Last updated on January 17, 2023
As more aspiring animators choose online animation schools to hone their skills in 3D character animation, I thought it would be a good idea to compile a list of the top three online animation schools based on their popularity, presence online, and student showcase reels. A popular question that is often asked is, “Why would you choose an online school versus a traditional college or university?” There are many reasons why students choose online animation schools over the brick-and-mortar alternative. Cost-effectiveness is the primary reason. With animation colleges costing upwards of six figures when all is said and done, most people cannot afford to attend schools like CalArts, SCAD, or Ringling. The online animation school provides a low-cost alternative that eliminates the cost of living expenses associated with on-campus living. The other major deciding factor for most students is that online schools offer an opportunity to learn from animators that are currently practicing at major animation studios full-time. Sure, schools like SCAD, CalArts, and Ringling have industry veterans teaching for them, but it is nice to hear anecdotes and stories from your teachers about projects that they may be currently working on. Lastly, not all students that attend online animation schools are new to animation. The freedom of attending classes online gives working animators that want to improve their skills, or artists from other facets of the animation industry a new avenue to try while they are currently working. It is also a great supplement for those who have an undergraduate degree and want to polish their skills some more.
By now, you most likely have an idea of what you are looking for in an online animation school. Make sure you have read my post: Online Animation School: How to Choose the Right One If you haven’t done so already. You may have noticed by now that there are more and more schools popping up on the web. You ask yourself, “How many of them are out there?” There are several larger schools and many smaller ones to choose from. In this article, we are going to highlight just three of the more popular online animation schools. We have chosen these three particular schools based on the idea that someone wishes to improve on their skills as a character animator, and we use the following criteria as deciding factors for this article:
- What are the Animation Industry connections of the instructors?
- How much of a community does the online animation school have with its alumni and students?
- What do the student graduate animation reels look like?
- Do they offer scholarships?
Animation Mentor:
Animation Mentor is one of the most widely known online animation schools and has been around for the longest. With its roots in character animation, this online animation school was founded by three character animators who, aside from its CEO, are still working in the feature film industry today: Bobby Beck, Carlos Baena, and Shawn Kelly. Check out the bios of some of their instructors here. Animation Mentor teaches students the necessary 3D animation skills for employment. The students start with the fundamentals of the principles of animation applied to the bouncing ball and finish up with polished dialogue and acting scenes for their animation demo reel. The strengths of Animation Mentor rely on the fact that their instructors are all currently working in the animation industry and are in the trenches, working on big projects while teaching in their free time. They are all up to date on industry news, trends, and technology, and most importantly, who is hiring?
The weaknesses of the school are that, because they have been around for a while, some may say that the animation demo reels of the students that finish from there have an almost cookie-cutter quality to them. Animation recruiters see so many reels from Animation Mentor; don’t get me wrong, the work is excellent, but it may be in the student’s best interest to take the knowledge that they get here and apply it to make a film, or model and rig some of their own characters and creatures to supplement their reel. This can be advice for students going through any school, though. AM’s courses have recently undergone some changes, with the addition of creature and animal animation to the curriculum. Excellent idea, being that there always seems to be an abundance of bipedal dialogue acting scenes on student reels and not enough creature work for the likes of Rhythm and Hues, Industrial Light and Magic, and Digital Domain to get their hands on. You can see some of the Animation Mentor’s student work below.
Animschool:
Animschool is another excellent online animation school, founded in 2010 by Dave Gallagher, who is an animator, rigger, and former Character Development Supervisor at Blue Sky Studios. Animschool’s instructors are also professional animators working in the industry at studios such as Pixar, Dreamworks, Blue Sky, and other well-known feature studios. You’ve probably seen their work on Horton Hears a Who, the Ice Age franchise, District 9, Meet the Robinsons, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, among others. Check out some of their bios here.
Animschool, like Animation Mentor, has obvious strengths in the instructor’s industry experience, but Animschool also offers a 3D character modeling and rigging curriculum! A student can learn the entire process of creating a 3D animated character through 3D modeling and animation. The community that Animschool is building up of its students and alumni is growing as well, with a great Facebook following and a presence at Siggraph, It is very important to choose one of these schools with a large alumni factor. Most careers start with ” an “in” from someone looking out for fellow alumni. Again, the affordability factor is quite favorable for this school, which offers a la carte classes and various payment plans.
I Animate:
Ianimate is another popular online animation school that has a primary focus on character animation. It was started by veteran animator Jason Ryan, who is currently a supervising animator at Dreamworks. The team of instructors that he has amassed is pretty stellar, comprised of all animators currently working in the animation industry. You can check out some of their bios here. This is definitely the strength of Ianimate along with the other schools. A couple of things distinguish them from the other two schools. For one, they offer a special curriculum for the increasingly sought-after subject of animation in games! This alone is a huge advantage. There are a lot of game studios scattered across the U.S., and job opportunities are constantly popping up, increasing one’s chances as a new animator to break into the animation industry as opposed to the highly competitive and limited feature film industry. Another bonus for Ianimate is their lineup of character animation rigs to choose from for members to animate with. There is an excellent quadruped rig in that mix with a lot of appeal. Lastly, like Animschool, Ianimate offers a rigging curriculum as well, which gives both online schools an advantage over Animation Mentor. The price for Ianimate is pretty fair, breaking down your payments so you can take a 7-week workshop at a time for a price of roughly $1000. They don’t appear to have any scholarships at this time. Like the other schools, Ianimate has a stellar community established of alumni and current students, as well as an industry presence and respect, which is always important for job connections. Check out their latest student’s work below:
When all is said and done, what you ultimately want is a polished animation reel that looks as professional as you can make it, as well as a connection to the industry. All three of these schools will give that to you. What will help you choose between these three options is your budget and your ability to come up with the payments over a period of time. More importantly, look at the results of the student work that each of the schools is producing. Decide for yourself what reels are more professional, and don’t forget to get on some forums and ask former students what their thoughts are on how things went. I hope this article shed some light on a few options and sparked some thought. I would love to hear from you on the subject.
For additional reading on this subject, check out this post:
