Let’s not forget teachers. One fantastic teacher can affect your abilities and career. Most of us have at least one standout teacher that really helped us. Mine was a hard-ass illustration teacher who was brutally honest about my work. His words stung at times, but they kept me from getting comfortable and pushed me to get better. Whichever school you choose, meet the teachers, talk to the students and request the teachers that you prefer. You do have a say in whose classes you take.

If you prefer to have people say only wonderful things about your work, save your money, stay at home and just show your work to your mother who will say, “Oh honey. That’s wonderful. You are so talented.” It may be easier to hear than harsh criticism, but you don’t learn anything from it.

Besides the importance of which school you choose, the city in which a school is located is also important. Schools in major production cities offer benefits to students that others don’t. Internships at the best studios are usually only open to locals. It’s easier to make great contacts when you live in the same city as the studios. The success of many careers is due to the success of their classmates careers. Students in production city schools are more likely to have successful parents in the industry, thus assisting their careers and those of their friends.

That’s not to say you can’t get a lot out of other schools, you can. You just have to work a bit harder to get your break into the industry.

During your search for the perfect school, you will want to speak with graduates. If you call us about SHK, we will give you a pre-approved list of graduates who will read from our pre-approved sales script. Please do not contact other SHK graduates. They may give you an honest, err, different answer than those we prefer.

So the real answer is that it’s not the degree that’s important from an education, it’s how much better you get and how much you learn. In order to be competitive in any industry, you have to demonstrate what you can do. Schools are often the best place to learn software and techniques and develop a top-notch portfolio and demo reel.

Is it possible to learn software and techniques and then build a portfolio on your own? Absolutely. But you have to be honest with yourself about whether it’s realistic or not and how long it will take you. Plus, many people teach themselves bad habits when there is no one to correct them. Most people need the extra push of outside deadlines and the help of teachers to get solid criticism and to learn the new complicated softwares.

Your college courses will largely be determined by your professional track. If your goal is to be a CG character animator you will likely take different courses than if you want to produce animation. Layout artists have different needs than game designers.

The one thing common to every aspect of the animation business is that it is a business. Every artist should understand their legal rights on jobs and productions. You need to understand where your money goes and how to track it. Whether you’re hired to run marketing on a production or you are marketing yourself to potential employers, many of the same business elements are the same. At SHK, we always recommend taking business courses.

Most art and trade schools do not offer a full regiment of business classes. You can supplement any education with business courses from community, state or private colleges.

Mark Simon’s latest book, Facial Expressions.

So, will having an education help you make more money? It can, but only if you use the opportunity of being in school and having many options and tools available to make yourself better. Schools are some of the few places in which you will have the time to experiment and see what you are best at and what you enjoy doing.

If you are one of those naturally gifted artists and animators who feels like you don’t need to go to school to learn more, why are you here listening to me? Prove you’re good and go get a job. Although, I still suggest taking business courses.

I hope you’ve enjoyed your tour and decide to give us your tuition, err, to enroll in SHK. We could really use the money and you’re bound to be the most popular kid in class. In fact you may be the only kid in our class. Hmm. I really need to work on our sales pitch. Can you recommend any good business courses?

Mark Simon is an award-winning animation producer and lecturer who is also the author of Facial Expressions, Producing Independent 2D Character Animation and Storyboards: Motion in Art. He can be found lurking around at www.FunnyToons.tv and may be reached at Mark@FunnyToons.tv. Mark’s books may be found and purchased at www.MarkSimonBooks.com.