Hi everyone! I'm a 17-year-old student from South Korea preparing for college, and I'd really appreciate some advice on my future career.

Ever since I was a child, I've wanted to major in animation. I've been studying art for years, and my dream has always been to study abroad and eventually work as a storyboard artist at a major animation studio.

I'm particularly interested in pre-production, and I've also done fairly well in competitions related to this field. I think that's one of the main reasons I've always wanted to pursue this career path.

However, due to my family's financial situation, studying abroad would be very difficult to afford. Even if I managed to go, I would probably have to take out student loans to cover tuition and living expenses. I'm worried about whether I would be able to handle the financial burden all the way through graduation.

Right now, I'm torn between two possible paths.

The first option is to major in nursing, work for a few years to save money, and then study animation at a university abroad. Nursing could offer me a relatively stable career and a higher income, and I could potentially work overseas and pursue permanent residency as well.

However, considering how demanding nursing can be, I'm worried that I wouldn't have enough time or energy to keep drawing and developing my artistic skills while working. I might not be able to start studying art seriously until I'm in my thirties, by which point tuition fees could have increased significantly. I'm afraid that the plan I'm considering now might no longer be financially realistic by then.

The second option is to major in animation at a university in South Korea, start studying my chosen field professionally as soon as possible, and look for opportunities to study abroad later.

This option is appealing because I could start pursuing what I love right away. The university I'm considering is also one I've wanted to attend for a long time, so it's difficult to let go of that dream. I feel like studying animation there could also be a good starting point for eventually breaking into the industry.

On the other hand, the animation industry seems to be going through a difficult period right now, and I'm not sure how realistic it would be to find a job after graduation. I'm also afraid that even if I somehow managed to afford studying abroad, I might run into financial difficulties and be unable to complete my degree.

Both options have clear advantages and disadvantages, and I'm struggling to figure out which one would be the better long-term decision.

I'd especially appreciate advice from anyone who has worked in the animation or film industry, particularly in storyboarding or pre-production. If you were in my position, what would you consider before making this decision? I'd also love to hear from anyone who has taken a less traditional path into the industry.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this long post. Any advice would mean a lot to me

Good afternoon -

What is the ideal way to practice Animation and Illustration at a Upper Beginner Skill level? I.e one who is familiar with drawing but not good enough to be intermediate?

I am lagging behind in Drawing and lot of important topics like Perspective, Composition etc and Practicing and Reaching Advanced level will take a long time which will delay my Animation and Illustration. I want to start Animating and creating Illustration seriously so I can get feedback on it.

How to start practicing Illustration and Animation at this level? And how to study from Masters of the Craft so I can extract maximum benefit?

In Vancouver, she’s currently getting a diploma but I am so scared for her, I love her and care about her. Reading some of the posts has made me feel worse, 3 month contracts? months and years without work? I don’t want her to go through that, you either need some sort of networking to even break in, but still, being laid off is so common.. I don’t want her to suffer looking for a job and being laid off constantly due to AI or just the state of the industry.

Please understand me, is this a good idea? I have been thinking of maybe making her change her mind, because Im so worried for her future. I know and understand that she likes art, but still, in these times there are certain things that are important, money, demand and a future that guarantees a salary and retirement.

Hello! I recently applied for a Previz/Layout Artist position at Stellar Creative Labs and received a response regarding my application.

I was wondering if you could help me understand how to interpret their response. Does it generally mean that my qualifications or experience weren’t quite what they were looking for, or could it mean that they currently don’t have an opening that aligns with my skill level?

One thing that left me a little unsure was that my demo reel doesn’t appear to have been viewed. I linked an unlisted YouTube video in my resume, which allows me to check its viewing analytics, but I haven’t seen any views around the time they reviewed my application. I also haven’t noticed any indication that someone from Stellar viewed my LinkedIn profile.
I understand that there could be several reasons behind their decision, and I don’t want to jump to conclusions. I’m mainly hoping to get a better understanding of whether this was likely a matter of my qualifications, their current hiring needs, or potentially both.

(PSA: they currently have the positions opened up on their website so it wasn’t a cold application)

Here was the message,

“We have reviewed your application and unfortunately do not have an open role that is suitable for your skill set at this time. 
Although we do not have immediate openings, please know that we will keep your application on file for future consideration. We will reach out to you if a position becomes available that we believe is suitable for you. We encourage you to continue checking our job listings and applying for positions that align with your qualifications and aspirations.”

I know I’m only 20 and just starting out in this field, but lately, as I’ve spent time around veterans and professionals—observing them and listening to them—I’ve noticed something that has begun to frighten me: most of them have come to hate art.

Almost all the veterans I’ve spoken with have a very cold, detached view of art and animation. They tell me to stop looking for anything "special" in it, and even suggest using AI—arguing that it’s faster and leads to better pay.

All of this has made me wonder: "Do I really want to be part of this industry? Do I truly want to spend my hours working for other studios, earning a wage that barely covers my needs, all while ending up hating the very thing that gives my life so much meaning?"

I’m not criticizing them—in fact, I understand that viewing things this way is likely what has allowed them to survive and keep going. But is this really how I want to end up? Is paying such a high price truly worth it for the sake of a "dream"?

I see art as something that goes beyond the technical; I view it as something that gives meaning to my life—something that keeps me anchored to my own self. Of course, I love the technical side of things, and I know how to act like a professional when it comes to work; I also know that if I continue on this path, I will have to think the way professionals do—albeit in a different field—but is that really what I want from art?

I’m going soon to gameplay junior animator interview. I’ve been preparing for it like a week and i fear i missed smth any way. So ofc the typical tell me abt ur self, why you like animation and then i prepared one story of work i liked from work, then from my portfolio. Is there anything else i am missing? I really want this job 😅. I worked as a gameplay animator before for a bit. I dont like my animations from work tho, i went to study again to get better. Do i need to prepare visuals? Only good animation is from my portfolio, but i think they will ask abt my work experience.

Hi I am a colouring artist based in the South Asia region. I am a junior colouring artist and have worked on some anime titles. I am being paid 0.1 USD regardless of the difficulty of the frame. I can complete about 20 high difficulty frames per day and that totals to 2 USD per day. I don't think it is a fair price. I am new to this work and i don't know the market prices and how the industry works.

I've been to LAU's open day, and I love the look of the University. But I'm very conflicted about what course and career to pursue. I like the idea of doing comic and concept art because I'll be taught worldbuilding and character design, which I would love to do to develop my story idea, but I'm not overly enthusiastic about going into game art -as I don't really play any games- or creating my own comic. I really want to explore 3D art, like making my concept art buildings into physical miniature buildings and exploring all of the facilities the uni has to offer, like metal and ceramics and printmaking, but I'm not sure I'll have time for any of that in the course. I'm considering animation, but I'm not sure if I'm patient enough for that, even though I haven't explored doing it yet; I know it can be a really long process. I've recently been really inspired by The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under, and the stunning art within them, as well as the new Wildwood by Laika and the character design of the rat character and the set designs.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

What do you think?

I hope this doesn't come across like an ad.

I have no animation education or experience, but I have been a creative hobbyist for several years.

I am interested in joining events where I can learn more about animation and engage with the industry. I used Google, and couldn't find a lot of info on what I was trying to look for, except for this event called CNTX in Burbank.

Do you recommend going to CTNX2026? And if so, how can I prepare?

And, what in-person events can I as an outsider to animation participate in?

After looking through professional level animation portfolios, I’ve come to the realization that I’m being scammed by my art school. I’m currently majoring in Animation but have not taken any core classes yet as they force us to take a bunch of prerequisites beforehand.

I’ve been looking at senior portfolios from my school from previous years and no disrespect to these hard working artist but they are no where near industry level ready. This means if I continue to pursue Animation as my major, I wouldn’t actually learn anything to improve my skills or land me a job after graduation.

If I truly wanted to make a great portfolio and improve my skills I’d have to use up all my free time to teach MYSELF everything I need to know in order to land a job in animation. I’m willing to work hard to improve my skills but I am not willing to waste my time and money on a degree plan that won’t teach me squat about professional animation.

So I am thinking of switching my major to something different and maybe minoring in fine arts as to not let my previous credits go to waste. However, I just want to know, could I make it as a self taught artist or do I need a degree to succeed as an animator?

Hello!

I'm currently an animation student and am at a point where I have to decide between pursuing Feature Animation (lessons focused on acting) or Game Animation (combat, death sequences, etc). Currently I am stressing out hard about which path to take and I would like some help. If it were completely up to me, I would love to learn acting and have the opportunity to work at films. Career wise, though, I feel like Game Animation would be the better path since there's a AAA studio here for games and there are little to no 3D animation film studios in my country.

There are few studios I periodically check up on to see if they're hiring:

- Ubisoft Philippines (Game Anim)

- Secret Six (Game Anim)

- PIxel Mafia (Game Anim)

- Puppeteer Studios (Feature Anim)

- Studio OTQ (Feature Anim)

I would love to know what people think about these studios: what your experiences are, if it's a good place to work in, etc. And I guess I'd like to get insight on what would be make the better career choice for an animator in the Philippines.

Also if there are any other 3D film animation studios, I'd love to be informed! But so far these are the places I am aware of.

Hey everyone! I’m a solo 2D artist preparing a quote for a 4-minute 45-second animated music video for an independent client. In my head, a price range of **$5,000 – $8,000 AUD** (\~$3,300 – $5,300 USD) sounds like a solid middle ground, but I’d love some feedback from fellow creators.

Project Overview
Style:Classic 2D slapstick cartoon (*Tom & Jerry* / *Bugs Bunny* style action and expressive acting).
Runtime:4:45 (285 seconds).
Story:Slapstick dog adventure—escaping the backyard, jumping fences, running down streets, playing in a park, a butcher's van crash/ham catch, and meeting a fox at the end.
Asset Reuse:The storyboard explicitly notes reusing running/road/park footage for repeated verses, choruses, and instrumental solos. Effective unique drawn animation is roughly \~2.5 to 3 minutes.
Scope:Full solo pipeline (character designs, background art, key animation, cleanup, color, and compositing).
Timeline:Planning on 3 to 6 months.

Does $5k–$8k AUD sound reasonable for an indie budget with this amount of asset reuse, or is it actually **too expensive** (or way underpriced) for a solo artist?

Is 3 to 6 months a realistic timeline to aim for if I'm maximizing run cycles and looping background pans?
Appreciate any advice or rate insight!

Welcome to the Positivity & Motivation thread!

Did you hit a milestone and want to celebrate it? Did a peer do something that deserves appreciation? Have you recently been reminded why you do it all? Or are you feeling down and need to cheer yourself up? This is the thread for you!

Humble brag about your achievements, share some good news, recount a funny moment, or appreciate the small things you enjoy about your career. Whether you're a professional or just beginning, you are welcome to share!

Reminder: This is a positivity thread, meant to lift others up and celebrate the good parts of the animation career journey. Please avoid venting, putting others down, or belittling others' experiences in this space. Thank you!

If you’re looking for somewhere to vent, check out the last vent thread.

Also, feel free to check out the FAQ and Wiki for common questions and resources related to managing an animation career.

And what type of keywords do they usually search for?

Hello everyone, I am on mobile so hopefully the formatting is not weird. I am 24 years old and I am currently going to my local community college. When I graduated high school I originally wanted to go into animation. Others around me had talked me out of it and I got talked into majoring in a STEM field, which was such an awful idea. I have wasted so much money to not even have a degree at this point other than my generals. I have left and come back to college so many times and now i am thinking of just switching to animation permanently and staying in something i am passionate about.
My only issue is, is that I don’t have a high income, the universities around me are very expensive and I am paying for school out of pocket by myself. I could pull out loans but I am trying to stay as debt free as I possibly can which is hard in today’s economy of the US. I know in the animation industry it is a lot about who you know and a lot of connections, which I would want to have in a university if I pursue a bachelors but I don’t know if that’s in the cards for me with the price of things.
Would I be okay in this industry with just an associates or should I pursue a bachelors?

hope Its not bad to post this here since this is about mental health, TW: for depression and suicide. Either way, I'm beginning to detest everyday that I like art. If you asked me when I was younger what I wanted to do as a career, I'd try to bs my way saying anything, but deep inside I knew I wanted to be an artist or animator. I knew what I was going into as well, that I may never make it anyways, but even with my failed attempts to stop drawing, I keep getting unfortunately back to it. Still I tried to go into a better actual stable field in university, which I failed at and had to change courses, to now 3D animation, since its the only thing I can somewhat do. I envy people who work in stable fields from med, law, engineering etc. Even more envy that some of them even pivot to animation or any art field and degrees don't matter mostly anyways in the arts.

Now bc of AI, its even more discouraging, and I know there's now a guarantee no future for me. It sucks that I'm this useless, and not even the trades will want to hire someone physically and mentally weak anyways. Still I've never thought I'd be alive for long anyways and I've chronically depressed for years and suicidal with some history. I wished for at least any hope for my future which doesn't exist now bc the only thing I can do is fuckass art. Maybe in another future, I'd have been good at anything else that is useful and stable and wouldn't be frequently pathetically crying. sorry for the depressing post.

I've been looking to immigrate using an animation degree and I'm really lost in choosing a university or country.

I know that America and Canada offer really great courses but I cannot go to America due to my passport and Canada has been very strict in giving visas.

My choices at the moment are the UK and France.

I prefer 2D Animation and wish to pursue a career in it in the future(as an animator, concept artist, character designer)

But i am open to learning stop motion and 3D Animation because I feel it would help to have a broader set of skills so I prefer courses who teach all three of these.

Universities like Dundee, Edinburgh and UAL are out of my budget so the list I've come up with is this:

Hertfordshire

Teesside

Portsmouth

Edge Hill

UWE bristol

Leeds beckett

Derby

And AUB which is a bit more expensive than the others but may be worth it(?)

So my problem is:

1. I find really inconsistent reviews on these universities

2. Some like Teesside are 2D and Stop Motion or Hertfordshire is only 2D animation or leeds Beckett is Illustration and Animation so i don't know what would be the best choice for me considering the things I mentioned above

3. It is important for me to be able to find a job afterwards so I can get a work visa. So I was wondering which school has better Alumni and work placement(They all claim to have it but i want to hear it from graduates)

4. Should I scratch the UK and focus on France? I preferred the UK because I'm quite fluent in English so it would be more comfortable for me to communicate and live there also my brother is studying in the UK atm.

As for France it would be a lot more affordable for me but i only know Gobelins which is very hard to get into(only 5% acceptance rate) so is it worth it to try to get into Gobelins? Or are other French schools better options?

I would really really appreciate it if any graduates of these universities or people working in the industry could share their experiences and show me the way!

I've been looking into these universities for days and I feel like I could lose my mind at any moment😂

(Also I feel like it's worth mentioning that im currently studying a bachelor of fine arts in my own country)

Please account for if they give good scholarship and overall cost like csuf is cheap but otis is expensive and gives shitty scholarships

Please include public and private schools

Im applying for transfer

Hey Guys!
I'll try my best to summarize it, but I am an animator, and I have someone who contacted me about a possible gig of an animated trailer. At first, I was interested because I look the person up and they seem to have done some TV shows I’ve heard of. I also wanted to challenge myself and expand my portfolio, but after they sent me their pitch details, I was already turned off with the first slide having generative AI. The next thing that turned me off was their story concept, and how they want to share the positive outlook of crypto currencies. At first, I was really down to do it, until the use of generative AI and cryptocurrencies came into the topic... How do I kindly say that I was very interested, but I don't want to associate myself with AI and crypto? (It's my first time being involved in this)

Thank you for any help!

I'm a 22 year old recent grad with a BFA in illustration, most of my work is vis dev/background design (my website) but almost every industry professional I have reached out to in those fields has warned me about how hard it is to get a job and how unstable it can be.

I graduated in May and have seen little success in breaking in so far and it does not look like things are getting much better.

I’m starting to explore backup plans and would appreciate advice from people who’ve made a similar pivot. What careers have you found worth pursuing with an illustration or animation background? I’m open to art-adjacent or unrelated fields as well, as some people have mentioned trades or the medical field. Thanks!

So, is it even worth trying to get a BFA in today’s age? I’m 22, already got my art associate’s degree from a while ago and I don’t really have particular talents or interests in anything else besides art.

I am considering doing a BFA so I can hopefully get a job in the future as a creative/art director. Obviously it’s not really a guaranteed career path and I am worried I will simply be wasting my time and money. Thoughts?

I'm 20 years old & going to community college as an animation major. I've always wanted to be a professional artist & I've never given up no matter how many people have told me not to. (I'm aware of the many problems the industry has like financial instability, competition, and job insecurity but none of those things have stopped me)

I'm taking longer than most to get my degree as I'm in my 3rd year. For different reasons, but one of them is when I put a portfolio together, I want to take my time instead of rushing my work & presenting something half-baked. But the thing is that I have no idea what my long-term plan is. I don't know if I want to transfer to a university & persue a bachelor's degree or get an entry-level job after I get my associate's. I'm well aware that neither path is easy, but I'm worried that people may be right about animation as a profession & other creative careers.

Which leads me to here, I found out I'm failing one of my classes: 3D class where we're learning Maya. It feels like I'm working so hard only to fail. My instructor says there are things I'm not doing right, but she refuses to tell me what they are. She also says she's trying to prepare us students for the industry to justify arbitrarily high expectations. I just broke down & started crying due to how discouraged I feel. I even started thinking these thoughts like "You're wasting your time" & "Your art has always sucked". It's not that I'm incapable of doing the work, I just need more time since I'm inexperienced in 3D art. My other instructors have also said that professional workplaces are much less forgiving than school, yet none of them were like this. They were flexible, patient, and knew that many of us were drawing or animating for the 1st time, yet they also encouraged us to challenge ourselves.

If you think about it, there are more options than there used to be than just working for a studio or client. For example, I could, teach upload my animations to YouTube & monetize them, or even sell my art. To be honest, even though I say I've always wanted to be a professional artist, I don't care if I'm not that. I just want to be able to pay my bills & live comfortably. I just don't want a job that crushes my soul, drains my creativity, and makes me depressed as I am right now.