What does it take to be a freelance animator?

What course should my son take to be an animator?

• My 14-year old son loves to draw cartoon characters and likes tinkering with computers. He said he wants to be an animator someday. What university course should he enroll in?

• Answer:

  To be practical you should first figure out what schools are in your area that are within a reasonable driving distance (since you would be taking him!). Check out the school website and look to see if they have anything in animation or art. Any class I've taken at a school has a description listed. If it sounds right then you can email the professor to ask more specific questions. Professors are usually willing and excited to help motivated students! Other than that, encourage his talent and encourage him to practice every day. Let him use the net to research the best animators....we learn bundles from the people who come before us! If you decide that a course is not right for him, at this point in his life at least, then you can still find course syllabuses online, or email the professors for a copy of the syllabus. In particular, look for the books that these courses are using and buy them so your son can read them and learn. Of course you can learn tons from reading, and the books that are being used in animation courses (especially from top animation schools) will definitely be top-notch. I assume your son is just starting out high school...start looking for potential schools early, like by the time he is a junior in high school. This website has stuff about the best animation schools: http://www.animationarena.com/best-animation-schools.html Whatever happens, encourage him in anything he does. Some people know very early on what they want to do, but many change their mind once, twice...a dozen times (haha). You sound very supportive so just continue on that path.