Info on Working as an Animator in Providence, Rhode Island

The city of Providence, Rhode Island features about 178,000 local residents and supports well over 18,000 commercial businesses.  An ongoing economic demand for local animators has hundreds of Providence artists seeking employment in this fast-growing high tech field.

Providence Schools and Training Programs for Animation

Several Providence, Rhode Island Universities, colleges and art schools offer training and degree programs in animation design.  Proven Providence design colleges include Providence College, Rhode Island College, Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University. 

Providence artists of ever-increasing numbers are acquiring animation skills and degrees at virtual design schools.  Popular accredited online art colleges with animation degree programs include University of Phoenix, ITT Tech, The Art Institutes, DeVry and Stratford Career Institute.  Many cyber art colleges also feature convenient physical campuses and local resource centers. 

Working as an Animator in Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is bursting with businesses that hire local animators.  Companies in need of animation designers include educational media providers, software developers, corporate training groups, advertisers, engineering firms, medical facilities and TV producers, among others.  Some Providence artists work for local animation studios.  Others partner with local film companies who produce their own animation.  Popular Providence motion picture producers include Artistic Wedding Video, Richard O'Rourke, Doreen Pollock, Orenstein Real Estate Service and Providence Pictures.  Some local talents are recruited by animation-related IT corporations.  Successful Providence info tech firms include ADP, Blue Moon Industries, Exnihilo Design, Tazz Networks and Tellart. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides no current salary information regarding professional animators living in the city of Providence, Rhode Island.  However, the regional average salary is somewhere around $60,000 per year, with a mean hourly rate of about $30.00.  Also, artists employed in metro areas like Providence tend to earn more than artists employed in more rural areas.

Skills of a Professional Animator

Among the most essential professional qualifications needed for animated film production are superb illustrative technique and exceptional talent for computer-generated art.  Illustrators must be able to render quick and detailed sketches and designs, often derived from abstractly verbalized concepts.  Digital artists create compelling innovative computerized designs using well known programs like Adobe Illustrator, Photo Shop, Action Script, Flash, Fireworks, After Effects and Dreamweaver.  Among the currently most popular professional animated production software packages are Toon Boom Digital Pro and 3D Studio Max.  Other skills essential to successful animation art include model making, set design, lighting, photography and (in some cases) fluency in programming languages, not to mention project management potential.