Since the advent of the digital era, all you need to be a photographer, film maker, animator, and/or self-publisher is some free time and a little money. I'm finding that with a lot of the software, you don't even need the money.
I recently downloaded Blender, a 3D modeling/animation program available for free, here. I've been watching Blender tutorials on YouTube, available for free, here.
3D modeling is what PIXAR does. It's using geometry to sculpt characters in the computer. I like digitally drawing my animation by hand, but there's a computer-y visual effect I need to create that defies my drawing skills.
I thought I'd have to start paying monthly rent for After Effects until I read that Eoin Duffy animated The Missing Scarf with Blender.*
There are a lot of other animation programs available for free. I'm not familiar with them because I'm already hooked on TVPaint, but the programs I use to assemble my animations are very free.
The video editing software I use is called HitFilm.**
That's available for free, here.
For editing audio, I use Audacity.
That's available for free, here.
For converting video file formats, I use HandBrake.
That's available for free, here.
I learned to edit video with Adobe Premiere Pro in a class I took at PhillyCAM. Fortunately, the few editing programs I've seen all share the same basic layout. Some have more functions, but once you learn one of them, you can figure out the others with a little free help from the internet.
*April 2021 update: The Missing Scarf was animated mostly using After Effects, with the origami squirrel animated in Blender. Shorty after this post, I started paying rent to Adobe and have since taken several courses in After Effects.
**I also switched from HitFilm to Adobe Premiere Pro, and from Audacity to Adobe Audition.
