<p>Can anyone recommend a good animation school? We have been looking and have not had a lot of luck. Looking for something that focuses more on animation and less on film-making, etc.</p>
<p>The top two schools for animation are Ringling and Cal Arts. Both are heavily recruited by top studios. Competitive to say the least.
Whatever schools you consider, look up their websites to get a sense of the quality of student work.
Googling animation schools will give you a working list–narrow your list down a bit (part of country, economics, gaming design/movie animation) and I’m sure you’ll get more responses and opinions. CC always has opinions!</p>
<p>Hi gouf! It’s great to see you; how is your daughter doing?! I am just back from Family Weekend at Ringling. It’s hard to believe my daughter is already in her junior year! We attended a career services presentation that included two Disney recruiters, a Hasbro recruiter, and another from a company that develops apps for the health care industry, LucidGlobal. The focus was why they recruit from Ringling year after year. Bottom line is the students graduate with the technical and social skills they need to succeed in the workplace, and indeed possess what they need to land good internships while still in college. I know your daughter and her friends have done well and I hope for the same!</p>
<p>Collegemom, regardless of where your student decides to apply, pay close attention to the deadlines for Animation. I know at Ringling it is early, usually a January cut-off with far more applications than seats available. One thing the Disney recruiters said was the technology at Ringling rivals that of any professional studio! The college definitely invests in facilities and technology across the majors, no question about it. Best wishes!</p>
<p>If you are interested in a midwest school, MCAD in Minneapolis was just rated number one according to:</p>
<p>[Best</a> Animation Programs Top 20 list: The Midwest | Animation Career Review](<a href=“http://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/best-animation-programs-top-20-list-midwest?page=0,1]Best”>http://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/best-animation-programs-top-20-list-midwest?page=0,1)</p>
<p>My D goes there and has had several grad student friends in the animation program. From what I understand, there is emphasis placed on 2D drawing skills, not just the tech stuff.</p>
<p>colcon:
What is your daughter’s major? Time fly! How is she now/</p>
<p>Hi Colcon! Glad you had a good time at parent’s weekend–I miss them! Hard to believe your D is already a Junior! And soon it’ll be senior thesis and show time!
DD is happy and recently got the chance to do a “scratch track” (voice over) for a bit part in a movie (no idea if it’ll get used but definitely lots of fun!) Always something new to work on. Also lots of work–think she lives at the office during crunch time.</p>
<p>collegemom, I agree with redbug; fundamental drawing skills are important and I would imagine all of the top schools place an emphasis on that. By techinical skills I meant not only technology, but drawing, draftsmanship, development, presentation, etc. Look for a program that offers it all, and dream big!</p>
<p>Hi gouf! Well, if your daughter is living in the office then I guess it’s not much different from being at Ringling (wink)! My daughter works so hard, 7 days/week but I think it will prepare her for the real world. How fun that your daughter did a voice-over! Maybe it will lead to more. What an interesting life, right?! So many diverse projects.</p>
<p>Yes, parents’ weekend is always fun! We have done it at the huge universities and now at Ringling. It’s a good excuse to visit and an opportunity for kiddo to re-energize, get off campus, have a change of atmosphere and also show us what’s new. Even though she had a ton of work to do it was fun for her to do it at the hotel, as she could chat and still finish some projects. Time is just flying by. She is already talking about her senior show!</p>
<p>loveblue, it’s so great to hear from you! I have to catch up with everyone. My daughter is an illustration major. She loves the hands-on work and also has surprised herself with how much she enjoys computer illustration! How are things going for you and your daughter? She doesn’t graduate this year, does she?!</p>
<p>Not just drawing, but drawing from life. Practice figure drawing skills and anything that shows action.
No not much different than college–that’s one reason employers go to Ringling–the students are so used to working hard that they still think real world work is easier by comparison!</p>
<p>There are a couple of other schools that I would recommend in addition to Ringling and CalArts.</p>
<ol>
<li>School of Visual arts in NY: This is probably the best 3d grad school in the east coast after Ringling. They also have a strong 2d animation program in their undergrad offerings. It also has the huge advantage, ( and the cost disadvantage) of being in Manhattan. Let’s face it: You will get more internship opportunities in Manhattan vs. Bum crap iowa or savannah.Moreover, all their professors are currently working in the industry and thus have a LOT of connections.In addition to their traditional major in 2d animation , they have a 3d concentration in it as well as a computer art major.</li>
</ol>
<p>2.SCAD: SCAD has a very strong 3d and 2d program including a strong sequential art program. They even have a sound design major. Moreover, you can take courses from all disciplines. However, they are in Savannah and not a great area of Savannah at that… enough said.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>USC: Very well known and strong program on the west coast. However, like their Calarts counterpart, where many prefessors come from, they are very 2d oriented including wanting a strong 2d portfolio.</p></li>
<li><p>Cal Arts: Widely considered the best school in US for animation,but is very 2d oriented. They have both character animation ( which is primarily 2d) and experimental animation. Be advised that CalArts is widely considered a primarily 2d oriented school.</p></li>
<li><p>RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology): RIT is the newest member of the elite programs offering animation. They have both a 2d and 3d program and courses can be taken from both offerings. I like their program a LOT; Also, they are in Rochester, which limits connections and are a relatively new program.</p>
<ol>
<li>Ringling: A number of folks recommended Ringling ,which has the top ranking for 3d animation. However, it is primarily a 3d oriented school. Don’t expect much scholarship money from them too.</li>
<li>Academy of Art University in San Fran. This is NOT part of the Art Institutes and like RIT have both a 2d and 3d oriented animation majors. They have good rankings and a good representation in the industry of its grads. Other than that, I don’t know much about them.</li>
</ol></li>
</ol>
<p>8.Digipen in Redmond, WA. They have a strong animation program,but it geared towards entertainment design/game design. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Pratt Institute supposedly has a good program. Moreover, they are in NY,which helps with internships and connections.</p></li>
<li><p>RISD has a very good 2d animation program. It isn’t as well ranked as some of the other programs mentioned here, but it is supposed to be good.</p></li>
<li><p>San Jose State University in Calif: Supposedly has a very strong program. However, I don’t know much about their program.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>12.Fashion Institute of Technology supposedly has an up in coming program. Moreover, it is part of the NY State University system,which makes them very reasonable in tuition. It is a relatively new program. Thus, I don’t know much about them.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Drexel University’s Digital Media Department in the Westphal College of Media Art and Design supposedly has a good program. I don’t know anything about them though.</p>
<ol>
<li>Laguna College of Art and Design is a good combination of an animation program and a small liberal arts school. I don’t know enough about them though.</li>
<li>Dupaul University supposedly has a strong program. It certainly looks good on paper.</li>
<li>SAIC ( School of Art Institute in Chicago) supposedly has a very good program. It is also a top program for painting and illustration too. </li>
<li>I know that UCLA has a top ranked animation grad program , although they too are primarily 2d oriented. I don’t know about their undergrad offerings.</li>
<li>Florida State University, College of Motion Picture Arts has garnered a good reputation for its animation offerings. You should check them out. In fact, you should check out all the schools mentioned. </li>
</ol></li>
</ol>
<p>Finally, whatever program you decide on, get a subscription to Gnomon’s video library. It is only a few hundred dollars a year,and you will have access to training by some of the best people in the US on a wide variety of topics.
I hope all this helps and that I didn’t overwhelm you with the vast array of choices.</p>
<p>Hey taxguy! Knew you’d show up!</p>
<p>colcon: my D is a junior also. She is in Germany now to have a semester exchange. She is doing fine also.
Good to know your D is doing good!</p>
<p>In my post above, post number 10, I forgot to add MICA to the list. Although MICA seems to fall under the radar, they have supposedly a very strong undergraduate animation offering. They are also strong in illustration too.</p>
<p>I do know that there are other schools that I didn’t mention such as MCAD, OTIS, Penn Academy of Art, Ohio State, Cal State Fullerton, Emerson College, etc. I don’t know much about these schools and don’t see them listed high in any rankings for multimedia or animation. They might, however, be fine. You would need to check them out.</p>
<p>Taxguy - guess you missed my post: </p>
<p>"If you are interested in a midwest school, MCAD in Minneapolis was just rated number one according to:</p>
<p>Best Animation Programs Top 20 list: The Midwest | Animation Career Review"</p>
<p>Are you looking for an art school or univeristy? We went through this with our D and she wanted to go the BA route. She is at Loyola Marymount University and loves it. Lots of art classes along with animation classes. Someone posted elsewhere about getting the full LAC experience in taking history, math, science, etc. classes, and I would completely agree that makes you a more well-rounded person as far as storytelling goes, which can influence your art. LMU SFTV strongly embraces this idea, as well as the whole Jesuit philosophy of “Cura personalis” or educating the entire person. BUT I will also tell you this is not a heavy-handed religious school. Jobs? I don’t know particlular stats on how employers rate the program. I will tell you that students DO get studio internships and get hired, but I don’t know the numbers. Good luck with your search!</p>
<p>Redbug, I did miss your post, so thanks for the addition.</p>
<p>Hi Collegemom,
Great info above. DS found it wasn’t easy to find detailed information about four-year, BA-based animation programs (this is what he was interested in, also). I’ve included some info that might be helpful to others. </p>
<p>I second what JerrySpiteri said about LMU. If your student is interested in the BA route, Loyola M. is definitely worth a look. The program is well-connected to the industry. Santa Monica/Venice are nearby–these areas are chock full of new, innovative entertainment start-ups, etc. LMU is less well known than some other programs, but it’s very good. And they have recently invested a lot in their facilities; here is a thread describing the recent gift of $1/2 million to their animation program from the Walter Lantz Foundation.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/loyola-marymount-university/1296124-large-donation-lmu-animation-program.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/loyola-marymount-university/1296124-large-donation-lmu-animation-program.html</a></p>
<p>My son ultimately chose Chapman’s Dodge College, where he’s majoring in Digital Arts/Animation. It has <em>much</em> to recommend it. It’s well-connected to the industry–better than we’d anticipated. DS, for example, was thrilled last week to spend an evening “hanging out” with Andrew Stanton (Pixar director of Finding Nemo, Wall-E, and A Bug’s Life). When I say hanging out, I mean he talked to him all evening and sent me pics of him arm in arm with Mr. Stanton, both of them laughing. And DS is still a wet-behind-the-ears freshman! Leigh Rens, who did the Dubai Tower sequence for Brad Bird in Mission Impossible 4, teaches Intermediate Character Animation at Dodge. This fellow is legend. There are wonderful opportunities there. Dodge is extremely forward-looking and DS is having a blast, while being challenged in Chapman’s Honors College (where heavy critical essay writing and debate form the basis for small seminar courses). </p>
<p>Below are links with good info about the animation program at Dodge. Dodge’s Digital Arts major is headed by Bill Kroyer (of Tron and Fern Gully fame). He’s great with the students, very involved, and with only 20 students in DS’s freshman class there is a lot of one-on-one guidance and attention. Animation majors have the opportunity to collaborate with film students on as many projects as they desire–this offers a very ‘real-world’ experience that is good preparation for future industry work. (Digital arts kids are called the ‘rock stars’ of Dodge because their collaboration is so sought after by the rest of the film school’s UG and graduate students.) </p>
<p>Anyway, Chapman-Dodge is a hopping place…worth looking into if your kid is seeking a BA-based animation degree with lots of opportunity. More detailed info about the program below…</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/chapman-university/1312909-animation-digital-arts-chapman-great-inside-view.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/chapman-university/1312909-animation-digital-arts-chapman-great-inside-view.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/1313355-training-job-prospects-animation-digital-arts-2d-3d-visual-fx.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/1313355-training-job-prospects-animation-digital-arts-2d-3d-visual-fx.html</a></p>
<p>My son, a junior in high school, is interested in studying film production and/or animation in college. We are looking for a good summer program for high school students focused on these areas. He has taken several film summer workshops and has had some of his films appear at film festivals around the country.</p>
<p>For the upcoming summer, we are looking for something that might be a bit more rigorous, help him develop some additional portfolio pieces and perhaps even been well regarded by some of the top film schools.</p>
<p>Any recommendations?</p>