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Is Animation Mentor right for you?

As most of my friends know, I’ve spent the last year as a student in Animation Mentor’s character animation program.  This relatively new school has already built up an amazing reputation in the industry for the quality of its graduates.  I personally have learned so much and met some very talented, giving, and fun people during my time there.  This is school where they really take pride in their students and want them to succeed in the industry. As an educational experience I highly recommend it.

Like any school however, Animation Mentor is not the place for every student. Rich Fournier, one of my former classmates and currently an animator at Blue Sky Studios, has written a very good post addressing the complaints of some students who don’t feel like they have gotten what they wanted out of the AM experience.

It reminded me that I have been meaning to write my own guide for potential AM students- sort of a “what I wished I would have known at the beginning” sort of thing that also touches upon some of the problems I have seen others go through.  Because at the end of the day, Animation Mentor is really a community of students and every unhappy student impacts the community.


So is Animation Mentor right for you?
Ask yourself the following questions before you enroll:

1.  Do you really want to be a character animator in computer generated animated feature films  or high level, console type video games?

This question might seem a bit silly, but it really is important.  AM is a training school for a very specific type of job.  That’s not to say that what you learn at AM can’t be applied to hand drawn animation, or Flash work or special effects; it certainly can and will help you improve you as an overall artist.  However that is not the focus of the school and so it helps if you know that a job doing absolutely nothing except animating rigged computer characters at a company like Pixar or Blue Sky or Blizzard is what you really want before you begin.

2. Do you like social networks?

At it’s heart, AM is really a highly advanced social networking web site.  To be an AM student is to spend many hours leaving writing comments, instant messaging, tracking forums, and otherwise being online.  If you’ve never really gotten into Facebook and it takes you several days to reply to an email it is definitely going to impact how much you can interact and learn from your classmates.

This is something I do struggle with a bit.  I type slowly and badly, the result of a childhood spent as a dancer during a time (the early 80’s, yes I am old) when only kids who were going to be NASA engineers had their own computers. I have trouble instant messaging or chatting while also getting my work done. For me, the upside of having teachers from the best studios and classmates from around the world makes it worth the extra effort to stay involved, even if I’m not one of the most well known students around the virtual campus.

3. How much relevant experience do you already have?

I’m not going to say that you need to already be an animator to do well at AM because you don’t; many people who were not animators have become animators at AM.  However, be honest with yourself about what your current artistic and technical skill level is.  If you have never animated, never drawn a comic, never taken a life drawing course, never designed a flyer, never written a computer program, and generally never done anything even remotely connected to commercial art and computers before, consider taking some classes at a local community college or art center first.  Then if you decide to continue on to the AM program, you’ll  be a more confident, less stressed student.

4. What kind of learner are you?

Are you the kind of person who likes to learn things step by step or do you like to hop around within a subject? Do you learn best when given day by day deadlines, or are you able to stay self motivated even if an assignment takes many weeks?  Can you learn new skills from watching video tutorials or do you prefer to read instructional books? At AM the majority of the information is presented in videos and you must be able to express yourself in writing to your teachers and classmates, so it’s good to think about whether or not that style of learning suits you and if not what you can do to adapt.

Also consider what your classmates may be like and how that will effect your ability to learn. AM is a community of animators of all skill levels.  In one class you can have a 2D animator who is re-training in 3D, a biochemist making a big career change, a recent high school graduate, and someone who has been animating at a video game company for the many years, etc. This can be tough for the folks on the far ends of the ability scale.  If you are a very experienced animator, can you stay involved and interested even when the material being covered is pretty basic? If you are just beginning, can your ego take the constant reminder of how much you need to improve to get to a professional level?

5. Are you financially ready for AM?

Compared to a 4 year animation degree AM is a bargain. The tuition is still a large chunk of change though. AM does provide access to private student loans (think Sallie Mae) , but they are not deferred meaning you must start paying them back while you are still in school.  There are no other financial aid options, and in the current economic climate getting any loan has become complicated to say the least. Additionally, depending on your level when you start and how quickly you learn, you may find, as I did, that it is impossible to really give AM your all while working a full time job.  Being able to quit my job and knowing that I would still be able to meet my expenses added so much to my AM experience, and it shows in the improved grades I received after I stopped working! However, I have seen many students leave AM because they are too cash strapped to continue, or struggle through with a 9 to 5 job to the detriment of their progress and mental health.  AM isn’t going anywhere, so take the time you need to be on solid footing before you start.


6. Are your family and friends ready for AM?

AM requires a huge commitment of time and energy from you as a student, and it’s so engrossing that most of the time you won’t even notice how many hours you are putting into it.  Your family & friends will definitely notice though when you disappear from social events, cease to help out around the house, and generally are very very busy for 18 months straight.  Talk things over with them in advance and make sure they are OK with picking up the slack.  Trust me when I say that you do not want to be fighting over who didn’t do the dishes when you have an assignment due!

Some people are able to balance their family lives and AM well, even having babies and getting married during the program, but it doesn’t work out for everyone.  For those entering AM with major life changes on the horizon, it may make sense to think strategically about when you should start AM if you aren’t sure if you can juggle everything.

Again, I loved my time at AM.  This post is not meant to be a discouragement to potential students but a helpful guide and I welcome comments.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 4:00 am and is filed under animation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

11 Responses to “Is Animation Mentor right for you?”

  1. Freddy Burgos Says:
    June 17th, 2009 at 3:23 pm

    Great article Heather! You hit all the major points and it’s great insight into what to expect at AM. Especially number 6, time management and compromise is huge when you have families, friends, significant others, etc. Also, don’t exclude everything for the sake of your animation. Animation is also based on one’s life experiences so be sure to enjoy and live life fully.

  2. Anirudh Says:
    June 27th, 2009 at 12:59 pm

    Nice article Heather. I really wish there were guides like these when I was researching for AM. I did find all info, as to what kind of education they provide, what mentors they have and so on, but this kind of info was so very missing but I am glad to see such info finally out as it can make our AM experience so much better when we know what all is at stake.

    There are some other different points from my perspective…I may continue those on my blog. Will keep you posted.

    Cheers!

  3. J Lee Says:
    January 5th, 2010 at 8:47 am

    Heather, is it-?

    I really, really appreciate your info here. I am very much considering enrolling in AM. It seems to be exactly what I have been looking for for the past couple years for my career goal of 3D animation. Please, tell more about any of the down sides of AM; the more negative I know, the better prepared I will be in making my decisions on attending AM.

    Love the write, enjoy the candid & frank words & mature presentation. Thank you very much!

  4. overrated Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 8:26 pm

    I can honestly say that AM was not worth it at all…its a ton of hard work, to be sure…but after completion, you’re basically left to fend for yourself…their “career services” dept. is a joke. They essentially tell you congratulations!…thanks for the huge paycheck…good luck finding a job.

    One of their career dept. people contacted me. And after learning that I had not found work or even gotten an interview after a year post graduation, the career services agent told me to “just hang in there”…lol @ paying $17000 only to be told to “hang in there”…

    I just love getting financially raped…lulz

  5. admin Says:
    March 29th, 2010 at 3:34 pm

    Thanks everyone for your comments! I’m so glad folks are finding this helpful.

    JLee, as I’ve said my overall experience with AM has been great. When you ask me to tell you more about the negatives (and please don’t be offended if this isn’t what you were suggesting) I sense that what you are really trying to ask me is will AM get you a job and I can’t answer that question. Many people do get jobs while at AM or through people they’ve met there, many don’t. There are so many factors including your own abilities, the overall economy, if there are studios in your area and if you are able to relocate, what type of animation is currently hiring, etc… All I can tell you is that personally I am still freelancing while looking for my first full time position but I don’t in any way consider that AM’s “fault.”

    I would like to recommend that you check out industry watching sites for information on the animation business as a whole. Hopefully it will at least give you a better idea of what your chances are. One site I know has stats (for film and tv animation) is the TAG blog :
    http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/

  6. admin Says:
    March 29th, 2010 at 4:45 pm

    Overrated, I thought long and hard before approving your comment, because I think that your complaints are addressed in Rich’s post, the one that prompted me to write this post. Also because you aren’t using your real name. I don’t want trolling/flame warring on my blog.

    However I sympathize with your frustration at still being unemployed and you are not the only person who has written or spoken to me about AM this way, so I think I should respond.

    It is true that the job prospects of AM grads are different than they were a few years ago. The economic crash/crisis/depression/recession turned out to be far worse and longer lasting than anyone (OK, most people) predicted it would be. I am sure that when the numbers are calculated next year, all animation schools will find that their placement numbers have nose dived and there was no way AM was going to be immune. It’s harder to get any job, much less a highly desirable one. In my area several small game studios have closed, ImageMovers Digital just closed, and Tippet laid off people at the end of it’s most recent project, throwing a bunch of experienced animators and tds into the local unemployment pool.

    At the same time, enrollment in animation programs overall has risen- there are simply more people training to be animators. Around here, several local colleges have added an animation program or expanded the existing one in the last 2 years. AM graduates a bunch of new students every 6 months too and the program is harder than it was before. So us AM grads have to struggle in a job market less hospitable than we would have hoped. If you aren’t better than the other animators out there, or don’t have the connections, or you can’t relocate, etc…well that’s kind of just life no matter what school you had chosen to go to, and those other schools certainly aren’t cheaper.

    If you feel that one reason you are having trouble finding a job is because AM’s Career Services isn’t giving you the support you need, then I have to ask- are you working with them? Do you let them know when you apply for a job? Do you attend networking events and check in to get the inside scoop on recruiters or other contacts that might be there before you do? Do you check in on the job sections of forums and try to stay in touch with your mentors and classmates?

    Before AM I went to a 4 year university to study design. The Career Services department there was impossible to get in touch with, and completely geared towards non-creative jobs. It was utterly no help at all, and they never contacted me after graduation. AM’s Career Services have been light years more helpful and responsive.

    Maybe you are doing everything you can and still getting no where. If so, I’m very sorry and I hope things start to work out for you soon and that eventually you feel that the time, money, and work you put into AM was worthwhile.

  7. Chris Says:
    June 24th, 2010 at 6:13 pm

    Heather,

    First of all, this is a really great and helpful post for people planning to start AM.

    I have one question though. You’ve mentioned Animation Mentor networking events. How many such events are there, how important are they, how much will ones animation skills and job opportunities suffer due to not attending them? Are there other things organized “in life”, not virtually that would require travel to US?

    I’m asking this because I’m from Poland and traveling for such events would be a big financial problem, especially considering Polish salaries. Paying for AM is a pain on its own already.

    Of course if I had the possibility to get an animation job in US I’d relocate without hesitation, but single events are a totally different story.

    I have some time before I start AM, but it would be great to know these things upfront. For now I just started learning animation (I’ve graduated from Computer Science and I work in a bank right now, but I dream of a career change to character animation) on my own and am planning on building a solid base before starting, so that I’ll be able to make the most of the time at AM.

    Cheers,
    Chris

  8. robcat2075 Says:
    June 30th, 2010 at 7:54 pm

    A problem for all art schools, including animation schools, is that there are already more competent artists out there than the industry can use. Perhaps there were a few nano-seconds in the 30’s or 90’s when studios had trouble staying staffed, but one never reads articles about “Dangerous Artist Shortage” these days.

    Anyone considering a commercial art career like animation needs to comprehend that economic reality. I know they wont’, but they should.

    It’s a buyer’s market. It’s like acting; there are more people who want to do it than can ever possibly be hired.

  9. admin Says:
    July 9th, 2010 at 4:20 pm

    Hi Chris! Thanks! I’m so glad you find it useful.

    That’s great that you have decided to pursue animation, and that you are doing pre-AM prep work. Your comp sci background will be a great help to you I’m sure. That’s an area of knowledge that I’m lacking in and I need to catch up a bit post AM.

    As for the official AM networking events, they are mostly based in the US and the large CG conventions that happen here. Graduation, the job fairs, the annual bbq, Siggraph, GDC, CTN expo, etc…it all happens here in the states. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but since you are working right now at least you can factor that in to how much you need to save up for AM. From what I know about other international students, it seems like the most cost efficient way to take advantage of these opportunities and not go broke hopping back and forth across the ocean is to graduate during the summer term (preferably a year when Siggraph is in Los Angeles) and make a combination graduation/bbq/Siggraph trip.

    Unofficially, there are lots of networking opportunities at AM that are student organized and you will be able to take advantage of without traveling too far. Mostly people find each other through the AM website but there are also Facebook groups, skype chats, and gamers groups on Steam and Xbox. If you can get to Annency or one of the other European cons you’ll be able to hang out with other AM students, even if the school isn’t hosting any particular event.

  10. admin Says:
    July 9th, 2010 at 4:39 pm

    Hi Robert!
    Thanks for stopping by.
    Yeah, supply and demand is always a problem in any creative field. I do think there are more ways to find a place for yourself than many people realize, either in a small company or as a free agent, but it’s a struggle, one that I am apparently addicted to! ^_^

    This is a bit of a tangent, but have you read this article?

    http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2010/why-you-are-not-an-artist/

    It’s an interesting take on art as a job vs. as a vocation.

  11. VRamirez Says:
    July 20th, 2010 at 3:42 am

    So glad I stumbled on this posting. I have been trolling the internet trying to find as much information as possible before deciding on attending Animation Mentor vs traditional school. Finding feedback from current students and alumni I feel has been extremely helpful and I am thankful that posts like this are out there for people weighing their options. Any other links you may have would be greatly appreciated.

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