In the past few years, several well-respected VFX and Animation companies went under. A few other ones received huge hits in layoffs. This was an obvious sign of the times of the VFX industry, and I knew that with the ever-growing pool of talented artists, my chance of breaking into the industry was very slim.
I decided to do something about it.
I studied Character Animation, and as much as I love the art-form, I slowly realized (through artists that lost their jobs due to the excess of similar/senior artists that companies had) that applying for work with only that ability would not aide me in the short term, so instead I decided to learn something new, and Animation Mentor was going in a very interesting direction with it.
They introduced their Collaborative Animation Classes, where students work together to make a short film. A few months later, Bobby Beck (CEO and co-founder of Animation Mentor) announced the VFX Fundamentals Course. Students would go through learning Autodesk's Maya, SolidAngle's Arnold rendering technology, and The Foundry's Nuke.
This was my chance. A few months beforehand one of my teachers told me that if I can, find an art-form that will complement what I already know, and Visual Effects seemed ideal.
It has now been almost 10 months since I decided to apply. And here are my findings:
I love it.
Rendering, figuring out how to use multiple software packages to improve what is given to me, and improving on already-amazing animation is extremely gratifying. Every time I tweak something, or learn something new, time slows down, and I feel the art-form just taking me in. It is truly amazing.
With all this, I have decided to start writing on my blog again. Every minute I spend on this, I discover something new, and when I try it, I discover a new problem that I need to overcome. The best part is, I don't ever feel bored whenever I encounter something different! My hands are literally shaking as I write this. Just thinking about it makes me giddy!
For CG Basics (the first Class), our mentor was Scott Liedtka, a Visual Effects Supervisor at Tippett Studio. He is an amazing mentor, from whom I learned an amazing amount of information. He is a great conversationalist, and the way he explains complex concepts is fantastic. It is obvious that he enjoys talking about the subject, and that is what makes a good teacher in my book.
Now I am in Lighting Basics with Bruce Powell. He is credited as a CG Sequence Supervisor at ILM, and has worked on Pacific Rim, one of my favorite movies this year. His eye for detail is really sharp, and every time he points something out, it opens my mind to a new concept. This has happened many times already, and I'm sure it's not the last.
I hope that this refreshed blog will serve as a good support for anyone interested in the Animation Mentor community.
As Scott Liedtka said to us on our first day of CG Basics, "Do cool shit!"
I decided to do something about it.
I studied Character Animation, and as much as I love the art-form, I slowly realized (through artists that lost their jobs due to the excess of similar/senior artists that companies had) that applying for work with only that ability would not aide me in the short term, so instead I decided to learn something new, and Animation Mentor was going in a very interesting direction with it.
They introduced their Collaborative Animation Classes, where students work together to make a short film. A few months later, Bobby Beck (CEO and co-founder of Animation Mentor) announced the VFX Fundamentals Course. Students would go through learning Autodesk's Maya, SolidAngle's Arnold rendering technology, and The Foundry's Nuke.
This was my chance. A few months beforehand one of my teachers told me that if I can, find an art-form that will complement what I already know, and Visual Effects seemed ideal.
It has now been almost 10 months since I decided to apply. And here are my findings:
I love it.
Rendering, figuring out how to use multiple software packages to improve what is given to me, and improving on already-amazing animation is extremely gratifying. Every time I tweak something, or learn something new, time slows down, and I feel the art-form just taking me in. It is truly amazing.
With all this, I have decided to start writing on my blog again. Every minute I spend on this, I discover something new, and when I try it, I discover a new problem that I need to overcome. The best part is, I don't ever feel bored whenever I encounter something different! My hands are literally shaking as I write this. Just thinking about it makes me giddy!
For CG Basics (the first Class), our mentor was Scott Liedtka, a Visual Effects Supervisor at Tippett Studio. He is an amazing mentor, from whom I learned an amazing amount of information. He is a great conversationalist, and the way he explains complex concepts is fantastic. It is obvious that he enjoys talking about the subject, and that is what makes a good teacher in my book.
Now I am in Lighting Basics with Bruce Powell. He is credited as a CG Sequence Supervisor at ILM, and has worked on Pacific Rim, one of my favorite movies this year. His eye for detail is really sharp, and every time he points something out, it opens my mind to a new concept. This has happened many times already, and I'm sure it's not the last.
I hope that this refreshed blog will serve as a good support for anyone interested in the Animation Mentor community.
As Scott Liedtka said to us on our first day of CG Basics, "Do cool shit!"
