This question seems to come up quite a bit on various forums: “Should I go to school to study 3D computer graphics or visual fx”. The answer is yes. Or no. Or maybe. That’s not very definitive is it? Well, neither are the needs of newcomers and studios. I won’t go into which school you should go to, that is a whole kettle of fish and you are better off asking people like ex-students on the afore mentioned forums.
Goofy hat? Check!
Maybe a better question to ask is: “Do I need to go to school”. And the answer is: it depends. At this point you might be wanting to stick a sharpened pencil in my ear while screaming “Well what’s the bloody point of you or you blog, eh Matt?” and you might be right. Here is my general view on *needing* to get a piece of paper for your qualifications. For the more art focused side of the industry, personally I don’t feel you need qualifications. You need to be able to show you have the chops to do the work. Being able to produce good work on time and on (or under) budget is more important than a degree. For the more technical sides, like TD’s (Technical Directors), scripters, programmers etc, the fact is that studios do often like to see some kind of accredited qualifications.
Having said that, I am a great believer in education. Yes you can learn figure drawing from books, but it is no substitute for taking classes and doing real life studies. Another great benefit of studying is the interaction with students and teachers. Obviously with a teacher in a room you can immediately ask questions and get instant feedback. If you are studying at home it might take you days of trawling forums and asking questions to get a result. Another great side benefit of the class is seeing how different people work and bouncing ideas off them. Give 30 kids the same assignment and you will get 30 very different results and most likely people will learn different techniques and you will be able to swap tips and tricks.
Don't let this be you. Ask questions!
So Matt, what did you do? Well, my situation was a little different in that I was 30 or so when I went back to study. I already had a business degree and my reason for going back to study was twofold. Firstly, by committing time and money to study I was planting a flag that said “This is something that I am taking seriously as a genuine career change”. The other reason was that I found working full-time and stuyding CG after work was not effective for me. I was too tired and couldn’t give it the attention it deserved. By studying 2.5 full days a week full time, I could really focus on what I wanted to do.
In terms of how and why I chose my course, I didn’t choose the “best” course (and frankly, in my experience and others, a large majority CG courses are quite average). I chose a course that was quite cheap as it was subsidised by TAFE in Australia. It was also in a city that I had family in, that had friends and that I could transfer to and keep my safe government job. I knew that I would be learning a lot off my own bat, so for me, the course itself was not a big factor. The fact that I was going to a course full time at all was the main thing!
I agree. Having re-trained into the industry when I was 37 I needed to start somewhere and doing a 1 year post-grad in multimedia was that start. I ended up in tv but now am looking training in vfx at fxphd which I am really enjoying.
It pays to know the rules first which is why I am for some sort of formal training at least from a fundamental perspective so you have a foundation to build from.
Cheers Lance, thanks for the comments from another “old timer”
That’s the great thing about courses like fxPHD. They really do provide good industry based training to help you get that bit better, but an actual classroom environment is very beneficial as well. Definitely check out fxPHD as really, for the price, nothing comes close to it.
I saw your site through your signature from CGTalk. I will say that I also got a business degree and will be going back to school to learn CG/vfx soon. It always makes me happy to see a successful career-switch
Yeah sometimes I think I am too old to try to break in but I love it and think I could be quite good in vfx. I am definitely all for the classroom environment. If there was something local where I am in NZ I would go even though it would probably cost more. I do my learning off the web or buying books but learn alot quicker when in an environment of learning, if you know what I mean.
Absolutely. School is great, but it is also not possible for everyone and it is certainly not a necessity for most CG artist jobs. At the end of the day, they want to see your work. If you can do the job, that is all that matters! Don’t worry about being too old. I have found that the maturity offered by having already had a career helps quite a bit
Personally I think that the business/arts combination is a very good one. Frankly, there are too many studios and supervisors who couldn’t manage their way out of a paper bag or run a business. At the end of the day that is what it is, show *business*. If you have the business/art focus I think it makes you a valuable asset. Good luck with it!