6 Essential Skills Every Freelance Animator Needs

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While each of these skills may be easy to understand at first glance, grasping exactly how to achieve them requires some expert guidance or trial and error if you have the time.

Here are 6 essential skills every animator needs that qualifications for animators can kit you out with:

6 Essential Skills Every Freelance Animator Needs

1. Attention to Detail

Attention to detail can refer to how well you've met a client brief, or how tidy your animations are, and this can take time to perfect.

Working as a freelance animator means that you need to manage your time and output well. By paying attention to detail, you can ensure that your work meets expectations without taking up unnecessary time or additional effort on revisions.

2. Creativity Management

For most animators, your creativity will be the reason behind your interest in animation in the first place.

In a professional space, you'll need to ensure that the fluctuations you experience in your creativity don't have a negative impact on your work.

3. Learn Quickly

Even though an animation qualification will strengthen your skills, it won't teach you everything. You will still need to adapt and learn as you go.

Being able to quickly learn and enhance your skills will help you to continue producing animations that are relevant and on-brand.

4. Work Well Under Pressure

Every project has its deadlines and deliverables. While these can sometimes be easily managed, animators can often find themselves in the thick of trying to juggle numerous deadlines and deliverables.

This will make managing your day-to-day work less overwhelming, and equip you to work well even when you're under pressure.

5. Have Strong Organizational Skills

Strong organizational skills allow you to use your time, resources, energy, and creative bandwidth efficiently so that you can achieve your goals and get your project done with minimal stress.

Organizational skills help you arrange your physical and digital spaces, prioritize tasks, and plan all the things you have to do.

6. Be Innovative and Good at Problem-Solving

One of the biggest qualities that set so-so animators apart from sensational animators is their ability to be innovative and solve the challenges that they face.

Many animators believe that problem-solving and innovation can't be taught. However, having the right mindset and the desire to learn will help you to identify potential growth opportunities in your career.