Ringling Animation: Is it Worth it?
This is not a post bashing Ringling College of Art and Design or its program. I just believe that after attending several semesters, I formed a new opinion that needs to be shared. It’s something that new applicants should consider just as much as any piece of portfolio advice they find. Several of you who come across this may recognize my name as the one who made that Ringling CA portfolio advice post. If that’s the case, nothing has changed regarding my opinions towards the portfolio process.
I’ve come to the conclusion that unless you know you have a passion for animating by actually trying it out before attending or applying, the Computer Animation major at Ringling is not for you.
I only have my experience to speak on, but I don’t want you to take this as me saying you shouldn’t try to apply or attend Ringling. This is purely me explaining how I came to certain conclusions through self-discovery.
I was naive; I grew up loving animated films and cartoons and believed my wish to be a part of that industry was reason enough to apply for animation. I had never used a 3D software like Maya before, but I assumed it would be one of those tools that just needed time and practice getting used to. (Arguably it still is, but more on that later.) I learned the hard way that the major is no joke; once sophomore year starts, the CA students only get busier and busier. I initially had the bravado, hearing from CA upperclassmen how tough it gets but believing I could handle it. I couldn’t handle it.
When it comes to the CA students, I feel like you could separate them into 3 distinct groups. Those who have never animated before, but quickly got the hang of it, those who have tried animating/studied animation at another school, and those who struggle but have a drive to push through. The common factor is that they either have a passion for animating or quickly gain a passion for animating. I steadily learned that I didn’t have that same kind of passion for animation. There’s only so far a person can improve with practice alone; only those with passion can soar, but no one can teach someone to be passionate about something.
I struggled with the Maya software throughout the entire semester and heavily considered switching majors. It wasn’t until a friend (who was also in CA) asked if I just didn’t like the workload when I knew 150% I needed to switch. Every major takes a number of different classes that are exclusive to each major. Story Development was a class exclusive to CA majors; it was essentially a storyboarding class. It was my favorite class, and while the assignments weren’t as time-consuming as the Computer Animation ones, I still had to put in many hours to work on the projects. The thing was, I was always eager to work on my Story Dev homework and didn’t mind (or didn’t notice) spending hours at a time storyboarding because it was always so much fun for me.
Realizing that I never felt that kind of excitement towards my animation projects (instead, I felt immense dread) made me wonder how many of my peers were in the same boat, but perhaps too afraid to say something. It also made me realize what I actually loved to do because I missed it so much. CA majors draw and have to know how to draw, but I wished there was more time dedicated to becoming a better character/environment designer. The fact is, no matter how good of an animator someone is, animation takes a lot of trial and error. It’s a very time-consuming endeavor, which is why I believe only those who really love animating should pursue this major.
The takeaway from all this is that if you’re someone considering applying to Ringling for animation, I advise you to at least dabble in the software yourself for a bit to get a feel for it. Take a class, try animating on your own, animate something in 2D or 3D. I would’ve saved a lot of time if I had known this before; I don’t want others to also later realize they’ve made a mistake. This isn’t to demean the quality of the program because I really believe they have the most amazing curriculum for those who want to work in animation.
