Today I got a good question from a student about how worth it is it
to go into the animation industry. There is a lot of concern from
young people because they are scared of not being successful. This is
my response to him.
That is a really important question. I totally understand your concern with the industry.
I will tell you this. In school you learn everything about making an animated film. Which means at the
end of it you actually have a lot of skills and not just animation. You
can use your art for so many different jobs. You understand story and
storyboarding which is usefull in a lot of different fields. But what I
will say is if you can only see yourself doing that. Then try it. You
never want to wonder "WHAT IF?" It wasnt easy finding a job after
school but I got one doing TV shows in Flash about three months after I
graduated. My teacher was actually the one who hired me. What makes it
hard to get a job isnt necessarily how well in the industry is doing.
It's about your skills. So when you go to school. You work your butt off
and really push to be the BEST you can be. When you graduate you'll
have a lot more opportunities than people who just go to school because
they dont really know what they want to do but animation sounded fun.
If you really push for it you'll make it. Be honest with yourself.
You'll know whether or not you can do it. Just don't waste ALL your
time in school partying. Studios can tell who puts in the work. If you
TRULY want to be an animator then I really believe you can be.
Best wishes to you.
Good luck
David Stodolny
(stodoe)
I will also add you may not get your DREAM JOB right out of school. I
didn't but I was animating. Use your early jobs as learning platforms
and stepping stones to get where you wanted. I was doing small TV shows
and commercials and direct to DVD specials for 5 years before I landed
my feature role on THE WILD. From that it gave me the experience to get
hired at SONY PICTURES IMAGEWORKS where I then worked on a bunch of
great movies. So you really have to keep growing. And who knows. Some
people are lucky to get their dream job right out of school if the
opportunity works out. Good luck to you all
As a student myself, this is definitely an inspiring read. It's tough out there and the market keeps changing!! Being a student is scary, haha.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great post!
p.s. Yay Sheridan! Haha
Are you a Sheridan student? Are you taking the 2D or 3D course? How do you like it?
DeleteYeah I'm in my first year of the BAA animation program - which is effectively the original animation program, but revamped.
DeleteIt's not bad, it has it's positives and it's negatives! I mean I don't want to call anything/anyone out in public, haha :)Let's just say that our students can definitely draw by the end of it - but not many can animate.
Too right. People sometimes think that just because you've been dreaming about it growing up, it's just going to happen, I know I did. You realize that everyone's better then you and you have to compete with the best in the industry. I am working on my art skills and saving money so I can study animation, also about to try animating something anyway. I'm 28 yrs old and have wanted to be an animator since I was 8. But didn't do anything about it. Then when I was 22 I completed 3 years full time dance in performing arts. Hardest thing I've ever done but taught me a work ethic, and made me realize that anything that's worth anything takes all the effort you have in you and more. I'm still not at my goal, but it's taken doing other things to make me realize that you have to bust your butt and be passionate about what you want to do, it also turns out that I have some amazing new skills under my belt that supports animation. Thanks for your wise words Mr Stodolny, I follow your blog regularly and you really inspire me. Also love your animated shorts and how you do the making of them after. It's really unique and awesome!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you learned that lesson even if it did take till you were 28. There are some people that don't realize that they can make their dreams come true. If they only knew they could if they worked at them. There's people that don't realize that till the end of their life when it's too late. I'm so glad you're doing what you can to reach your goal. And thank you for the positive words about my work. That means a lot.
DeleteI was just minutes away from searching this exact question in Google when this post came up in my feed; I couldn't have asked for better timing, as I seriously weigh up applying to study on the other side of the world at Sheridan! So thanks a bunch for the motivation, the industry is definitely hard to read from where I stand but this ball of hope is just the extra push I needed to strive for those goals.
ReplyDeleteThat's so good to hear that you stumbled upon this at the right time. I would recommend not just researching Sheridan though. There are also other great schools. Research the one that's best for you. My personal opinion is that Sheridan is great for 2D work but their 3D program needs some work. Ringling in Florida is really good for 3D but they're also really expensive. Either way do your research and good luck. I wish you the best of success and happiness whatever you end up doing.
DeleteThank you for the well-wishes. I've researched a lot of schools over the years and for now Sheridan seems like the best option for various reasons (mostly financial, but also the quality of the program as well as just loving Canada haha); at the moment I'd love to get in 2D. But I'm always hunting around for other schools and programs so I'm definitely keeping my mind and my options open!
DeleteTruly appreciating blog..2d animation studios
ReplyDeleteYou are a great inspiration for students taking animation courses. Thanks for sharing informative blog.
ReplyDeleteAnimation is best way to promote business products.Your blog has got good points related 2D Animation Studios. Thanks for this
ReplyDeleteHi, what a great web blog. I usually spend hours on the net reading blogs on various subjects. And, I really would like to praise you for writing such a fabulous article. I honestly believe there is a skill to writing articles that only very few posses and yes you got it. This is really informative and I will for sure refer my friends the same. Thanks.2D Animation Studios
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. I'm definitely not a writer as you can probably tell. I didn't even spell check this article. HAHA. But when I have something important to say I say it like I'm feeling it. It's so important for people to know how other people went through the same thing that they're about to go through. I wish I had blogs and stuff to look at when I was in school. But the internet was just getting started back then. The web wasnt what it is today. There are so many great resources for students now. I'm glad I can be a part of yours and their inspiration. Thank you for the great comment.
DeleteDavid Stodolny
Stodoe
It is a nice post and I found some interesting information on this blog. Keep it up2d animation studios
ReplyDelete2d animation studiosYour post is extremely helpful. I will keep following. Thank you for sharing this information.
ReplyDeleteI'm 13 and I'm still trying to decide if I should go do animation or robotic engineering both of them I really enjoy the various things you can do with both I don't know which one to decide animation you can show your creativity and express who you are what what you like but in robotic engineering you can learn about the way robots work and how they work and possibly build my own robot so all I'm asking is help on deciding and some motivation to get one of my dream jobs
ReplyDeleteThose are two very different jobs. I dont know what to tell you. I think you're at a good age that you can explore both of them and start to figure out which one you like more or which one you're good at.
DeleteI wish you the best of luck and hope whichever job you end up doing you are happy doing it.
Thanks for writing.
Sorry for bad spelling >_<
ReplyDeleteAn impressive post, I just gave this to a colleague who is doing a little analysis on this topic. And he is very happy and thanking me for finding it. But all thanks to you for writing in such simple words. Big thumb up for this blog post! 2D Animation Studios
ReplyDelete