Am i in a bad place if I haven't worked much with software if I want to animate?

Not at all, Softwares can be learned quickly, rather focus on animation principles and drawing skills.

Don't feel bad. I have never worked with animation software, yet, so your one week out does mine.

That being said, not everyone needs software experience unless you are really wanting to get into 3D. If so then join on of the hundreds of 3D animation groups that are online and make friends there. I'm sure you'll get lots of great advise.

Good luck.

Hello Alexandra. My name is Daniel Manjarres, and I studied in college to be a 2-D animator, and received a Bachelors in Arts in the field some time ago. However, I'm currently working as a Visual Artist at a local studio.

I don't really know at what part of your college career you are in, but I would say, as long as you are willing to learn, and you can, or will make the time to learn, you are never in a bad place.

That being said, it's important to realize where you can make yourself applicable as a creative, and how to go about that.

For example, my dream job would be working on something in between traditional and new digital 2-D animation, but that isn't very apparent of an occupation in the area I am in (a lot of what we like watching is done overseas!). However, I filled the role of a visual artist with my experience in editing software and working with editing video, which is more along the lines of moving given images and graphics. It's a role I can fill using the skills that I have practiced and have been able to show to employers. If you can show your experience, then you've got an edge. But you need to get that experience first, and that is through creation, practice, and more practice. You can get that though personal projects, past experiences, internships, or perhaps what you create in classes or online tutorials you take to learn the software.

I am working as a creative, and I am still learning! In my spare time, I am putting it upon myself to study graphic design and methods of creating high-end motion graphics, because it helps with what I'm doing, will allow me to accomplish more as a creative, and there is often a call for graphic designers in my area and I feel as though with some time I could be applicable as a creative in the area, with extra knowledge in other areas of digital creation to boot! And with the world wide web, we now have basically an unlimited resource of information of different fields, what's available around us, and what people are using to create. (Adobe Creative Suite is a good place to start though). It's important to never stop learning and creating, as you can see from my own example.

It's about reading the terrain, in terms of what you want to do, what people are asking for, and how you can apply yourself to that. But always remember that the priority is having yourself doing something that you can be motivated to doing for your career. If you have the drive, then you can apply yourself and work on yourself until you are at a point that employers notice you. Looking at what they want is to keep things in mind that can connect what they want with what they do (If I had minored in Graphic Design as I received a Bachelors in Arts of Animation, it would have really helped in the job search early on)

I think another important aspect is to make sure that your portfolio shows your strength in a specific area that you feel like you can deliver. Having a lot of 3-D samples is better then having a little of everything, because having one thing mastered makes it easier to show what you're all about and the kind of work you want and will do. Master of One vs Master of None (although, with time, I feel as though you can showcase different things and be One of many talents. That again, takes time).

I am just one artist here, though. If possible, try to reach out to other artists or people working in the sort of thing your interested in and ask of their input.

And remember those resources I mentioned? It took a bit of digging, but I found a post I had forgotten about, that has tons of resources, including a list of free software, for 3-D and otherwise. Hopefully it helps!

http://dettsu.tumblr.com/post/145887955004/s0ffia-websites-animation-world-network

Good luck!

Sort of. The old world of cell animation is pretty much over. Obviously have illustrator talent is a very important sales point for someone who wants to enter the field, and you may still find a niche as a character developer, but your software-adept colleagues will run circles around you by delivering materials much faster than you. My advice: bite the bullet and learn the systems. it will make you more saleable and will expand your career measurably.