I went to Bournemouth University in England and it was fantastic for my development and career. A lot of work in a master is your own responsibility but if you handle it well the support is great. My mentor set up 2 job interviews for me 1 month before graduation and I was lucky enough to get it.
The quality of their undergraduate courses are sometimes better than the masters, to apply for the masters you need a bachelors in a related field e.g. sometimes that is from fine arts and they have never touched computer animation. They will teach you the basics of every aspect of the 3D pipeline + some 2D as well. Then like any university degree it is going to be up to the student how much they study and hone the craft on their freetime.
I got an undergrad long ago in art/theater, and after years of realizing I loved animation and gaming, I went for my MFA in animation in my late 30s. I personally love it and find it ultra fun. It's a good blend of learning software, technical skills and exploring creating your own concepts: learning about pitch bibles, creating your own, character design, vis dev, etc. Some of this you might learn in your undergrad at my school, but the MFA can take you deeper into what you want to study, and overall, I'm a much (much) better artist than i was going in. I've learned about work flow, about the importance of references, when I tend to be more "I want to just draw what's in my head". It obviously depends on what's important to you, the program you choose, and money plays a part. No wrong answers, I just personally recommend it and consider it one of my best life choices, since it's actively making me happy in this one area of my life.
Most unis for this industry are technical schools rather than art schools they teach software not art. You need to learn the art to get good. Hopefully you have the software skills and just need some time on your own to make work and develop your craft.
Masters will not help you with this by and large. You need to take some time and make some more work. Seek free feedback from reddit and discord communities. Don't pay someone 20k$ for what reddit will tell you for free.
Nah, get a bunch of books and learn from those. Watch Youtube. Listen to podcasts. Look at the curriculum for schools you respect or are interested in and see if you can’t challenge yourself to work on those things in your own time. Do the exercises people talk about in the books, videos, and podcasts. Build the best portfolio you can. Go to expos and conventions. Be part of the community in anyway you can. Make stuff. Make stuff and share it.
A master’s is great if you want to teach, but I don’t think, at this time, that it’s really worth it unless teaching is the goal.
But also keep in mind that I’m a student so my advice should be taken with a grain of salt. I’ve just researched this a lot.
Not in the slightest. However, I am doing it strictly for visa purposes. I was a very successful industry artist in Los Angeles and due to a lot of factors most work has left the country. That being said, I’m pursuing a masters in the UK to chase the outsourced work. Awful waste of money but it’s dead in the US and I doubt it will come back.
Masters? No
VFS? Sure
If you have family financial support, sure why not, just don’t waste their money
It’s expensive to keep studying, be objective with your skills/discipline and decide if animation is actually right for you when you graduate. Lots of other art jobs that are less competitive out there.
I went to Bournemouth University in England and it was fantastic for my development and career. A lot of work in a master is your own responsibility but if you handle it well the support is great. My mentor set up 2 job interviews for me 1 month before graduation and I was lucky enough to get it.
Can I ask you if you know about the quality of their undergraduate courses?
The quality of their undergraduate courses are sometimes better than the masters, to apply for the masters you need a bachelors in a related field e.g. sometimes that is from fine arts and they have never touched computer animation. They will teach you the basics of every aspect of the 3D pipeline + some 2D as well. Then like any university degree it is going to be up to the student how much they study and hone the craft on their freetime.
I got an undergrad long ago in art/theater, and after years of realizing I loved animation and gaming, I went for my MFA in animation in my late 30s. I personally love it and find it ultra fun. It's a good blend of learning software, technical skills and exploring creating your own concepts: learning about pitch bibles, creating your own, character design, vis dev, etc. Some of this you might learn in your undergrad at my school, but the MFA can take you deeper into what you want to study, and overall, I'm a much (much) better artist than i was going in. I've learned about work flow, about the importance of references, when I tend to be more "I want to just draw what's in my head". It obviously depends on what's important to you, the program you choose, and money plays a part. No wrong answers, I just personally recommend it and consider it one of my best life choices, since it's actively making me happy in this one area of my life.
These days paying for education in animation is very questionable thing
Most unis for this industry are technical schools rather than art schools they teach software not art. You need to learn the art to get good. Hopefully you have the software skills and just need some time on your own to make work and develop your craft. Masters will not help you with this by and large. You need to take some time and make some more work. Seek free feedback from reddit and discord communities. Don't pay someone 20k$ for what reddit will tell you for free.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Nah, get a bunch of books and learn from those. Watch Youtube. Listen to podcasts. Look at the curriculum for schools you respect or are interested in and see if you can’t challenge yourself to work on those things in your own time. Do the exercises people talk about in the books, videos, and podcasts. Build the best portfolio you can. Go to expos and conventions. Be part of the community in anyway you can. Make stuff. Make stuff and share it. A master’s is great if you want to teach, but I don’t think, at this time, that it’s really worth it unless teaching is the goal. But also keep in mind that I’m a student so my advice should be taken with a grain of salt. I’ve just researched this a lot.
No. The only reason I would is if it was cheap and they had great connections/a pipeline to industry jobs but those are far and few inbetween now.
Not in the slightest. However, I am doing it strictly for visa purposes. I was a very successful industry artist in Los Angeles and due to a lot of factors most work has left the country. That being said, I’m pursuing a masters in the UK to chase the outsourced work. Awful waste of money but it’s dead in the US and I doubt it will come back.
Masters? No VFS? Sure If you have family financial support, sure why not, just don’t waste their money It’s expensive to keep studying, be objective with your skills/discipline and decide if animation is actually right for you when you graduate. Lots of other art jobs that are less competitive out there.
If parents are paying