Possibly good news

Yesterday, my beautiful and bright wife was going through Facebook when she saw an ad for a school that had my name on it... literally.
It is called the DAVE School, as in Digital Animation and Visual Effects School.  It is based in Orlando Florida, and is part of Universal Studios.  Now this is not a 4 year degree program type school, it is more like a 12 month technical school.  They teach you everything you need to know, in small but intense classes.  And since they attached to Universal Studios, you know they have the knowledge and equipment needed.  What's their main focus?  Get you to have a really kick-ass demo reel in a year.
What's a Demo Reel you ask?
A Demo Reel is the usually short example of work you have done in the past, much like a portfolio on a DVD.  Usually, for animation, acting, and film, a demo reel will either be your portfolio, or accompany it as part of the portfolio.  You put all your best work on there to show off your talent and (hopefully) get the job.
I do not have such a hot demo reel.  In fact, I was trying to make some animations through this website to use as part of my demo reel.  However, it will take me a long time to really make that happen, and there is no guarantee what  produce will be anything like what the industry pros are looking for.  I have really been hoping to get into a school to get more experience and work to show off, but usually I am tied down with pointless general education classes, and classes that do not focus on what I want to do.  It can take years before you even start taking the classes that are really interesting, and the quality and quantity of that work varied greatly depending on the school.
The advantage of a school like this is if you have some background with animation already, you have a head start into a very intense course.  If not, they will still teach you everything you need to know.  As their representative told me over the phone, it is a "Boot Camp" for VFX and Animation.
Oh didn't I say, we submitted info for an information packet, which is coming in the mail.  This morning, they called me and we talked over their school and my situation a bit.  I am glad to hear from these guys so soon, it means that they mean business and are actually interested in me.
I have a lot to do to decide if this is really right for me, I have done a lot of things in the past looking for schools.  I graduated from GMU (George Mason University) with a BA in Digital Art and Animation, but I was never really satisfied with what I learned.  They didn't have access to a MoCap (motion capture) studio, and they taught me a grand total of 1 (one) 3D modeling and animation class.  For an animation degree, it was more like a light glance at the topic than what I wanted.  Needless to say, I didn't have the skills I needed to get into the jobs I wanted.  Not that GMU is all bad, it was that specific set of years they were redefining a lot of the classes, changing instructors, adding a new college, and more.  I ended up getting stuck with repeat classes, temporary instructors, mislabeled courses, and no way out.  Since then I have been trying to get into a graduate degree program, but found that most places wanted me to take a slew of remedial courses, or just start with another undergrad degree before I was eligible for a graduate degree.

I even tried taking courses online through Westwood, but it just wasn't for me.  I tried looking into Ohio State University's (OSU) DAIM (digital animation and interactive media) program through their ACCAD (advanced computing center for art and design) laboratory, but it is very hard to get into and asks for a lot of experience up front.
Well, that is all behind me now.  I hear that GMU has greatly improved their animation offerings, and I will still keep OSU in mind, but what I really need is a jump start in the right direction.  This DAVE school sounds like a winner to me, so far.
The biggest downside is that they use only Windows PCs.  As most of you know, I am a mac head, but I have used and even built PCs, so if this is the only drawback, I will just have to swallow my pride and do what it takes.  At least I know they help people like me build PCs, so who knows, they might like my new one as is, or they might make it even better!

I will keep you all posted how things turn out.

I have a lot to look at and think about, especially since it would involve moving to Orlando Florida for a year.  Classes start every 3 months, so I could sign up as early as March if I really wanted to.