DISQUS

AlfredTsaizer · 1 month ago

Shawn, thank you a lot for the article!!! It encourages me to continue my study on my own... I'm 20 year old animator,(and I animate since I'm 17) from Tbilisi, Georgia (ex USSR) and animation is not so much developed in here as you can expect... schools don't teach anything... people that do animate in here are simply those who know how a keyframe can be set in a 3D software package... and I was one of them....
so the situation is quite poor in here... (for example currently, our team of 4 animators has to do 25 minutes every week for an animated series, which is, as well as you know, insane...)

And I'm also just about to drop out of my uni, 'couse I have no time for it... I have to animate 12/7....

So what I wanted to say, instead of my life story :P is that your article made me feel like there is a chance for me to become a pro animator some day, which I really dream about!!!

What I also wanted to say is that this blog is VERY helpful, thank you for all of the posts!!! They are all very informative and inspireing!!!
Thanx, Shawn!!!

ps: gonna go sleep now... tomorrow have to finish a scene, that will be on air the day after tomorrow... :P {sings}"under pressure!" :P

Jason J. · 1 month ago

Shawn, I just love your enthusiasm. I've heard this concept from many people now, especially since I'm a proud student at AM, but it's always great to be reminded. In our culture, there is a surprisingly strong pull to get a degree, and sometimes it's downright draining. I actually plan to get a degree down the road, but I totally agree (and would say it applies to life in general) that the skills are what count, not the credentials. Thanks for sharing!

Jason

Rich · 1 month ago

Excellent post, Dr. Shawn. I can certainly agree with the assessment on how long it takes to learn animation without some sort of guidance from a school or mentor or even peers who have gone through such programs. I attempted to learn animation on my own for a decade before finally breaking down and enrolling in an animation school (AM, though don't think of me as biased - the same idea applies to any number of other fine animation schools and programs in the world,) and in just the first few class sessions I learned more than I had been able to learn in ten years of personal, non-guided, lonely study. You can certainly learn the basics on your own, but it takes focused knowledge and hard-nosed critique to turn that oozing ball into a bouncing ball.

So if a formal education is either cost-prohibitive or just not possible in any way, as Shawn says, get some books, get some free rigs, animate, and post it on forums or to 11-second Club, and get (and give) critiques from (and to) your peers. And don't get discouraged if some of the critiques are harsh! Honest opinions might not always be the ones you want to hear, but they're all designed to show you where the problems are and how to fix them. This is an incredibly collaborative and cooperative industry, and most of us who give feedback are merely trying to spread the magic around to anyone who wants to learn.

thndrcat · 1 month ago

Well. Said. Sir.

Fady · 1 month ago

Shawn, thanks a ton for posting this article!!! :D I've been bat-beaten and whipped because of my uni days, they just clash with my practice hours. Guess where I am? that's right, LEBANON. Lol they don't even know what animation is here. They don't know what character design, rendering, matte painting, texturing, or even landscaping and compositing are all about. Lol this is a waste of my time, and my parents keep insisting on the "immortality" of a degree. Bah, I keep insisting on its uselessness HERE!!!! I sure would be eager to spend my hours practicing at home rather than wasting them on useless uni stuff. I've been in this field for like 8 months now, got my way a bit into 3DS MAX, Animation:Master, and even ZBrush. I'm willing to invest in my skills, hone them, not let them rot. But I'd sure be eager to study ANIMATION abroad. Like, Gnomon in CA, Escape in UK, FZD in Singapore, and so on. You're so right about this article, and indeed parents should be enlightened a bit. I'm NOT gonna make use of this degree later. It's a total waste of time and money.

Thanks a bunch for this article!!! I got here through a friend, he's in CA, studying animation. Hopefully I can fix all this stuff and finally dedicate myself to animation!!! and yep, I'm willing to spend my years learning!!! :D

Fady