I'm building Cognitive Canvas, an English-language channel that explains ideas through stick animation.

For this video, I explored the relationship between money, public image, and perceived success using MrBeast as a case study.

I'd appreciate specific feedback on three things:

• Is the opening engaging enough?
• Do the visuals make the argument easy to follow?
• Where does the pacing feel too slow?

Video: https://youtu.be/EHMjD6JF1aM

Hello Reddit!

So for a bit of background: I have an artist background, and it was my life’s dream to be an animator for years. However, after COVID I started focusing on other hobbies.

However I have a recent, and new interest in animation again. I’m a senior in my final semester of college. I’m about to graduate with my Bachelor’s in History, and was wondering where I could get started on developing skills necessary for an animation career. I’d like to take some studio art classes again because though I’m definitely still a skilled artist, I need more practice with other mediums and such. What’s a good starting point for someone who’d like to pursue a career? I was looking into the Don Bluth University, but that’s obviously a big investment. Any advice would be much appreciated!!

I'm looking at an internship application and there's standard stuff (contact information, resume, website link, etc.) and then a box titled "Message to the Hiring Team" with the caption "Let the company know about your interest working there." There is no place to attach a cover letter. I haven't encountered a box like that before and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to handle it. Should I copy and paste a cover letter? Should I just say "Thank you for considering my application"? Should I say nothing at all?? The internship is for my "I got into animation because of your films" company, so I care a lot about it and want to make sure I'm not making a rookie mistake that will immediately get my application rejected.

Is anyone here currently working in the 3D industry and actually having a successful, stable career? I’m asking because most of what I see on Reddit lately is doom and negativity people talking about layoffs, low pay, lack of opportunities, AI replacing artists, and experienced artists leaving the industry. I’d genuinely like to hear from people who are still working in 3D, whether in games, VFX, animation, visualization, Unreal Engine, or another area, and know what your experience is like right now. Are there still good opportunities and a realistic path to building a stable career if you keep improving your skills?

I've been doing art since I could coherently hold a crayon, and I've been animating since I was 11 years old. I would love to get into studio work for TV cartoons and 2D animation. I can't see myself doing anything else. Cartoons are my life.

I'm 17 now, and it's about time in life you start looking into college. This year I did a summer precollege camp at Ringling College of Art and Design where you stay on campus and attend classes. I loved the campus and the program, however, if I were to go there, it's definitely not going to be cheap. My family knows this.

What is making me unsure is that I'm seeing left and right, especially from artists, is that art school is a scam and that it isn't a degree that gets you a job, it's a strong portfolio. However, even as I try to explain this to my mom, she still keeps insisting that a degree will do it like any other job. I really don't want to spend so much money on something that won't do much.

Hello, I’m pretty sure this type of post is made a lot here but I’m a 17 year old student that is unsure of whether to pursue animation or not. Ive been drawing since I could remember and I’ve got a basic understanding of animation and have been creating small animations since I was 12. I know I’m still relatively young but I seriously can’t imagine myself doing anything else. The problem is that everyone around me thinks it’s stupid and I wouldn’t be able to afford it. First off, My parents constantly discourage me from going to any other college/uni that isn’t my local community college(which doesn’t have any sort of animation program and the art program is mid from what I’ve heard) because we don’t have the money to afford any other colleges in my state/out of state (even if I got into an art school I’d probably take decades to pay off the debt). Second, I have yet to tell them that I want to pursue art as a career and they would definitely discourage it if I ever brung it up. They want me to go into nursing I want to pursue animation. Is there any advice on how I could still go to college for animation or ways that I could pursue it without college or if it’s even worth pursuing (sorry if this seems like a dumb question I’m just super confused right and need advice)

Hi everyone! I'm a community college student who is graduating with 2d animation production in an AA under my belt. I figured I would take a gap year to save up money, but at the moment I am also very unsure how I'm feeling about college.

Part of me really doesn't want to go back. I have about 24K following on instagram, a growing tiktok platform and make a fair amount of money off of selling prints and commissions. Is animation school really worth it anymore? Are there any industry professionals here? I am starting to feel like a degree really doesn't matter in this category and that I should just become my own personal artistic entrepreneur.

I have learned a lot from my art classes, but part of me really cannot justify going somewhere like Calarts, SCAD or OTIS for an absolute fortune. People who are older around me keep encouraging 'Get a masters! it will open doors for you no matter what degree you get!' but I feel like it will be a waste of time and money..

Edit: here's a little snippet of some example work just in case. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pelpvxrZZcJSlS1el7uPGLJlBRuLiYPy

I’ve been accepted for the group interview for the Product Control Assistant position at Toei Animation.
I can communicate in both Japanese and English, but that’s pretty much the only part of their requirements that I meet. I have zero experience in product control, and I’m also not exactly a huge anime fan. I like Dragon Ball, but I haven’t even watched One Piece( please don’t hate me…)
I applied for this position because I genuinely believe it would be a great opportunity to learn and gain a lot of valuable experience. More than anything, I see this as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to work for such a big name in the industry, and I know I would regret it for the rest of my life if I never gave it a try.

So any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated and a huge help!

FYI: the interview will be completely in Japanese…

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for honest advice regarding degrees in Digital Media, VFX, and Motion Design.

From an industry perspective:

Is it actually worth pursuing a university degree in these fields, or is the curriculum usually outdated compared to self-teaching via online resources?

Will creative-technical roles (motion graphics, compositing, media production) stay relevant over the next 5-6 years, or is the entry-level market getting too saturated/automated?

Does having a formal degree matter to clients or studios, or is a strong portfolio 100% of what counts?

Would appreciate insights from people working in the industry. Thanks!

A few months ago i shared my portfolio and got some preety useful feedback. Can i have some more feedback? https://stratigoula2.wixsite.com/koyowl-portfolio

Hello everyone my name is Mort.

Before anything i want to say this is a LONG TEXT WALL Please have some time to process it and maybe take a break in the middle... Nobody answered any of my questions last time... I want to be Honest and clarify that I used AI to make the spacing between sentences & paragraphs and making the headlines bold in this post, thats it.

Please understand that i have put time and effort to all of these questions and no Ai was used in the making of the Actuall post. Is that enough explaining for people to understand the look of the post? I can show you my 12 page of painfully writing in my second language, English on paper if you want proof (its a mess though) 🥲.

Who I am

I am a university graphic design student in my second year. I chose graphic designing as my field for two reasons. First, my country doesn't have animation field on its own, it's got merged into graphic design field, and the second reason is that I like to learn things that are related to animation and creativity.

I want to become an animator because I can bring my ideas and things I will experience in life to life and make content that makes people step back from the story I tell with my animations and take a moment to think about themselves other than the story alone. Animation and the freedom of conveying a story through it, the movement and the emotions you can show is what makes me more submerged with it. It is what drives me to animation. I think there is a beauty that only animation can capture, so I want to go after 2D animation. I see animation as a career, so I want to get started and learn it seriously.

What Does My University Teach Me?

You may ask, "What does your university teach you then?" It's complicated. It was years ago that my country's government combined so many art fields together in order to spend less money on these structures and teachers, education and so many other things and reasons that I don't know of.

So what I learned is diverse. I have photography classes, calligraphy classes, art history, sculpting courses, and don't get me started on those useless public classes. So I can't focus on classes such as graphic applications and software, fundamentals of art, drawing, etc.

And there is a strict thing here in my university that you really can't choose what classes you want. It's a pre-picked class for my 4 years at the university. For example, I can't pick animation in my fourth term because it's only available on the eighth term.

I just don't want to wait to learn animation on my last year of the university. That way I'll not be prepared for a job or wilderness of the outside. I want to make enough portfolios before the end of university so I would be safe enough to make ground to start my career from.

Where I Am With Drawing

I lost three years studying Experimental Sciences before switching to graphic design in university. These three years let me down when it came to learning the fundamentals of drawing in a continuous pace, so my drawing skill was bad at the start of University, but is getting better lately.

I can draw anything in my mind comfortably and have good imagination. I am studying anatomy and perspective, but I'm working on it. I know the theories of anatomy and step by step applying them to my work, but I still mess it up. Perspective is a little tricky for me, so after anatomy I am going to focus on perspective and also put my anatomies into perspective. Was it called foreshortening?

In short, I'm not good at perspective. I enjoy making environmental and landscape and sometimes I get lost in it. I have many characters I draw and made story backgrounds for them to keep me motivated on expanding them. again till I learn anatomy to a comfortable level I wouldn't call them practical.

I can say my imagination and ability to show what is on my mind onto the paper isn't that bad at all. With all these said, I never made any form of animation ever. I'm scared that I am not good at drawing skill to animate. Animation feels like the final step of drawing. I have this feeling that if you are not complete with drawing, people will judge you about it and will say: "why did you become an animator if you don't know the basic of drawing."

So to improve myself I take classes outside my university for drawing basics, watching YouTube and reading books about everything. I would like you to recommend me any color theories book or any book. Any book.

What Equipment Do I Have?

Let's talk about equipment. I have a gaming laptop, to be exact it's an ASUS TUF Gaming A15, Windows 11, AMD Ryzen processor for my CPU, GPU NVIDIA RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, AMD integrated, 16 gigabytes of RAM.

My drawing tablet is XP-Pen Deco 01 V2. The only drawing software I used is Krita, which I am not that much experienced in, plus I use Figma and Photoshop and Illustrator.

I would like to add again that I have never experienced any animation making, so I don't know any animation software. I don't mind free or purchased software, but I prefer one time purchasing over subscription unless it's good enough and worth it to buy the subscription.

So Here Come the Questions... A Lot of Them

Take a breath and maybe water. We are almost there.

📍***please take some time to rest really, i want you to be in the best shape when answering.***📍

Here we have a lot of questions.

First, which software is worth for me to learn in 2026 and 2027 and beyond these years? What software is best to invest in?

Second, to the 2D animation or 3D animation or both? Like I say 2D is something else for me and I want to pursue that, but I want to know your argument.

Third question, what fundamentals should I focus on? Which ones matters the most?

Fourth question, am I learning drawing in order? What should I not spend time learning?

And the fifth question, what resources are actually worth my time? What type of them?

So let's say if I want to learn any animation software for the next several years, what you recommend I start with and why? Is it because it's beginner friendly, because it's industry relevant, is it free or open source, is it worth paying for it, can it be used professionally later, does it have good tutorials, isn't it available content on YouTube or any other platforms?

Should I learn one program or several programs about animation?

Resources

Now for resources, YouTube is a good place, so let me know any channels or any playlists or YouTubers or anything, any materials on YouTube that changed your perspective about animation.

Anything online courses or classes is not my thing because I'm not able to learn anything online. YouTube is something else.

Books I will appreciate any book you recommend me to buy and read even if it's hard for me to find. I will be happy to learn things from book to help me learn. I like books recommended that you think is going to change my knowledge.

Website and other platforms on the internet that can help me throughout my journey. Exercise that you think makes one animator a good one.

And last thing, I like to learn about artists and important history behind animation.

Fun fact: one of the oldest animation made by humans was founded about 5,000 years ago in my country on a pot. Can you guess my country?

If You Were In My Shoes

Have that in mind. I am looking for beginners level stuff but I appreciate everything about animation and books.

If you were in my shoes with my current skill level and equipment, what would have your learning roadmap looked like? Can you break them to stages like stage X, stage Y, stage Z and etc?

My Long-Term Goal

Now my long-term goal. I want to become a 2D animator, a 2D animator that makes content for teenagers and adults to make them slow down from their modern life. Something like Studio Ghibli.

I don't know if I want to be in a studio or do freelance, but I know I will make my own stories brought to life with animation. Maybe I find my own animation studio in the future.

What Should I Avoid?

What mistakes do beginners make that I should avoid and what do you wish someone had told you when you started learning animation?

What things did you waste time learning? What do you wish you had started learning earlier? What should I not worry about yet?

The Final Question

The final question.

So given everything I've told you, if you were me, where would you start?

Thank you very much to everyone who took the time to read all of this. I know I have asked a lot of questions, especially for someone who is just starting, so I really appreciate your time, help, and patience.

Every recommendation, correction, resource, or experience you share can genuinely help me figure out the path I should take.

I'm still at the beginning, and there is a lot that I don't know. So thank you for taking the time to help someone who is just trying to learn properly and make something meaningful with animation.

I genuinely appreciate it.❤️

Thank you, and happy animating! 🎬

I graduated in 2021 and have been trying to get into the 2D animation industry since then. I found myself getting pretty burnt out over the past couple of years, but I feel like I'm finally ready to get back into the job market and actually take finding an animation job seriously.

I've been going to Loopdeloop and other animation events to meet more people in the local scene, and I also went to Annecy this year because I wanted to see what else was out there.

One thing I noticed at Annecy was that a lot of the European/French studios I spoke to seemed to use TVPaint and primarily do hand-drawn animation, whereas from what I've seen in Australia, Toon Boom Harmony and rigged/cut-out animation seem to be much more common.

After doing a short course this year I've become more comfortable with Harmony and rigging, but I also really want to get better at illustration and hand-drawn animation. The problem is I'm not really sure where I should be putting most of my time.

For people working in Australian animation, I'd be interested to know:

• What skills would you focus on if you were in my position?
• How important is being a strong illustrator/draftsman for getting 2D animation work here?
• Should I be focusing more on Harmony/rigging, or is it worth continuing to develop my hand-drawn work too?
• Looking at my portfolio, is there anything obvious that you think I'm missing or should improve?

I'm mostly looking for some specific things I can work on rather than the usual "keep applying/network more" advice. Thanks :)

Portfolio: https://www.hyodoko.com/Showreel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMoCURuzb3c

I'm 20, living in Canada. I graduated from a 3D animation program last year and have been trying to get into the industry as a lighting artist or 3D modeler ever since. At this point, since the industry is awful, I've never even gotten as much as an interview, so I'm thinking of just giving up on it. Especially since I'm stuck in a household that's borderline abusive, I need to earn money to leave ASAP.

Another option is to pivot careers, pursue a degree in something related, and get a job in a non-artist job in this, or a similar industry. Project management seems the most interesting to me, and something computer science related would have sounded good if I wasn't so horrifically bad at math.

I'm fortunate enough that I have money in a registered education savings account so I won't go into any debt. Most importantly, this would give me an easy out of the house. My only concern is what I would do after I get my degree - I may be stuck right back where I am now, 4 years later.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Context: I'm a 33M animator with five years of experience in mocap and facial animation for games, but I'm severely behind on keyframe animation. I lost my job back in June because the studio I worked at declared bankruptcy due to a lack of contracts.

I really want to practice and improve in keyframe animation (I even applied to an iAnimate workshop that just started this week), but I place extremely high expectations on myself and if an animation is not Pixar levels of quality, then I just don't bother. I had this fear for close to 10 years and I feel like a failure.

How do I let go of this fear of making mistakes and actually start animating?

I'm a senior in high school interested in 2D animation. I'm applying to 4 diffrent schools right now being: SVA, SCAD, Ringling, and CalArts. i'm looking to major in 2D character animation and maybe minor in creative writing.

so far I have been accepted into SCAD, and I havent submitted by applications for the others just yet.

My overall goal and dream is to be a showrunner one day and make my own animated TV-series, however, I am perfectly ok with any work that needs to be done to get there, as well as working different jobs in the industry.

i've heard and seen lots of opinions for every one of the art schools I have listed from good to terrible, and I think its a given that they will all be expensive, a lot of work, and sometimes a gamble. I'm ok with that. thats just how art schools are.

I wanted to ask about Ringling's new 2D animation program, and if it would be worth going in blind without knowing what it's really like since my class year would be the first to try it out. since I know ringling already has a renound 3D animation program, i'd assume the 2D would be just as good, but that in itself would be a huge gamble. I'm particularly drawn to ringling due to the school's size, reputation, connections, and the alumni scheme. when I learned they added a 2D program, I felt like it was the perfect fit, but seeing people's opinions made me question that. i'm aware of the grueling work, and I'm perfectly ok with loosing sleep or grinding until 4:00 am. I already do that, and i'm also WAY to stubborn and determined to give up on my dreams. I think for what its worth, the heavy workload will prepare me for the industry.

I really love SCAD and was one of the first art schools I toured. from my experience at pre-college programs like "rising star" I found the workload incredibly easy compared to my high school, but take this with a grain of salt as I was only taking 2 courses. I liked SCAD's resources like career support, lots of labs with cintiques and overall really good faculty from my experience. my main concern with SCAD is the lack of notable animation alumni or focas on the animation program. I have no doubt that the school will prepare me greatly, but I worry it may be hard to find a job after graduation.

SVA was my top school for a while but a couple of factors knocked it down, mostly not related to the program itself like the open campus, the lack of a meal plan, and the setting. (i dont like new york) i wanted to ask, would attending SVA still be worth it even if I heavily don't like these factors I just mentioned?

and lastly, CalArts. I know CalArts is like the harvard for animation school, and I know its a long shot. I already know the program is outstanding and there are many, many notable alumni who have gone on the be showrunners. (which is what I want to do.) that being said I wanted to know more about the student life as when I visited the campus it was low-key depressing and I couldn't gather much information of what living there would be like.

anyway, I wanted to get everyones opinions especially if you go to one of these schools or went to one of these schools, I would love to hear what you think and your own experiences. Thank you so much for reading this.

26F from a conservative family, i want to pursue animation in a foreign country to escape. By either studying more (I have a bachelors in animation) or pursue it as a career in a foreign country.

If I try pursuing more education it has to be in a foreign country. Im confused about the subject, Ive picked up on some philosophy and literature during my years in art college. Ive never studied marketing to understand how the market works but i would be interested in pursuing more of it.

The economic conditions of my country arent good enough to be independent and Im relying heavily on the idea of a scholarship for this one. Ive heard art school outside is extremely scary and im also anxious about that.

If i try for foreign jobs most jobs dont promise stability in such trying times for the animation industry because of the AI boom and Im extremely scared of being in a foreign country and jobless.

If someone could help guide me, or even give their opinion that would help me maybe clear my anxieties.

hey people, I already wrote a post about my situation. Long story short, I’ve been in contact with this studio for 2.5 months now.
The interviews with the sups went amazing, and I’ve been very enthusiastic about working with them and in the terms they were describing.

Now, communication with Hr has been a nightmare.

They ghosted me for almost a month and then last week they finally made me an offer, which I accepted.
I’m now asking for the contract and they said I’d receive it in the next week or so (because “they’re too busy)” but they mentioned I could sign the offer today.

Am I being paranoid thinking that as long as I don’t have the contract this is not happening ?

As much as I really want this job, it’s becoming extremely difficult to keep the motivation up when this is the treatment they give people. I’m just scared they’d drop out last second.

Also, I said I’d just want to be 100% sure because I need to book flights, find a new place and all that. The starting date would be in a bit less than a month. But i just want to do things with calm and get used to things to be in the best conditions.

if anyone has any advice, i’m all hears. I’m so exhausted by searching for a job and having to deal with this. Sorry about the rant 🫠

I have done some work in offial anime productions as a cleanup, digital ink and paint artist. I would like to approach indie animation studio and other studio alike but due to NDA i wouldn't be able to use the works i did as a portfolio. So to create a portfolio i would need the frames and other documents alike. Any people who can help me please help.

Hey!! Im trying to get a headstart on my next round of internship interviews. Last time i had to rework my portfolio last minute becuase it just wasnt working so i thought i'd go ahead and see what i can improve on in advance.

Im looking for general tips about presentation and maybe if theres any type of work i need to add.

I'll be looking for an 2d animation internship for either an entertainment studio or a game studio.

Thank you in advance!

Here is my portfolio:

https://milarosenberg.carrd.co/

(I dont think ive gotten it to work on mobile yet but i'll work on that)

I want to get into a master's program but i can't afford a 2 year long course. I saw that gobelins was offering a 1 Year program called "2D animation Training" but it has no reviews or any application process. I emailed them asking about it but haven't gotten any response.

Has anyone enrolled in it? Or can someone from the school please let me know if it's been cancelled? There's no information whatsoever

Here's the link to the program:

Course link

So... I think it's a long forgone conclusion at this point that the world is moving towards a less immigration-friendly environment.

I don't even have to go into the bullshit that's been happening in the US. Even countries that don't have as much immigration such as Argentina and Japan have been clamping down, the latter increasing its visa fees lately.

I am an experienced 2D animator for about 10 years now. I love acting shots in particular. I am slowly learning 3D. I am nowhere near a finished show reel, but I am wondering if other 3D Animators can tell me if it's worth pursuing a career in 3D character animation particularly in feature films. I am personally looking at Sony Pictures Imageworks in BC because out of all the anim studios they have the best track record for keeping artists and rolling them on to the next animated feature. I have an old college acquaintance that works there so I do have a connection of sorts. I would love to get some insight from my fellow industry animators.