Need Advice for the best education in 3D

You could consider studying a 3D animation and modelling related course at the Enmore Design centre - although I'm not sure how easy it is to get in though, but it is a pretty good place to study from all I've heard.

Just a tip, Team Bondi hired a fair few students who studied 3D and animation from there.

Enmore Design Centre

I think you need a school that teaches you advanced stuff. Maybe you should talk to some people who have had experience with certain places before you make up your mind. It's a huge time and money investment so you should be fully informed.

You won't get the most out of your money if you don't understand the product you will buy.

However at the end of the day it's up to you to apply what you learn to get yourself into the industry. Some people who are self taught can still be 100 time better than a graduate...portfolio speaks more than that paper.

In the meantime keep doing what you love.

Pretty damn tight Dan.

Fun video to watch, but maybe the camera on the chase sequence could be smoothed out. It's a little nauseating the way it bounces and twists.

Be careful of the lure of space ships though. They're fun, but they aren't the best way to showcase your abilities.

You will probably want to shift your focus toward humanoid characters. Improve your knowledge of anatomy (life drawing classes are good for this). Colour theory too, and lighting. (look up Joel Styles web page, I think he has some handy stuff on there)

Fundaments in these area's will allow you to develop your skills in a more focused manner.

I am impressed by your video though, it demonstrates a willingness to apply yourself and see a project through to completion. This is something lacking in a lot of wannabe artists, keep pushing your art and you'll get there.

Er as per your question. Research your school like Frostblade suggested. It's a big investment to jump into blindly, so plan ahead!

Sorceror Bob2006-10-19 04:13:14

Hey thanks guys for the advice, if there's something on my mind is is there any college i shouldn't go to, like ones people recommend to stay away from, because they are poor, like i heard of colleges like SAE, JMC, AIE, AIT, MAD Academy and don't know much about how in-depth with there teachings with 3D, and what are the various diploma or degrees are called for 3D?, does these things really count in finding a job?, or really its unessary?

AIE has a pretty good reputation from what I have heard. :)

I good say having an awesome portfolio would be most important and I guess any studio would have a prefence for someone who went to Uni. But yeah the guy with the best portfolio would most likely get the job. :)

Only thing I'll add to what's said so far is that Australia does not have any educational institution that attracts the type of acclaim that places like the vancouver film school do. In other words, there is no place in Australia which is seen as a gaurantee that you will come out employable at all from what you learn there. With this said however, doing something that gets you closer to the people, environment, and type of work you wish to pursue is a very good thing still, just realise that you are going to need to rely on your own time and work to get employable (which is of course the ultimate goal here).

With thousands of animation and game graduates every year, and only a very small handful of finite positions in Australia opening each year, it does mean that skills are more important than your piece of paper, and for those skills I gaurantee you will gain the most value from sweating away at home in your own time after school hours.

True, thanks, is there anyway to increase the industry here in Australia?, is it because Australia is new to the idea of 3D?

I seccond that mate.

It applys to all positions. You Gotta show passion, guts and most of all demonstrate your ability to work hard.

And keep at it!

This is off in a bit of a tangent to education, but hey if it helps ya :)

[QUOTE=dan1989] True, thanks, is there anyway to increase the industry here in Australia?, is it because Australia is new to the idea of 3D?[/QUOTE]

I was really surprised to see that question - it's not often you hear it. My knee jerk reaction is that it's irrelevant, but at the end of the day I dont know how the industry could be increased, or if even increasing its size would be a positive thing.

My guess is that I think project and job demands need to be met for the amount of graduates being pumped out yearly, but even before that, the graduates that are coming out need to be employable first.

yeh exactly, cause i don't hear alot on 3D as a position in many jobs, so it seems to mean, that its fairly hard to find jobs in the 3D industry in Australia, like i was thinking, there are courses which i've looked up an there like 9,000 dollars per year for 3 years this course is called Bachelor of Communication Studies and was, wow!, thats expense but i could save my save alot of money using that money to buy video tutorials or apply for certificates on the web an i'll be fine, any objection to that?, like what would be the advantages and disadvantages?

I think the main disadvantage is you wouldn't be having people tell you to do work etc. If you were 110% dedicated I see nothing wrong with it IMO.

Another disadvantage would be the networking that'd happen at a uni or some such. Next to the skills you develop, this is such an important thing. Getting to know and work along side people who are interested in the same thing as you makes the experience that much more awesome. It also helps motivate you, especially when there's someone that whips out some work and makes you go "Whoa..." And then being able to see how they did it, bouncing ideas off them, and just working with them, sucking up their "secret magic powers".

Couldn't recommend a doing a course with real people more, even if the course ended up sucking (which hopefully, it won't @:-)

Comes down to your economic standing as well. If you have well off parents who are willing to pay for or at the least assist you in the courses payment then the course would be a great way to go.

Sadly not everyone is so lucky. If you don't have the money for these courses [but you do have limitless motivation hopefully] then home schooling is a great idea as well. As for networking. Again you're going to have to really go out on a limb and goto events and most of all. POST AND SHOWCASE YOUR WORK.

Both come with advantages and disadvantages. I know people who have come out of the AIE courses have had mixed feelings. Some loved the experience it gave them. Some came out thinking it was a waste of almost 18,000 dollars.

If you decide to home school. Books will a great asset, order books from online. grab a pen and a lot of paper and assimilate what the book has to teach. If you go education. Make sure to make the most of your course and research the course before you jump into it.

yeh i'm not one of those lucky ones so, cost is a problem for me thats why i wanna seek an alternative, for further education in 3D, hmmm...., is there any difference for those who attend Uni and those who attend TAFE, or colleges, and home schooling?

Well mate. I can only really speak on behalf of the home school student. Anything else I say is an egotistical assumption.

So..Home schooling eh...

There is a requirement for home schooling. I've been told that around the broad 90% of people who attempt to teach themselves at home fail and end up ether collapsing into tafe and uni or they sink into a poorly classed labour or hospitality based jobs.

So. Before anything else mate. You gotta have motivation. LOTS of motivation!

Ask yourself. Can you, for 12..maybe even 24 months sit at home and study and teach yourself using books and internet tutorials?

And can you handle receiving harsh criticism from internet forums about your work..or even worse getting no advice at all.. Can you be your own worst critic?

If you can..if you think you have boundless motivation. Home schooling can be for you.

Positives:

You do what you want, the way you want to and when you like to. This is great in many respects. Try not to think of it as no one is giving you guidelines as more so as you're allowed to pursue directly what you wanna learn without the extra unnessicery crap that might come with a course.

You wanna learn meshing? Do it.

You can work 10 hours a week or 50 hours a week. Essentially if you want to you can cover the equivalent of 2 years worth of uni work in one year! How cool is that!

Remember though. Your the one whose gonna have to whip yourself to do that. can you?

You also have a freedom of no alignment. All that really means is that no one really can make an assumption on your half based on the school you go to. They have to see your work before they do that!

Also. When you score big and get a job..you owe no money to no one! Sweeeeeet.

Disadvantages:

Lack of social interaction I have to say is a big one. At the least. Spend one day a week NOT studying and NOT working and go over to your friend and ass around for a while. Studying at home can also mean you could before anti-social and bitter. Try to avoid that mate.

Another thing is that networking will be somewhat harder. You don't have the flexibility that a uni or tafe has to get lectures from experienced dudes. So you will have to make it a mission to go out and meet these people yourself over the net and in person. Attend events in your state.

Lack of help is a big one as well. Your teacher is you really. If something goes wrong or you don?t understand something you can't ask your teacher..becouse hes you..and you don?t know. The remedy for this is to FIND OUT. The Internet is awesome for this and will have answers for 99% of your issues relating to your studies.

Also. Another issue that studying alone. You could be perceived as a lone wolf, someone who cannot work in a team. The answer to that is to engage in team projects.
Or mainly. Be nice and don't act like a dick over the net.

Conclusion:

There?s a good reason why home schooling has a 90% failure rate. IT'S HARD TO MANAGE! But. If you can be one of the 10% that strive and continue to work at it you will impress! I guarantee.

Granted that you display your work somewhere where people will see it..like..sumea perhaps!

Cheers mate. Good luck with your choices. And make sure to get opinions form ALL sides of education before you go ahead.

Wow that definately, open me up things i didn't know, thanks alot for that :), is there such thing as interships for 3D?