What You Need to Know to Be an Animator in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin has a teeming local population nearing 600,000 as well as about 70,000 thriving local businesses.  These include quite a few Fortune 500 companies, media publishers and diagnostic imaging firms.  As a result, masses of Milwaukee artists are pursuing local employment in the fast-growing field of video animation.

Milwaukee Schools and Training Programs for Animation

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Universities, colleges and art schools offer various classes and degree options for aspiring local animators.  Popular accredited Milwaukee design colleges include Mount Mary College, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Strayer University and Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. 

Many other Milwaukee artists earn degrees and acquire professional skills via virtual training systems.  Popular accredited online art schools with animation programs include the Academy of Art University, Full Sail University, Stratford Career Institute, DeVry, ITT Tech and University of Phoenix.  Some of these super-convenient cyber colleges also feature local campuses.  The Art Institute and University of Phoenix have campuses in Milwaukee, Grand Chute and Brookfield.  ITT Tech serves the Greenfield community. 

Working as an Animator in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Business associations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin hire professional animators for many assorted purposes.  Animators create video games, mobile apps, cartoons, banner ads, medical images, courtroom evidence and many other things.  Some Milwaukee artists work for local animation studios.  Others are employed by local film producers.  Major Milwaukee movie companies include Independent Studios, Pax Media Corporation, Road Partners, Richard Mangan Productions and Tanner Monagle.  Other local animators work for IT corporations.  Top Milwaukee info tech firms include Digicopy, Layer One Media, Max Serve, Prime Net Marketing and Swick Technologies, to name just a few.

According to data recently collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a professional animator employed full time in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin earns, on average, about $50,000 per year.  The mean hourly wage for a Milwaukee animator is around $25.00.  The median annual income for all occupations in the state of Wisconsin is roughly $47,220. 

Skills of a Professional Animator

The best of today's professional animation artists possess advanced drawing and coloring technique with great stylistic flexibility.  They are also fully adept at creating innovative digital animated artwork using professional software packages such as Toon Boom, Maya and 3D Studio Max.  Equally important qualifications may include page layout, photography, set design, model making, web page construction or programming, depending on the type of animated movie being created.