3D Graphics/Animation Careers

[InKraBid]

Well firstly there is a lot of forum threads about this, you should maybe check again with different search criteria.
The smart thing about going to school to learn things, is that it takes you thru ALL the methods of making models, animating and so on. So that will give you more options if youre a generalist or have more than one task in your firm. If you intend to specialize however, it doesnt matter that much.
School is there to give everyone the same basics and understanding thou, so if you dont go to school, you may find there are holes in your learning, which isnt that fun to have when employers or customers ask you a basic question and you fail..
Firms will give jobs based on performance and portfolio, so if you have insane skills it doesnt matter where or if you went to school.
No matter what you do, you WILL have to learn a load of things on your own, and expect to have to learn more all the time. Softwares upgrade, technology advances, and you have to be on top of that all the time.
Dont worry though, if you really are into 2D\3D, you'll love your job and you'll have a lot of fun and be inspired.

[danlefeb]

I found barely ANY information on this searching online so any help would be really appreciated.

I bet if you search through this forum you'll find answers to all questions. Some answers may be vague but that's because the question is vague. Every school is different so it's impossible to say, "Yes, you'll get a great education from school." You get out of it what you put into it. That goes for both school as well as learning on your own. One thing's for sure, though, whether you learn on your own or go to school - the learning never stops.

[kelvincai]

From my personal experience, I would suggest you to go to a proper university/college and get a proper degree/diploma. You could get lists of recommended schools from studios' recruitment website. However, in order to stand out from the crowd, you have to work very hard by yourself. They hire you mostly based on your demo reel, but the skills and experience you have at college could benefit you lifetime.

[flon]

Thanks so much for the information guys, i've decided that i'm going to go to school for it but i'm going to get a head start on it immediately. Got 3ds max and i'm working my way through tutorials.

[DrOnion]

I can recommend Ringling and Savannah College of Art and Design. I went to both and got a lot out of each. Remember in our profession you take out what you put in, so if you apply yourself and make a point to learn in the off hours you'll get a good head start in the Cg industry. Good Luck ;)

[darkshark]

Personally, I'm going to stand on the opposite of what everyone else has said. In this industry, your portfolio is EVERYTHING, and with today's ease of access to information (the internet! Who'da thunk it?) you can certainly learn at a ridiculously faster pace than any schooling could give you. That is, as long as you have the right drive to push yourself to learn.

Go sit on youtube all day and watch tutorials, follow along, play with the program in your spare time, make it your passion. Get an idea in your head of something you'd like to make, write it down/draw out a sketch, then make it in 3d, you will run into problem after problem and things you don't know how to do to achieve that original idea, you'll begin to develop you own workflow and problem solving skills that teachers can't teach you, just by sticking to an original idea.

I never went to school for any of this, and now I'm an Industrial designer and technical animator for a big corporation, I even replaced someone with a masters degree.

In an industry that doesn't hire based on that piece of paper you get from a school, I say take advantage of that. Good luck either way!

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