How to become a visual effects artist and animator
Official title: Visual effects artist and animator
Also called: Illustrator, VFX artist, Cartoonist, Web animator, 2D animator, 3D animator, Motion designer
Visual effects artists and animators design and create visual effects and animations for advertisements, gaming, film, television or the internet.
Main tasks
- Create visual effects and animations
- Create advertisements
- Design digital characters and environments
- Prepare storyboards
- Develop design concepts
- Draw technical illustrations
- Use animation and visual effects software
- Adapt work to different devices and formats
How to become one
You need experience to become a visual effects artist and animator and a qualification may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Required: experience in similar work; examples of your work. Other requirements: a relevant tertiary qualification in communication and media or graphics and design studies.
Ways in
- University: Communications & Media degrees, Offered by 4 universities in New Zealand
- University: Creative Arts & Design degrees, Offered by 6 universities in New Zealand
Pay · Past change · AI and this job
- Most common pay: $65,000 to $156,000 a year (median $96,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
- Upper: $224,000 a year
- TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
- Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Increase (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
- People employed in the group Graphic and Web Designers, and Illustrators: 9,867 at the 2018 Census and 11,673 at the 2023 Census (+18.3%). Past change, not a forecast.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Who does this work
- About 1,400 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
- In the group Graphic and Web Designers, and Illustrators, 52% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
- Where people in the group Graphic and Web Designers, and Illustrators work (2023 Census): Auckland 44.5%, Wellington 16.5%, and Canterbury 11.4%.
Related jobs
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Questions people ask
How do I become a visual effects artist and animator?
You need experience to become a visual effects artist and animator and a qualification may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Required: experience in similar work; examples of your work. Other requirements: a relevant tertiary qualification in communication and media or graphics and design studies.
How much does a visual effects artist and animator earn in New Zealand?
The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $96,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $65,000 to $156,000 a year.
Has the number of people working as a visual effects artist and animator grown in New Zealand?
It has grown: TEC records an increase in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.
Will AI change the work of a visual effects artist and animator?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.
Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.
This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.
Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.
These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Updated 4 October 2026