For starters, I’m a graduate of the VFS Classical Animation program. There, I picked up the basics of traditional animation and got my start in the 2D industry. Like most new graduates these days, I couldn’t find work right away. After a few months of active job-searching, I started to lose hope. However, I got my big break when I ran into a director during a routine portfolio drop-off. He gave me a chance and that’s how my career in animation began. I guess it’s all about timing. For the next 5 years, I was able to work in various studios on televised Flash-animated programs for the ‘tween’ demographic. I was also fortunate enough to work on shows I could be proud of and put on my demo reel.
Having become somewhat disillusioned with the Flash animation industry from the increased outsourcing and decreased creative control over the content I was working on, I wanted to do something new.
The university was government-subsidized, and I knew graduates who had successful careers in games and 3D studios that went there.
Some people I once worked with were now working on 3D animation projects and video games. I also heard these people took the Capilano Digital Animation Program so I did some research. As many will agree, it turned out to be the best bang for the buck. The university was government-subsidized, and I knew graduates who had successful careers in games and 3D studios that went there. Already feeling I was late to the party, I quickly applied to the Capilano University Digital Animation Program.
Learning Again
I took the best pieces of animation I acquired over my years in the industry and submitted a tidy DVD with my portfolio. It looked like my experience in the industry helped because I made it into the program despite hearing how hard it was to get in. For those who haven’t worked in the industry, a full hardcopy portfolio with life drawings and sketches is highly recommended, if not required.
I was still working in the Flash studio, the few months before classes started, but during this time I was already brainstorming. Should I do a short film? Animated acting pieces? Modeling? This thought process definitely brought me to a solid idea sooner than I expected.
For the first 4 months, the class did small exercises in each piece of software to get a feel for the keys and controls. This ranged in everything from modeling all the way to rendering and compositing. In the last few months, we formed groups to create short films. Generally, I hate group work because not everyone carries their own weight, but in this case, I was relieved to have done it. Whether the group members turned out to be lazy or hard-working, all of us got a crash course about workload and organization. It’s one thing to learn the software step by step, but it’s eye-opening to put it all together in a small production. The amount of problems that surfaced forced us to quickly create solutions on the fly. It was an exercise in intuition. As a bonus, the short film looked great and everyone played a strong role to make it that way.
The Personal Reel
Soon after the reward of Christmas break, we were thrown into the final 4 months of the program. Even though time was spent planning our personal reels, there were still classes to teach us the finer points of the software. These classes eventually became shorter and shorter and developing our reels became full priority.
So for those who can only do one thing at a time, you’ll have to learn to do two.
One big lesson I learned from working in the industry was that you schedule your workflow then triple the time you think it will take. Every step in the process needed an extra week to iron out the glitches. However, this program was short and the week dedicated to fixing, say, model problems would be overlapped with rigging. So for those who can only do one thing at a time, you’ll have to learn to do two.
Near the end, you realize you had 3 months instead of 4. Grad preparations like printing your own promotional posters, designing business cards, mailing out industry invitations, and setting up the show booths takes a lot of time and effort from all the students.
The Gradshow
This is the goal. The Gradshow is like a tradeshow for your personal work. This year was the first time we held the show in a major venue in the middle of downtown Vancouver. Our reasoning was that studio and industry recruiters would have no excuse to miss the event because most of them work downtown. One night is specifically for industry folk, while the next day is for everyone and anyone. Since both the Commercial 2D animation and the Digital program are present during the show, I ran into a lot of old friends and co-workers from my 2D days. It was nice to reconnect with those people because I was oblivious to the industry from being stuck to a computer monitor for 8 months.
The School And Teachers
These bits are the most important so I’ll try to make it as cohesive as possible.
The first 4 months are a great opportunity to develop an idea or specialization for your reel. If you haven’t come up with one before you started, do it now.
Tell the instructors your area of interest and they will help you organize the steps you need to make it shine. It also helps to have knowledge and love for that interest. If you want to animate, you’ll need solid traditional skills to make 3D believable. If you want to model, real-life reference and the ability to sculpt will help you. How you acquire these skills is up to you. For me, animation was part of my work experience. For you, it could be months of life drawing and sketching on your own or in a traditional animation class. Knowing how to animate beforehand is a definite plus.
Even though it’s possible, the program is probably too short to create a ‘film’. It’s designed to focus on a skill such as modeling and hone it to perfection.
Even though it’s possible, the program is probably too short to create a ‘film’. It’s designed to focus on a skill such as modeling and hone it to perfection. Most schools that produce amazing festival-worthy shorts require nearly 2 years of commitment, an amazing talent in traditional animation, and a hefty tuition fee. Cap’s Digital program is well-priced because it aims to give you the skills quickly and get you out into the industry. Considering what you pay in tuition, it’s an amazing deal compared to digital programs in competing schools.
The instruction is excellent because the teachers are constantly researching the technology and are always in touch with the industry. Most of them are working at game studios and even bring industry guests to speak about their field.
In the end, it feels like the program could have been a bit longer by a few months. However, the short schedule teaches you to plan your time wisely. I can determine what I’m capable of finishing in 4 months because of my industry background, but everyone is different. Students or those new to the industry should learn not to fall in love with one part of the process because the schedule is more important. Finish what you can then move on and schedule time to fix things. Trust me – you’ll always need it.
What Now?
This year’s Capilano Digital class produced the program’s best work by far. Unfortunately, timing is everything. We’re currently in the worst economic slump since the Depression so jobs are scarce or non-existent. The best you can do is apply everywhere and keep up-to-date with the software and methods. Also, stay in contact with your classmates, your teachers, and even the guest industry people.
On the flipside, most industry veterans will tell you this is part of a cycle. The same thing happened to me in the 2D industry, but when I finally got my foot in, I worked nearly non-stop for the next 5 years. Things can only go up from here and I’m confident my classmates and myself will soon have plenty of jobs to choose from.
If the 2D industry was any indication, the 3D industry will be just as rewarding or better.
Check out gradshow.com to read more about the program or check out my blog at kungfulove.blogspot.com where you can find my reel and links to my classmates.
Good luck!
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Yumiko
Well put, Rodriguez!