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career change !!! please help

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career change !!! please help

i have done my computer engineering, and animation has always been my passion. since there were not many opportunities in my country, i could not join any animation graduation courses. but now that i have started working in an IT firm i realised that i dont belong to this field and i really wanna achieve what i dreamt of... from my own personal interest i have learnt several softwares for 2D and 3D animation and am resonably sound in my artistic skills.
my only question is , is it too late to try for my dream ??? and if no then can is still apply at the universities(as mentioned in forums)???
and what are the basic qualities they look for ??

It's certainly not too late to follow your dream. I took a similar path as you (degrees in CS, then industry work) before I figured out what I really wanted to do with my life.

I can't speak about universities and the like (hopefully someone else will be able to offer information on all that), but as far as following your dreams, I say go for it no matter how old you are. :D

thnx

thanks a lot for the reply ,i really needed someone to tell me thats its not too late. i was really confused and now i know i can do what i want with a clear head. :)

but what path did u take after finishing engg in CS?? and was it too tough to cope up, as you like me haven done your graduation in design ??

Hi Ayanakbar,

It's certainly not too late. Why don't you give me a call between the hours of 10am and 10pm, U.S. Pacific time. I know something about "late" career shifts.

Career coaching is an aspect of my work with Animation Options, and the first session is free. :)

Kevin Geiger
Animation Options LLC
kevingeiger@animationoptions.com
www.animationoptions.com
(310)689-6062

[I]Kevin Geiger
Director & Co-founder
The Animation Co-op
http://www.animationcoop.org/[/I]

People are very supportive and such. However, I'm wondering if you give up your day job, how are you going to support yourself? I've seen some people's dreams being shattered because they forgot about the practicalities of life.

Perhaps you should only give up your day job once you're confident you're going to make it in animation.

Just some friendly advice to consider, nothing more.

I am on the tail end of doing this, starting my last semester this week. It's all very exciting, learning what you love and all, but Rasheed is right, you need to take into account the practicalities. I kept my full time job, so instead of getting the degree in 2 years, it has taken 4 1/2. I went with a degree because at the time I started, I figured for the money I was going to have to pay, I would rather have the degree instead of a certificate (it was the same amount of $ for each back then). If I were starting now, I would look into the specialized schools like Animation Mentor, the ones that are really focused on animation. If you want a more well rounded experience, then a more traditional school might be better for you, as you get to touch on modeling, texturing, etc. It may also lead you to realize that one of those areas is even more to your liking than animation. The real benefit for me in doing this has been taking my classes in an on line format, so it didn't cut into my work day. Plus, it leaves a lot of the information at your fingertips, instead of getting it just once in a lecture. Certain classes are strange doing on line, like figure drawing, but you get used to it. It's basically figure drawing from photos, but you can always bolster that with life drawing sessions at a local school or community arts organization.

Hope that helps.:)

People are very supportive and such. However, I'm wondering if you give up your day job, how are you going to support yourself? I've seen some people's dreams being shattered because they forgot about the practicalities of life.

Perhaps you should only give up your day job once you're confident you're going to make it in animation.

Just some friendly advice to consider, nothing more.

Most certainly! I never meant to imply that you should jump right into a new career and hope the money just shows up. It's a long, difficult process, but if it really is your dream, it'll be worth it.

thanks Kevin Geiger,Rasheed,earchild,ElusiveMoose for taking interest, i really appritiate all the replies.
like u said earchild u compromised by taking something which did not fit to your liking and so you took more time achieving it.i have done that too i took engineering and i draged myself to get done with it (even though i did pretty ok).But my point here is that i have done courses , tried to learn new things related to animation, enjoyed doing it and did well.
But since the value here for animators is not much and so i went for engineering thinking i can change my stream later when time comes....
now am thinking about it seriously and really wanna do something which i feel like. i am not worried about struggle , in my country with a population of 2 billion, it was a big enough struggle surviving in enggineering and getting a job(as the competition was grilling).....
so i just wanna go for what i like.... i know animation mentor is a very good online course.
also if i wanna apply for universities what are their usual requirements ,do i need to give GRE or a written test or someting?? coz for what i came to know they ask only for portfolio.....
and US i know is expensive for postgrad , do u think someplace like canada or new zealand is a good options ??