How To Become A Compositor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a compositor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There are many steps that a video goes through in between shooting the raw footage and when it finally arrives in front of viewers. Compositors are often the last people to work on an image. They combine all the previous raw material, work, and visual effects to create the final image that will wow viewers. They earn average salaries of $62,719 a year.

Compositors need to be experienced in many technical tools such as VFX software, editing tools, and animation software in order to create polished footage. In addition to technical know-how, a compositor needs to have a well-developed artistic eye in order to make sure that all images work together as a whole, with similar lighting and visual design.

Most people only become compositors after many years in the animation or video editing industry. That's because it takes a lot of years to build up enough experience with the various software products and the artistic vision needed to succeed in this role. Plus, being the last stop in the production process before audiences is a lot of responsibility.

ScoreCompositorUS Average

Salary

3.5

Avg. Salary $45,101

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

4.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.50%

Asian 7.26%

Black or African American 9.05%

Hispanic or Latino 19.16%

Unknown 3.46%

White 60.57%

Gender

female 37.30%

male 62.70%

Age - 50

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 50

Stress Level

7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.4

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.3

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a compositor

Explore compositor education requirements

Most common compositor degrees

Bachelor's

75.9 %

Associate

11.2 %

Master's

6.6 %

Start to develop specific compositor skills

Skills	Percentages
VFX	19.18%
Visual Effects	12.86%
Animation	11.33%
CG	10.50%
Maya	7.32%

Complete relevant compositor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New compositors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a compositor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real compositor resumes.

Research compositor duties and responsibilities

Work closely with lighting and fx leads to help achieve an efficient workflow.
Work include matte extractions, tracking, color correction, paint fixesand integrating cg elements.
Direct a small VFX team, create consistent, realistic 3D environments/effects; integrate live-action (film) into the CGI.
Apply FX stage makeup efficiently and quickly for several characters using stage blood, liquid latex, and other FX materials.

Prepare your compositor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your compositor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a compositor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Compositor Resume templates

Build a professional Compositor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Compositor resume.