How To Build an Animation Team: Strategies and Insights

From using traditional hand-drawn art in the 1900s to delivering computer-generated images in the modern era, the animation industry has evolved significantly over time. But its purpose has largely remained the same, allowing individuals to convey different messages in a creative way. Whether it’s for entertainment, education, or advertising, animation lets you communicate your ideas while keeping the audience engaged.

While you may be able to create animation videos alone, having a cohesive and skilled team helps you perform animation-related tasks with more efficiency and creativity. Other team members bring fresh perspectives, improving overall quality and facilitating successful animation projects.

Looking to establish an animation team? This article will discuss the skills and roles you need to fill and outline the strategies for assembling a thriving animation team.

Table of contents:

• What to know before assembling your team
• Key roles in animation
• Understanding animation skills and niches
• The animation team hiring process
• Strategies for a thriving team

What to know before assembling your team

Animation projects require a blend of technical and creative prowess. When assembling a team, you need individuals with diverse skill sets, including areas like storytelling, sound design, graphic design, character modeling, and project management. Such team members can foster a creative environment where ideas are refined and contribute to visually appealing work.

However, before assembling a team, ensure you fully understand the niche you’re targeting with your animation projects. Are you producing animations for television, entertainment, education, or social media? Or do you have another specific purpose in mind?

Understanding your specific industry helps you determine the type of talent you need. For instance, you may need 3D character modelers and riggers for complex animation projects such as video games.

By assembling a dedicated animation team that’s tailored to a specific industry, you can deliver quality and relevant content to the audience. Plus, you’ll have team members who are highly experienced and capable of delivering on the project requirements. Such tailored animation teams are also well-versed with the industry demands and dynamics, meaning they can facilitate efficient workflows.

What’s more, dedicated animation teams also understand both current and emerging trends in the animation world. As a result, they can assist in incorporating the latest storytelling techniques and animation styles.

Key roles in animation

An animation team consists of different stakeholders who play varying roles. Examples of essential roles in an animation team include:

• Storyboard artist. This professional assists in creating visual representations of specific narratives. For instance, a storyboard artist can read a script and then draw pictures of characters, scenes, and various objects to convey the same story.
• Sound designer. Animation videos lack natural sound. A sound designer looks for relevant sound effects and audio to incorporate into the animations to make them more lively.
• Animator. This expert is responsible for bringing characters, objects, and scenes to life. By using different techniques and computer software, an animator can make objects move as desired. An animator can specialize in multiple niches, including 3D animation and 2D animation.
• Voiceover actor. When you see animated characters speaking, actual people working behind the scenes are responsible for their speech. These voiceover actors bring out the personality of specific characters. For instance, Chris Rock is the energetic voice behind the talking zebra in the award-winning film Madagascar.
• Scriptwriter. Animation videos follow specific storylines and narratives. A scriptwriter is responsible for coming up with the plot of animation projects.
• VFX artist. This visual effects expert creates computer-generated images, graphics, and other special effects and incorporates them into animation projects.
• Producer. The producer manages the overall animation production process, including performing activities like scheduling and budgeting.
• Rigging artist. This professional creates digital skeletons for different characters. Animators will then use these digital skeletons to enable the characters to move.
• Modeler. A modeler is responsible for creating 3D models of characters, different objects, and scenes.

Animation professionals possess exceptional skills and knowledge that enable them to be versatile across different industries, including gaming, entertainment, and education. For example, a scriptwriter can create plots for animated films, content marketing, or other genres. However, some of these animation experts prefer to specialize in specific niches where they can provide more assistance.

Understanding animation skills and niches

Animation is a vast field encompassing multiple niches. Animators require unique skill sets to excel in their specific sector, be it gaming, content marketing, or another area. These skills impact the type of content produced and how the audience consumes it.

Here’s a breakdown of the skills required in different niches.

• Education animations. This niche emphasizes clarity and simplification. Animators should break down complex topics into simple narratives that the target audience can easily understand. Additionally, animators must ensure the content is accurate, especially when covering historical events, scientific findings, and other educational scenarios. Plus, educational content must feature a cohesive narrative to facilitate knowledge retention. The animation must be appealing enough to keep learners engaged.
• Video game environments. Video games should feature stunning and captivating visuals to capture players' attention and keep them hooked to the game. To create engaging video game environments, animators must be proficient in 3D modeling to produce fascinating characters, scenes, and other assets. And since video games are developed on different gaming engines, an animator should be familiar with different development environments for high-quality outputs.
• Digital marketing. Animation content enables marketing teams to promote their products to target audiences creatively. To excel in the digital marketing niche, animation teams require a good understanding of the brand and target audience to generate relevant content. What’s more, the animation team should also be capable of creating short films or videos to convey their message. They’ll also incorporate best practices for marketing conversion.
• Film narratives. To generate captivating content, animation teams require good storyboard skills. This allows them to plan for different scenes, make sure everything is in place, and convey the message clearly. A good understanding of cinematic techniques, including aspects like camera angles and lighting, is also required. The scriptwriter should also be creative to come up with exciting plots.

The animation team hiring process

Finding the right talent to incorporate into your animation team can be a time-consuming exercise, but the results are worth it. When looking for new hires, you have to search for the right mix of skills and experience. Consider these steps to help you land the best candidates.

• Write clear job descriptions. The animation industry includes numerous professionals with varying skill sets and experiences, so you have to define the precise type of person you wish to add to your team. Prepare a job description clearly highlighting the position and the desired skills, qualifications, and experiences. Outline the responsibilities and benefits associated with the position. A job description will allow potential candidates to determine if they’re a good fit before applying.
• Perform portfolio reviews. Once people apply, perform a thorough portfolio review, focusing on the applicants’ skills, educational background, and work experience. Look at the different animation projects the candidate has worked on in the past and their relevance to the advertised position. This helps you gauge the candidate’s creative and technical prowess.
• Skill assessments. Next, perform a comprehensive skill assessment test that’s tailored to the industry; this may include a short paid assignment. This helps you to confirm that the candidate has the skills you need. For example, you can ask the candidate to animate different characters or assess how they use specific software like Adobe Animate and Maya. Conduct technical interviews to assess the candidate’s understanding of various industry trends and techniques.
• Evaluating cultural fit. Don’t just focus on the candidate’s technical skills. You also have to ensure that the applicant can fit well in your team’s culture. As you interview them, pay attention to their values, communication skills, and other personality traits to determine if they’re a good fit.
• Perform a creativity assessment. The animation industry requires animators to be highly creative to produce captivating content. To gauge an applicant’s creative skills, look at how they’ll solve different artistic challenges and problems.
• Consider team dynamics. Since you’re building an animation team, you want a candidate who values collaboration and communication. Determine if the applicant can work well with others, even in stressful environments.

While having an in-house animation team can offer numerous benefits, finding the right full-time personnel can be an intensive and expensive exercise. In this case, working with freelance animators is a good alternative. Freelancers are flexible and available on short notice, so they can help you quickly get started with your animation projects.

Freelancers also possess diverse skill sets, meaning they can help in setting up a successful animation startup. They’re also cost-effective because you don’t have to maintain office spaces, purchase equipment, or provide paid benefits. Freelancers can come in to offer specialized assistance and exit when the project is done.

These tips can help you effectively integrate freelancers into projects and ensure smooth collaboration.

• Have clear project requirements and expectations. Ensure freelancers are aware of what’s expected of them from the start. Discuss your project expectations and key requirements to ensure they aren’t working in the dark.
• Conduct onboarding. Though freelancers are working on a temporary basis, you still have to conduct a detailed onboarding process to allow them to perform their roles well. Examples of things you should introduce freelancers to include key processes, animation tools, and communication channels you use.
• Have clear deadlines and milestones. Freelancers work independently. So, setting clear deadlines, project milestones, and schedules can help these professionals organize themselves well.
• Provide required resources. Ensure freelancers have access to the necessary resources they need to perform their roles. Grant them access to these resources early so the time spent reviewing key guidelines and asking clarifying questions doesn’t affect the project timelines.
• Outline their responsibilities clearly. Allocate freelancers with clear roles and responsibilities for efficient workflows. Having clear responsibilities also ensures there’s no duplication of efforts, which leads to increased productivity.
• Provide immediate feedback. Regularly review freelancers’ work and provide them with fast feedback. This allows freelancers to adjust their operations and ensure their output aligns with your project goals.

Strategies for a thriving team

A thriving animation team is built on a collaborative and inclusive culture. To replicate the success of such teams, start by organizing regular meetings and creative workshops.

Ensure you have open communication channels to encourage teamwork and idea sharing. Benchmarked strategies help create a thriving team.

• Offer training and development opportunities. To keep up with new trends and animation techniques, ensure the team engages in continuous learning and development. Consider establishing training programs, attending workshops, and providing access to online courses to keep the team updated with the latest animation techniques and technologies.
• Leverage tools and technologies. Using the latest animation software and tools allows team members to explore emerging creative ideas, and it facilitates more efficient workflows. This approach also ensures that generated content is compatible with other industry-standard tools and formats. So, consider investing in state-of-the-art technology to improve efficiency, creativity, and overall quality of animation projects.
• Manage projects and deadlines effectively. When involved in multiple projects, prioritize tasks based on importance and deadlines. Also, balance the workflow across team members to ease pressure. Consider using project management tools to delegate specific tasks, track progress, and promote better time management.
• Set realistic timelines. Managing project timelines ensures that you don’t fall behind on specific milestones, which can affect overall deliverability. Remember also to set realistic timelines that provide ample opportunity for team members to produce quality work.
• Encourage creativity and innovation. A thriving team requires an environment that nurtures creativity and innovation. To create such an environment, start by encouraging risk-taking and supporting personal projects. Also, organize regular brainstorming sessions to stimulate creativity and instill a sense of teamwork.

Build a strong animation team with Upwork

A well-rounded animation team can help your animation company create engaging content and execute different tasks on time. Optimizing diverse skill sets in the team means you can create relevant outputs that resonate well with the audience. Plus, such a team facilitates a continuous flow of unique ideas to enhance the animation workflow and keep audiences engaged.

While creating a thriving animation team takes time, implementing strategies like offering training opportunities, leveraging new technologies, and embracing creativity will eventually help you achieve successful outcomes.

If you’re an aspiring animation studio owner looking to set up an animation team, consider working with freelancers. With their specialized skill sets, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, freelancers can help get your animation projects moving quickly.

Find qualified and experienced animation specialists on Upwork, the world’s talent marketplace. Get started today!

If you’re a skilled animation expert, look for clients with animation project needs on Upwork.