(Part 2) Top products from r/computergraphics

I'm in a similar boat, but however I'm just a bit further into my quest than you and have a few pointers.
I'm in South Texas and have different resources at my disposal. Being in California, you have a lot of specialist schools and a lot more companies that hire interns. But competition is hot. Here is my story in a form that answers your questions.

Starting: I would go with a traditional accredited school. Just in case you don't get a job, at least you have a real degree.

[Question One] Before college I wanted a traditional school. Texas A&M was my big choice. They have a Visualization department that is amazing. Pixar plucks right from them and even today I wish I could have gotten in. Clemson (South Carolina) is another amazing school, but again it's far from you.

[Question Two] I did this route: I did not get into A&M and had not heard of Clemson at the time I was going to school. I decided to go to UT San Antonio and Major in Computer Science. Which is, I suppose the more sciency route (I understand not too accurate to the question, but hold on). This route was murder for about two years (but the first two years in any college will feel mundane). But I kept focusing on what I wanted to do. I'm in a Graphics programming course and have kept reading these subreddits and the folks here are awesome with advice and questions. Just make sure you're specific or they'll rip you a new one. I always kept practicing, a professor noticed and hired me to do models and animations for his projects.

tl;dr: I'm doing Computer Science right now, and although it's not exactly what I wanted, it was a good choice.

[Question Three] Community Colleges are cheaper than most online courses and offer a lot of cool classes. There is so much help with Maya out there, don't bother buying a book. If you're artistic, zBrush is fun and this is my favorite book for zBrush. The most difficult and awesome way to learn is by soloing it.

[Question Four] I like 3D Buzz, their tutorials (the free ones) are awesome and get you started on convention. Don't be afraid to ask /r/computergraphics or /r/Maya for help. Some people are rude, but it's always a good feeling to help people.

Anyways, this is an awesome/hard career choice. You will be ridiculed and insulted. I apologize for that. But keep focused. If you're good, then I hope I get a job before you.

It's actually very funny because Southpark uses Maya (a pretty highend animation suite originally for silicon graphics that's now owned by Autodesk) for animating their 'simple' stuff.

To second Hennell - blender would probably be a great place to start. It's free, but not shabby at all in it's capabilities. And while I'm echoing him, yea - learn the basics of character animation before committing to a project - start doing small tests, pencil tests, etc.

I know you're not going to make the next pixar film, but really: if you want to get into animation the RIGHT way, read
"THE ILLUSION OF LIFE" - it'll teach you about the principals of character animation better than anything. This book plus practice = a good grounding in animation.

> pbrt3

https://www.amazon.com/Physically-Based-Rendering-Third-Implementation/dp/0128006455
This one?

Thank you so much!

Just saw this book on Amazon. Published June 2011.

Get a used copy of https://www.amazon.com/Physically-Based-Rendering-Implementation-Interactive/dp/012553180X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1539886231&sr=8-3&keywords=physically+based+rendering+from+theory+to+implementation

You could also spend $100 for the newest edition....

Mathematics for 3D Game Programming and Computer Graphics.
(PDF version)