26 Mar 2021, 22:07

@Michael-Angelo-Go Hello! I also majored in animation/illustration in college. I disagree with those that said you "need" to have a degree to get a career in animation. What you NEED to have is an incredible portfolio/reel. I have worked as an animator in games before and I can say from experience that the portfolio is all we really care about the resume just helps you get past HR.

HOWEVER, as said earlier the field is very competitive and requires an incredible amount of technical skills and going to college will also help you make contacts with industry professionals and you can apply for an internship as you are a student. The program I went to was a 4 1/2 year program, so it is NOT a short road, and as Ness said, I barely slept or had much of a life out of my schooling.

You could technically train yourself independently, but I think you would have to work even harder as there is less structure and you won't have the networking opportunities that a school could give you. And you'll need to do a lot of figure drawing which is easier to access at a college.

Since you've never animated before, I think it would be great to start learning and practicing that now. It's possible that you'll realize you don't enjoy the process of animation itself, so instead of waiting around and then paying for school, try it out first and make sure you actually enjoy it.

Also, you wouldn't start in story boarding, that is a different field. I think you might be able to start as a production assistant to get in the door. In the 2D animation days you'd likely start as an inbetweener or a clean up artist not sure about how that works now.