Education

[Hana]

Hey guys this is probably directed at the more established animators out there but I was curious about how you learnt to animate? Was it a case of studying it in a college or self taught or an equal mix of both?

I ask this because I myself feel like I'm a bit stuck in a rut wanting to do animation as it is a passion but I feel very pushed down another path as it's more 'profitable'. Being in Australia hasn't helped much either as I can't seem to find anywhere to study animation. It seems most are too happy to jump into maya but not really feel the animation aspect of it. I try to do animation in everything I can but I don't recieve much support at all.

I guess where did you learn things from setting up your scenes? Developing characters? Things like charting and timing? What were you expected to do in the studio? How many frames would you draw a day? I have a bucket load of questions to ask. Haha.

[CanAur]

The main part of the education is just learning to draw.
Being in Australia hasn't helped much either as I can't seem to find anywhere to study animation.
Is it really big problem to find in Australia where to study?

[Hana]

I might not be looking in the right places partly because I'm not even sure where to look. If anyone knows any place I'd gladly consider it as graphic design is really not my thing.

Drawing is definetely a big part of it from what I had known and so far from the animators in Australia that have seen my teeny portfolio are just amazed by the fact I can draw even just a bit. It is a little discouraging that here it doesn't seem like an important factor ): I don't even have much structure with my art so it struck me as odd as it was one thing I had constantly read over and over again in the few books I have and online material.

I know that quite a few people that are interested in animation have looked into moving to America for their education.

[CanAur]

Its not a problem in Russia to find good teachers, genious teachers even.
And every animator can work as animator.

the first our problem is that nobody but other animators and directors knows about their works
the second is money

[jeremyhopkins]

You're asking the right questions. The most important thing, I think, when you're just starting is to ask what you love to do. If you eat, breathe, dream about film, great performances, and animation, then your career path is clear. If you are only mildly interested, think animation is better than the average job, want to make biiig money and be famous, then maybe its better to choose another career path. Everyone I know who started animation for those reasons didn't last long. Then next part is knowing your goals. If you want to be an animator, what kind of work do you want to do, which studio today or from the past represents the quality of work you want to do? Would you rather be independent? Once you know the studio and position you'd like to be in, the next part is study, building value in your talent and this never ends. Don has some great stuff in the animation tutorial section here, there's several great online schools and tutorial sites, the art renewal website that listed approved ateliers (http://www.artrenewal.org/) and many more good stuff here (http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9).
A good animation school teaches all of the basics but then allows the student to produce their own film. The final film along with acting in with the lip sync assignments will normally determine job placement. Below are examples of an excellent student film and demoreel if you're interested in disney character animation:
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If you find a school that's turning out student quality that matches that work, then you've found a good place. Yes, its always possible to teach yourself but that can be very difficult as well. It depends a lot on motivation, ability to adapt, and opportunities like internships aren't available to you. So studying at a foreign school could be valuable but also very costly.. like $100,000-$200,000 at some.

My advice is to keep your costs low, study life drawing at an atelier if you can, and keep doing animation tests on your own time. If you find a school that matches your vision, great, but its not a requirement. It might make it easier if you want to work in the USA or elsewhere if you have a BA or masters for your HB-1 but if you achieve something amazing, like an academy award, the opportunity for an O visa is available too. Again it depends on your original vision and what you want for your life. Sometimes that will change too if you find you don't like your place in the industry so its good to be flexible as well.

I guess where did you learn things from setting up your scenes? Developing characters? Things like charting and timing? What were you expected to do in the studio? How many frames would you draw a day? I have a bucket load of questions to ask. Haha.

Most of this I found out from friends and teachers while I was in my first school which was a course based off the Sheridan curriculum. You can find a lot of that stuff here now. Basically I made a whole lot of horrible animation and ton of other mistakes. Setting up a scene will depend on the storyboards which are based on the context of the scene and are what the director & scriptwriters feel will play to audience for that moment in the film. Timing can developed with visualization, research and experience. Study live action to know the physical properties, weight, structure and then caricature from that knowledge. Charting is a really personal thing and every animator does it differently based on their workflow, characters, and scene. What clicked best for me is putting the emphasis on the drawing rather than favoring on the chart, skewing the breakdown and building in automatic overlap. It doesn't work for everything so if anyone notices that things are too mechanical, I go back and rethink the movement. Eric Goldberg has a great book called, Character Animation Crash Course, where he describes different timing very well and I basically use the same techniques but in not such an elegant or well crafted way as him.

In a studio environment, as a television animator, I am expected to meet or exceed my weekly quota, deliver performances acceptable by the director and that meet production requirements. Also I'm responsible for speaking with other animators to make sure my shots hook up. Normal flash television animation is about 30 seconds - 60 seconds a week. Some productions vary depending if they're symbol based or drawn. Normally the quota doesn't vary though.. just the hours everyone puts in at work which can vary from 40 - 90 hours a week. Again, I can't speak for feature work because I've never been a feature animator but the big difference for me, besides drawing, is character, thinking about character arcs, performance.. being an actor rather than trying to be an actor. Granted this isn't true with all tv shows..

It can be really tough but keep at it if its your goal! Its not always the most profitable or safe profession but if you really love to animate and draw, the reward is having a career where you can be paid to do what you love to do and work with some really awesome people! Just realize it can take some time to get to your goals. Right now, don't be afraid to post your work. There's nothing wrong with posting a bad drawing, I do it all the time. Its humbling and will help provide a guideline for how you've improved.

[loszhor]

The thing I learned about art school is that it's mostly a place to be challenged. Depending on where you go you'd already be expected to have some skills down on your own and the projects given are meant to better hone them. The exception is if they don't ask you to submit a portfolio then they most likely have a foundational program and it's more of a matter of seeing who sticks with it. For example, when I went to AICASD I didn't know a thing about 3D or how to animate past a simple walk cycle but they started with foundational courses (which were hard and VERY time consuming) and those who were motivated enough to put the time in moved on, but those who thought that just doing the assignment was enough or simply were halfhearted dropped out. Plus just because you take a class doesn’t mean it’s always going to be run very well, some of the courses I took had terrible teachers and I learned next to nothing. The way I progressed with art school courses was getting the basics down and then doing research on my own and good old fashion practice, practice, practice. Having said all that, if you’re really serious about it art school is a great place to get some serious experience under your belt since you’ll be asked to do assignments you might never have thought of or learn useful technology you might not normally be aware of or have access to. Just make sure you want persue that path 'cause it can be very expensive.

[DarkWolf91]

I'll just add one thing. If you do decide to go to art school, be veeeeeery careful in deciding which school to attend. Do as much research as possible, talk to alumni, take the decision very, very seriously. Don't end up like me, miserably stuck in a school whose methods you don't agree with in the slightest, up to your elbows in debt. Good luck to you! I hope everything goes well :)

[Hana]

Wow thank you everyone for you input.

Jeremy those are some beautiful showreels which are definetly very inspiring! Thank you also for answering all my questions. It does bring up my confidence reading it. I think I will make my own sketch post so I can get some opinions on what I'm doing.

To both Loszhor and Darkwolf I am already stuck in a course I have never ever felt passionate about but since this is my last year I will be completing it an after I will pursue what I want to do. It has been a great learning experience despite being incredibly hard and draining. I'm researching into places that offer animation courses and illustration in Australia but so far it's not been so great haha.