I hope someone can give me some good advice. Im thinking about taking a 1 month intensive maya or 3d animation course from vanarts. Should I be able to learn enough to get a few good pieces in my portfolio to help break into the industry . My background includes and a 3yr 2d animation diploma followed by a 4 yr Bachelor of Fine arts degree. I have taught myself a bit of modeling with maya learning edition and with 3d max. I know a yr long would be much better but the financial aspect would be dificult to meet now.
Unless you're going to community college there should be a pretty strong difference between a Maya course and an animation course. Unless you worked a big chunk of each day a month wouldn't make or break your reel too strongly from what you've got today. If you can't afford that length of time at school, consider doing what you can until you run out of the budget and then practicing with the remaining time.
I guess Ill go for the yr course then. But heres another question for all. I have noticed that alot of the schools off a 3d animation program and a 3d game animation program. The descriptions usually seem similiar. Wouldnt you learn what you need to know for the game industry in a normal 3d program.
Thanks for answers so far
What's useful in film can certainly be useful in video games, especially in the realm of "cinematics" or whatever they're calling non-playable scripted events or "movies that progress the story between stages" this year. However, on the flipside, I personally see a different mentality that would not allow, from a training standpoint, a gaming degree to be as useful in getting a film job.
One is a concentration in body mechanics and the technical aspects, while the other focuses on the expressive attributes of the body. Anyone with who has done a major motion picture's animation has nurtured their abilities to instill character, so stripping away the "acting" leaves behind the ability to move things around properly. If your job is to show a guy beating another guy in the face with a shotgun, it's more about the physical undertaking than any amount of performance.
I'm speaking of one way or another, though. A place like Ringling, for example, has its finger on the pulse of many different trends, so they'll try to keep a lot of similarity between programs at least in the areas where it counts. They have to protect their placement stats as well. I'd either decide where you want to devote your energies, or if you can't decide pick animation specifically. My recommendation as an individual. The Educator's Forum is a great place for a thread like this.
Bottom line: a well-trained animator will have little trouble getting a job in the games industry. If you're going to train anyway, aim high.
Without seeing the curriculum, I'm going to guess that the game animation program has some game-specific content, like low-poly modeling or level design; skills you just don't need in film.
It sux that they make you choose like this. I'm applying for an MFA program, and I have to choose between 2D and 3D. I've done both (and continue to do both), so I'd rather not choose. But I can't mix and match :mad: