Comments on: Exhibit: Carlo Vinci Shows Us How To Pick An Animation School

By: Stephen Worth

Stephen Worth — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:57:34 +0000

If your drawings are consistent and have solid construction, you're most of the way there. You don't need any more traditional schooling, you can start on self study from here...

Work on the lessons in the 100k Animation Drawing Course and apply what you have learned from life drawing to cartoon drawing.

Follow the blogs of the animators who are sharing their experience on the net... In particular, John K's All Kinds of Stuff, Mark Kennedy's Temple of the Seven Golden Camels, Michael Sporn's Splog, Will Finn's Small Room, and Sherm Cohen's Cartoon Snap.

Get a copy of Maya/Toonboom/Flash/etc. and start doing animation tests on your home computer.

Look for an entry level job at an animation studio to learn the ropes.

Knock em dead!
Steve

By: Meredith

Meredith — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:08:57 +0000

It's an interesting post and the advice is well taken. But for someone who already holds a BFA and has an extensive background in drawing and painting, it falls short. While understanding that the ASIFA may not want to endorse one school over another, a list of schools offering animation would be extremely helpful.

I'm most interested in workshops, where I could travel and get some hands-on experience with traditional animation. A 12-week class doesn't work for me, I need something a little shorter so I can afford the cost of a hotel for the duration. Suggestions are appreciated!

By: Stephen Worth

Stephen Worth — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:12:06 +0000

Herman G, we see students who are dedicated to drawing that well every day here at the archive. Television and theatrical animation may not reflect the fundamental principles of art so much right now, but there is a new generation of animators coming up that might just change everything.

By: Guy Cx

Guy Cx — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:01:22 +0000

That's funny, I've been searching for animation schools in Canada and US for some time, and this single post made me change my mind radically.

I have traditional art classes in college, but I've always seen it as something apart from animation or cartoon directed to animation. How silly I was... I'm gonna apply to an arts school right now! (It's true!)

Thanks a lot for all the knowledge, Steve! You have no idea of how much this blog has changed my choices and my life.

By: Herman G

Herman G — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:37:20 +0000

It's funny that is core skills is indeed needed. I met a couple of 2d animators that were trained architects that were picked up to animate.. It must be the attention to detail and strong base that, make em a fit for it.. good post,,

nobody can draw like that anymore, from what Ive seen lately , the advent of tv and video games kinda put a stop to total dedication.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:13:46 +0000

Nice article Steve and thank you for sharing. I would like to post a link to it on Don's forum as well.

By: Stephen Worth

Stephen Worth — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:01:07 +0000

Filmmaking skills and the technical animation skills aren't what I'm talking about in this article- it's the foundation art skills: drawing, painting, composition, design, color theory, etc. Few trade schools offering degrees in animation do more than a cursory job of developing these skills in their students.

I have a BA in Design from UCLA. When I studied graphics there, they taught me type specification, pasteup, how to calculate reductions on a lucigraph, processing film in a darkroom... Four or five years after I graduated the Macintosh was introduced and all of those skills became obsolete. The skills I still use to this day are the "101" classes- color, design and basic drawing. If I knew then what I know now, I would have focused more on the foundation skills and spent less time on specific technical skills.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:14:06 +0000

in reply to this line "Schools that specialize in animation as a trade do a lousy job of preparing you for a career in animation." I have to disagree, all well known animation schools in the country are very well aware of the need to teach their students the basics of film making side by side with animation skills. I don't want to advertise to any school out there, but some of the shorts we've seen lately coming from individual students are of high quality.