After over five years of freelance I'm in denial that it's completely burnt me out. No harm in looking for a part time job or long studio contract to cut down on all of the business management every day of freelancing requires.

This video came at a PERFECT time for me because I started to look for full time jobs today and I was already thinking about maybe sticking to freelance jobs longer because the first studio I called today told me they only hire freelancers for concept art to do their jobs from home. But I REALLY want to work in a team and I have zERO friends in my area who work in the animation industry and I REALLY want to finally meet people like me and work on a project TOGETHER! Your video definitely inspired me and reminded me that I started looking for full time jobs because Im tired of working alone at home and I want to meet people and make new experiences! So I will definitely keep going and looking for other studios! Thanks for the video, Toniko!

As someone who wants to have his own business, I definitely need to be able to do freelancing. However I'll start with working at a studio so I can improve my animation skills and learn how to create a compelling story

This video is MASSIVELY helpful for a kid going into animation school this coming fall like me. Thanks so much!!!!!

I might enjoy freelance. So I can focus on my arts than whatever something distracting me. I have been self-taught on art since when I was little, didn't do much on my school years, but got back to drawing, so I can focus on what I wanted to do. Freelance can be something I like to do, but I need the right equipment if I want to go out to find my happy place to draw.

I will say for 3D artists, there are fairly affordable render farms you can send work to instead of paying for your own equipment and rendering yourself.

Freelance work is "best" for me at the moment because I'm disabled and can't get to a work site in most cases. But I *really* thrive at work settings and with in-face interaction... I hope circumstances change eventually. I think there's so much to gain in-person settings.

I really appreciate you posting this video, thankyou

"become a full time artist first" yeah... it's a bit hard when you a) have no chance of getting into the industry and b) live in a place that has nothing to offer for full-time artists

I'm 22, fresh out of college with a bachelor's degree in Art Studio, and I'm creating an animation portfolio over the next few years. I don't really know what studios to look into tho for an entry level animator.

It's funny cause that's how i imagine doing, getting in fulltime style, getting beter at drawing, and gathering some ideas for future projects and in future start my own projects

Working for a studio you improve your technical skills, you learn to draw more efficiently, but have no time to work on your portfolio. Freelancing you do a bunch of third-tier assignments just to get money, so you do not necessarily level-up as a professional. So how do you build a portfolio which can grant you access to a high-tier clients and studios? How to rip some time to evolve?

been considering freelancing,enjoyed the vid .It helped me get more informed as full time is dicey in my country

It's hard to pick, not because of personal preferences, but because you don't get to choose who hires you, especially as a newcomer. Many of my colleagues have to work both freelance and full time, swapping on and off as gaps in work open up. The occasional life style changes mean instability, but you do get to experience the good and bad sides of both.

Thank you for talking about this ! Always inspiring, encouraging and super timming:)

I'm working freelance because I cant afford to move where the industry is. The loneliness aspect of it is definitely getting to me, but I signed up for some classes and that helps somewhat.

You are a treasure to animation, never stop being amazing!

Nice work on these very professional videos. Great art, narrating and editing. Best on internet so far.

Really great advice, thanks Toniko!

Found this video extremely helpful! Learned that I’m more of a freelance artist than a full-time artist

Love this thank you! I feel inspired

This is a great video, thanks so much for the advise!

"In the age of today, that's not always the case" Oof- that hits harder now than any other time before. Picked this up because I'm graduating college to hopefully get a job to be a junior animator... during the corona virus outbreak. They even canceled the graduation ceremony for this spring.

I really love your videos and channel. Watching this definitely helped me give insight and the idea that honestly im happier doing freelance.

great stuff. thank you for this video!

Thanks for sharing your experience!

I've been working fulltime for two years since graduating animation school, and working freelance is my long term goal; mostly fueled by the long transit into work every day (hour and a half each way - think of all the work i could get done with those three hours!). This was very helpful for me, thank you!

Toniko voce é fodão! parabens ! sucesso! obrigado pelas dicas!

I’m mostly using my art for 2 things right now, to make a personal project of mine and for exposure + funding for what I _really_ want to do (gaming). I’m currently too young for a fulltime job but if I havent made enough by then i’m hoping to work in a studio for a while. This definitely helped me make up my mind!

Amazing video

toniko a big fan of youu from pakistan, your work is soooo good, you are my inspiration

thank you for this this was insightful i actually thought being full time would be easier

As a freelancer, there are other aspects that are necessary; gathering clients, self-promotion (advertising your skills), paying for your own healthcare and insurance, answering calls and replying to messages, bookkeeping, accounting, organizing business expenses in addition to your personal expenses, filing taxes (that's a really big and time-consuming responsibility!), and organizing your time efficiently. There are many aspects to freelancing that go far beyond the creative part.

I've only worked freelance and I really wish I could do studio works. I feel like I am a terrible boss for myself, but I feel like I might be too much of a generalist to get a spot in a studio. I did get my start in animation doing personal projects.

Recently was lucky enough to start doing full-time freelance animation work after spending years in the food industry. Self-taught animator who managed to get a contract for two animation projects (each about a minute and a half long, the first of the two I did all the visuals for including storyboards and character design and I'm credited as the director as well) which essentially gave me a few months of full-time paid work with plenty of time to line up projects for when that final deadline hits. (since then, I already have maybe 5 more projects which are 30 seconds each for the winter months, but still waiting on the final confirmation on those). These have also been my first "professional" animation projects, and were for a relatively small media company who previously was more focused on live-action videos, but recently wanted to start doing some animation projects as well. For a long time, my starting goal was to get some freelance animation work on the side, and still work part time in the food industry, just while I built up my portfolio and was able to show more animation projects that were actually from working for someone else, not just my own independent projects, but with everything working out so quickly, it was an easy and somewhat necessary switch straight into doing full-time freelance work. I thought at some point I'd like to get a job in a studio, but in switching straight into full-time freelance, I realized how much I like it so far. As long as I'm able to keep lining up projects, I really like being able to work from home and set my own schedule. I like being able to decide my rates, and if I don't like what I'm making currently, have the ability to adjust my rate for my next project. I like being able to do the kind of work I want to do, and that I get first say in the projects I'm working on and the companies I'm working with. So for now, as long as I can maintain it, I've decided to just do freelance full-time. It helps, too that by virtue of being animation work, the projects are longer, and I only need to find one or two new projects a month, if that. It also helps that I live in a city with a very well-connected animation industry, and all the studios in the area (plus most of the serious freelancers) have a monthly animation event to meet up, as well as a discord server, so it's like networking on easy mode. Plus, if I ever get sick of freelance work, by then, a lot of these studios will have seen my work already and know who I am. The biggest downside as of now has been the 30% income tax for people who are self-employed and as a result, having to raise my rates, and lose the public insurance I'd been able to get while working in food-industry.

I'm so glad this video showed up for me! I'm at that age where the pressure to start looking for schools and figure out what I want to do for my career is high. I would love be involved in the animation industry in some form but have been given a lot of mixed signals on which direction I should take. This has helped me tremendously, thank you!

Thanks my man! Really helpful for a young animator like me. (Btw if you know Keely Prop, give thanks to her, she sent me here)

thank you

i honestly really like studio work! i dont have any creative ideas im particularly attached to, i just like to draw, so i dont mind doing other peoples ideas. in fact, even at my non art related jobs, id always be distracting my coworkers by drawing silly things and bouncing ideas off of each other for goofy characters and stories. only doing freelancing is just too stressful (and lonely!) for me, and i do better with a schedule and a good idea of my duties for the day.

what studio is that? the architecture/landscaping is so beautiful!

Agreeeeed

Are these all animations/storyboards yours?? Some of these are really magical!

Very interesting. I started uploading videos on KZfaq again

I need a bit of advice, I'm pretty sure I can't go into the industry by internship (graduated with art degree like 10 yrs ago). Is my main choice, if I want a full-time job, to make a good enough impression on someone in the industry with my work online/portfolio at this point? I've tried freelance and I don't mind it so much, but I want the experience to be with others in my field and learn new things from them.

It's too hard to choose!

It seems a lot easier to find freelance work than to get hires by a studio though? At least I feel like even though I’m a pretty decent artist, I know the fundemantals, and always improving, am building a following etc. I’m still kind not quite at the level to have a competitive portfolio for a studio. However I am good enough that I could start doing commissions and maybe some freelance work soon. Right now I’m living at home so I need to start making money as soon as possible so I can get my own place (again. Had to move home after covid left me unemployed)

Hello, Mr. Pantoja! As an aspiring animator from the Philippines, I was very encouraged by you after hearing you have experienced working from home (in the Philippines). I'm a teen, but I am worried for my career as an animator. Maybe you can give an advice for your next video for aspiring animators like me who wants to get/work in the animation industry but can't go to other countries and have little to no animation industries in our own country? I feel like it's near impossible to be allowed to work from home as a junior/new animator in an industry unless I am insanely good... Also, how do you get gigs or projects when you're free grad and is supposed to find immediate work? Not sure if you'll see this haha Regardless, I am very grateful for the videos and free lessons you put here in KZfaq! They have helped me a lot, especially your tips about drawing faster, animating live action films to have better storyboarding and knowledge, and being decisive with my art by avoiding hairy sketches. I hope you'll make more videos and help young artists like me! Thank you!!

Thanks for your video, but I still have my doubts. I'm a self taught illustrator, comic artist and animator so yeah, no credentials at all. For me, finding a full time job at a studio is hard. So I asked a couple of people how to get a job at a studio, they said, you gotta go freelance first so people get to know you. But now I need to build a reputation through a full time studio job, but again, in order to get that, I need to have a reputation as a freelance?? What way would you recommend to a self taught??

One year later "My definition of fulltime has changed "

did you animate the damkeeper?!?

07:00 show what is it ?

Worked 3 years in studios and I have been working last year as freelancer. I agree with all you said. I thought I would have time to work on personal projects but exhaust myself more than working office hours😅

You live here in Philippines?

subtitulos en spanish please

1:48

Are you half Filipino?

Were not being lazy if were working a full time job! That was poor wording and contributes to people over working themselves! Work to live, don’t live to work

Lol