of animating ONLY on your own stuff, and earning a living doing something other than animation. But even on the jobs where the work is less than inspiring, you're picking up experience and skills that you can then apply to your personal work.

I don't see "at least I'm animating" as an excuse as much as an acknowledgement that we all have to earn a living and sometimes that means working on stuff we wouldn't otherwise. Personally, I'd rather be doing something I enjoy to earn my bucks, even if the project is less than inspired.

I would never say "at least I'm animating"... even though I work long hours and get badly paid, I really love what I do, even when I work on something really crappy. It is a priviledge to be able to work in animation especially in a country like my own! But, that doesn't mean that I'm happy with my working conditions, and it doesn't mean that I won't complain.
so, we don't exactly do pixar perfect work... but, each project that we do looks better and better, and we are improving everyday! we're a happy little team, it is just a shame that we don't get the consideration that we deserve.
P.S: I would be a vacuum cleaner sales person, if it made sleep better at night... It doesn't... I sleep just fine being a character animator ;)

"check it out, you know it makes sense!" http://miaumau.blogspot.com/

Hey Faze, as long as you get up in the morning and look forward to going to work, you are well ahead of most folks. And whoever said Pixar was perfect.

Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.

at present my team hovers at around 55-65 hours a week. Saturday is always a working day.
this could go up if they dont meet deadlines.

From what I hear secondhand all the overtime you work is more or less overtime that you contribute out of a love for what you're doing (read: unpaid).

Fortunately for me, while intelligent and versatile, this is all I want to do with my life, and while kids are cute and I'm a hopeless romantic when it comes to the lady-types, if I invent the 25th hour of the day with my workload, I really wouldn't be bothered by it. This is the kind of work tailored for my interests and personality.

do animation on your own,
start your own 1 man company if you wish,
work for your own rate, no bosses.
and sell your movie. ;) than never work again.

use free tools and no copyright stuff :)
problem solved if don't want to work for someone else .

Visit my site http://www.animdesk.com

We don't even have a union...

There is an Animation Guild, as for a union, I would never join one.

Most people whine and moan about the hours necessary to get the job done on time. I used to be one of those people. The reality is that production is a world that requires some hard work and dedication, and sometimes that means working some late hours. Lord knows I have worked my share of 'em.

HOWEVER... Now that I have grown older, and I am managing an animation team, I am seeing it from a different light. I give more than enough time to get the work done, but procrastination happens, and screwing around for a good part of the day; chatting on messenger, browsing the net for the next funny video to send internally... And then as we near the deadline, people are behind and can't understand why. Then they are forced to work late hours to catch up and finish on time. I suppose I too was young once, and did my share of screwing around (not necessarily on the internet, cuz it did not really exist yet), so I can attibute my long hours to that to some extent.

Bottom line is that unless you are a machine, and able to meet your quotas with no screwing about, a 40 hour work-week is a hard thing to attain... Especially when you are starting out in the business, and many of your scenes will need to be worked, and re-worked and re-worked again in order to get an approval from the director. As you age, and get more valuable experience, your speed will increase, and you won't have to think so much about what you are doing (it will become second nature), and your quotas will be easy to achieve; as will the coveted 40 hour work week.

Cheers

"Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard" - Paul Simon

I had a kid I sat next to in community college. He would turn in a tenth of a project a week after the whole thing was due, and go "Waaaaaaaa! Why aren't there more open hours? Waaaaaaa!" and that's all he'd ever talk about, even threatening to switch to a school with a lab that would be open longer. Thing is, when you watch him, he was on Amazon selling books or watching movie trailers, etc.

I don't know why schools, or companies, would even allow those things. If there was a secretary between calls, let her go on Pogo if the rest of the work is done. But if these are talented people, creative people, motivated people who want to continue learning and growing in animation it boggles my mind that they'd waste time on the clock dicking around like that. What keeps you from canning them? Is it hard to find people to fill their seat? If you're gonna take a break, take a walk or something...

There is an Animation Guild, as for a union, I would never join one.

at least you have that choice... :D

"check it out, you know it makes sense!" http://miaumau.blogspot.com/

Its an interesting point Wade and Scattered made about the internet. It is a massive time waster in the work place and when employers realise this and remove it from all the production machines the better it will be for the said production.

In the work place, the internet should be restricted to a dedicated system that everyone can get up and use. Along with the lead animator/artist who should have access to it from their own system, that is more than sufficient to fulfill all or most of the requirements of a project.

G.

The fact of the matter is that we should all be grown up enough to use the internet as a tool, rather than an impliment of wasting time.

"Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard" - Paul Simon

Couldn't agree more!

do animation on your own,
start your own 1 man company if you wish,
work for your own rate, no bosses.
and sell your movie. ;) than never work again.

use free tools and no copyright stuff :)
problem solved if don't want to work for someone else .

Unfortunately, the reality of paying for things like rent, utilities, and food often creeps in and ruins that plan. Oh, to be independantly wealthy, then my job could be my hobby again... (sigh) At least I enjoy my job most of the time.

Producing solidily ok animation since 2001.
www.galaxy12.com

Now with more doodling!
www.galaxy12.com/latenight

I think they stopped making grown-ups a while ago. ;)

A 40 hour week is possible, we are able to do it because we are a union studio and it has to be done. Personally, I just time manage myself. If I spend half the day goofing off, and that does happen from time to time, then I just make up the hours on my own time. They way I look at it is that I don't get paid for an 8 hour day, I get paid for 8 hours of work. Weather want to do it in one straight shot or stretch it out over 12 or 16 hours of the day, that is my choice. Also if I want to go above and beyond what is asked of my on a shot and pluss it, I do that on my own time. It is a production and there are due dates that need to be hit, but we are given enough time and freedom to put out some really quality animation.

As for the Animation Guild/union, if you work at a Guild studio, you have to join the guild, there is no choosing. The only choice you have is weather to work at a guild studio or not. And you can't join the Guild if you are not at a Guild studio. This is just the LA Animation Guild, other unions maybe different, if they exist at all.

Gotta get back to work. Spent enough time surfing the web today :D

Aloha,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

funny stuff

I remember my first job as an animator... sigh... started at 9am and finished at 7pm, then it I started finishing at 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, etc, etc, I was working weekends and bank holidays, you get the picture, don't you? until one day I arrived to work on at noon on a sunday and left the following monday at 7.30am. I got used to it!
now, four years later (and a few jobs down the line), I still do it, even though I don't get paid for the extra hours and days, and once in awhile our team gets bullied around by our producer who says that if we take a day off we won't get paid for it, even though we do an amazing job with very little.
mmm... sorry, I just got lost in my own problems... and maybe this isn't as funny as I expected.
All of this just to say that some times I'm not sure if I'm being just plain dumb by doing all this extra time, all I know is that I really love being an animator! If you're unsure, maybe it will be in your best interest to pursue something else less involving, because animation just takes over your life.

"check it out, you know it makes sense!" http://miaumau.blogspot.com/

It'll only take over your life if you want it too! You can make a good living out of being an animator and still do your average nine to five. It depends entirely on the studio and industry you work for that'll dictate the hours.

G.

Couldn't agree more with Gav. You may have to pull some long hours early in your career, but as you gain experience and skills, it is totally possible to work a "normal" day.

Well that's refreshing; in case you ever -do- want a family, I mean, that you'd be able to know who they are :)

I don't get paid for the extra hours and days...

I am going a little off topic, but if the problem gets too bad you could complain to the Dept. of Labor. It might be rocking the boat, but I have no idea of how bad things were.

I have work for companys that did the same thing, but they compensated us in other ways. A carrot, stick thing.

I would like to be an animator, but I do not want the work to control my life.

Then don't be an animator.