Heading into Round Three

Animation Mentor has delivered in a really big way. And I'm only in my third session.

Until you are working in a large production house like Pixar or Dreamworks, I doubt that there exists any other place where you can receive the over-the-shoulder guidance from as many top pros in the animation business as you do with this small online company. Every class has been illuminating, and something new has been learned with each exercise.

It isn't so much that they have some secret that no one else has. It's all out there in the many books by animator legends. It's simply that without the feedback and critical eye, you don't develop your own eye as fast as you might otherwise. In the short time I've been there, I know that I am seeing differently. I've had this reflected in the comments I am getting from TDs and producers who have viewed the progress. It's a good path, and a great followup to the excellent training I received at SVA.

Friends of mine who are not in the business have asked me why I felt I needed this training after my four years of college. I tell them that the college experience and class instruction was a thorough immersion in all the areas of our profession. We swam in some deep waters, and there was a level of intensity and energy surrounding all that we were taking in. And the totality of the experience certainly prepared you for any job in the field you were aiming for.

That said, there is a price to be paid for such complete exposure to every part of the animation pipeline. You don't get a lot of time to focus on any one thing and nurture it with your undivided attention. To really get animation into your bones and begin to see it and feel it, and force that 3D program to bend to your will and not the reverse, you need to make the time to practice, get feedback, and practice some more. That's what Animation Mentor is doing for me while I am working my day job as a commercial animator. Here's the latest compilation of my AM work, beginning with the latest project and working backwards: