Everyone’s Educational Background

I was wondering where everyone went to school or self-learning if you didn’t? Any thing is fine IMO. Gum roads, Cal Arts, Linda, Gnomon, etc.

I went to CU Denver, which looking back, I wouldn’t recommend.

I did go to Film School, though truth be told, I didn't think I learned that much there. I was a pretty proficient 3D-Artist beforehand already, learning through tutorials. There was the occasional class, such as color theory, storytelling, art history... that I probably wouldn't have had the motivation to learn myself, but apart from those, I think it's entirely possible to self-learn 3D Software, Animation, Modeling, Compositing.

I've had the opportunity to work with a couple of colleagues at different animation studios through the years who were self-taught, and even now as a freelancer and 3D-Business, I see many who did not go to any kind of design or filmschool at all, and hey are still pros.

I think Filmschool gives you 1. Time to focus on the subject, 2. motivates you to focus and get better because there are so many likeminded around you (and also because it usually costs a good bit of money) 3. A Structure / Plan that has been proven to work to get better

If you have the discipline and self-motivation to keep at it for years I think you should be able to do it on your own.

This is older, but I'm answering because I think it is interesting in today's age.

I went to college for marketing and psychology. Ten years ago, I would have told you it was the greatest two choices I ever made. Now, not so much. Now, I think psychology is largely a lot of pseudoscience. The same can be said about marketing, I think. When I was younger, I had won some scholarships to Columbus Academy of Art and Design. Part of me wishes I had gone that route instead. But over the years, I think I've filled a lot of that void with extreme learning online. At the time, I had also considered the D.A.V.E school and went on a tour there. But the cost was too high. Interestingly, at the time, they used Lightwave.

Now that I have a bit more time to learn 3D on a more dedicated level, I'm utilizing as many places as I can. Pluralsight, Lynda, Greyscalegorilla, Patreon, Learn Squared, Mograph Plus, Art Station, Elementza, The VFX School, etc. I was thinking of taking some courses at the School of Motion, but I don't know that what I'll learn hasn't already been covered elsewhere.

The issue, I'm finding, is that as you get deeper into learning at higher levels, it becomes harder to find places to learn. I'm not at those levels, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is something I've noticed as I've been exploring places to dedicate my time in learning at. I think that is where college has benefits.

I feel there are two kinds of jobs.

1. A job that nets you a good amount of money if you are a freelance or business yourself or nets you smiles from your superiors as you bring in good money to their business - but such a job is usually tedious, not very creative and doesn't really scratch that passion itch that you have to get better as an artist. Yes you get more efficient, faster, and learn to create exactly what the clients expects without spending too much time, but it's more or less stuff you already know how to do and only learn how to improve the efficiency of this kind of work.

2. is a job that in my experience is very rare. They allow you to push your creative boundaries through novel storytelling, style, animation. These kinds of jobs don't get you a lot of money but they look great in a portfolio. Clients are hesitant to pay a lot for such projects as they only spend big bucks on stuff they know will work and is more or less risk-free.

Anyway, how does this tie to educational background or learning?

You need job #1 to be able to spend more time on jobs #2 and push your boundaries. #1 allows you to monotonously create money fast without investing too much of your time and passion, and nets you time to work on #2 jobs that allow you to push your creative boundaries.

I rarely learn through tutorials or other online courses and almost always just take on a job that I know little about and learn by doing. I think it's often the case that you learn best this way, and it's difficult for me to just go through an online course and use that to create my job that needs this new skillset. To me that influences too much what the project will end up looking like and I want to be free of any biases.

Those are extremely strong points. I hadn't thought of those in relation to 3D. When I was in college, I started a web design company. I didn't know much to be honest, but I was too young to understand I didn't know what I didn't know. (Dunning-Kruger Effect.) Anyway, back then, there weren't all these friendly site builders, Wordpress, and tons of learning material. There were tutorials here and there, but not much. The same could be said for Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver when it came out, Macromedia's Flash, etc.

What happened was people would always ask me if I could do things outside of my comfort zone. And the only way to learn was by figuring it out. I have a very wide skillset across many fields due to this after twenty years. I have a great career now, that pays well, but it requires so much time and blood that I am exhausted and pretty burned out. For instance, even now if I see something I love, I open Photoshop or Illustrator and figure out how to recreate it on my own.

The only issue is - I don't get to explore very often things outside of what my employer expects from me due to time constraints. But things are opening up a bit where I can start spending time on this. I need to remember your points as I really start to learn 3D. I don't want to get caught up in a specific way of thinking and not see the forest for the trees. I should always try to break the rules, and try to figure stuff out on my own before looking online for help when it comes to learning these programs.