Animation roles explained

Technical Animator

A Technical Animator bridges the gap between animators and programmers, ensuring that character animations are implemented correctly in the game engine and function smoothly during gameplay.

As a Technical Animator, you’ll work on rigging characters, creating animation tools, and troubleshooting animation issues within the game engine. Your role is crucial in ensuring that animations, such as character movements and facial expressions, are smooth, responsive, and integrate well with gameplay mechanics. You’ll use software like Maya, Blender, or 3ds Max for rigging and animation and work closely with programmers to implement animations in engines like Unreal or Unity.

Many Technical Animators have degrees in animation, computer science, or game development, with a strong understanding of both artistic and technical aspects of animation.

For this role, you should have a deep knowledge of animation principles, rigging, and technical problem-solving. You’ll need to be comfortable working with both animators and programmers, ensuring that the artistic vision aligns with technical constraints.

Your portfolio should include examples of rigging and animation work, showing how you’ve solved technical challenges to ensure high-quality animations in games.

You’ll love this role if you’re into
  • Drawing
  • Designing things
  • Working in a team
  • Being organised

In your own time, at your own pace

Your learning Journey

Ready to get started?

Join our community

Anyone considering a career in the UK Games Industry is welcome to join our learning community. There’s no screening process, no interviews and no silly subscription package. Just dive in and start asking questions for free!

We can’t wait to meet you.