How to go about becoming a computer animator?

Furquan,
Excellent question. I think a big thing you should be focused on is making sure your animations have a correct sense of weight and timing. Being able to nail a great walk cycle that conveys this + a sense of a character goes a long way. There are a lot of great online resources for this. I'd suggest trying to get an internship as soon as you can. Or better yet, find someone in the animation industry who would be willing to mentor you. Getting honest feedback early is critical long term.
Good luck!
-Matt

Hey Furqan,
Welcome to the wonderful world of animation! Since youre still in high school I would say study and practice as much as possible right now. Look at professional animations on a frame by frame level and study to gain that critical eye. What makes this shot so well animated?
Try to get The Animators Survival Kit by Richard Williams as it is a bible to animators. Its all 2d animation examples but the core principles and essential animation rules are there to learn and transferable to 3d.
There are a handful of free software for 3d animation online so I would look into getting one and start practicing the basics of realistic movement. Once you get a handle on the basics try to make a video of all your best work together to showcase to people/jobs called a demo reel. Google search your local area for studios and professionals to try to show your work to for a possible internship/mentorship.
Best of luck Furqan!

PORTFOLIO

https://vimeo.com/98282693

PROFESSIONAL CAREER HISTORY:

10 years of professional experience and 10 years of professional post production experience in www.sharpimageonline.com 3D CG generalist, modeler, Animator, VFX, Lightshade artist, technical director, and also 1 year experience as a web designer at DEE&ZEE. TECHNICAL EXPERTISE: Render pass for Maya, setting up multi-pass x.11(real time) Arnold render and any Mental Ray renders Vray renders direct renderer if required. Designing/ character modeling/Particle/ dynamics setup, shading, animating, rendering, rigging, texturing and lighting Advising on render pipeline issues Great experience in lighting and rendering 3D animation in both key-frame and motion capture methods, character rigging, 3D modeling, texturing, lighting, compositing, match moving and rotoscoping Working under tight deadlines and part of a team. I keep a very organized workspace and consider critique to be an important role in all of my work. Other responsibilities and ability to solve technical problems and work as part of a team.

SOFTWARE SKILLS:

3D:

1, Maya. 2, 3Ds MAX. 3, Zbrush. 4, Real flow. 5, Softimage. 6, Foundry Mari (Vray,Mentalray,Arnald,maxwell,sortware,hardware)

2D:

1, Adobe Illustrator. 2, Adobe Photoshop. 3, MS Powerpoint. 4, Page Make. 5, Corel Draw. 6, Quark Express. 7, Front Page. 8, Adobe Flash. 9, Sound & Video Edit. 10, Adobe Premier. 11, Adobe After Effect. 12, Sound Forge

(More if needed)

Hey Furqan,

You have many resources available to you online! Autodesk makes a great 3d animation software called Maya and they offer a free version for students...young and old. There are many tutorials you can watch on youtube that will help you learn the software, be patient as there will be lots to learn! As for schooling...there are many options for that as well. A degree in an art program would be a great start or take art classes in high school. I started in jr. high with art and continued through high school and two different college degrees after that. Now I am starting school again...an online animation school called Animation Mentor that would be another great place for you to learn! Hope that helps! Good luck...