#confusion...need some advice

[Doulos]

Hey guys,

For the passed few months I have been working with after effects doing simple animations for my job, i make short promotional videos for different departments in my university, and in my spare time I have just been messing around, learning after effects, and doing tutorials when I can. I have a small background in 3d modeling and quite a bit of time spent in photoshop so I instantly fell in love with after effects and started looking into the motion graphics/special effects scene. The more I look into things the more I would love to do it for a career. The only prob is, I am graduating in december with a degree that does not have anything to do with art/film/design. I have come up with a few options but I need some advice. I have been looking at the compositing course at Escape Studios quite a bit and I really like how it is only 12 weeks long, and in London as well as a lot of other things, but do you actually learn the theory of what your doing or do you just learn some buttons on several programs? The other option I am considering is doing a grad degree in motion graphics or special effects somewhere. Money is a large factor and it seems like every decent place costs a substantial amount compared to Escape Studios. So I guess my main question is, would I recieve a quality education from Escape or would it be a better idea to just spend the extra money and go to an actual university and get a grad degree?

One last thing, since Escape does not require a college degree would it wise to go this fall, one semester before I graduate, or go ahead and graduate first and then go? Thanks for any help and advice!

[ben.frain]

Hi there,

I completed the compositing course at escape in 2007 and can vouch for it being worth it. The basic premise of the course is theoretical, and software independant. You do use Shake 4.1 as this is the standard for most VFX houses, and it also the most "under the hood" comping package out there. Though Shake is no longer being developed, it's successor, Nuke, bears much in common, and I have found that once you understand what compositing is all about, and what the basic diciplines are, it is only a matter of buttons being in a different place. My last Job was using Eyeon Digital Fusion, and I picked it up fairly quickly. Ultimately software is merely a tool, its noing what needs to be done that is important. Saying all of that I believe that the Escape course is moving towards Nuke for its 3D capacity which is fast becoming the standard in the industry. If you're able to teach yourself after effects you should be able to pick up any program, so the Escape course would be ideal for you considering the amount of theory it contains. It is costly and it being full time you have to support yourself for the duration, so it's a decision not to be taken lightly. I would suggest you try one of the learning days to give you a feel for the place.

In answer to your final question, I would have thought if you have already spent so much time and money on your current degree, you should graduate first, but thats a personal choice for you to make. What are you studying?

I hope I've been of some help.

Ben

[Doulos]

Ben,

Thanks for the reply! What you said about Escape gives me a little more peace in considering it as a gateway for education.

I started out majoring in history and changed to mass communications with an emphasis on film/tv. The mass comm program is good in itself but it is a small university so the program is very limited and did not offer what I wanted. Last semester I changed my major to general studies, that is basically take anything, so I can graduate in December.

Basically, the only reason i'm getting an undergrad degree is so I can do graduate studies. to finish my degree would cost about $10,000 so I don't know if I should go to Escape first and then get a job to start paying on loans and then finish up my degree or just throw out the money now and get it over with.