<p>Hello,Everyone!
This is my first time posting, but I have been a long time reader of this forum. I have a problem that I'm hoping someone here can help me with. I've always wanted to be an animator. I applied and got accepted into Pratt last year but was unable to go because I couldn't secure any alternate loans. As far as my finances, I can straighten that out okay, but my problem is with the animation. Since the computer animated films are doing so well, I'm fearing that there will eventually be no need for traditional animators. I'd hate to invest my time and end up with a skill that I'll have trouble using. I'm thinking about changing my major at Pratt to Digital Animation for fall '07. I haven't found too much info about the future of traditional animation and was wondering if anyone here could fill me in.
Thanks for an help :)!!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.rampway.org/article.php?id=367%5B/url%5D">http://www.rampway.org/article.php?id=367</a></p>
<p>Winniebear, do you mind sharing the other schools and programs you were looking at and/or applied to? I'm also interested in 3D animation. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Traditional animators are still in demand but the digital animators are in high demand all over the world. I'm not sure a traditional 4 year school is the way to go if you want to be a professional animator. </p>
<p>Check out Ridley Scott's Escape Studio in London. It is a combined studio and school. They teach a comprehensive course in Maya (the animation software used by film makers). <a href="http://www.escapestudios.co.uk%5B/url%5D">www.escapestudios.co.uk</a></p>
<p>Anotehr school is digipen: <a href="http://www.digipen.edu/main/AAA_Sequence%5B/url%5D">http://www.digipen.edu/main/AAA_Sequence</a></p>
<p>i was very sad when Disney made the announcement that they were all-digital from here on out.</p>
<p>i'd like to see some really talented people bring traditional animation back into popularity too.</p>
<p>I've changed my prospective career path to live-action movies though, so I guess I'm a hypocrite : )</p>
<p>I wish you all the best of luck.</p>
<p>Read digmedia's link. It tells you all you need to know. My brother works in animation in Hollywood. There is very little work for traditional animators in the film industry. There is still value in artistic skill but if you can't render it using 3D digital you probably shouldn't be planning on a career in animation. Learn Maya or die. </p>
<p>Go to Wikipedia and look up: Maya (software)</p>
<p>Check out University of Cincinnati's Digital Design program. It is more design oriented,but you can go in many directions with this major including digital annimation and special effects, not to mention web and interactive design.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help. I wasn't sure if the boom in digital anmiation was gonna be short-lived or not. I had read in the past that there have been slumps in animation before. Although I'm depressed about the obvious fate of traditional, I'm also open to digital and will learn whatever I need to learn....plus expand outside of animation. Is Pratt not a good school for digital? </p>
<p>Yuke: Besides Pratt, I had applied to SVA.</p>
<p>A number of years back when I attended SCAD, Industrial Light and Magic gave a demonstration at the college and showed the portfolios of applicants the hired. The portfolios ranged from 3-D to pencil sketch flip-type books (very good ones of course). ILM indicated they were primarily and almost exclusively interested in applicants that understood the physics and properties of motion as applied to characters. And because they used proprietary based software, they didnt care what applications the students knew.</p>
<p>If there is any particular feeder school into animation in the film industry it is California Institute of the Arts ("CalArts") (http://.calarts.edu and <a href="http://film.calarts.edu/)%5B/url%5D">http://film.calarts.edu/)</a>, which began with support of major studios in "Hollywod." But of course there are many other entry points, in part because there are many many different types of skill needed to create animation or any other kind of film (just sit through the credits of a few films to the very end, and you'll see what I mean). </p>
<p>But the trick is having marketable skills, connections, and luck. And if you're looking for entry into animation it's much better that you are offering skills that are likely to be in demand in the coming years. Of course there are many other industries (some related to film) in which you can use skills in digital design.</p>
<p>You might also find this article about animation in today's NYTimes to be of interest. It suggests the interest in computer animated films (or maybe animation generally?) may be waning a bit. Above all, keep in mind that the movie industry is extremely volatile, unstable. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/business/media/03animation.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/business/media/03animation.html</a></p>
<p>Thank you for that link Mackinaw. I passed in on to my daughter.</p>
<p>Mackinaw: Thanks for the link-that was an interesting read! Now, I need to figure out which route to choose!</p>
<p>I didn't know if anyone knew about this but while I was over on Wikipedia's site reading about the new Disney movies, I noticed that one of the new ones in the works will be 2D. Apparently,"The Frog Princess" (due out ?) is going to be Disney's first 2D animated film since "Home on the Range" in '04. The info stated that since Disney had Pixar now, that they were gonna bring back the 2D movies. If this is true, I'm very happy :)!</p>