Computer Animation School - Follow These CriteriasBefore even thinking about choosing a computer animation school, you need to be sure that you want to become an animator. This type of career has endless hours of work slaving away. Only if you are ready to spend every waking hour living, breathing, and drawing animation should you consider this sort of career. If after reading these few lines you still have not given up on your dream of becoming an animator then it's time to start your career and find an animation school or training program. There are tons of schools out there, and though it's supposed to be good for you it just makes the process of choosing one harder. So what should you look for when searching for an animation school? The first thing is to have a solid foundation in drawing. Without a doubt, drawing is the most important skill that an animator needs. No matter how good you are at computers, no computer can hide the fact that you're a bad artist. So what I'm trying to point out here is that you should make sure to find a program where you'll be spending the long and necessary hours on perfecting your drawing skills. Ideally, you'll want to surround yourself in a program that will allow you to practice life drawing, layout animation, and fundamental drawing studies. Furthermore, your program should also incorporate the requisite animation skills like storytelling, layout, character design, direction, editing, acting and visual communication. Animation skills should include not only a knowledge of fundamentals such as weight, movements, timing, rotational forces but also knowledge in the development of posing, breakdowns and special effects. The better you understand the properties of physics and mathematics the more realistic your drawing will become. If you think that learning the latest animation software programs will make you an even better animator, then think again. No matter how much computers have become a part of animation education, they're still no substitute for the fundamentals, such as learning the nuances of drawing, shading, lighting, and storytelling. Though you should still know enough about computer graphics to know how they work in general. Besides, most programs used in studios can't be learned at school anyways because they use proprietary software. Another thing that you should consider before choosing a school is what kind of animating job you want. For example if you're thinking about animation for television or film, then you should probably look for a school offering a program that matches that interest and provides the background the potential employers are looking for. And if instead you wish to focus more on producing multimedia animation, you should follow the same criteria when looking for a particular school. There are other factors to consider such as the quality of faculty and facilities, school reputation, access to hardware and software, and, even the cost. But as long as you keep in mind these various factors, you'll definitely find a school from which you can begin your animation career. |