in desperate need of advice!!!!

A

AnimeEnchanter

Dandy Guy, in Space
im currently at uni doing computer games animation and modellin, but i have changed my mind, im thinking of doin illustrator instead. i really want to do comics (preffebly manga). ive been lookin at sweatdrop studios and im thinking of sending off an application form, but im not sure how much profit you get. also im not sure wether to carry on at uni and apply for sweatdrop studios or just quit uni and just work for them. (if they accept).

so if u hav any advice on what i shud do, plz let me know because i am totally lost at the moment.

thankyou :)
 
You'll want to think long and hard about what you'll be doing in the longterm for this - this is a decision you should really make for yourself.

From what I've heard comics don't make all that much money in the UK, and Manga only get the bigbucks in Japan.

You should ask yourself: do I have a chance? Will this work for me financially? and will I still want to do this in 10 years?

Someone else will be able to give you more details.
 
Wildcard said:
...and Manga only get the bigbucks in Japan
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Even in Japan, well-known artists aren't paid or treated that well. So for a British manga/comic book artists, it incredibly difficult to first off get published, and secondly to make a career with it. I'm sure almost everyone at Sweatdrop, even the most successful artists, don't make a living from it and have jobs on the side to support themselves.

The creative industry is incredibly difficult to get into. I'm a web/graphic designer, and out of 45 people in my degree course, after almost four years, only 10 have design jobs and those are the ones with extensive portofolios and that have 2:1 degress or above. The rest are in jobs with little to do with design.

So I wouldn't want to think about a less "normal" design/art job. You have to be amazingly talented and have the ability to crank out high quality work at an incredible rate to be a comic artist.
 
Don't quit Uni unless you really have to. It may feel like it's slowing you down but no matter what kind of job you have in future, that degree will be worth extra earning power and respect even if it's in a completely unrelated field to what you end up doing. Most employers in big companies give people without degrees a very hard time, yet treat people with completely incongruous degrees respectfully.

And good luck!

R
 
^ Ditto - don't quit uni if you can. Not only for the reasons Rui pointed, but also because a degree will most likely be worth in your future, regardless what it is.

There are surely cases of people who never finished uni and succeed epically, but I think they are the exceptions, not the rule.
 
I'll echo what everyone else has said, don't quit uni is my advise. I actually thought the same thing as you(at least in regards to leaving uni) last year, but after i thought about it, its best to see it through, and in the end, even if you want to do something else, you will have something to fall back on if that doesn't turn out well.

As for the whole comic/manga thing, i'm not that well informed on the matter, but from what i can tell it is extremely difficult. From what i know in japan for example, manga artists can put forward an idea and get it published in the manga magazine they applied for, but unless the ratings for it are reasonably high, they could easily be told their work is to be cancelled, recieve nothing in the ways of pay, and have to start from scratch. So if i where you, i'd have a back-up plan set up before you tread that area.

EDIT: I don't want to see discouraging or anything, its just that it is extremely difficult, but if you want to go for it, do so, just at least wait until you have something to fall back on unless things turn out a bit pear-shaped.
 
Again i'll just agree with what people have said above me. I wouldn't quit Uni completely, last year i finished my three year degree course (studied a mixture of Games Design and Games Programming) If need be you can always go back to uni after you finished and study something new (this is something i've thought about recently). A degree will help in your future job hunting if you decide to stick with it, of course what will help more if examples of work.

Strictly speaking i think over the long haul there's more chance of Profit in the games industy, but you do have to work at it to earn the higher paychecks (those in the 45K a year range nd higher).

At the end of the day though there's nothing wrong with applying after your uni course has ended, after all this will give you time (amongst uni work) to work on a suitable and varied Portfolio, meaning you have more of a chance if you still want to take your career that way.

Funnily enough i'm not sure which job will be harder to do :p I think there's longer hours attached to the games industy. Sorry if i 've seemed to ramble on its been a long day :)
 
thanks so much, i think im gonna stay at uni and do illustration (im actually goin to tlk to the tutor 2morro about it) but if it isnt the course for me i might just stay on the course im on now and just see it through, and mayb wen i get a full book together send an application off and work at stuff for them part time or at my own pace.

thanks every1, just thought i wud ask cus im at a confusin part of my life at the mo.

:) thanks again
 
im currently working on a manga now, i dont want to give anything away but it is looking good so far, i just need to get my hands on either manga studio or photoshop. so hopefully i will be posting stuff up soon. (ill try my best anyway). :roll:
 
AnimeEnchanter said:
im currently working on a manga now, i dont want to give anything away but it is looking good so far, i just need to get my hands on either manga studio or photoshop. so hopefully i will be posting stuff up soon. (ill try my best anyway). :roll:
Click to expand...

Same here actually, i wish Manga Studio would hurry up and come back into stock...all i want is the cheap version as well.
 
i heard that manga studio doesnt work on vista though, dunno if thats tru or not, i really wonna get my hands on it but i dnt wonna spent tht muny then find it dont work.
 
cnt wait to have the money to buy it, but it so hard to keep hold of money wen you have a car...damn thing (i luv it really). im just tryin to do as much as i can on my manga inbetween doin uni work and my part time job, its a nightmare.
 
heh yeah a lot of my friends have trouble with money for the same reason, i'm luck and don't have a car...but then i don't have a job either T_T still you could always keep doing it the old fashioned way :p
 
i would use Photoshop now for the colouring and lettering for the time being and when you can afford it (or find the stupid thing, its still out of stock everywhere i look) then buy it :)
 
they take foreva dont they, i thought amazon wud be on top of it, mind you they are always like tht wiv manga tht i want, especially wen i was tryin to get the last 2 volumes of hot gimmick, i was desperate to know how the story ended. im tryin to sell some of my manga at the mo to try and get some more muny but no look so far :? . it breaks my heart but gotta make sacrifices :( . let me know wen they come into stock cus i dnt always chek amazon or whereva else they hav it. :)
 
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