well, i'm currently studying animation in art school (with some decent scholarships so i'm not anywhere near like 100k in debt) and i hope to land an internship at a studio next summer--i'm aiming for dreamworks, because i actually really admire the direction their films have been going in. but i'm okay with tv studios, smaller studios, etc. dreamworks did recently announce a full FEATURE that would be half-hand-drawn animation, which is pretty amazing. my chances of getting an internship at a huge feature studio like dreamworks, however, are rather slim considering the competition and talent i'm up against--so i'm not under any delusion that i can just get it. last summer i had an internship at a commercial animation studio where i realized just how little i knew about anything, and it really opened my eyes--that's really when i decided to get more serious about my work.
i think i find the most personal enjoyment in doing special effects animation (ie explosions, water, environmental stuff, smoke, etc.). i'd love to do that for a bit. some of my favorite effects animators are michel gagne and ryan woodward, and they've gone on to do really great independent projects outside of studios. i think that's something i'd aspire toward, possibly 10 years from now. maybe more. i try to be realistic about it.
edit: the character stuff--
yeah, the generator i use is at itscharacterdriven.blogspot.com, which is run by brett bean, a character designer whom i really respect/admire. though there is a lot of repetition, it was written not to generate a chaotic character but simply one that made you think before you designed. so instead of random words, it's randomly choosing from a sea of traits that can apply to any type of character. regardless, if i only work from this, i do think my work will begin to get a little stale; there's only so many random characters you can make before you want something a little more real.
i think i find the most personal enjoyment in doing special effects animation (ie explosions, water, environmental stuff, smoke, etc.). i'd love to do that for a bit. some of my favorite effects animators are michel gagne and ryan woodward, and they've gone on to do really great independent projects outside of studios. i think that's something i'd aspire toward, possibly 10 years from now. maybe more. i try to be realistic about it.
edit: the character stuff--
yeah, the generator i use is at itscharacterdriven.blogspot.com, which is run by brett bean, a character designer whom i really respect/admire. though there is a lot of repetition, it was written not to generate a chaotic character but simply one that made you think before you designed. so instead of random words, it's randomly choosing from a sea of traits that can apply to any type of character. regardless, if i only work from this, i do think my work will begin to get a little stale; there's only so many random characters you can make before you want something a little more real.