Forgive me if this is in the wrong place, I find forums very confusing sometimes. I have just started with the trial version of anime studio 5. I just found out that I can get version 6, so I'm selling a few items online to get the money for it. My question is: what can I do after 1 month of working with anime studio 5 to get money to upgrade to pro? I have been working on animations for the past 5 months, but it has been one demo (or freeware) after another. I finally found anime studio, which happens to be so much cheaper than the $600 dollar programs I was looking at, but I still don't have the cash to get the pro version. I'm only 17, and so far no one even wants to consider me locally. Is there anyone that would hire me, even if it is just work to obtain a license for the software?
I appreciate any help, thanks.
I would show some of my work, but I can't save anything with the demo version, those are grayed out, and I don't think putting my project file on the internet is a good idea since I know people who have tried to steal content from me before. But if you want me to be honest, I am amateurish at best. I know my way around the program enough to get what I want out of it in a basic way, but there are so many things I would like to do that I don't know how, and it's not like I have been working at this for very long either. Basically, what can I expect to be able to do and could that involve money or free work? I will even take free work if it give me the experience I need to get paid later.
What can I do?
Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger
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drapacioli
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:32 pm
- Location: Tampa, FL
17?
Do you have a game system like Xbox or Playstation? Do you buy or get games for it? Do you rent games? Do you rent movies? How about any other things like iTunes or downloaded music? Do you go out with your friends and spend money?
Put yourself on a budget. Instead of games save that money for software. Find some aspect of what your parents invest in on a monthly basis and try to cut it out or cut down. God forbid you actually suggest to your parents maybe cutting back on cable or satellite. Get basic service. If you have a cell phone maybe stop using it for a while. Cut that service for a while and save the money. People survived for 100's if not 1000's of years without cell phones and texting.
On top of all that use other ways like yard work etc to earn money.
I paid two neighborhood kids close to your age $100 to work on my yard. The tore up weeds and vines, carried rubbish to the street for collection etc. Had them working for two days. They were saving up for cell phones.
AS is not that expensive. You could go with the Debut version and work up to pro later.
-vern
Do you have a game system like Xbox or Playstation? Do you buy or get games for it? Do you rent games? Do you rent movies? How about any other things like iTunes or downloaded music? Do you go out with your friends and spend money?
Put yourself on a budget. Instead of games save that money for software. Find some aspect of what your parents invest in on a monthly basis and try to cut it out or cut down. God forbid you actually suggest to your parents maybe cutting back on cable or satellite. Get basic service. If you have a cell phone maybe stop using it for a while. Cut that service for a while and save the money. People survived for 100's if not 1000's of years without cell phones and texting.
On top of all that use other ways like yard work etc to earn money.
I paid two neighborhood kids close to your age $100 to work on my yard. The tore up weeds and vines, carried rubbish to the street for collection etc. Had them working for two days. They were saving up for cell phones.
AS is not that expensive. You could go with the Debut version and work up to pro later.
-vern
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drapacioli
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:32 pm
- Location: Tampa, FL
I'm sorry, but the first sentence got me laughing. Try N64. I have been cutting back, but unfortunately money is tight and fixing my car's axles, brakes, tires, oil leak, and ECU is a bit more important (About $2000 worth of repairs, car is worth $3000, so I don't think it's worth it, but who can get a decent car for $1500 now anyway?). I was hoping maybe there was someone who knew of a way for an entry-level person like myself could acquire AS in exchange for work, or in a month when I can manage $50, maybe some entry level work to upgrade to pro.heyvern wrote:17?
Do you have a game system like Xbox or Playstation? Do you buy or get games for it? Do you rent games? Do you rent movies? How about any other things like iTunes or downloaded music? Do you go out with your friends and spend money?
Put yourself on a budget. Instead of games save that money for software. Find some aspect of what your parents invest in on a monthly basis and try to cut it out or cut down. God forbid you actually suggest to your parents maybe cutting back on cable or satellite. Get basic service. If you have a cell phone maybe stop using it for a while. Cut that service for a while and save the money. People survived for 100's if not 1000's of years without cell phones and texting.
On top of all that use other ways like yard work etc to earn money.
I paid two neighborhood kids close to your age $100 to work on my yard. The tore up weeds and vines, carried rubbish to the street for collection etc. Had them working for two days. They were saving up for cell phones.
AS is not that expensive. You could go with the Debut version and work up to pro later.
-vern
So basically my question is this: Would anyone even hire me for work with my lack of experience?
Plain answer: No.
I have years of experience of working with interns, students, children, or just graduated graphic designers new to the job. No one ever got a job because he used a certain program. The ones who got the job are always the ones who know their profession and can perform it with whatever software or other tool.
If necessary, a good animator can always learn how to handle AS within two days and start producing useful animation. But there's absolutely no way a person who just knows AS can learn the basics of animation and the trades of the industry in just two days.
If I need longer time to explain the job to another person, and even more time to correct his work, than I would have needed to do the job myself, I do the job myself. The idea of giving a job to others is to not have to explain everything, and to save money or time. If I waste my time with explaining, I loose money.
The best advice I could give you is: search for a job in the field, maybe just an internship, to learn at least basic work procedures. Without that foundation you always will be a beginner who struggles to understand the workflow, thus not getting any work done in time, thus not getting paid.
I have years of experience of working with interns, students, children, or just graduated graphic designers new to the job. No one ever got a job because he used a certain program. The ones who got the job are always the ones who know their profession and can perform it with whatever software or other tool.
If necessary, a good animator can always learn how to handle AS within two days and start producing useful animation. But there's absolutely no way a person who just knows AS can learn the basics of animation and the trades of the industry in just two days.
If I need longer time to explain the job to another person, and even more time to correct his work, than I would have needed to do the job myself, I do the job myself. The idea of giving a job to others is to not have to explain everything, and to save money or time. If I waste my time with explaining, I loose money.
The best advice I could give you is: search for a job in the field, maybe just an internship, to learn at least basic work procedures. Without that foundation you always will be a beginner who struggles to understand the workflow, thus not getting any work done in time, thus not getting paid.
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drapacioli
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:32 pm
- Location: Tampa, FL
Thank you for the answer. I guess I should look around for an internship.slowtiger wrote:Plain answer: No.
I have years of experience of working with interns, students, children, or just graduated graphic designers new to the job. No one ever got a job because he used a certain program. The ones who got the job are always the ones who know their profession and can perform it with whatever software or other tool.
If necessary, a good animator can always learn how to handle AS within two days and start producing useful animation. But there's absolutely no way a person who just knows AS can learn the basics of animation and the trades of the industry in just two days.
If I need longer time to explain the job to another person, and even more time to correct his work, than I would have needed to do the job myself, I do the job myself. The idea of giving a job to others is to not have to explain everything, and to save money or time. If I waste my time with explaining, I loose money.
The best advice I could give you is: search for a job in the field, maybe just an internship, to learn at least basic work procedures. Without that foundation you always will be a beginner who struggles to understand the workflow, thus not getting any work done in time, thus not getting paid.
If you are 17 then picking colleges is coming up soon. I am sure in that case money is also an issue but even some "affordable" schools may have computer graphics/animation classes. The key is to learn animation skills regardless of software. This type of thing is not like learning to wait tables or run a cash register... it is a long term commitment. You will NEVER stop learning new things no matter how long you animate.
If you have paper, and access to a video or digital camera you could always go for the tried and true traditional route of frame by frame animation. Drawn animation or even cut out or stop motion. If you want to get noticed show what you've got even with limited resources.
You could even use free programs that are available to create animations. SlowTiger is absolutely correct. Software training is irrelevant. It's the skill that is important.
p.s. I'm happy to hear you don't have one of those game systems. All of my nephews are game junkies and it breaks my heart to see all that wasted energy. Games on systems, games on the computer. Nothing that inspires creativity. All of my nephews have game systems. My two youngest nephews have ALL THE SYSTEMS, Xbox PS2-3, PSP Wii plus games on the Mac. Years ago I begged their parents to never buy GAMES or GAME systems. You know like parents who don't feed their children too much sugar? Just don't do it.... they never listen. I told them buy them software like "AS" or "Flash" or "Animation Master". If those kids can learn games that fast imagine what they could do with software!!!
I remember the 5 year old son of one of my computer nerd coworkers was playing around with PHOTOSHOP. 5 years old. He found a keyboard shortcut that we didn't know about. We were talking... and we both stopped and turned to look at what he was doing...
I was ADDICTED to video games for years and had to give them up cold turkey to get anything constructive done.
-vern
If you have paper, and access to a video or digital camera you could always go for the tried and true traditional route of frame by frame animation. Drawn animation or even cut out or stop motion. If you want to get noticed show what you've got even with limited resources.
You could even use free programs that are available to create animations. SlowTiger is absolutely correct. Software training is irrelevant. It's the skill that is important.
p.s. I'm happy to hear you don't have one of those game systems. All of my nephews are game junkies and it breaks my heart to see all that wasted energy. Games on systems, games on the computer. Nothing that inspires creativity. All of my nephews have game systems. My two youngest nephews have ALL THE SYSTEMS, Xbox PS2-3, PSP Wii plus games on the Mac. Years ago I begged their parents to never buy GAMES or GAME systems. You know like parents who don't feed their children too much sugar? Just don't do it.... they never listen.
I told them buy them software like "AS" or "Flash" or "Animation Master". If those kids can learn games that fast imagine what they could do with software!!!I remember the 5 year old son of one of my computer nerd coworkers was playing around with PHOTOSHOP. 5 years old. He found a keyboard shortcut that we didn't know about. We were talking... and we both stopped and turned to look at what he was doing...
"HEY! How did you do that? Can you do it again? Show your dad how you did that?"
I was ADDICTED to video games for years and had to give them up cold turkey to get anything constructive done.
-vern
Last edited by heyvern on Mon Aug 17, 2009 7:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: What can I do?
Maybe you could earn a little money by transforming other people's sketches into vector art, or by rigging characters for animation.
But first you should provide examples of your art. For example, you might take screenshots of your vector art and post them in this thread.
Good luck.
But first you should provide examples of your art. For example, you might take screenshots of your vector art and post them in this thread.
Good luck.
and listen to the golden nuggets 
Vern: ME TOO! I've owned: Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive, N64 (briefly), Sony Playstation (a couple of them), Playstation 2, XBOX 360 and Nintendo Wii.
I got really far in Legend of Zelda on Wii and I didn't save my game properly in one dungeon which meant I had to do the whole flippen thing again if I wanted to get further. I just thought, this is like work, man. So I sold all my video games (at that time XBOX360, Nintendo Wii)
Haven't had any video games since.
Video Games really do chow your time, but still I go to video game websites to see any developments. I'm like a dry drunk.
DRAPA: I commend you on wanting to get legit software and not pirating. Good on ya buddy. It'll stand you in good stead.
I got really far in Legend of Zelda on Wii and I didn't save my game properly in one dungeon which meant I had to do the whole flippen thing again if I wanted to get further. I just thought, this is like work, man. So I sold all my video games (at that time XBOX360, Nintendo Wii)
Haven't had any video games since.
Video Games really do chow your time, but still I go to video game websites to see any developments. I'm like a dry drunk.
DRAPA: I commend you on wanting to get legit software and not pirating. Good on ya buddy. It'll stand you in good stead.
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slice11217
- Posts: 279
- Joined: Thu Mar 30, 2006 6:12 pm
- Location: Verona, New Jersey
This is all good advice, Vern. I would like to add that it may be possible to do a google search for a download of a demo version on Moho. You won't be able to output without a watermark, and you won't have all the features that are currently available, but it would be both free and legal and you'd be able to learn how to use the software.heyvern wrote:If you are 17 then picking colleges is coming up soon. I am sure in that case money is also an issue but even some "affordable" schools may have computer graphics/animation classes. The key is to learn animation skills regardless of software. This type of thing is not like learning to wait tables or run a cash register... it is a long term commitment. You will NEVER stop learning new things no matter how long you animate.
If you have paper, and access to a video or digital camera you could always go for the tried and true traditional route of frame by frame animation. Drawn animation or even cut out or stop motion. If you want to get noticed show what you've got even with limited resources.
You could even use free programs that are available to create animations. SlowTiger is absolutely correct. Software training is irrelevant. It's the skill that is important.
That said, I think Vern's advice about going the grassroots route is very sollid. If you do things by hand you'll have a greater appreciation for things like field guides, layout, animation cheats, timing, and especially design. If you look at a frame of animation for longer than a minute you might be more inclined to strengthen the design of the image than might be if you only saw it for a second or two, which would be the case on a computer.
We've managed to avoid buying a game console for my 7-year old until now. Unfortunately since all his peers have a DS, his requests have reached critical mass and we've had to acquiesce. We did, however, put in a retardant to the whole process: we told him that he could have a DS but he had to earn the money for it and that he'd have to earn the money to buy the games. We gave him some chores and we pay him a dollar for each chore. He averages about $.75 a day because he's not always inclined to do his chores, but he still works at it. He doesn't have his game yet but he'll appreciate it once he does. We also reserve the right to remove the game if there's any performance slippage.heyvern wrote:p.s. I'm happy to hear you don't have one of those game systems. All of my nephews are game junkies and it breaks my heart to see all that wasted energy. Games on systems, games on the computer. Nothing that inspires creativity. All of my nephews have game systems. My two youngest nephews have ALL THE SYSTEMS, Xbox PS2-3, PSP Wii plus games on the Mac. Years ago I begged their parents to never buy GAMES or GAME systems. You know like parents who don't feed their children too much sugar? Just don't do it.... they never listen.
I was ADDICTED to video games for years and had to give them up cold turkey to get anything constructive done.
-vern
I had to give up games cold turkey when my boy was born. My wife was in the hospital recovering from childbirth and I was staying up 'til 5am playing Tomb Raider III. When I finished the game I took stock of the fact that I was now in charge of the development of a person and that I was going to miss out on a lot of experiences if I continued to be entranced by a virtual world game. I decided that if I were going to spend that much time looking at a box, it might as well be for something that would move life forward rather than stagnate it. I can work on animations for that long, or work at a freelance gig for that long, but the totally immersive nature of games was from then on out of the question.
S
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TheChewanater
- Posts: 134
- Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2009 1:25 am
Maybe try getting a job or chores or whatever doing some sort of physical work? Meanwhile, you can experiment with freeware and trials as you've been doing, until you can afford an animation program. You can do animation and design stuff for free for relatives and friends until you get more experience.
