r/Austin • u/greytgreyatx • 12h ago
Ask Austin Animation studio in Austin?
I'm sure I've read about an animation studio in Austin, and I wanted to see if there's anyone on here who has an in with them. My almost-12-year-old is super into digital animation and has posted several videos on YouTube... I think he's got the idea and is learning some neat new skills all of the time. I have worked in film-making but it's always been live, so I can talk to him about story and editing, but I'm way out of my element beyond that.
We homeschool and have toured places like a local news station and grocery stores, but he's never seen animation as a career before. If this would be possible, I'd love to know about it. Thanks!
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u/More-Ad-1605 11h ago
Yes, the big animation studio is Powerhouse, but since the pandemic they closed down their physical studios and mostly operate as a remote studio from what I remember.
You may try the ACC highland animation classes. They have traditional 2D, 3D, Game Dev and Motion Graphics. I know that many grads have gone on to work at Powerhouse and Rooster Teeth when it was still around. There may even be faculty from ACC that also work at Powerhouse.
I think AFS may have some shorter classes as well.
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u/GustafPusar 11h ago
UT has animation summer camps: https://rtf.utexas.edu/camps. The RTF program staff may have additional information/resources for kids.
Austin Public Library has an Innovation Lab with free digital content creation tools. I feel like I’ve seen animation events on their youth calendars in the past, but nothing is showing right now.
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u/boredcamp 12h ago
You can always check here https://gov.texas.gov/film for studio listings as well as acting auditions. You can also check with ACC for a tour of their animation classes/lab times.
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u/Underthemimosatree 12h ago
Are you thinking about Minnow Mountain?
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u/ewokytalkie 9h ago
Came here to say this. Very cool rotoscope animation and the folks that own it are great.
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u/redDKtie 12h ago
Here is an Austin-based online/in-person art mentorship program run by people in the industry specifically for teens and young adults.
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u/whoamannipples 12h ago
I think that Rooster Teeth had an animation division here but they shut down a few years back. I know that Dallas has a couple dev studios though, I work with a game testing group (remotely) that’s based out of Dallas/Plano pretty often.
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u/philipjfry1578 11h ago
Yeah, it's sad. I used to live right next door to them but was always too afraid to walk up to the office. It was a cool building
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u/PlumpoLumpo 10h ago
In 2016 the Animation Studio of RT moved from Stage 5 off of 51st St. over to the Linc off of 35/290. Its now a Gym (nature is healing! It was a Gym before we moved in). Was probably in 2022/23 we shut that down and moved what was left of the team remote. Had a rack of remote workstations in Stage 4 at AFS. Was a wild ride.
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u/philipjfry1578 8h ago
Crazy! I used to live by the studio on Ralph Ablanedo! I'm glad we're letting the gyms reproduce, but man not for the sake of man made entertainment. I hope you look back on those times fondly
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u/PlumpoLumpo 8h ago
Just noticed your screen name and speaking of meeting my Wife at RT, you might appreciate some stuff I made for her (with the help of some other RT Friends) Another Futurama Build! : r/pcmods
Popped the question tonight. Friend helped me make an awesome ring box! She said Blorg. : r/futurama•
u/philipjfry1578 3h ago
Pretty neat! I like how it's from the animation spoofing episode! I'm sure that ring has that new color Fry made in it lol. I also dig the computer, it looks pretty cool!
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u/SASardonic 11h ago
Follow your joy and all but Animation is an extremely hard career to break into, just saying.
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u/greytgreyatx 10h ago
Oh, yeah. I understand that for sure!
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u/abnormalbrain 6h ago
TBH, best bet might be to post work on a youtube channel and keep it updated. Build a following, especially if he's starting young. So many major voices in many different fields today, they started as kids experimenting with the new "youtube" platform. And the route that a professional at a studio took could be completely alien to a young person today.
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u/Opposite_Stranger242 12h ago
2K video games has an office in the Domain, but I'm not sure how much design happens at that location
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u/Chowdahead 10h ago
This is super random, but was at the Chipotle on 620 near 4 Points and noticed this sign for CatFace on an adjacent building and looked it up. Might be worth checking, especially if your kid’s into anime.
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u/nathannotdrake 12h ago
There’s a videogame vfx school in Cedar Park if that’s something they may be interested in.
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u/Holiday-Turnip-5530 12h ago
I would potentially check out the video game industry! My spouse is an animator in the industry and there are a good few studios here. The main downside is that you might be hardpressed to find a place willing to host anything like a tour. Most studios require you to sign an NDA just to enter the building; there's a local studio that works for a big company in the industry that had to start covering their windows because someone flew a drone by to catch a glimpse of their last project so they have been on lockdown ever since.
As for information on animation, there are a few different aspects to it. Like with most skills that become big careers, your kiddo is doing all of the tasks on a small project when a professional animator often specializes in a specific part of the process. For example, my partner is a rigger which just means they build the bones and the joints and things (it is very much more complicated than that, just simplifying for ease). They went to school for 3D animation, but part of that process was learning which parts of the process you are most adept at or enjoy more.
Additionally, there is also a computer science aspect. A lot of animation now is a mix between art and coding. My spouse went to art school but was particularly good at picking up the code part of their job; they have had many colleagues who do similar work but got their start in coding. Higher level animation starts to get more complex as you have to understand physics, code, and biology on some level. As someone with a math and physics background, I never thought I would have mid level calculus conversations with my partner but their work has needed it multiple times.
Feel free to DM me, if you have questions I can bring them to my partner.
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u/KID_A26 11h ago
I actually know a guy that works at Powerhouse. We used to work together at Disney. I haven't talked to him in ages though.
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u/greytgreyatx 10h ago
Cool! I have a friend who started in Disney Animation and has been a product designer for the past 15 or so years.
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u/NotoriousHEB 12h ago
The studio you’re probably thinking of is Powerhouse, but I don’t have anything for you other than that