What would you need to know to secure a job at Disney / Dreamworks / Pixar? I’ve been working in Blender for awhile now, but I assume that it takes more than just knowledge of various 3D softwares. Do you need to be able to draw well in Photoshop? Do you need knowledge of Physiology or Anatomy?
You need to know which job you’re looking for. Don’t skip the end credits in the movies, have a look at all the various groups required. Knowing anatomy won’t help much if the job is designing mechanical devices or mountains; knowing how to manage lighting won’t help much if the job is background painting. Nobody is going to do it all; those who do have their fingers in multiple pies are seniors/supervisors with a ton of experience and are more involved with checking and managing workers than actual software use.
It sounds like you are looking for more of an entry position though. You should be familiar with the terms and processes used in the industry, not just how they apply to one program or another. Chances are no matter what software you trained with the employer will use something else or use it differently. Be ready and willing to learn different ways of getting it done even if you were taught that way is “wrong”. Always be open to learning new things from other departments but put your own first.
Don’t ignore the basics of art in favor of technology - there’s a few good threads here discussing the pitfalls of that.
Animation itself requires specific kind of techniques to work well. But you can find it out yourself, just start making animations!
You would need to learn the fundamentals of animation, The animators survival kit (book and dvd’s) are a good start.
For animation you need to study movement and timing, software is irrelevant, the technical artist like riggers will make it easy for you to animate, it’s more like puppeteering than working the software.
So many things.
A bouncing ball for animators is like making an omelet in the world of chefs. It seems simple but making it just perfect takes still a lot of practice.
I no animator but I made an animation and it was really hard to make. The animation sucks. Even if I tried my best.
Only practice can make you better. Make animations 3 hours a day every day. In a year you’re going to be a lot better. There is no shortcut.
How to animate…