Initial preparations for an animation project entail the creation of "previs" materials. These serve as concept artworks and suggested looks and movements for the characters, backgrounds, props and sets. The pre-visualization artist comes in early during the project's pre-production work to provide samples of scenes according to what the script requires and what the director envisions for the film. The materials help the creatives of the production during their discussions, which aptly lead to creating feasibility studies and essentially finding out the best look for the animation.
In animated movies, the animated characters clearly replace the live actors used in live-action movies. It is the character animator's responsibility to create these characters' movements and reactions. This job requires an intuitive understanding of both the physical and emotional aspects of a character. The technical steps done in the actual character animation vary depending on the overall workflow of the production. For instance, some use motion-capture cameras to get the exact movements of real actors, then the animators incorporate the data of their movements to the actual animation. There are also those that simply animate the characters without the use of special visual aids or techniques other than what the previs materials offer.
The texture artist is responsible for the polishing of all visual elements initially done by background artists, set designers, character animators and other artists who worked on the primary visuals of the project. This type of work requires the creation and application of texture, colors and other surface attributes the final animation needs. The visual polishing process typically uses special effects and imaging programs. Some even need to manipulate photos of real-life surfaces, then apply the final output to the specific visual elements in the animation project needing work. Depending on the production's overall workflow, there are instances that the job may also require hand painting the actual textures.
The lighting artist in an animation project works like a cinematographer or lighting director from a live-action movie. This job requires the creation of lighting designs for each scene and the making of lighting rigs and allowing specific light sources in each scene to properly fall onto the characters, sets, props and backgrounds. The lighting artist takes charge of applying the final set of highlights, shadows and exposure ranges in each shot so the intended lighting design seamlessly blends with all the animation elements in the film.