[aphelionart]

first off, i'd like to warn everyone not to do what i did. i'm not sure if i want to do animation, illustration, or fine arts yet and when i applied to my art schools i generally just put "general art" or "fine art"... thinking fine art could really include all of them. turns out if you want to do animation, u usually gotta tell them that in the application or else you're not considered (everyone i asked at my school had said it didn't matter.. oy)... guess i'm stuck in illustration.

'nuff feeling sorry for myself, heh... i just took a visit to ringling (the place could fit inside my high school heh)... the asst. dean of admissions wasnt the greatest of help (as he stared at the ground and constantly looked away after he realized i thought i was going to be doing animation and he had to tell me i couldnt).. and they wouldn't let me sit in on any classes because it "generally wasn't done around there.. the teachers might not like it" or something. if i'm giving them 30k a year, i'd think they'd be happy to show me a class. only one really good reason i could think they wouldn't want to... even though i know their alumni are in a lot of respected positions right now and it has a good reputation for animation... and the kids said the illustration teachers were also good. anyone have any ideas? feeling kinda turned off by them now..

also, is it possible to do illustration (or.. fine arts maybe) in college and still be in the animation business (actually animating)? i just recently discovered animation (someday i'll post this flash video i'm doing).. something i wish i could be doing in college (not sure its worth waiting another year tho)

and now ill end the babbling!... thanks,

-matt

[atomicmonkey]

Don't really know what to tell you with regards to Ringling...

As far as working in animation without studying it in college... well, of course it is possible. I've talked to professional animators who studied illustration or similar work in college and went on to have a career in animation. There are many ways to break into the business, such as backgrounds, cleanup, colouring, ect., that don't require as great a knowledge of animation as animating does. However, I will say that there are plenty of animation students graduating from colleges all over the country who are having trouble finding work, and they CAN animate. So really, even if the job isn't an animating job, I'd think a studio would rather hire someone with animation experience than without.

Just because you don't study animation in college doesn't mean you can't learn to animate. Get some books, do some research, and practice in your spare time. Obviously drawing skill is the most important in animation, so work on that. Remember, studios don't hire people because they went to a certain school or have a certain degree (even though those may help), they hire people after viewing their portfolio/demo reel. Work hard enough, and you can make an awesome one without classes.

[atomicmonkey]

edit - ugg... click click