Concept artist or animator.

[Zuggernaut]

I'm going to be attending college to get a BFA in Kinetic Imaging. This I'm assuming is the kind of education needed to be a 3D animator.
I'm not sure if I want to pursue that or just be a concept artist.
What do each do on a daily basis? What does it take to do either of the jobs? Skill and school?
Thanks alot.

[EvilLlama]

Here's a useful link. Concept artist is under the Artist* link. http://www.skillset.org/games/career...cle_2768_1.asp

[ThomasSLC]

I can tell you that as a 3D character animator working at a mid-sized game studio, all I do is character performances. Whether it's in-game locomotion (running, jumping, climbing, etc...) to cinematics (acting, dialogue, animating to camera, etc...), thats all I do.

As a character animator, my job success is dependant on 3 things. Creating great character performances, meeting my deadlines, and being easy to work with.
I work with directors, riggers, programmers and other animators on a regular basis. You must be able to get along well with your team. That means taking criticism, constantly making changes to your work, and doing whatever is asked of you without an attitude.

The truth is, becoming a character animator really comes down to how well you can animate. I know college/art school is the most common way of landing a job in this feild, but it is by no means guaranteed or mandatory. There are many successful animators with art degrees and there are many that took a few courses of Animation Mentor or some other online school.

You'll find most artistic jobs are that way. It's all about your demo reel