Hasta La Motion!

Hello everyone, I’ve been in college for 3 years now and have only been in graphic design for 1 year of that. I will be close to 60k in debt after this year and have 2-3 more years left. Aside from my financial problems 🙂 choosing a major has been extremely difficult for me, but I think that I’m set on graphic design, but I have a better idea what I’d like to do with that. I recently got a student job working for Daktronics (which is one of the leading LED display providers for some professional sports teams) Anywho, they mostly use after effects and maya, and I have been learning these programs and enjoy them very much and have been reading sites like this closely about jobs and such and think it’s finally what I’d like to do with my life.

One problem is that I don’t think I’ll go to a special art school for VFX like I’m assuming most people do, and I’m sure that might set me back a ways from the others.

So my questions. . . do you yourself or do you know others who have a graphic design major but who now work with VFX?

I take pride in self teaching myself, from the piano to the accordion (all by ear, without knowning how to read sheet music) and now to after effects and maya (with the help of tutorials and just experimenting). I am no master at the piano or accordion and I know it will take years, and I know it takes an extremely long time to master maya.

Would you recommend I dropping out of grahpic design and just going to a VFX school? If so, I live in the flat plains of South Dakota and I don’t think there are too many VFX schools near here, but are there any reasonably close you may know of?

What are some well known VFX schools out there that aren’t too expensive?

I think that is all for now. I would greatly appreciate all your answers!

Thanks everyone