3d Animation Classes: College or DVDs?
One thing that has been bothering me since I’ve graduated college is that I see so many DVDs and instructional courses for 3d animation classes online. It makes you wonder, is college really worth it? Right now I can’t answer that question, because I currently haven’t been hired based on degree alone. In fact, when I was in school, all of the professors seemed to indicate that a strong portfolio was more valuable than schooling. I’ve been graduated for 2 years and I have not stopped having to learn new things and software. Some of these DVD animation courses are really good and make me think about weather or not I should have used them or gone to school. The problem I have with the schooling or going to an animation college, is that it takes time for courses and curriculum to update to what is current. Alot of the stuff I learned was outdated by the time I had graduated. In fact, my old portfolio is in serious need of a scrapping. I’ve said this before I’m sure. Software like Zbrush was not included in any of the courses or classes at my school. Now, it probably is, but that is no good to me. I can’t afford to go back and pay for my schooling. The best bet is to get those DVDs from artists that work in either the gaming field or film and tv. I have seen a couple of those 3d animation dvds and they really are a wealth of knowledge. In some cases, they are better than or just as good as college animation classes.
Was my time at college wasted? I don’t think it was. I did learn alot. It helped me feel comfortable with learning 3dsmax. I feel as though anything can be accomplished in the program if you work hard at it and try. Just remember, that if you go to college and learn a 3dsmax or Maya type of software, that teaching techniques they use in their animation courses WILL NOT stay the same in about a year or two’s time. For example unwrapping UVs has changed almost one hundred percent from what I was taught at the time. The techniques used today are not only faster for the animator or modeler, but they are also utilize different structure and algorythmns. Pelt mapping cuts the time in half for unwrapping a character’s maps. Speaking of UVs, ZBrush has come up with a better way of unwrapping objects in their program. I haven’t tried it out for myself yet, but the video promotion I saw for it looks incredibly impressive and easy to utilize.
I’ve only really mentioned a fraction of the changes that have occured in the material that I have learned over the years. Remember, earning your degree doesn’t mean that is it. It’s actually just the beginning of learning new things in 3d. This is what I have learned in my experience. So, weather you choose an animation school that has 3dsmax or Maya, you will always have to be ready to take in new things and throw out the old ways of doing stuff. It can be extremely frustrating for a 3d animator or artist that is set in his ways. You just have to roll with the punches.
On a side note, I’ve ordered a lifecast of a famous actor’s head that I will be recreating in 3d. Not only will I be modeling this head, I’ll be animating it as well. It will be part of my upcoming tutorial on creating a very realistic 3d human head. I’ll be trying to recreate the effects used in Bejamin Button and the upcoming Tron Legacy 3d movie, but utilizing my own methods for doing so. The programs that I plan to use will be 3dsmax, Zbrush and Photoshop. I’ll keep everyone posted if any of that changes. One thing I plan on paying special attention to is the eyes and muscle movements of them. I will be studying and looking at pictures of the FACS or Facial Action Coding System. Then I will have to go back and look at screen caps of old movies the actor is in. It will be a tough task, but I have a theory on making it all work.
It’s also important to mention that most of the techniques I’ll be using will be new. Meaning I haven’t learned them in animation school or college. Some I thought up myself. I will say that the basis of the project will start off with what I learned in 3d animation school, but will radically change and require more work than I’ve done before. Overall I expect it to be 50 percent old techniques and 50 percent new techniques being used, but I’ll have to keep track and see if it changes by the end of the project. One of the reasons I am using a lifecast is because I can’t get the famous actor to volunteer for this 3d animation project and second, I’ll be able to draw in pencil(freehand) the topology as a guide for modeling so that i can be done extremely quick without having to figure out the topology in the 3d program while modeling it. So yeah, part of the reasoning for the lifecast is because I can afford to pay 30 bucks for a fake head that doesn’t move and won’t complain that I can draw on with pencil. The other part is that it is of a famous actor who is middle aged now, but was young when the cast was taken. If I do my job right, my 3d animation and modeling will show who the lifecast of this actor is. My goal is the to have the same effect achieved in movies currently being made today. Did they teach all of this at college? Not all of it, some of it is my idea based on the ideas that I was taught which is a good thing for me, because I’m learning more and haven’t stopped thinking in 3d or like animator. Going to school or choosing to be self taught is up to the animator. If you have good work, you will get the job you want and you will learn more. The key is to never stop learning and never stop loving animation, 3d or special effects if that is the field you want to get in to. If all things go well, when the tutorial is done and people see the final output they will immediately think it was all done in Maya. Modeling, Rendering and Animation. Heh. The bottom line of this post is that I am going to be using information that has been taught at 3d animation classes in college and new stuff that can also be found on today’s 3d animator dvds.
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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 6th, 2010 at 2:23 pm and is filed under 3d Animation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
CNA Salary May 26th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
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