Hello everyone. I am currently in the process of looking for a computer animation school. Does anyone have any advice or specific schools I should be looking at. Any help would be awesome.

Well I think a good start would be to state where you are and how far you are willingable to go.

Here is my standard Art School Advice. The school that you attend is not as important as how much work you are willing to put into the program. Graduation from the best school won't guarantee you that job at Pixar or Dreamworks once you get out. While undoubtedly some schools are better than others, unless you are willing to shell out the money for CalArts (or live near by), you can get the tools you need from a number of good schools around the country. Most of the better ones are in California, but you can find some good ones in many major cities. For example, The Art Institute has a decent program and is located in about 27 different cities. Check out the Animation Schools link at www.3dlinks.com to find one in your area. Regadless of what school you choose, how far you go is up to you. You are only going to learn so much in the classroom. I find that instructors can only give you so much in the limited amount of time that they have with you. You need to go beyond what the instructors have to offer. Check out online tutorials from this site and 3dbuzz.com among others. Check out some of the books that are available on the program you want to learn. Post your work on this site and others for feedback. Ask instructors, ask students, ask your friends who know absolutley nothing about animation. Feedback can only help you. Be prepared to spend hours in the lab honing your skills. Get demo versions of the software so you can work at home. If you can afford it, buy the software at the student rate. The key here is to work your ass off. The competition is fierce and graduation from the best of schools won't guarantee you a job once you get out. (I don't care what the placement statistics say. Half of them are false). Be prepared to work for what you want, and be ready to look for other avenues of pursuing your goal if one road is blocked. Good luck to you.

Attached Link: Soto's Digital Ltd

Very very well said, illusion3d. I've seen that a lot of people in the *industry* has never attended a specialized "computer graphics school" but they are "damn good" at what they do, and the answer to the "why" is that they "worked their ass off" as illusion3d said. It doesn't matter how many schools you attend because your skills are far more important that the cardboard saying that you have graduated. In my personal opinion, read books, download tutorials and pick a specific field (modeling, rendering or animation) and master it. Also, try to pick one single app and stick to it. I began with MAX but I started with Maya almost 2 years ago and all I can say is that I'll never pick softimage, max or lightwave unless I am required to (because of a job). I went a little off topic, sorry  Hope this helps, just my "3 cents", hehehe

You can bust your butt learning from books and online, but the bottom line is if you don't have credentials (that piece of paper called a diploma), you aren't going to get very far unless you have connections in the industry. That's reality and I know from experience.

I would disagree with that completely, 3d artistsanimators come from all walks of life and not all of them have degrees, what employers look for varies but most require that you have a raw talent that can be nurtured and directed towards meeting their goals. E.g I know a successful 3d artist; old friend from school, No degree and employed in the industry almost 3 months after leaving school - why? - because he was amoungst the best at what he did. If you have talent you will go far, with or without a diploma, and once you get your foot in the door thats when you can start cementing your networking skills.

Attached Link: Soto's Digital Ltd.

I totally agree with you, VIDandCGI