Visual Effects & Post-Production

Everything that happens after the cameras stop: editing, color, captions, and the digital magic that adds dragons, explosions, and impossible worlds.

Top pay: highest pay, longest training

• VFX Supervisor: Leads all the visual effects on a project, from planning on set to approving the final shots. Typical pay $165k.
• FX Technical Director (Simulation Artist): Uses physics simulations to create fire, water, smoke, explosions, and crumbling buildings. Typical pay $125k.
• Post-Production Supervisor: Manages the schedule, budget, and teams for editing, sound, VFX, and color after filming wraps. Typical pay $110k.

Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship

• Film & Video Editor: Assembles raw footage into a finished film, show, or video, shaping its story, pace, and emotion. Typical pay $70k.
• Assistant Editor: Organizes footage, syncs sound, and prepares everything so the editor can focus on cutting. Typical pay $55k.
• Colorist: Adjusts the color and light of every shot to give a film or show its final look and mood. Typical pay $90k.
• Compositor: Blends live footage, CGI, and effects into one seamless shot so audiences can't tell what's fake. Typical pay $90k.
• Matchmove Artist: Recreates the exact movement of a real camera in 3D software so CGI objects stay locked into live footage. Typical pay $72k.
• Lighting & Rendering Artist: Lights CGI scenes so digital characters and worlds look real, then renders the final images. Typical pay $98k.
• Digital Matte Painter: Paints huge digital landscapes and cityscapes that replace or extend real backgrounds. Typical pay $90k.
• Previsualization (Previs) Artist: Creates rough 3D animated versions of complex scenes before filming, so directors can plan shots. Typical pay $90k.
• Virtual Production / LED Volume Technician: Runs the giant LED screens and game-engine backgrounds that replace green screens on modern sets. Typical pay $90k.
• VFX Coordinator / Producer: Tracks every visual effects shot through the pipeline, keeping artists on schedule and budget. Typical pay $55k.
• Online Editor / Conform Artist: Rebuilds the final edit at full quality, adds titles, and prepares the master files for release. Typical pay $80k.
• Groom Artist: Creates the digital hair, fur, and feathers on CG characters and creatures. Typical pay $95k.
• Crowd Simulation Artist: Creates huge digital crowds and armies for films and games. Typical pay $100k.
• VFX Editor: Tracks and cuts in every visual effects shot in a film or show's edit, flagging problems and keeping the director's cut up to date. Typical pay $85k.
• Main Title Designer: Designs opening title sequences for films and shows. Typical pay $90k.
• On-Set VFX Data Wrangler: Collects measurements, photos, and 3D scans on set so VFX artists can match CG to real footage. Typical pay $70k.
• Digital Double Artist: Builds photorealistic digital copies of actors for VFX shots. Typical pay $105k.
• DCP Mastering Technician: Packages finished movies into encrypted Digital Cinema Packages (DCPs) that theaters play, and makes the digital keys that unlock them. Typical pay $70k.

Starter: fastest way in

• Rotoscope Artist: Traces around actors and objects frame by frame so effects can be added behind or in front of them. Typical pay $52k.
• Subtitler / Closed Captioner: Writes and times the subtitles and captions that appear on screen for viewers. Typical pay $45k.
• Audio Description Writer: Writes and voices short descriptions of on-screen action for blind and low-vision viewers. Typical pay $48k.
• Dailies Operator / Post-Production Assistant: Processes each day's footage overnight and handles errands and file transfers for the post team. Typical pay $46k.
• Paint & Prep Artist: Removes wires, rigs, and unwanted objects from film frames. Typical pay $52k.
• Render Wrangler: Watches over the render farm where thousands of computers turn 3D scenes into final frames. Typical pay $52k.
• Post-Production QC Technician: Watches finished films and shows frame by frame to catch mistakes before they go to streaming services. Typical pay $45k.
• Film Scanning Technician: Turns old movie film and home movies into digital files on high-end scanners, handling fragile reels with great care. Typical pay $50k.

Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.