Should You Attend One Of The Top Animation Schools?

Studying animation at one of the top animation schools can make all the difference to your career. While it is true that there is no substitute for raw talent, the pure depth of resources available at many of the top schools can more than make up for lack of skills in some areas. The first step to choosing a school is to decide in what area of animation you want to specialize, and if there is any particular company you would like to work for. Then you need to go to their website and have a look around. You’ll often find that they will have a list of animation schools on the site. They will usually point out that they do not endorse any of these schools, but the fact that they appear at all should tell you something.

Animation schools can be very expensive, so you really have to want to make a career out of animation. You also need to make sure you are getting your money's worth and learning from some of the best people in the industry. Great animators like Walt Disney, Preston Blair, William Hanna, and Joseph Barbera were, for all intents and purposes, self-taught. They passed on their knowledge and skills to their assistants and employees, who in turn passed it on to the next generation of animators. Unfortunately, over the years in the rush for technology many of the skills have been lost and are no longer taught in most schools. It is in any student’s best interest to find a school that still teaches the basics of animation. Even though you may be going to sit in front of a state of the art PC for years to come, the basic techniques will still apply.

Many top schools work with major animation studios, supplying interns and in turn getting the studios to provide teachers for course modules. Any time you can spend with working animators is invaluable, and getting an intern course at ILM, Disney or Pixar may ease your way into a first animation job after graduation. The internships are often oversubscribed with hundreds of applications for each post, so a recommendation from a tutor from the studio can be extremely useful.

Before choosing one of the top ranked animation schools, it is important to ensure that they will offer all the modules you will need to help you succeed in your chosen career. These modules should cover everything from basic animation principles to state of the art software. You should always try to get references from newly qualified graduates, and confirm with them that everything that was promised in the prospectus was delivered. With the right education from a highly rated animation school, you are one large step closer to your chosen career.

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