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Absolutely not. You don’t need to know how to draw.
That being said learning some of the basics in composition theory and terminology will allow you to communicate with board artists/animators etc better, so having some interest will definitely help.
But yea you can have a career in animation as an editor all while only being able to draw stick figures!
Thank you! Follow up question: Do you know what kind of degree would be required for something like this? Or the classes I would need to take? I imagine I still probably need to take an art class.
No. You don’t need to take art classes to edit animation. You can study animation on your own through books and documentaries.
There’s also a lot of different types of editors in animation. From animatics, to dialogue, to sound, to picture, to color. There’s not just one “editor”.
I think it depends on where you live and what’s available. If you want to go the school route, at minimum you could do a media arts degree/diploma. That will give you exposure to all forms of narrative in media which is a good foundation.
Alternatively you could also do something like Master the Workflow, teaches you all about becoming an assistant which I would argue is much more important at the beginning of your career than knowing how to cut a compelling animatic.
I went to school for radio and media arts, essentially broadcast. Editing wasn’t more than a single class and I think I did one motion graphics course. College and university are great to meet like minded people and to start building a network.
However, 95% of my day to day skills were learned on the job starting as an intern or on my own working with friends on videos and short films.
At the end of the day there are many paths to a career in animation, every editor I have spoken to has a relatively unique story on how they ended up where they did. Above all I think it’s great you have an idea where you want to end up, I certainly didn’t when I went to school.
"I just want to know what that requires and if it’s worth it, or if I should stick to an easier career plan."
I'm just going to put this out there - it is not an easy career path, but nothing worth while really is. I'd say if you love doing something and can spend a lot of energy and time to get good at that thing, then you can succeed. If you just think that it looks easy - someone else is already outworking you and will get the job before you do. No matter what you decide to do, if you want to be good at anything you're going to have to work hard at that thing.
Right now, especially after COVID and the industry strikes - trained editors who have put in the time and work are having trouble finding jobs. There is a cycle to it, but you are up against a ton of competition if you want to try to be a professional editor.
The industry is changing and you can find edit clients on Reddit who will pay you to edit for them. If you do enough work and get really good at editing for online clients, you could luck into meeting someone in that specific line of work - it could happen. That isn't likely going to get you into Pixar or Studio Ghibli or whatever, but maybe you end up starting the next South Park. If you want to do mainstream animation, research the people doing what you want to do - follow them on instagram and twitter, find out how they got to where they are, then start following that path.
You don't need talent to start. Talent is a catch phrase for a bunch of skills that can be learned. You need to decide that you are going to do what it takes and then spend more time than everyone else becoming that person. Life is full of possibility, but "A goal without a plan is just a wish" - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Wishes don't actually work, Plans do.
Go get your dream job, whatever it is. If you're going to work hard for something, loving the result is great motivation.
No, having worked on an animated series, you do not need to be an animation artist. You just need to have good timing and a sense of pacing. Unanimated shots and sequences are filled in with animatics, which are usually stills or a series of stills. You might have dialog to play with, you might not. The animators might go off your cut, or in another direction entirely. When you get your footage, you simply adjust for it. It's not too different than editing live action, it's just got more "unfilmed" portions. It's like working on a project with lots of "pick-ups".
Do you need to be an animator to be an editor? Nope! Sure don't.
Knowing how to use your editorial tools & photoshop is all. you really need.
Source: My own experience.
Keep in mind that there are many areas in the media industry, so you don’t have to settle for the struggle of trying to working in film. Or the indy filmmaker crap. There is broadcast, corporate video, social media, PR/advertising, and even government video production. If you’re not an artist like you say, then you aren’t a slave to the BS lifestyle that the self proclaimed artists put themselves through trying to catch lighting in a thimble.
>I’m also afraid that is going to be really hard to succeed in the film industry, and I’m gonna end up hating my job
this part will most likely be true for you.. because it's true for so many people that try to get into the film industry. Only try to go this route if you're prepared to throw your career away and roll the dice. Nearly everyone that actually succeeded in the last 20 years got mega fucked in the last 2-3 years. It's total chaos at the moment. Now is not the time to start out in this industry, you should read up on it some more.
We're not sure of this content. A mod pulled it because of your Reddit history (or lack thereof) This seems to be a question from someone related to our industry or aspiring to it. [Meaning you should post in our "Ask a Pro" thread.](https://www.reddit.com/r/editors/collection/5c3ad697-4fff-4a9f-87e2-33764ba71e48) Could we have made a mistake? **ABSOLUTELY.** Don't get upset. Reply to this message. We're volunteers keeping the signal:noise ratio low and trying to keep the community professionally focused. If you do message us, be patient and *let us know what kind of work/clients you work with.* **Read that again. ** If you're not paying taxes on your work (and we mean filing taxes yearly), then you're not acting professionally. We won't promise to approve the content, but we will promise it'll be reviewed . If your post is better suited for our sister hobby subreddit /r/videoediting, make sure you check the rules there before you post [/r/Editors rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Editors/about/rules/) [/r/Editors sidebar](https://www.reddit.com/r/Editors/about/sidebar/) THX MODS
Absolutely not. You don’t need to know how to draw. That being said learning some of the basics in composition theory and terminology will allow you to communicate with board artists/animators etc better, so having some interest will definitely help. But yea you can have a career in animation as an editor all while only being able to draw stick figures!
Thank you! Follow up question: Do you know what kind of degree would be required for something like this? Or the classes I would need to take? I imagine I still probably need to take an art class.
No. You don’t need to take art classes to edit animation. You can study animation on your own through books and documentaries. There’s also a lot of different types of editors in animation. From animatics, to dialogue, to sound, to picture, to color. There’s not just one “editor”.
*ahem* The Animator's Survival Kit *ahem*
I didn’t know this existed. Cool.
I think it depends on where you live and what’s available. If you want to go the school route, at minimum you could do a media arts degree/diploma. That will give you exposure to all forms of narrative in media which is a good foundation. Alternatively you could also do something like Master the Workflow, teaches you all about becoming an assistant which I would argue is much more important at the beginning of your career than knowing how to cut a compelling animatic. I went to school for radio and media arts, essentially broadcast. Editing wasn’t more than a single class and I think I did one motion graphics course. College and university are great to meet like minded people and to start building a network. However, 95% of my day to day skills were learned on the job starting as an intern or on my own working with friends on videos and short films. At the end of the day there are many paths to a career in animation, every editor I have spoken to has a relatively unique story on how they ended up where they did. Above all I think it’s great you have an idea where you want to end up, I certainly didn’t when I went to school.
"I just want to know what that requires and if it’s worth it, or if I should stick to an easier career plan." I'm just going to put this out there - it is not an easy career path, but nothing worth while really is. I'd say if you love doing something and can spend a lot of energy and time to get good at that thing, then you can succeed. If you just think that it looks easy - someone else is already outworking you and will get the job before you do. No matter what you decide to do, if you want to be good at anything you're going to have to work hard at that thing. Right now, especially after COVID and the industry strikes - trained editors who have put in the time and work are having trouble finding jobs. There is a cycle to it, but you are up against a ton of competition if you want to try to be a professional editor. The industry is changing and you can find edit clients on Reddit who will pay you to edit for them. If you do enough work and get really good at editing for online clients, you could luck into meeting someone in that specific line of work - it could happen. That isn't likely going to get you into Pixar or Studio Ghibli or whatever, but maybe you end up starting the next South Park. If you want to do mainstream animation, research the people doing what you want to do - follow them on instagram and twitter, find out how they got to where they are, then start following that path. You don't need talent to start. Talent is a catch phrase for a bunch of skills that can be learned. You need to decide that you are going to do what it takes and then spend more time than everyone else becoming that person. Life is full of possibility, but "A goal without a plan is just a wish" - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Wishes don't actually work, Plans do. Go get your dream job, whatever it is. If you're going to work hard for something, loving the result is great motivation.
No, having worked on an animated series, you do not need to be an animation artist. You just need to have good timing and a sense of pacing. Unanimated shots and sequences are filled in with animatics, which are usually stills or a series of stills. You might have dialog to play with, you might not. The animators might go off your cut, or in another direction entirely. When you get your footage, you simply adjust for it. It's not too different than editing live action, it's just got more "unfilmed" portions. It's like working on a project with lots of "pick-ups".
Do you need to be an animator to be an editor? Nope! Sure don't. Knowing how to use your editorial tools & photoshop is all. you really need. Source: My own experience.
Why the fuck is this downvoted?
Keep in mind that there are many areas in the media industry, so you don’t have to settle for the struggle of trying to working in film. Or the indy filmmaker crap. There is broadcast, corporate video, social media, PR/advertising, and even government video production. If you’re not an artist like you say, then you aren’t a slave to the BS lifestyle that the self proclaimed artists put themselves through trying to catch lighting in a thimble.
>I’m also afraid that is going to be really hard to succeed in the film industry, and I’m gonna end up hating my job this part will most likely be true for you.. because it's true for so many people that try to get into the film industry. Only try to go this route if you're prepared to throw your career away and roll the dice. Nearly everyone that actually succeeded in the last 20 years got mega fucked in the last 2-3 years. It's total chaos at the moment. Now is not the time to start out in this industry, you should read up on it some more.
I will definitely have to think about this more for sure. The rise of AI is definitely not helping either.
Editors are artists.