Animation Schools: Which One is Best For Me?

I get asked a lot about animation schools and such. Which ones are good? Which ones are right for me? Which one will give me the best chance at success? Here’s a little inconvenient fact of life: No one animation school or program will be perfect for everybody. Mine included! It usually comes down to who you are and what the school is. Some people will totally mesh with the way a school thinks. The way the instructors teach will be perfect for them, the lessons will all be epiphanies and the results will be magical and fantastic. And then you’ll have just as many students who think the same program sucks, isn’t worth the time or money, doesn’t teach the way they like to learn, all the lessons miss the point and they leave frustrated and disappointed. And the rest are somewhere along a continuum between those two extremes. Does this mean the school is bad? Nah. Of course not. It just means that no one thing can be all things to all people, that’s all. Every animation school or program has its strengths and weaknesses. Each one is good and does a fine job and offers a meaningful service in its own way. And each one has a blind spot. Every school has its star graduates who have great demo reels. That doesn’t mean the school will be perfect, though. Along with the superstars you’ll have students whose work doesn’t quite inspire a lot of confidence. Unless everybody makes a stinker reel it’s not the school’s fault. Sometimes you just don’t get the right match, that’s all. And let’s face it, not every student brings their best to the table. So this is something to keep in mind when thinking about an animation school. It’s hard to know which one will be right for you, but most schools have pretty good information available that informs you about their goals, their ideals and their concepts of what a good animation education should be. In short- do your homework, keep an open mind and be willing to accept the reality that not every program will be right for you, even if it’s right for your buddy. The good news is that there is enough choice out there these days that the chances are pretty good that there is something that does fit your unique personality. The more the merrier I say! And if what I offer doesn’t work for you, hey that’s cool. I accept this as reality and bless your choice to go somewhere better suited for you to learn animation. In the end the important thing is you learning what you need to learn to improve your animation. The way I see it: it’s all about the student succeeding. Whichever way helps you do that the best: this is the way for you.