ANIMATION AS A HOBBY vs ANIMATION AS A CAREER

I really want to do animation as a career. I make stop motion short films and I am interested in drawing. But I'm a little stressed because I have a year to college and I haven't done much about computer animation or modeling. My family is related to this industry, but I feel backward. What would you suggest I do to improve myself before going to university? Do I overestimate computer programs or do I need to learn urgently?

I want to be an animator and a voice actor for a career but i got bills to pay and im scared of going completely broke

Hi great video. I have a web series myself, but am a little confused on how you can know this is meant to be more then a hobby? I really love doing the show but I’m unsure if this is meant to be more or not.

Oddly enough, drawing started out as a hobby since I was a kid but now I choose to go out of my way to start my own future company someday instead.

This was an interesting video. Back when I was a senior in high school I joined an animation class. I really liked it and learning about the skills of animation was fun. But this was the me in high school. I procrastinated because having everything I was interested in being counted as a grade stressed me out a bit. Second semester was right when the pandemic started. School was cancelled which was a disappointment. We were gonna do a big project for that class. After that summer I decided on what I wanted to do with my life studying mechanical engineering and learning HVAC skills. Two years later to right now I want to get back into it. I decided to maybe take it as a hobby because I already have a set profession I'm already passionate about. Should I still want to get into animation even though I already want to do something else with my life?

Thank you. You put some good life tips in there too. I’ve been wanting to get into animation as a hobby, but it’s very intimidating to me cuz I’ve never done it before. I’m really only good at video editing, so I’m gonna try animation out thanks to your vid. Keep up the great content bro 👍

Really interesting video H. Animation is definitely a vocation and outside of the industry some people will never understand the creative urge. They don’t understand the urge to create outside of the “ job role”. It’s like a strange addiction as a itch that needs to be scratched.

I gotta be honest though, As someone who is animating 20 yrs now, I Don’t have the time/ energy to be as proactive outside the work role/ daily tasks. It’s important to maintain that work/ life balance. Especially in these current times.

I’m waffling now but keep up these great important topics man!! Amazing and inspiring stuff!!

Almost every animator that I follow or know, usually animates in his own projects after work, so they can keep creative and exploring new ideas.

Its funny how i can relate to this so much. Its my first year in animation and i started of so excited like literally animation was my life all day everyday. I obsessed so much cause i love it so much. The thing is that wen i finished the year i feel like i drained out all creative energy because of all the hard work i put in. Now i am at a stable place were i love it but i keep my emotions more in check and dont let it demotivate me. Because i have realized that by obssesing so much it kind of killed my creativity by the end of the year. But once again i am enjoying it but at a stable pace. Has this been the case for any of you?

Very good points on this one! I would add that there are a few things to consider before someone decides on making a career out of their creative passion (be it animation, music, painting or any other artform) . Specifically for animation, there is the obvious argument that it is mostly a desk job - it's not very active physically. Also, I've seen a few people giving up animating professionally because it's not a very social job as you don't meet with clients or a lot of people generally but instead you spend most of the time with your work. Last, it might be very creative and satisfying in that way but maybe not as ethically rewarding as being a teacher, a nurse or a doctor for example. So, even though I understand why someone would want to make a career out of their passion, it might be worth doing some internal research to see if it's something that would be in line with their personal traits and needs. And even if they decide to not become a professional animator, they can still make amazing things - short films, small scale games, stories, clips etc

I have a weird question(beginner animator). I love animation and seeing my finished work is one of the best feelings. But I`m don`t have this fiery passion to start working on animation and I need to press myself to start. Can this lack of "fire" to begin be attributed to my current 0 skill in animation? Like, when you get into it deeper, you`ll start ramping up? I`m in Animation mentor Maya's basics workshop currently.
P.S. referring to a video. I fear to stuck at the beginning and not been able to get to a studio level and conscientiously not able to bring animation to people so to say.