Got a talent for animation and know the software used, then let’s get you prepared for the interview. In this article, we will be sharing some of the questions with answers that you might be asked in your interview as anAnimator.
1. Why Are You Interested In This Role?
I have always been a fan of your company’s work and have been following on social media frequently. If I can say that I grew my passion for animation by watching your work. I have always been impressed how nicely technology was imbedded into your every project before it went mainstream.
2. What Are The Roles Of Ananimator?
The role varies from the type of organization you are working with. In my experience, I have been responsible for designing complex animations with creativity and imagination to produce advertisement campaigns for several clients. I have also worked on 2D and 3D Animations depending on the requirement and budget of the client.
3. What Are The Qualities That Ananimator Needs To Be Successful?
To excel in this field, an animator needs to have a lot of patience first. The work requires so much detailing and to meet timelines, one might have long hours. An animator should complete knowledge about basic software and should have the ability to draw too. A strong visual imagination is key in this role!
4. What Major Challenges Did You Face During Your Last Role? How Did You Manage Them?
In my previous role, I was managing a team of two juniors under me. One of the major challenges I faced was task delegation. I am a keen observer and pay attention to details and it started resulting in project delay. I have learnt to trust the members involved with me on any project and let them do their best from the best. Now, I am great at managing teams and bigger projects easily.
5. Describe Your Daily Routine As Ananimator?
My day to day tasks involve around developing concept art and storyboards for the clients. Once its approved, I start drawing and creating animation in 2D or 3D format. If I have any project submission, I pass my work to my supervisor timely to incorporate any sort of changes by the internal team first.
6. Describe Briefly About Your Experience?
I did my bachelor’s with Multimedia as a major. My first job was as a Cinematic animator for a PS4 game. I got a promotion and so did my work responsibilities. I was leading the role of layout director and led more than 20 animations through scene setups. Later, I joined another company where I executed a game based study program for children between the age of 7 and 12 years. I also produced 3D animated TV advertisements for Telco Sector regarding their different offerings.
7. What Kind Of Strategies And Mindset Are Required For This Role?
To be successful in this role, an animator needs to have a creative mindset that can read and understand art. The visual imagination of the animator should be strong while he uses different colour schemes in the project. An animator should have the skill to create doodles or sketching to create storyboards and character building.
8. What Is The Biggest Challenge You Foresee In This Job?
I believe that my challenge would start when my learning would stop. I have been a keen learner in this industry and I always like new projects that challenge me. If I am given a redundant type of work, it becomes challenging for me.
9. How Do You Stay Motivated At Work?
I find myself more motivated when I am participating in stimulating activities. It is easy to get stuck on one idea for too long. I declutter my mind from time to time by spending my time in fun activities like gaming or even going out for a bike ride.
10. Describe A Time You Failed In This Role And The Lesson You Learned?
In my previous role at XYZ Animation, I was leading an animation project for an advertisement of approximately 20 seconds. In the brief, the client shared all sorts of requirements and also clearly mentioned using an old practice in requirement. That feature was no more used at work anymore and I was not sure if it could be possible for us as a team to fulfil the requirement. In my early meetings, I kept mentioning to the client that I am researching the requirement and it would take some time. During the research, I found that the tool is not valid anymore due to access issues. I informed the client quickly and the client did not appreciate that I did not find a solution. My team lead immediately took over the meeting and requested another meeting in the coming week. I learnt that I should always involve my team lead in such matters as we were able to find an alternate solution in a few days. I designed a whole presentation for the client in the next week and everyone was satisfied with the project.
11. Why Do You Feel You Are Qualified For This Role?
Apart from the work that you have seen in my portfolio, I am good at managing projects too as per timelines. I believe it is one of my key strengths that I can run a smooth project easily in my capacity. I always make sure that I allocate the timelines and tasks as per the requirement and nature of the project I am given. I have problem-solving skills along with time management skills that boost my efficiency at work too.
12. Share With Us Your Greatest Achievement
In my current role, I got a chance to work with a multinational potential client for a pitch. My task was to create an animated sale pitch for them. While researching with my team, we learnt about their business and their style of design work. We did not want to create a general sales pitch for them so I requested the Client Servicing team to arrange a meeting with them. Together we presented the idea and project to them and it was exactly what they were planning to do. The client was super impressed with our research and the efforts that we put in our work that within a few weeks, the client was locked for a certain tenure with the animation house.
13. Do You Also Work As A Freelancer?
Yes, I have been working on a few projects on Upwork and Fiverr. I do enjoy working on different projects from time to time and it helps me test out new technology and tools that have work limitations due to business requirements. I usually do it on weekends because that’s the only time I am free from work. After work does not work for me because I want my body to be well-rested and my mind to be clear for the next day.
14. How Do You Respond To Criticism At Work?
I don’t take it to heart at all. I do enjoy constructive criticism and I do enjoy healthy conversations with internal and external teams. I also believe that an animation is a form of art and the feedback is very subjective. On the other hand, I make sure to defend my work and animation style but I also keep a balance to improve my skills as per the feedback I receive. I do not think that I have ever hesitated to redo a job if requested. In my role, I always take clear briefs from them and always ask them to share their preferences in mind so that project is well aligned mutually and there are no surprises. I also show time to time development to them in the process and get their timely feedback. This avoids remaking from scratch in the end and the task is well aligned.
15. In Case You Are Struggling With A Timeline, What Will You Do?
This is a common issue in this field. Let me tell you about an incident from last week regarding this. At the very last moment, the client requested another remake of the project and the timeline was very short already. I went back to the drawing board and aligned all the tasks with my team members and worked systematically. This gave me foresight into next week’s schedules and committed timelines. I informed relevant team members about extending other projects’ timelines if possible and started with my team. Together we had to do overtime for a few days and alienated ourselves from all sorts of distractions at work. We were able to meet the deadline as committed with the client.
16. How Do You Stay Updated About New Trends In Animation?
The struggle is real! I have subscribed to several YouTube channels and a few websites like 11 Second Club and iAnimate.com newsletter that are doing great work in this field. From time to time, I always try to attend local conferences in my capacity regarding this field. I have taken little training in Dubai from my previous company as well. I spent a lot of time during the pandemic on online courses from different design institutes that helped me to develop an extra skillset.
17. Can You Explain The Difference Between Anime And Cartoon?
Anime is a Japanese animation and is quite popular amongst young kids these days. While both are animation types as common features but their difference is in the character as a distinctive feature. Anime uses realistic physical features while cartoon characters’ features do not have real elements in it since its based on humour and satire completely.
18. What Is Rigging? What Are The Key Steps Of 3d Rigging?
The movement of any character in animation is done by rigging. A movement structure is given to a plain figure to show the 3D effect. As per my experience in this field, I have learnt that
- One should not do automatics rigs because it creates limitations while trying to achieve a certain movement pose.
- While working, I always create groups of layers and arrange them so that anyone who accesses the file or wants to change something can understand the overall project file. I group similar controls like joints in the same group. The editing becomes a lot easier otherwise it’s almost like creating from scratch.
- For animators, the controllers should be in a different shape so that it is a clear understanding of correspondence.
- Clean up the channel box: lock and hide the attributes in the channel box
19. How Do You Remain Focused At Work?
The long hours at work are very common in this role. To stay focused, I always take small breaks between my work. If I am not using sound effects on my project, I usually listen to music because music keeps me relaxed on tough days too. I always have my earphones inserted in my ears and sometimes, nothing is playing too! I avoid work distractions with its help. I also make sure that I know my daily goals so that I am not detracted due to anything else at work.
20. What Is The Different Axis You Can Rotate? How To Use It?
A picture can rotate based on 3 axes i.e. x, y and z. To select the chosen axis for the movement, choose the option in the toolbar as needed. If you cannot locate the toolbar then look between Source Name and Parent name in the panel of composition.
21. What Is A Motion Sketch? How To Use It?
To make an object move, a motion sketch is used as a path. To use motion sketch, select the window tab from the menu and choose the motion option from the bar. As you draw the path of motion, your object will move in the same direction as drawn.
22. Do You Know The Function Of Key Frames In After Effects?
The basic function of the keyframe in Adobe AfterEffect is to define the visual, audio and motion effects of any image or even object. Adobe AfterEffect is one of the most commonly used software for animation purposes. With the help of the keyframes feature and a few more effects, a simple image can move like a video!
23. Can You Explain The Difference Between Multimedia And Animation?
As understood by the word multimedia itself, it involves several forms of media in a project. It is not necessary to include animation in multimedia. It can be a simple combination of static image, text, video or clip and soundtrack in one project file. The multimedia projects are interesting and engage the human eye and mind due to their nature and can only be made on a computer or laptop.
On the other hand, Animation is a mixture product of hundreds or thousands of static images only. Such static imagery is joined in a proper sequence on the timeline usually 25 to 30 frames per second. The images slightly vary from each other and when they are played at a rapid speed, it gives an illusion that everything is moving in the frame. There are 2 types of animations i.e. 2D and 3D and are produced on the computer system and characters can be hand-drawn too.
24. Do You Like Working In Teams Or Individual Projects?
I have worked individually and in the team in my career so far and I would say that I don’t have any special preference. Since the requirement of work is precision, I sometimes think that teams can distract you but on the other hand, teams can provide you with an opportunity to grow as well as discuss tasks with each other. I do enjoy team building activities and even good conversations with my colleagues over a cup of coffee or maybe over lunch too. I have always gotten freedom in my work from my supervisors and that’s the only thing I prefer because my creative mind needs its own space.
25. What Will Be Your Advice To Your Juniors?
I always tell the younger applicants that they both build both their skills i.e. technical skills and drawing skills simultaneously. They should draw daily and practice as much as they can do because it will bring neatness to your work. This should be done while they are studying. Once they are graduated, Add your complete skill set to the resume and update your portfolio with the best of your work. I am not sure if someone will like it or not but always show your work to random people like I posted my showreel on Reddit. I got constructive criticism from online audiences and honestly, since they were not related to me, I did not even get hurt or felt demotivated. It gave me the opportunity to improve in the highlighted areas.
Conclusion
These 25 questions are surely going to help in acing the first round of interviews as an Animator. Good luck!
