Don’t go to animation school?
Sep 1st, 2008 by Matt
Outside Hollywood has an interesting article concerning animation schools. They assert that school is a waste of time and that to become a truely great animator, all one needs is a good resource for tutorials and time.
The example they use to prove their argument is a popular student project known as “Colins Bear”. This film is Colin Sander’s final project in an animation class and stands as a special “Thanks for Nothing” to his professor.
According to an interview with the student:
The course is called Animation Arts. I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to assume that this course would then be about the art of animating…
…Unfortunately for the 55 of us in the class, our professor did not have an understanding (or at least he didn’t demonstrate an understanding) greater than an above average student. He seemed to be learning it along side of us. This video is actually my final assignment.
Alrighty, Here is the thing. I am not going to defend his professor. For purposes of this argument, lets assume that the professor was incompetent and brought no real value to the class. That still gives Colin no excuses for how his project turned out.
Because, as much as I disagree with much of what Outside-Hollywood says, they actually do have a point. You can learn how to animate on your own. After all, an animation class only meets for a few hours a week, and a teacher can only pack so many lectures into those few hours. How much technical knowledge can one really learn in a single semester from classroom instruction? Consider that there are plenty of blogs, forums, tutorials and manuals out there. Everything that one needs to know about the mechanics of 3D animation can be found on any number of websites.
So why didn’t Colin take advantage of these resources? If his teacher was so clearly unfit to teach it to him, and if Colin was as serious about wanting to learn as he seems to want people to believe, why didn’t he simply spend the time and effort to learn how to animate on his own?
The answer is simple. Colin just didn’t really care enough about the craft to bother himself with learning how to become a great animator. The proof is in his project. He had all basics down: A model, which was rigged and skinned. He knew how to move the skeleton and set his keyframes. He had everything he needed to produce a great animation. The only thing he didn’t have was a desire and the self motivation to spend the time and effort to refine and improve his skills to the point of professionalism. Or, at the very least, competency.
A truely great animation teacher brings more than a simple text book knowledge of the subject to his class. A great teacher brings an intimate knowledge of the theory and the art of animation to his class. A book can only teach you how to animate, but a teacher can give you the passion, the knowledge and the desire to become an fantastic animator.
As far as the quality of your work is concerned, here is a tip: If you are currently taking animation classes and are not please with the quality of the work you are producing, ask yourself “Am I spending enough time with my work? Am I working constantly both inside and outside of class to improve my skills? Or am I simply waiting for my teacher to get around to showing me how to press the various buttons on the screen.” The way you answer these questions should give you a very good idea of why your work is failing.
I understand your argument for a student to be motivated, I really do. But I feel that a university owes it to its students to provide them with a knowledgeable, competent professor who can teach them.
If anyone in academia should be failing the student, it should be themselves.
Provide the tools, the knowledge base, and the professor and then let the student choose not to do the work. It shouldn’t fall solely upon the student to teach themselves. If that were the case, the student would be in independent study.
That’s just my .02 since I’ve never been on the other side, but I have had a similar experience to the student.
You do have a point Dave.
The college does have a responsibility to provide adequate instruction and lab equipment. The point I am trying to get across is the educational responsibility does not lie solely on the school. The student must take responsibility for his or her own growth as well.
Wow – that animation was pretty bad.
Great topic, I agree with everything you have said but “A book can only teach you how to animate, but a teacher can give you the passion, the knowledge and the desire to become an fantastic animator.”
I would have said, A teachers job is to inspire and teach a student how to animate. Eventually helping him or her to become knowledgeable. But it is up to the student to find his/her passion and desire to become a fantastic animator. Those are internal feelings a student should explore and grow outside of class on their own.