There are many things that people should know if they wish to be an animator for a job career. First is the schooling you will need. Aside from talent, an animator's skills can be improved vastly by college and university training, such as the Bachelor of Arts degree in Animation, which provides academic and hands-on learning experiences. Associate degrees and certificates in animation also are available from professional schools. The required Courses for Animators are the following; Animation practices, Drawing for animation, Programming for 3D, Computer graphics, Video effects, and Graphic design. An animation student may also learn: The history of art, Principles and structure of design, Image generation and combination, Life drawing - three-dimensional digital animation, Modeling, Story structure, Game design, Photoshop effects, Sound and video editing, and Kinematics animation techniques. The second is the starting annual salary range. The salary is one thing that people always seem concerned about. So by telling you the average annual salary it saves you time. The average salary is $40,000-$60,000 annual range. The third is job opportunities. There are many different job opportunities out there for Animators like; Animation, Sketch artists, Graphic designers, Painters, Cartoonists, Illustrators, Computer game developers, Computer game programmers, Visual artists, Web designers, and Multimedia designers. This is the typical day in the life of a computer animator. Fortunately, there is no "typical" day for computer animators. For people who have finished their computer animation training and gone on to a publishing house, it will be a desk job, but with some extra perks aimed at making creative people more comfortable. It will be very similar to any corporate artist job you will be expected to meet deadlines given by supervisory committees, but you will also be allowed to set your work times and peak hours. You will be expected to bring creative ideas to the table when there are scheduling snags or revisions. Another alternative when you finish your computer animation classes would be to work as a freelance artist. This allows you to be more flexible with your hours, your creative vision and your payment schedule.