Entry Level Animation Test

Over the years, animators and animation graduates have reached out to me for guidance or feedback on their work. When you're in school, it can be hard to judge your progress, know what to expect when applying to studios or what to showcase for Junior / entry level roles. Though art tests are touchy subject, I've done more than a fair share of them starting out. For entry level positions, giving a typical assignment you'd give a new hire and seeing what results you get back can be meaningful to a company, as the test is company specific and peels away a lot of variables that may be hard to judge when only looking at a reel. These variables could be time spent, team effort, how well you can perform on your own, your own level of aesthetics and problem solving.

Here is one of the tests I was giving, way back in 2004. I still like it, and because it landed me first job, it holds a special place for me.

Take a humanoid character
Show a change of character, either in mood or locomotion
Provide picture in picture ref that you use
24 fps, 150 frames
Static camera
Time: 5 days from start to finish, but we're not expecting you to spend 5 days, that's only the window to turning it in. Spend the time you think is needed to call it complete

If you're interested in this exercise, feel free to grab a free rig from here ( https://3dfiggins.com/Store/#FreeStuff ).  Spiderman, Deadpool, Lethal, Soldier work well as they're design is tight without a lot of accessories to prune or animate.  Do it and send back the movie and we can discuss the results.


Do let me know your thoughts and good luck!

Now, I debated if I would show the results of my test, as I didn't have a visual guide beyond what the text was in the email.  But I'd also like to talk about the results, what I learned and what they were looking for.  And while it's years ago, I think there's still fundamental lessons that can be learned.  So read below if you're interested.

(I'll covert my test to a readable format later, being from 2004, the end results was 640x480, which is laughable now)

So what was the studio looking for 

1) Base level animation quality

Pretty straight forward, can you actually animate something based off the criteria and to what level.  They want to know that you have enough foundational knowledge that you can join the team and start producing.  They know you'll grow as an artist and improve from time, but this is their first real glimpse at how well your schooling and experience has prepared you to be doing production full time.

2) Can you follow instructions / meet deadlines

The shift from academia to production is hard for some.  Having more strict deadlines, less hand holding and room for error can be jarring.  So see if you met the nuts and bolts requested: did you match the frame count? did you send a movie? did you provide your reference? and so on.  This is a simple 'yes/no' list that might not even be reviewed by the studio.  It could be vetted by HR/Staffing and if you didn't tick each box, you're test may be rejected outright.

3) Aesthetics

How was your presentation?  Did you spend a bit of time making not only the animation look good, but the presentation clear.  This could be making the playblast look better by having shadows, anti alias, hiding camera HUD elements and so on.  Did you camera angle make sense and show off the animation in the best possible light or was it dry and uninspired? 

4) Complexity

5) Style choice

Did the animation style align to what the studio is known for.  Realism? cartoony? Stylized? Could this animation fit into their latest movie or game?  Knowing that a future employee and at least hit near the mark of what your company is known for is helpful.  It makes the employee a known quantity and that hopefully their interest and passion also align with that genre.

6) Reference

Did you use any? did you roto it or were you inspired by it?  

7) Above and beyond

What stood out?  Did the artist make an environment to help see the context of the animation.  Did the change of character subvert expectations in some way?  In the end, what makes this test stand out from the others that came before it?