Which animation courses should I take?

Well, do you want to do 2D animation, or do you want to do 3D animation? That’s the first decision to make. If you don’t know, then I advise you to take a Flash and Maya course and see if you like one over the other (or if you like them both).

Web design is handy but if you end up working in Pixar it won’t really be needed. That said it’s so easy to learn and adds a bonus to your resume.

I graduated from a 4 year multimedia buffet. It was handy to study things I didn’t think I would enjoy, like 3D modeling. But at the same time I had to learn things I know I didn’t want to learn and didn’t really enjoy learning (OpenGL programming). So that’s the pro and con to going into a long term course first.

Then again, there are lots of community college programs for animation that only take 1 or 2 years, so if you know you only want to do 3D animation, you can save yourself time and gain more specific knowledge.

So I advise you to take two small courses in Flash and Maya and see if you prefer one over the other or if you like them both. This will ultimately save you time and money and gain you a more pertinent education in regards to your desires.

If you haven’t already, take a course in drawing above all else.

I was accepted in the Disney Internship program. The most important thing you can learn before you go into any of those things is how to draw, that is to say, how to see.

Then exactly what @dynamicduo said.

@dynamicduo I enquired in a private institute, EDIT http://www.edit.co.in/.
What courses they’ve put up on their website are, however, quite different than what I was told. They have Photoshop, Illustrator (previously Corel Draw), Flash, 3D Max, Dreamweaver, HTML/DHTML, CSS, Maya, Soundforge, Toonboom, etc. I really don’t know much besides some Photoshop that I used a little in past. I think there might be differences amongst these and what is there in US/Canada.
So, I can take on Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and/or 3D Max for a 3 months course. Then, if I like, they say, I may continue to take Maya and alike.
I would appreciate if you explain more about why should I first decide on 2D/3D animation.

@Bri_L As i said, I have finished drawing basic courses, so I can take on animation courses. I need quite a bit practice though.
What about Disney Internship program? Would you tell your story?

Well your question is, “Which animation courses should I take”, and thus I think it is important to either decide to focus on only 2D or 3D animation, or to focus on getting a balance of both. Certainly you can decide to learn the programs and then specialize if you want to, that’s always a suitable road to take.

All of the programs they list are industry standards, there are absolutely no differences between any of them there in India and here in Canada and the US (although HTML and CSS are not programs, they are markup languages).

Learning Photoshop is a good idea, regardless of what you intend to do.

Illustrater is grouped with Flash and Toon Boom studio (and Photoshop) in that they are programs to help create 2D animations, not 3D ones.

Maya would be grouped with 3DS Max and Photoshop in being programs to create 3D animations.

HTML/DHTML, CSS, Dreamweaver (and Photoshop) are programs grouped together because they are related to web design.

I took a look at that site you linked. It seems they are a bit confused themselves as to what they offer. They are grouping web design very closely with animation and I do not believe this is a correct approach at all, unless you are ONLY learning animation for websites, which is completely different than learning animation for say feature films.

Web design is NOT relevant to animation whatsoever unless you intend to do animations on the web. If you want to go work in Hollywood or Pixar, you need to become a great specialized 3D animator, not a jack of all trades.

So the question really is, what do you want to do for a career, @prasad? What do you want your job to be? What type of work do you imagine yourself doing in 5 years?

@prasad – Sorry, I took your statement to mean they were engineering and mechanically related. I should have mentioned life drawing as well. My mistake. I think dynamicduo has a lock on it.

As far as the internship program I met with one of the reviewing professors, it happened to be in a school in San Fransisco. She liked my portfolio, specifically my life drawing and sense of humor about it. She said I would, as everyone does, have to take a specific class on head and hands before going on.

This was pre-pixar when everything was still 98% 2D.

@dynamicduo Thank you very much. Wish I could give you more lurve.
I’m thinking I should first take Photoshop, Illusrtator, Flash and 3D Max. And, then decide what to do then.

@Bri_L Yeah, drawing I meant arts-drawing. I have done both drawing- arts/life drawing and engineering drawing. I’ve also done CAD course and CNC programming. But, I don’t want to go into it. Thanks though.

Sounds like a great plan, even if you don’t follow with animation, knowledge in those programs will help any computer related career :)

Thanks @levis.

That’s awesome link! Which one is good? I guess California is a major zone where Hollywood movies are made, and where animation should be learned.
And, as I went through the list, some offer Certificate courses. What are those? Are those degrees or just a certificate? What’s your advice for me?
Can I go for Masters directly, or I have to go for Bachelors first?
Financial aids or scholarships? I can’t afford without it. Moreover, I guess, I will have to do a part time job to earn for living there.

Other than this, I like drawing, sketching, painting, photography, and if time comes fashion designing.
Well, now I have completed Adobe Photoshop (CS 3), Adobe Illustrator (CS 4), and 3DS Max (9 or 2009). From today, I will learn Adobe Flash (CS 4) for coming month (part time in the evening).