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what kind of education for animation?

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what kind of education for animation?

I need help from anyone who is already in the business! I am trying to decide if I should get my bachelor's degree with a major in animation or if I should get a generic management bachelors and then go on to get a masters degree specializing in Animation. I will only be able to afford one or the other. Any advice you could give me I would appreciate. I have been told that the bachelor degree is the new high school diploma and I should get my masters to seperate me from the everyone else. I have also heard that if I have a masters before I get into the business, it might hurt me because I will have all this school and no experience. Therefore a company will be looking at how much they have to pay me vs. how much experience I have.
I don't know if this makes a difference but I do have video experience working with Avid Adrenaline and Photoshop. I am a military Videographer in the United States Air Force. Does that help me at all.
Please let me know what kind of steps I should be taking!!! Thank you

Don't you have to have a bachelors or the corresponding units to procede to a Masters these days? Why one or the other? Back when I was a grasshopper, you had to have the bachelors or at least the units to go on to the graduate level and gain the masters.

What's going to seperate you from the others is your passion for the art form and portfolio, not your credential.

Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.

I don't know how it is at other schools, but my art school, the Masters and Bachelor's programs were the same classes. The only difference was that you were charged more for the Masters classes.

Aloha,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

thanks for the reply

I appreciate you all getting back to me. Yes, you do need a bachelor's to move on to a masters but it does not have to be in the same field. The price for going to a non-specialized school for a BS in management is considerably less than an animation school so I could get both BS and MFA that way. I'm trying to find my best option because I can really only afford to go with one or the other.
I've also been told that if something falls through with the animation career then I will have a management degree that will back me up in other fields rather than a specialized degree that doesn't qualify me for anything but animation. However, I don't want to hurt my marketability in the animation field.
I really don't want to spend 4 years and $70,000 only to find out that it was the wrong descision. So, I'm just trying to do some research

again Thanks
Mike

Then go that route, and also get your undergraduate units at a JC, that would make it even cheaper. You would lose the prestige of doing the four year thing, but it would certainly be cheaper.

Make sure you take typing or accounting and bookkeeping too. My mom always told me these were tools that would help me find a job.

Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.

I really don't want to spend 4 years and $70,000 only to find out that it was the wrong descision. So, I'm just trying to do some research

again Thanks
Mike

Why would it be the wrong decision? Because you couldn't find a job, or because you found you didn't like the work? That happens. If you don't know where your heart/passion lies, most of us end up there. There are no guarrantees.

Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.

I'll never regret my ornamental horticulture training. But I can't do it anymore physically. I am not sorry I followed that education. It will always be with me. I never ask it to pay my bills. I paid in order to work in the field. For twelve years I worked in it. They were the best times of my life. I had a passion. I am trying to find a new one with freelance animation, but guess what I working harder now than I ever did then, and enjoying it less. Maybe because it's a little less a passion than horticulture, but it's something I can physically do now. Maybe sometime I can find a way to join the two. No guarrantees.

Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.

Why would it be the wrong decision? Because you couldn't find a job, or because you found you didn't like the work? That happens. If you don't know where your heart/passion lies, most of us end up there. There are no guarrantees.

My passion is Animation so that would never be the wrong descision. I meant that I didn't want to go for a BS and a MFA and then find out that I should've just gone for a BFA instead or visa versa. I have people telling me different things (refer to my first post) and I wanted to clear up the myths and find the best path for me. So far, my questions really haven't cleared up. Maybe there is no right or wrong way of doing it and maybe I'm just thinking too far into it but I just don't want to waste 4 years and thousands of dollars to find out the hard way.

Again, thanks for the comments. They are helping alot

mike

If you read through the stickies and old posts you'll find most employment is found on the basis of the portfolio or who you know. Want to work towards that in your first years in college because you really have the passion then do that. Want a guarranteed return on your investment then learn to type and do accounting.

Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.

Hi Animanican - welcome to the forums.

It's a tough call - no doubt about it. Generally, if you're interested in working in the field and want to go to school to learn what you need to know, then a bachelor's is the way to go. Most people who pursue Master's degrees do so in order to teach (nearly every accredited school requires some sort of terminal degree in order to be on staff).

Also, keep in mind that it's possible to train yourself in animation. There are plenty of folks working in the industry who are self-taught. It's not the easiest path, and generally takes longer than going to school, but it can be done. The resources available these days to learn animation techniques are unprecedented.

There are also options like Animation Mentor. You don't earn a degree, but you do get focused instruction on animation.

This might be a good segue to share that animationmentor.com, at the front page, has a reel of student work from 4 of the 6 terms. I am on the Flash 9 beta so I can't see it, but apparently it's about six minutes long and showcases work from people with varying levels of professional experience (including none at all) so it could give you a decent idea of the effectiveness of the 18 month program.

For what it's worth there is a certified diploma (not to be confused -at all- with a degree) awarded at graduation. It's state-sanctioned (California) but accreditation is a near-future reality, not a present one.

If you want to be an animator...go with the education that will allow you to learn how to animate. As commonly said a degree means nothing compared to your demo reel...thats the bottom line.

I was in the same predictament as you six years ago...I choose the bachelors in animation when I realized that one should be going into a masters program for such a technical trade as ours with a strong foundation from an undergrad program. After all why get a masters in animation if you have never studied it as an undergrad...also...why even bother getting a masters EVEN if you did do your undergrad...why didn't you learn it the first four years?

Basically you can always learn business on the side and certainly it is very important and a worthy companion in life. However, wanting to get into an EXTREMELY competitive trade like animation requires focus from the get go.

If your passions and heart are signaling you to get into the industry then go with the undergrad and compliment it with business.

After all why get a masters in animation if you have never studied it as an undergrad...also...why even bother getting a masters EVEN if you did do your undergrad...why didn't you learn it the first four years?

Unfortunately it’s not always the case. There are people who know what they REALLY want to do right from the start (like yourself), or people who gradually grasp their true interest/passion by some experience/exposure- many of them in their undergrads (like me), then there are some who do it in their Mid-Life and MOSTLY many who simply don’t care. It’s a matter of realization/choice other than anything else.

Animanican:
The real thing to decide is which area you really feel comfortable in? creative, technical or the business side of Animation. Whichever area you decide, having a BFA or MFA doesn’t matter after some 2 years in business if you really have what it takes to survive i.e. talent and the will.

After all why get a masters in animation if you have never studied it as an undergrad...also...why even bother getting a masters EVEN if you did do your undergrad...why didn't you learn it the first four years?

Well, my bachelors degree is in advertising, yet I've made my living as an animator for the last 17 years, and I'm currently in an MFA program because I want to teach at the university level. Technically, I never studied animation as an undergrad, but I did go back to a community college that offered animation courses after I had my BA. And even though I have all those years of experience under my belt, I am taking animation courses in my MFA program because it's required in order to obtain the degree (plus, there's always more to learn...).

Not trying to start an argument :), just pointing out that there are valid reasons to pursue a masters.

Of course you guys are right...there are always pros to every con and exceptions to every rule. I just didn't bother pointing them out!

I'm viewing it from the perspective of knowing ahead of time where you want to be before any college.

Thanks

Thanks for all the responses! I think I have a good idea of what I want to do now. I appreciate it!

Of course you guys are right...there are always pros to every con and exceptions to every rule. I just didn't bother pointing them out!

I'm viewing it from the perspective of knowing ahead of time where you want to be before any college.

Are there really people like that? I am 56 and I still don't know what I want to be when I "grow up". That's probably just my problem.

Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.

I've run into four kinds of people. 1) Never does anything. 2) Never knows what they wanna do concretely, in the way that he means, but wind up doing something. 3) Has ideas and thinks they'll never know but runs into something they never expected and happens upon an interest. 4) Knows.

I think 4s are out there but extremely rare.

It's not that I don't know who I am. I do, and I know more about what I won't do, than what I will if called upon. I never did have a clear calling, well maybe I did, but my mom talked me out of it. I don't regret that, I loved her and I am sure she was wishing the best for me. That's what life is all about. And now that it's totally in my own hands...sh*t what do I know... I am flying about doing what I do best and hoping to in the end make a living out of it. It's not easy, but I am happy at the moment. And I guess that the least you can ask of any occupation.

Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.

What was it that she talked you out of?

I had a gallery that was interested in my work in the late sixties in San Francisco. My mom thought I'd be better off seeking regular work with the county.

Also had an internship offered in Hawaii.

Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.

Holy cow, a gallery presentation? What kind of work?