animation crew

You are looking for how many different jobs there are in making a animation. You could check out the credits of a feature animation film, that has most of the jobs listed.
I can not give a a complete list but I will try.

There is:
Animator
Inbetweener
Clean up
Color
Storyboard

That is all I can think of for animation. A feature film will have a lot more people doing different things that are not related to drawing. There is editing, lighting, sound, and the list goes on from there.

As for what do they do, that will take a little bit of time. You need to look over the thread at the top of this forum, called "So you want to be an Animator? Here's what to expect". There is a lot of good information there.

Good luck and welcome to AWN forum.

I have no background or knowledge other then what I have gathered from DVD commentaries but, isn’t it typical for an animated film or TV show to have a
Director, Producer, and also Editor.

I have often thought that I could be a producer one day. But I have no clue what education is needed, or even fully understand what the job entails.

A producer's tasks can vary. Sometimes they can be a go-between for the Executive Producer(s) and the director to maintain the interest of the Executive Producer(s) during a project. Producers may be required to come up with story ideas for the writers. A lot of times a Producer can be a kind of manager making sure everyone working on a project is meeting their deadlines. It just depends.

Layout artists sketch the backgrounds the characters will be animated on.
Background artists paint the sketches the Layout Artists created.

There can also be menial tasks like scanning and prepping for pencil tests.

With what Wontobe provided, that's about it on the animation side itself. As Kazmierski stated for complete production side, there are directors and producers, there are video and sound editors, foley artists, music composers, executive producers, voice actors...

Check out the Japanese anime (English title) "Voice From a Distant Star." The guy that directed it animated it and did pretty much all of it on an iMac. You can have a production crew of 1 or 50. How much time do you have? That and money are the real questions.

This is all cool to hear about the inside workings of the best entertainment ever. I know one day I will be a part of the magic.

Wontobe really hit the nail on the head for 2D, let's add some for 3D too...

Modelling
Rigging
Rendering
Lighting
Texturing

Of course, when it comes to 3D people cross those disciplines here and there, so it isn't clear-cut. One day you might be animating and the next required to help light the same scene.

background artists

Off the top of my head:

writers
storyboarders
character designers
background designers
colorists
lead animators
animators
inbetweeners 2D
clean-up artists 2D
ink-and painters 2D
animation directors
art directors
producers
line producers
TD's 3D
modelers 3D
riggers 3D
lighters 3D
physics 3D
programers 3D
fix animators 3D
FX animators
compositors
editors
coordinators
executives
janitors

Aloha,
the Ape

haha, indeed

This is why big animated films cost towards the 100K mark these days

Are the ads and posters for promotion and marketing usually done with a in house graphic designer out is it sent to an outsider?

Are the ads and posters for promotion and marketing usually done with a in house graphic designer out is it sent to an outsider?

Yes and no, I have heard that even Disney has farmed out some of its work. Promotion is important but with out the product it is point less, in my opinion.
Get the animation done then or at least know that it will be finished in six or eight months. You can start working on promotion ideas then and how you are going to pay for them. (They will wont the money up front. ) :D

I have seen on this site how hard it is to become an animator, is it more, less or equally as difficult to get a job in the industry without being an animator such as editors, producers, sound designers, and directors?

I have seen on this site how hard it is to become an animator, is it more, less or equally as difficult to get a job in the industry without being an animator such as editors, producers, sound designers, and directors?

With jobs like editors, producers and sound designers, there is more of a cross over, so you can have more job opportunities. By this I mean you can go to or come from live action. Where as animators are only going to be working on animated shows. I know we can do other art jobs as well. But there are so many people out there that none of these jobs are going to be easy.

Aloha,
the Ape

It seems that the phrase “no pain no gain” means a lot in the industry. If the job is hard to get then the job must be worth working hard for.

There are also lots of animation-related jobs that are somewhat easier to get, such as rigging, surfacing, lighting, etc. These aren't the "glamour" job of animation, but every bit as vital to the process, and fewer artists are fighting over the available slots.

If any of these interest you, focus on landing a job there and transition into animation once you have some industry experience. I have a friend who started out at a major studio writing shaders, and now he's doing compositing work there.

To me the Animation world is like Oz. It’s a mysterious place where magic happens all the time. Yea, the Wizard was who everyone wanted to see, but yet none of the magic would be possible without the munchkins doing all the simple yet necessary tasks.

But I hope it doesn’t end up just a dream for me like it was for Dorothy.

To me the Animation world is like Oz. It's a mysterious place where magic happens all the time.

That's exactly why forums like this one are important. To share ideas and techniques that many of the big players don't seem to want to share.

That's exactly why forums like this one are important. To share ideas and techniques that many of the big players don't seem to want to share.

That may be your perception, but my experience has been that the "big players" are more than willing to share tips and techniques with anyone who will take the trouble to ask. Hell, Frank and Ollie wrote numerous books on the subject, and they don't come much bigger. So did Dick Williams and the folks at Aardman.

Glen Keane, Andreas Deja, Brad Bird, among many others, have done countless lectures, seminars, and classes to pass on their knowledge. Out where I live, there are several animators from Pixar, Tippett, ILM, PDI, etc, that teach in the local colleges.

Podcasts like Animation Podcast and Splinecast offer access to the thoughts and techniques of people at the very highest levels of this industry. And there are a number of "big players" on this very board; they may not be the "name" animators you're familiar with, but that doesn't make their experience and expertise any less valuable.

From where I sit, no one is hogging "ideas and techniques" or trying to keep them secret. Far from it, in fact.

From where I sit, no one is hogging "ideas and techniques" or trying to keep them secret. Far from it, in fact.

It is not so much secrets but AWN is more accessible. Pixar produced an exhibit with a book (that toured the world) so I never saw the exhibit and I can not buy the book. sorry about the sour grapes here. :D

That's exactly why forums like this one are important. To share ideas and techniques that many of the big players don't seem to want to share.

Yeah, stop leaking all our secrets out to the public DSB! :D

Aloha,
the Ape