Expert: Andre Hickman - 6/26/2006

Question
hi i am science gradute in microbiology,earning handsome money in marketing field.

but i am not satisfied & happy with this field.

i want to make my careers in animation,though i am interested & impressed with this field.

which skills are required to be success ful in this field.

i am knowing only basics of computer which software are necessary for me in terms of bright future aspects as well as money aspects.

please give me proper guidance

thanking you.

nitin darji

Answer
Hey Nitin,

I know exactly what you are going through.  I will answer from personal experience, and not from some type of ciriculum based answer...

I went to school and graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and General Science.  My last semester in school, I was doing some soul searching, and I realized that I wouldn't be really happy doing an engineering job everyday.  A wise man told me that if you want to find your destiny, find that one thing that wakes you up in the morning to go and do...find that thing, that if all of your necessities were taken care of, and you never got paid a single dollar doing it, that you would still wake up every day eager to do it.

I found that when I was messing around with a free paint program in a computer lab.  From there, I continued to apply myself, and focus my hunger and desire to learn towards graphic design, which soon branched in to animation.  The rest is history!  A lot of times I get paid for what I do...Sometimes I do not, but the thing is, I do it anyway, simply because I love to do it.

What are the skills required? Well I think the biggest "skill" would be 1)Creativity, and 2)Desire.  The software that you will use is simply a tool.  It is only an extension of your own creativity, and a way to express that creative nature.  You can be a master of the software, but if you don't have any creativity, the software won't do you much good.  Desire is the thing that will make you push yourself to learn your tools beyond what any class could teach you.  I am self taught, and have never been to an art school, yet I have the skill set to actually teach this stuff, because I had the desire to achieve it, not because it was my job and I had to learn it, and not because I wanted to be successful in a field. Not because I wanted to make big money. I did it because I wanted to...period. I did it not because I wanted to "make" a future for myself, I did it because I realized it WAS my future, and it was what I was supposed to do.

This probably wasn't the type of answer that you were hoping to get, but I hope that this helps in your decision.

Cheers,
Andre'