The handwriting is clear on the
wall, the world is moving toward the 3d animation style; and when I say the world,
I mean most American and European animation Studios. This does not necessarily apply
to the Asians, who as of today still prefer the Japanese hand drawn Manga
style.
The truth is, if you hope to get
a quick placement in the industry after grad, studying 3d is advised, today the
Game, Animation and Movie studios need it like mad - however that is not a
guarantee for placements. There are many good 3d artists out there and for you
to compete with those you must be well grounded. Being well grounded in this
sense requires that you have a good mastery of 2d hand drawn animation style
and be able to 3d Model and Rig, in addition to animating. Having most, if not all
of these skills at your disposal would give you an added advantage, especially
at smaller studios or while working as an independent.
But hard as it may seem, 2d
continues to make resurgence in the animation industry. Even after Disney shut
down its 2d animation department, they still experimented with a 2d animation
shot called: “THE PAPER MAN”, combining both 2 and 3d animation styles, does
that bring anything to mind? Even the internet and Cable stations, like the
cartoon network, still show a lot of 2D animations for long running TV series,
because it is faster to produce. Also put in mind the amount of money the “WHITE
BOARD ANIMATION” style is earning as of today. This is a sub-set of the 2D
animation, and presently it attracts the marketing industries all over the
world. Even though it is mostly done with the computer, it easily captivates
people’s attention because it follows a natural drawing approach that our
preconceived minds easily associate with – I wonder if using 3d for such white
boards would reenact similar feelings.
Art has always been my passion. But
while growing up, in the part of the world that I am from (Africa), placements
as an Artist after graduation is difficult. So, my Medical Practitioner father
wouldn’t allow me study Art professionally, not as long as he is paying for my
degree. And truly, it was after graduating as an Electrical-Electronics
engineer that I saw the advantage of what he did to me when I was a little younger.
However, my passion still lies in the Arts. I drew comics, experimented with
some few animations using Corel Photo-paint8, Flash MX and U-lead 3d, and even
made some few painting during those periods. My traditional drawing skills really
helped me when I migrated to using computer. People think that it is the
software that does the job, but forgetting that it is not the tool, rather it
is the man behind the tool that does the job. Today apart from being a Mathematician,
Engineer and a computer programmer (C#, VB.net, HTML etc), I can say I am a
self thought animator. I am not saying I am there yet, but I always look for
ways to improve everyday. I visit forums, read articles, watch videos and
practice a lot at my spare time; yet still look for time to take care of my
wife and two lovely daughters.
So as you pursue your degree in 2
or 3d animation, if you are in any of the aforementioned continents, always remember
to put in the extra work on the side. In short, be able to multi-task. And knowing
something extra would not hurt, it will always be an added advantage in future.
Really, it can be very disappointing, if after putting all the money and time
your expectations are still not met. Placements or not, life can be very
unfair, no job is even guaranteed; and that is where true passion comes into
play. Everyday, I become even more pissed with my paid job, but on the side I
have started my little Publishing and Multimedia Company, Exquisite Concepts (Exconc) Studios, which I intend to grow
over time. Now I make some few bucks with this, but I know it can get better
and any moment I intend to face it full time. The Flinger Nose comics, is a
section of the company that caters for all the Computer Graphics (CG)
works. I will also post this Article on my
cartoon blog at flingernosecomics.blogspot.com. Note that these are just my
opinions and would not want you to take it as a full authority. Share it if you
like it.
My Quote: Instead of following uninteresting
career paths why not create a new path for our career to Trail – By this we’ll
take the lead and our career follow!
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