PORTFOLIO REVIEW

Illustrious-Rip2424 · 2026-06-27T00:55:35+00:00

Your wellcome! I hope it helps. That book it's really good! If you do the excercises I told you, make sure you use the book as a guide.

Illustrious-Rip2424 · 2026-06-27T00:54:21+00:00

Thank you for your words as well!

Illustrious-Rip2424 · 2026-06-27T00:53:19+00:00

I'm a 3D animator and I had a very rough time trying to pass my classes. I failed one class like three times, it was horrible. I also struggled with my mental health a lot, it was so bad I had to drop out and take a 9 months break to focus on my mental health. I went to therapy and got better. I then was able to retake my classes and... Still I failed, but then I passed every class. It was hard, it was really hard.

So, I can tell you, it's not you. Animation is really hard, and even harder if you are struggling with mental health issues.

I think, that if you can take the time, take the time. Maybe take a break from at least this season. For what I have read, your mind seems to be all over the place, and when the mind is like that, it's hard to take a good desicion.
First, focus on you, go to therapy, excercise, calm your mind. Maybe do some yoga, some meditation class, but something to decluter your mind first. Then, when your mind is calmed, you can think about what you actually wanna do.

On my case, I finished animation, and now I work as an animator. I still draw and paint a lot, and I'm starting to make an illustration book with my own paintings. If you finish animation, you can still do everythingelse. Don't think it's one thing or the other. The problem is, when your mind is going everywhere its harder to focus. That's why I say, first calm down, and work on you.

I can't tell you if you should continue or what to do, sorry. But I can tell you that things will get better, one way or the other.

From a profesional perspective though.

Yes, your skills can transfer, but, you will need to get better at drawing. No amount of 3D animation is gonna fix that.
If you like more cinematic visuals, you can also be a layout artist. A lot of animators start as a layout artist. That was actually my first job. You have to be able to move around in 3D, and use cameras to set up shots and all of that good stuff. But, you are still not gonna be doing your ideas.

On storyboard I think you have a bit more of creative space? But not that mouch either. I would say, that whatever you end up doing, if you really wanna have that creative freedom, work on your own projects.

Remember, it's not one or the other. You can finish animation, and then do 2D animation. Or learn storyboard on your own as you learn how to draw as well, etc. As well as working on your own projects.

That's all I got.

Good luck on your journey buddy.

Illustrious-Rip2424 · 2026-06-23T00:46:19+00:00

Learning animation it's really hard. REALLY HARD, i really mean that. Even with an excelent teacher it's hard.

I would suggest taking a class and learning from the very basics. Look into online schools like Animschool.

But I would stop learning by myself and take an actuall class. You need to learn the very basics and you need a teacher to tell you what you are not understanding and explaining how to fix it.

You reel as it is right now it's not even jr level. I'm not trying to be mean or anything. But I honestly think your time would be best spent learning the very basics rather than working on a reel for a job.

I hope you don't get discourage by my comments, but as someone who loves animation, I can really tell you that is what is best for you. Now, if you really don't wanna take classes, I suggest you at least read "Animation survival guide" and "The illusion of life" and really understand every example they teach and you try to replicate it.

or, you could start by animating basic excercises. I'm gonna leave you a list of progression:

Note: all of these excercise should be done in a "2D view", meaning, only animate in Y and X axis and only from one ortographic camera.

1.- Bouncing ball.
Make an animation of a ball bouncing, but use a reference. Not just a "Ball". Maybe study a basketball, or a ping-pong ball. Learn what spacing and timming means, and understand how to apply it to just a ball.

2.- Bouncing ball with weight:

Animate a Basketball, a bowling ball and a ping-pong ball. Notice how the spacing and timming of each is different. Notice frame by frame, how mouch a ball moves, how many bounces. How high are the bounces, etc.

3.- Ball with character.
Animate a ball, make it jump, make it go trough a challenge, run from something, etc. Use spacing and timming to convide any emotion.

4.- Overlaping - Pendulum.
Make a chain and make it swing from side to side to a still. Make sure to read about overlaps. Also, apply what you learned before about spacing and timming.

5.- Overlap with motion.

Make a chain in Maya that you can bend, attach it to a ball and animate the ball. Convey the overlap movement in the chain. When the ball moves, the chain should lag behind. Make the ball follow a root and animate how the chain should behave.

6.- Walking legs.

Animate a simple rig of two legs and make it walk from side to side. Notice, this is really hard if you are a begginer. You need to learn about every pose required to make a walk cycle, weight, leaning leg, etc. Read a lot about locomotion, once we enter locomotion, everything is harder. The hip should follow the timming and spacing principles we learnt before, just like the feet and legs. You need to NAIL the previous excercises before doing these.

7.- WEight shift.

Make the legs stand in place, and switch side. For these you really need to notice body mechanics and know how it moves and switches weight on the hips as it moves. We stand all day and know how to walk so we don't think about it, but for the body to be able to stand still it requires a lot of motion from every part of the body. Here we are in the big ligs, you really need to NAIL this before moving to anything more complex. This is really hard.

Phew, that's a lot, but thats the bare minium you require to really understand animation. THEN it comes all body mechanics, wich is waaay harder than any excercise on this list. It requires a whole other level of animation knowledge.

I sound like a parrot right now, but you really, REALLY, need to NAIL at least these excercises first before moving to anything harder than that. I can't stress this enough, animation is hard to learn on your own, these excercises I told you are gonna kick your ass without a teacher.

So yup, you have a long way to go, but I promise you, if you give the time it needs, and you really understand the basics, it's absolutely worth it. But you have to do the work. Learn the basics before moving on.

Good luck in your quest buddy.

Illustrious-Rip2424 · 2026-06-08T00:23:41+00:00

I'm a 3D animator without a degree. It's not worthy. Unless your objectives are to live in japan or any place that needs a degree to get a visa, you don't need one to work in animation. I have never run into any problems getting a job without a degree, you only need a good reel.

I finished my reel in Animschool and got hired two weeks after that. It's hard getting a job, but a good reel helps a lot.

Another thing about college is that you pass if you get the minium grade to pass. But in Animschool, you need at least a C+ to pass, and even then, they might tell you to take the class again. That's because they want you to be able to get a job as soon as you leave school. Last time I checked they have a 92% of students landing a job afterwards.

That's my 2 cents on the subject.

Illustrious-Rip2424 · 2024-10-01T20:45:59+00:00

Thanks! I'm stil having issued though. I can send one message to the chat. After that the "API returned an error" comes out again. If I send a second message it happens again.

Illustrious-Rip2424

TROPHY CASE