Yea, I’m from Perth and still in Perth. I’m going to be studying Graphics Design in Tafe… And then finish of in Uni. I wanted to do Animation but can barely find any courses in Perth that are running. Might do something online.
Wish there was more in Perth. Damn you WA… “Wait Awhile”.
Hi I’m from Perth and I live in Perth too 
It would be great to meet fellow Perthites interested in working on any special projects (or even not very special projects 
)
I’m going to the Supanova expo so if anyone wants to meet up there let me know I’m going for the whole weekend, also got some ex-tafe friends going who work in illustration, concept design and 3d.
that’s so true! I’ve been looking online and I’ve found there are so many more courses in the US and Canada
For anyone in Perth (Or WA for that matter) you should consider joining WAnimate (The West Australian animation association) — we run all kinds of events and are always happy to talk to local people who are looking to get into animation as well as folks already working here.
Check it out at http://www.wanimate.org.au
that’s so true! I’ve been looking online and I’ve found there are so many more courses in the US and Canada
I started out in Perth at Tafe doing graphic design and to be honest its the only thing I really needed to get going. You learn the fundamentals of color, form and composition there which is what they seem to skip over a lot in the more pricey institutions. Unless your the sort of person who needs structured learning, I would suggest getting the fundamentals down and then taking time off to teach yourself 3d with the aid of dvds and tutorials.
No one cares about what school you went to as long as you can show off some good skills to potential employers.
Thanks darkEyes, does that apply to people like me who are maybe more 2D and more into illustration/concept design? You can check out my deviant profile to see more of my work as I haven’t managed to update my gallery here yet http://artybel.deviantart.com/
Absolutely - in fact our next event is on the 24th of June and is a talk plus networking event (Sign up for the newsletter on the website and/or join the Facebook group for all the details)
It’s a free event so you can come along and see what we do and meet other people from the industry
Agreed.
The only thing I’d add about the various institutions in Perth is that education here is relatively cheap and, as Chris intimated, can provide a structure around which the less-iron-willed can hang their self-directed learning. It can also give exposure to new faces and new ideas while actually having a degree can help with immigration/visa’s later in life … as we don’t all have Canadian passports 
But the essence of everything I hear said about starting out anywhere applies just as much to people in Perth: Passion/dedication is the fundamental pre-requisite as everything else follows from there, so get back to work.
So you guys recommend Tafe? I did a VET their last year and it was awesome, I plan on doing it full time next year. I’m doing a hell of a lot of tutorials right now for 3ds Max just in my spare time because I want to do well.
Would you guys recommend doing a uni course as well? Or do you think its a bit unnecessary?
Depends how long you think you’ll need to spend getting good and what your requirements are.
Although i’d be tempted to enrol at Curtin, even if it was part time in a single unit of digital design, so you could have 24hr access to the 30+ machines with maya/mr just sitting there day in, day out, waiting to be your render slaves.
I got a bachellor of fine art degree from curtin & I found that fundamentals in colour & drawing were invaluable when I went to tafe later on. I found tafe to be better @ helping to develop varied & practical skills though because it was covering such wide range their was limited time to focus on developing specific skills, which is where doing your own self education via web, forums, tutorials, books, magazines, dvds & meeting with like minded people is invaluable. Another thing central tafe don’t use pcs so the software they used was not what is commonly used in industry, ie Cinema 4D, which I have not seen used in any 3D company!
Thanks for the replies guys.
BTW…
When I went to Central Tafe last year (the one in Claisebrook) the computers I used had the newest versions of 3ds Max and Maya on them, so maybe they have changed since you were last their?
I went to the one on Aberdeen Street, and did an Advanced Dip in Graphic Design there last year. I was wondering about what the other tafe was like. I was really annoyed how in my final year coz I wanted to major in Illustration I had to do Multimedia which I hadn’t done the previous year, so I was way behind everyone else then to top it off I found that the software that we were to use was not industry recommended and that most game studios use PCs, where as we only worked on Macs for the course. I ended up dropping the multimedia unit to complete later so that I could focus on illustration and concept design. You should get as much education as you can while you are still young, and the relationships you form with students and lecturers are a boon to your developing career. A lot of graduates have since gone on to form companies together. So I reckon go to tafe and start a career as soon as you can! 
I definitely plan on doing it, and is what’s wrong with Perth? The trading hours are the best ;).
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