FILM OR CHARACTER ANIMATION?

Question

I was looking for a school for character animation........I stumbled upon The Los Angeles School of film......question what’s harder to break into film or animation?? And what makes more money? What’s steadier?

Answer 1

I'm not involved in film so I can only tell you about my experience in the animation industry.

Breaking into the animation industry is tricky. It is entirely based on your skill set. Someone with strong foundations in life drawing, perspective, and cartooning may never get hired if they don't know any software. Someone who knows Maya or 3D Max inside and out, but can't draw, has no experience in anatomy or life drawing, may never get hired. You need a good combination of traditional skills, drawing, timing, As well as knowledge of the software the company works in.

The animation program at the school you mentioned has very little in terms of classical skills. I would recommend supplementing a program like that with life drawing classes and perhaps anatomy.

The pay scale for animation also varies. Bigger companies pay more, bigger productions like feature films will pay more. Some places pay by the second (per second of approved animation. With set weekly quotas.

For someone who works fast and likes long hours they could earn big cheques.

Animation work is not guaranteed as steady however once you land a job or two if you work hard and your stuff is high quality word of mouth will keep you employed. There's alot of networking in the animation industry and people will often look for referrals from others. If you make a few good friends you can always have work.  

Animation is not a job for people who like easy money. It's often long hours and tight schedules. You have to deal with people constantly ripping apart the quality of your work, and be ready to re-do hours of work without complaining.