I'm at the Student Level. How Many Hours Should I Practice? How Many Hours Do I Need to Work at a Professional Level in the US?

This is another difficult question, because the answer is different for everyone.

Malcolm Gladwell writes that it takes, on average, 10,000 hours of practice and study for anyone to become truly proficient at something.

For myself, I just added up on a calculator all the time I spent studying/practicing animation in school (including stuff like figure drawing), time with my mentors, and animating on my own. I added all of that up, and it turns out that my animation education time before landing my dream job at ILM was 18,400 hours.

That might sound daunting, and it clearly took me more than the requisite 10,000 hours, but really we're just talking about 5 years of focused studying in order to have a reel that got me into ILM. I have no idea if that's average, fast, or slow, but we're all going to have different speeds as we study and absorb this animation stuff.

I would guess that the number of hours "necessary" to excel in animation would be radically different from one person to the next. I think the actual number of hours is irrelevant -- what matters is how much you can focus on animation.

For me, especially during the 4 years where I was focusing the most on learning this stuff, animation was my life. If I was awake, I was animating. That literally isn't really much of an exaggeration. I wasn't going out much with friends, I didn't have a girlfriend, I was missing movies I had been excited to see, I didn't get to play the video games I wanted to play, etc. Animation was my life.

Maybe that isn't always the healthiest way to approach something, but it's probably the fastest, and certainly works.

I know not everyone has the option of focusing their whole day on animation - you have families or non-animation jobs and other responsibilities. Well, my advice then is to just focus as much time as you can. If all you can do is 5 hours every night after your kids go to bed, then start spending those 5 hours animating or studying animation.

5 hours a night is 1,780 hours per year. If you manage to squeeze in an extra 10 hours each weekend, then you're talking about 2,300 hours per year, and suddenly that 10,000 hours doesn't seem so far off!

I wish animation was something you could learn in a few months, but it just isn't. It's an endlessly complex art that takes a lifetime to master, and that first 10,000 hours will only get you to the tip of the iceberg. Luckily for us, the rest of that iceberg is a ton of fun to spend that next 100,000 hours exploring!

Hope that helps!
Shawn :)

Guest Blogger Shawn Kelly

By: Unknown On 13.51

Continue Reading

How Important Is It To Get An Internship As A Beginning Animator?

Of course it will depend on the type of internship. Sometimes animation students get internships doing PA type of stuff in companies that are not so great... I mean, if what you really want is to animate you probably won't be happy making xerox copies or going pick up dinner for the boss. This type of internship will probably not turn you into a better animator. It's true though that getting an internship in any of the big studios, even if it's not exactly in production, can be a nice way to get a feeling for how it all works, and also to get good connections and some professional experience. So it all depends on what is the internship like, and in what company.

The best situation is to get an internship where you can develop your skills as an animator and artist, and in a good studio. This type of internship is a wonderful way to start a professional career. Well, at least it worked for me! I was an intern first at Briquet Studios in Sao Paulo (2D), and then at Rhythm & Hues Studios in LA and these two experiences were crucial to my background. At Briquet Studios I was lucky to be an intern under the supervision of Renato dos Anjos – he later ended up moving to the US and worked as supervising animator on Bolt, Surf's Up and Open Season. I knew nothing about animation at that time, so it was really my very first experience, a way to get a feeling for how it all worked on a professional environment. The studio was really small but their work was great, Renato was really good and I learned so much from him. It was not enough time to get good at it, but I felt the experience planted the seed of animation on a fertile soil.

A couple of years after that, I went to School of Visual Arts in New York for my master's degree. During my first summer vacation I got an internship position at Rhythm & Hues. It was amazing. I felt I learned more in this time than in all my time at school! Rhythm & Hues had classes set up for new employers and interns, it was very organized and that's when I really started to understand what 3D was all about. I learned so much. I came back to school after the summer full of energy and started working on my short film. I also met a lot of really nice people, made important professional connections and went to a couple of cool camping trips. Fun times!

So, based on my personal experience, I think a good internship can help turn a student into a good professional. I was lucky in that my internships were really about the animation work. They were also at good companies with a solid reputation. It was a real learning experience on many levels.

Some of my students get internships and I see how positively the experience affects them. In many cases, a company offering an internship program has hopes that that student will be a possible hire in the near future. In a way, you are being “tested” by them, while at the same time you will be learning tons of useful things. Some companies have a very structured internship program – they put a lot of thought into it, and these are the internships you should definitely apply for! Here in California I know that Dreamworks, Pixar, Disney and Rhythm & Hues all offer this type of opportunity. And I bet there are other companies with great internship programs that I just don't know about.

Of course it is not exactly easy to get an internship at one of the best companies in the world - they are very competitive programs, but these would be the first ones I would try if I was a student now. I know it sounds hyperbolic, but it can be life changing to spend a summer working at a studio like any of these. You will meet amazing artists and professionals. You will get to know how the pipeline works, how is the day to day of a CG artist, how the films are done, what the work ethics are like. You will learn about work flow, techniques and art, and you will learn it from real artists. It can make a real difference in your career.

Guest blogger Raquel Rabbit

By: Unknown On 09.58

Continue Reading

What Do You Enjoy Most About Being An Animator?

There are so many things that I love about being an animator. I'm surrounded by so many talented artists - it's intimidating and inspiring at the same time, but it allows me to be a student, continuing to learn and push myself. I love that I am around people who share the same love for cinema and cartoons.

One of the best things about being an animator is that I get to be an actor and breathe life into a character. What's really great is that I'll go to the movies and sit next to a complete stranger that will laugh or cry at my performance, and they won't know that was done by the person sitting right beside them.


The things that I love most, though, is that, if I'm fortunate enough, I will be part of something timeless - a film that children and adults will continue to watch and love after I'm long gone. Something that my children's children will show their children, and say "Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Grandpa Hartline did that!"


Guest blogger Aaron Hartline

By: Unknown On 11.09

Continue Reading

How Do You Balance Life With Animation?

Well, when I was working full time in the industry I actually had a lot of fun, made many good friends and really enjoyed what I was doing. So animation and work in general were a big part of my life. Overall it didn't feel unbalanced, even though I always felt that a 10 hour work journey is a bit much for someone who has the desire to also pursue other interests in life outside of animation. But overall, working in the industry felt like it was the right thing for me at the time. Still, I found time to sing in a couple of bands, make puppets, write a couple of children's books, go out, enjoy my friends, go camping, etc.

What I found harder was to balance studio animation with personal animation. Let me explain: After school, I thought I was going to be able to work full time in an animation studio and also do my short films on the side. Unfortunately, somehow this was never possible. That also happened to a bunch of my friends. I know a lot of people who had dreams of making many short films; they actually had stories, character designs, etc., all waiting to come to life. The reality is that it is really hard to work on your short film after 10 hours (at least) of animating in a studio. So, I could never really balance animating in a studio with animating my own shorts!

In any case, after many years working in the industry I felt that the 10 hours a day was not really working for me, because I really wanted to spend more time on my personal projects. I also missed having a different type of interaction with people. I love teaching, and little by little I got more involved with teaching. So I got a tenure track position in a university, where I teach animation and help students with their own short film projects. In addition, I am a mentor at Animation Mentor, and I love the work I do with them. Parallel to my work in the university, I do some freelance work doing animation – in 2005 I worked on Henry Sellick's Moongirl and on Charlotte's Web, the next year I worked on Happy Feet and on a couple of cool coke spots (with Psyop), in 2007 I worked on SpiderWick Chronicles, and last year I did some freelance for Wildbrain.

Also, I now have time to dedicate to my own artistic projects, which feels great!

So, I think I found my own way to balance life and animation. I interact with people, I discuss, study and practice animation all the time, and I have time to work on my own personal projects as well.

Guest blogger Raquel Rabbit

By: Unknown On 11.18

Continue Reading

Animation Mentor Launches a New eBook and Survey Report Today!

Ideal for people who love animation and are passionate about learning about the art of animation, Animation Mentor has launched the How to Become an Animator series. The eBook, How to Become an Animator, provides advice and information on different types of animation jobs, tips on clarifying your personal goals and what to look for when researching schools and training programs that best suit you.

In addition, Animation Mentor's industry report, Learn What Future Animators Look for in a School, discusses key findings from an animation industry survey that shows what future animators are looking for in a school and what professional animators say are the most important things to look for.

Click here to view the ebook and industry report and let us know what you think!

By: Unknown On 10.14

Continue Reading

The New Animation Mentor Badges Are Here!

Animation Mentor Fans,

We’ve created something special that we want to share with our Animation Mentor friends: Official Animation Mentor badges. The badges can be posted on your blog, website and social media sites and will show your Animation Mentor spirit!

Show your animation Mentor spirit by posting these badges on your site. The badges come in two sizes: 150 x 150 pixels and 100x 100 pixels.

Get them here: http://www.animationmentor.com/fans/badges

We’re excited to check out your Animation Mentor spirit on your blogs and sites!!

By: Unknown On 14.27

Continue Reading

Animation Mentor Launches Redesigned Web Site

Dear Readers,

We’ve released a redesign of the Animation Mentor web site! The redesigned site has tons of videos and testimonials about our character animation school, including on how the online animation school works and a mentor testimonial trailer.

But while our web site contains information related to the animation program, it also seeks to serve the animation community with a free resources section full of information. Check out the newsletter, animation podcasts, links to Bobby Beck and Carlos Baena’s blog, and free animation webinars.

Happy Animating! Let us know what you think of the redesigned web site.

Animation Mentor Staff

By: Unknown On 10.30

Continue Reading

Welcome to Our Animation Blog!

Hello there! Welcome to the first AM blog!

If you're reading this, you probably already know that I write an animation Tips & Tricks article for our monthly newsletter. This blog will be a place where I can publicly answer some of the emailed questions I get that I just don't have room to answer in the newsletter. (Let's face it - if my newsletter articles get any longer, they'll have to design a whole new internet to accommodate them!)

We'll also be posting some stuff from the newsletters in here (mostly stuff that didn't make it into the ebook) in the hopes of spreading that info around a bit more, so if you're a longtime reader you'll probably notice some repeats, but there will be plenty of new content for you guys as well...

As always, feel free to email questions, complaints, ideas, feedback, and your favorite drink recipes to me at: tipsandtricks@animationmentor.com

And a big special thanks to Eunice Park, Kris Larson, Rachel Ito, and Big Michael Dauz for helping get this set up and making it look so pretty!


Shawn :)

By: Unknown On 09.23

Continue Reading