Should You Go Back To School for Motion Design?
Yes, you probably should go back to school.
It’s difficult to get great at motion design without the boost of learning directly from those who have spent years learn and practicing what you want to know.
Now, I don’t mean you need to go to a high-cost 4 year art school. You’ll get an amazing education in those institution for sure, but there are some great advantages of choosing some new online options.
Advantages of great online courses over tradition art school
- You don’t have to spend $100K and four years if you don’t have the time or the money
- These are high value, and relatively speaking, low cost alternatives
- You don’t have to move
- You don’t have to quit your job
Motion design online courses I’ve taken in the last year: - Mograph Mentor (Class 1 & 2) - School of Motion’s Animation Bootcamp
Mograph Mentor
MoGraph Mentor is pretty well named. It’s a 36 week intensive online class where you’re paired up with a mentor and a handful of other students (about 5 or 6). You meet online in a webcam meeting portal once a week for a two hours and go over your projects.
The focus of Class 1 is on teaching fundamentals. You have access to great tutorial libraries, but that is more like self-guided homework if you need it.
Mograph Mentor shines because you have a talented motion designer pointing you in the right direction every step of the way.
I believe they are coming out with a new course option as well :)
I designed & animated this as part of a project for Class 2
Animation Bootcamp
Animation Bootcamp is also aptly named. It’s a shorter course (6 weeks), and much faster paced.
You’re expected to know you’re way around After Effects a little, but they start with some pretty basic things. But don’t let the first couple of days fool you. Your butt will be kicked before too long.
With daily content released and weekly online sessions where the instructor goes over that weeks assignments, your brain will be so full of crazy helpful tips that will have you making some buttery smooth animations.
They are coming out with Character Bootcamp soon. [UPDATE: It has launched, but you might have to wait for registration.]
I animated this in Animation Bootcamp.
It could be what catapults you into your motion design career
I highly recommend both of these courses.
The guys that run them
Michael Jones (Mograph Mentor) and Joey Korenman (Animation Bootcamp), are both gentlemen and scholars. It’s great to hear them speak so highly of each other even though it would be easy to see them as competitors and expect them to want to “beat out” the other one.
I have received crucial help from both of these guys. And I’m not sure I would have stuck with it or come as far as I have without both of them.
Expensive vs Cheap
It’s easy to see a dollar amount in the thousands and feel like you can’t afford it. That’s a lot of money, right?
It’s not chump change.
One thing it’s not, though, is expensive. Expensive things cost more than they’re worth. Cheap things usually cost more than they’re worth as well.
Mograph Mentor and Animation Bootcamp are highly valuable.
And no, I’m not being paid or asked by them to say this. I feel like I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t tell you about the extreme value these guys have given me.
Do It
Like I said last week… JUST DO IT.
Don’t be afraid to get some skin in the game. Throw some bones at these guys and you’ll be well on your way to learning new motion design skills and learning how to get clients or get a motion design job.