The Cost Of Animation School

Are you sure that a career as an animator is really the right path for you? Before you rack up that huge student loan debt you might want to visit a school and talk with the students, and just find out as much as you can about the industry before you dive in head first (so keep visiting my blog! Once you’ve gained a fair amount of knowledge do some soul searching. Be honest, and ask yourself “is this really for me?”

Quality animation programs are quite pricey. They’re usually one of (if not) the most expensive course at college. Specialized animation schools can be even more expensive. Tuition generally ranges between six to ten thousand dollars per year (sometimes more), plus materials, hardware and software.

Online Animation Schools
If you are taking an online animation program you’ll need to have the required software for the course and a machine that will run the software. If you upgrade your machine or plan on buying a new one, I suggest you pump up the ram and video card; this will help run the animation software and allow several applications to open at one time (which will come in handy).

Here’s a list of other items you can expect to purchase if your taking an online program:

* Autodesk Maya software (student version): approx. $300
* Quicktime Pro: $30
* Webcam: $25
* Book: “The Illusion of Life”: $40
* Book: “The Animator’s Survival Kit”: $25
* Internet connection and operating system
(should already be on your machine).

Online animation school is nice because you get to work from the comfort of your own home and work station – the hours are flexible, you don’t even have to think about what to wear! And you save money on commuting, and other expenses that just come with leaving your home.

College Programs and Specialized Animation Schools
This is the route I took myself. Didn’t have much of a choice, there wasn’t any online animation schools when I was in training. If you take an animation program at a college or specialized animation school, the tuition usually includes access to a computer lab and all the software that you will need.

When your learning, animated projects (school projects) take an extremely long time to produce – your will have many assignments and final projects in progress at the same time. And you will be doing everything from conception to final rendering(there’s an awful lot in between). Your going to be living at school!

Rather than spending your life in the lab, I strongly suggest that you invest in your own equipment so you can work at home – unless you’d rather be at school all time. If you do work exclusively at school there will be many, many late nights. I remember being at school all hours of the day, I saw other people pull all nighters. This sort of thing is common in animation school.

Computers are coming down in price constantly. You can also have a machine custom built with optimum performance for animation software. Even thought they cost a little more, I suggest you get yourself a laptop. The biggest advantage to a laptop is so you can work anywhere, anytime. I had one in school and it was invaluable.

I took a three year diploma course at my local college – I felt it was important to have a full background in my chosen field, (I was also still young and had time on my side). In the end the entire education cost a total of around $30,000. I payed off a big student loan for years after but it was the right choice – and now it’s paying off. Is it the right choice for you?