www.animationmentor.com

[ttesla]

BILL DIAZ!!! :applause:

[clockwerkz]

Ha! Young Matt Kelly, last semester we battled under separate mentors.. but now, we unite!

Ike Feldman here!!

cW

[Sean MacNeil]

What's up fellow AMer's. I am so excited about this! I just started a blog, so if any of you folk want to add me to your summer student's lists......shaweeeet! I can't wait to see who my mentor is.

http://seantheanimator.blogspot.com/

ps... Looking forward to meeting everyone or at least blogging with everyone.


Later,
Sean. :beer:

[mmkelly011881]

Fight and find out who is numba one

[rab]

Disciples of Dooley Reporting for Duty! Does he drink beer?

[ttesla]

Fight and find out who is numba one
supergreg (http://www.eecs.umich.edu/%7Eandrewdn/gene-pool/number1.mov) ?? :D :p

[fluffybunny]

supergreg (http://www.eecs.umich.edu/%7Eandrewdn/gene-pool/number1.mov) ?? :D :p

Yikes!!! :eek:

That man has only one eyebrow...:surprised

[Kimotion]

The Hand of Ike shall rule AMO!!!

or maybe.. the Furious Feldmans!! WOO!! At any rate, jeffkim you traitor -_o

hehe. Props to class 1 of squad behm!

I've turned to the Derek Side of the Force. Like Anakin, I will INSTANTLY turn to betray and wipe out all of Squad Behm, starting with Youngling Matt Kelly.

[Modus]

Right after the DELIO force, it's the precioussssss Jason for me

[bentllama]

I have Jeremy Cantor as my next mentor...I met him this year at GDC, and he was a nice guy. His presentation was about making animation in games better, which is a cause I already subscribe to...

It said in his bio for AM that Jeremy is currently an Animation Supervisor over at Insomniac [R&C is one fun and well animated series]. Insomniac is in the Sony camp. I work as an Animation Lead at Bungie. Bungie is in the Microsoft camp...hmmmm...anyone else see a feud and espionage brewing! LOL

It should be cool, and I am looking forward to moshing with a peer in games that I genuinely respect.

The whole reason behind me taking AM is a lead to better animation in games, by rethinking what I have learned in the past - and helping expand that to our crew. The first semester was great and I was awakened of bad habits I have grown accustomed to over the years since Sheridan. Another Bungie motion monkey is also in AM and experiencing it alongside me. Bill O'Brien is a great animator and is approaching AM for the same reasons I am. His work kicks ass - so keep an eye out for 'billo' next semester.

Anyway, to make a long post short, I am really looking forward to AM. It is forcing me to check my game, both figuratively and literally!

[Bentagon]

Ooh... you all have such bad luck.. :sad:

For the next three months, I have MYSELF as a mentor!!! Wooohoooo!:bounce:

I'm sure I've got you all jealous now!

- Benjamin

[ninjadodo]

Anyone else who hasn't had their mentor assigned yet? I'm a new student starting this term. I've had the notification about the orientation stuff and that, but nothing about mentors so far... Should I have patience or contact support?

[Marty15]

Ninja Dojo, we have a few mentees starting there second class that havn't had there email yet, so maybe a bit o patience will be best. Good luck.

[ninjadodo]

Cool. I'll sit tight then.

[sinbad]

My first mentor is Bill Diaz, god of the webslinger, and small mice.

I am blessed.

[andy_maxman]

The whole reason behind me taking AM is a lead to better animation in games, by rethinking what I have learned in the past - and helping expand that to our crew. The first semester was great and I was awakened of bad habits I have grown accustomed to over the years since Sheridan. Another Bungie motion monkey is also in AM and experiencing it alongside me. Bill O'Brien is a great animator and is approaching AM for the same reasons I am. His work kicks ass - so keep an eye out for 'billo' next semester.

Anyway, to make a long post short, I am really looking forward to AM. It is forcing me to check my game, both figuratively and literally!

would love to know how its going on with adam 'agreenster's' workmate too.....

it's very re-assuring when some one from the industry who is a student with AM thinks great things about the programme.....thanks, Nathan....:thumbsup:

[sternio]

Tony Smeed, currently working on Chicken Little!

Come on now, who else is a Smeeder? Don't be shy now... :D

I am with ya Aja, It's gonna be sweeeeet!

[Modus]

ok Im beginnin our traditionnal mentors/students list. Everyone can copy and add his mentor and name to it.

JASON SCHLEIFER :
Phil
Ali




Sweeettt

[Kimotion]

JASON SCHLEIFER :
Phil
Ali

DEREK FREISENBORG :
Jeff Kim

[Kimotion]

I Like Ike!

props to old squad behm.. you are now my enemy..

Feldman forever!

Here's a scene:

Derek: The Derek Side of the Force is a pathway to many animation abilities, some consider it to be unnatural.
Kimotion: Is it possible to learn of this power?

Then Derek turned, looking at me straight in the face:

Derek: NOT from a JedIKE.

[My Fault]

Here's a scene:

Derek: The Derek Side of the Force is a pathway to many animation abilities, some consider it to be unnatural.
Kimotion: Is it possible to learn of this power?

Then Derek turned, looking at me straight in the face:

Derek: NOT from a JedIKE.

Ouch! :scream:

Jeff will be performing twice a night folks, make sure to tip your waitress!

[SheepFactory]

now you know what I have to deal with everyday. :p

[My Fault]

now you know what I have to deal with everyday. :p

Haha, I can't wait to hear some of the stories next weekend. Woo!!

[AjaBogdanoff]

Sweet, Sternio! This will be a blast! :D

Smeeeed. Smeed Smeed Smeed.

Because people like to say saaal-sa!

Shoot, the AM forums are down for maintenance! Not much of a surprise... but now who will critique my ball with legs being shot out of a cannon, getting up, and stumbling away?? :arteest: :D

[clockwerkz]

Not to steer this thread away, like it would be possible, but I just had to respond back to Aja.

See? This should be the show!


cW

[keith7]

Anyone else here have Warren Trezvant as their mentor for the summer session? He's worked on all of Pixar’s films... did the dinner sequence on the Incredibles... Awesome!

This thread rocks btw!

[sternio]

How can a spanish person order seltzer and not get salsa?

[ravvy]

Right then!

My first lesson is on Monday 20th June at 8PM PDT time

I however am on GMT time (London time)

Is there a simple program that will let me enter the date / time for the lesson and will spit out the time I need to be there? I've had a quick google and found some links but they all seem overly complex wanting me to put in countries etc ;)

[patrickC]

ravvy if you're on GMT consider 8 hours of difference as it is now (it changes for a few weeks a year tho because of the different periods in which DST is applied).
So as I see it, your first Q&A will be at 4am hehe :) enjoy

On a sidenote, my mentor for 2nd class is Schleifer yei :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

see ya "there"
ta ta
Patrick

[fluffybunny]

Right then!

My first lesson is on Monday 20th June at 8PM PDT time

I however am on GMT time (London time)

Is there a simple program that will let me enter the date / time for the lesson and will spit out the time I need to be there? I've had a quick google and found some links but they all seem overly complex wanting me to put in countries etc ;)

Someone from spring posted a link to :

Qlock (http://www.qlock.com)

I have it on a few computers and like it. You can make it pretty small to be unobtrusive and have mulitple different time zones up.

PST is -8 right now, so that would be ...
*oops*, I minus'd the wrong way....I'm used to going from GMT to PST.

evildwarf is right....*4am*

eric

[tredeger]

Right then!

My first lesson is on Monday 20th June at 8PM PDT time

I however am on GMT time (London time)

Is there a simple program that will let me enter the date / time for the lesson and will spit out the time I need to be there? I've had a quick google and found some links but they all seem overly complex wanting me to put in countries etc ;)


If you check out my blog at http://animationmentee.com you'll see a countdown to the next assignment deadline at the bottom of my sidebar. I could whip up a clock just for your Q&As if you wanted, if this is the regular time for your session. It works around the world.

[stewartjones]

Hey Ravvy, that's 4am dude!

I have 2 sessions this week, a 4.30am on tuesday, and a 4am on wednesday... Early mornings hurt like hell!!!

[Shreds]

Hey guys,
Just to let you know, it's now Sunday at 12pm (central US time) and still haven't heard anything, but I'm sure it'll come. Just letting other people that haven't received their emails know that there are others hanging in there with 'em!

Adam.

Ballman Backflip (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=250097)
Ball animation prep for Animation Mentor (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=249710)

Animation Mentor Blog (http://adamstrick.blogspot.com)

[melmann]

Hey Adam! I too have not recieved the email yet as well. I figure if anything I should definately hear something tomorrow ;)

[Kimotion]

I've finally uploaded my Quarter 1 AM animation assignments on my web page!

AnimationMentor Quarter 1 Assignments (http://www.jeff-kim.com/AnimationMentorClips.html)

[LordHades]

OMG, I wish I had access to a site like this before I went to VFS (lol, on 2 seperate occasions.).

[Sean MacNeil]

Tomorrow's the 20th! Yaw!

So how do they choose who our mentors are going to be anyway?

[fluffybunny]

Darn!

It's officially the 20th (plus a few minutes) in Animation Mentor land.

I was hoping we'd be able to login...guess I'll have to wait until the morning.

It's probably a good thing. I would have gotten zero sleep had I been able to login.

eric

[sinbad]

Its 08:40am GMT, 12:40 PST, so its the 20th in both worlds. But I cant log in yet bwaaaaa I woke up this morning and it felt like Christmas day. I felt like Santa had brought me something very special, and had loaded it on my computer. But I can't open it yet... :shrug:

I wanna open my pwesent!!

:cry: :cry: :cry:

[Shreds]

Ha, Log In!

I was hoping I would have a Mentor by now! 3:48am here in Kansas, so it's 1:48 there in California.

Adam.


Ballman Backflip (http://showthread.php?t=250097)
Ball animation prep for Animation Mentor (http://showthread.php?t=249710)

Animation Mentor Blog (http://adamstrick.blogspot.com/)

[sinbad]

3.48am? Go to bed!!:)

[Shreds]

OK, I went to bed. Now I'm up. It's 8:23am, still no email, when I try to log into the main page it tells me "On Hold", and when I try to log into the forums it tells me I have entered an invalid user name! Hopefully I'll be able to get on within the next few hours!




Adam.


Ballman Backflip (http://showthread.php/?t=250097)
Ball animation prep for Animation Mentor (http://showthread.php/?t=249710)

Animation Mentor Blog (http://adamstrick.blogspot.com/)

[jedijrmax]

Hey Adam,


Yeah I'm not sure. I don't think you should worry about logging in, because I haven't been able to log into animationmentor.com yet either. Although, I'm not sure about your mentor.... Maybe you could try calling them to make sure that everything is ok?

~Jeff

::Avatar::

:)

[melmann]

Yeah I still havent recieved an email on who my mentor is. Nerve rackin. I was hopin to get it this morn.....:(

[mgarward]

The AM offices open in about 1 hour... I would think you'll hear something around then or soon after.:) And be able to log in. And say farewell to sleep. And start bouncing off the walls (virtually and literally). You guys are going to have a BLAST! We're as superexcited as you are!

[melmann]

mgarward,
Thanks for that. I was thinkin that so I sit here tryin to be patient.Though the eagerness is makin me sick to my stomach this morn....:)

[stewartjones]

I can't download Stewie... AM please wake up soon! haha!!! :D

[sinbad]

Yeah, its almost TUESDAY over here!:D

Maybe the offices will open at 09.00, someone will walk in, press a button, and BANG!.. we're in and rocking. There goes tonights sleep....

BTW is tonight's big hook-up for both cohorts? Thats a lot of people. I guess nothing compared to 15 months time when 6 different semester groups log in! They're going to need about another 100 mentors!

[melmann]

I logged in but still havent recieved an email gonna browse around!

[stewartjones]

Yeah, its almost TUESDAY over here!:D

Maybe the offices will open at 09.00, someone will walk in, press a button, and BANG!.. we're in and rocking. There goes tonights sleep....

BTW is tonight's big hook-up for both cohorts? Thats a lot of people. I guess nothing compared to 15 months time when 6 different semester groups log in! They're going to need about another 100 mentors!

Think that hook-up is for the new class, we have a global Q&A on Wednesday, so ours could be at a different time, unless you get 2?!?!:)

Still can't download Stewie, if you're next to the AM offices go kick someones kaboody! :D

[sinbad]

Yeah ours is 8pm tonight, which for me is 4am tomorrow morning. Yippeeee set the alarm for 2am!

[kirko]

I think tonight's global Q&A is for both classes. I'm in the second class (body mechanics), and this is what my mentor notification email said:

"We’d also like to announce a special Global Orientation on Monday, June 20th at 8:00PM (20:00) PDT with the Founders! Hey, and it looks like they will get it "right" this time too. We’re not letting Carlos mess with the cables on the computer this time."

And furthermore, I just managed to download Stewie, so it looks like the AM folks are getting off to a quick start today.

[Sean MacNeil]

I just logged in to AM, gonna cruise around a bit. Still no word on my mentor though.
Originally Posted by melmade
Yeah I still havent recieved an email on who my mentor is. Nerve rackin. I was hopin to get it this morn.....:(I feel your pain Mel.

[Nitefyre]

Tonight's Q and A is both classes, smart since I was thinking how in the hell are we going to get everyone in on one?! My mentor Q and A is wed so I think thats the reason I got put in today's Q and A.

[Sean MacNeil]

Did you guys see that Episode 3 Q+A announcement! I'm in heaven.:buttrock:

[mgarward]

Apparently there was some problem with any of the mentor announcements being emailed to MSN or Hotmail addresses. Support is setting up a roster page on the site, so everyone can find out who their mentor is before the first mentor Q&A sessions start tomorrow.

In the meantime, you can still log in, watch the lecture (I believe), browse the forums, get hazed by the "older" students, etc. :)

[SkyZero]

The fall term can't arrive fast enough for me! :cry:

I have both books already and am reading through them. My webcam is setup to go. Just gotta wait for sept. to roll around. :thumbsup:

[jedijrmax]

I just remembered... we can only watch the lectures... three times or something? Because I was just cruising around not really knowing what I was doing and so I just clicked to watch all of the video things, but just for like 20 seconds, just to "see" what it was... does this mean that counts as a time that I viewed it? And now I can only watch it two more times?

:(

~Jeff

[polymath]

3 lecture views per week isn't really holding up anymore since they've moved the lectures to the player page. You can watch the current lecture and the previous week's at the same time as many times as you want - this is as of now, this could change :-S.

But right now it works GREAT, connection is great, the no streaming feature is a lifesaver when you have to rewind b/c you missed a few seconds (ie due to interruption or someone talking to you).

[jedijrmax]

Phew, ok, thanks.


But.. how do you guys know all of this information? Does AM tell you through email? Or do you talk about it with your mentors? Or what?

~Jeff

[stewartjones]

AAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!! HOLY HELL! I been reading the sheet wrong. It is tonight at 8pm... Well, 4am for us in the UK... Oh man I am gonna be tired! :D

[Sean MacNeil]

And my mentor is...Stephen Gregory! :bounce:

BIO: Since leaving Cal-Arts in 1996 Stephen has had the pleasure of working on some of the most influential animated films in recent years while being employed at PIXAR Animation Studios. At PIXAR Stephen has worked on “A Bugs Life”, “Toy Story 2”, “Monsters INC.”, “Finding Nemo”, “The Incredibles” and is currently working on “Cars” which is due out summer of 2006. While attending Cal-Arts, Stephen had several summer jobs which included an internship at Turner Feature Animation during “Cat’s Don’t Dance.”

They have all the rosters setup now. Just go and check your mail.

[melmann]

Hey Sean ! We're classmates! See you round class!

[SheepFactory]

Stephen is great , he is one of the best instructors i have had in my school.

[alben]

Hey Sean ! We're classmates! See you round class!

I guess I will be joining you guys as well. I have Stephen Gregory as my mentor too. See you during Live Q&A.

[My Fault]

Good gravy the Q&A was packed to the rafters! Crazy but totally fun. Hope all the new students had a good time, I know I did. Always a pleasure to hang out with my fellow mentees and the 3 ninjas!

[ravvy]

Aye it was good fun Brian - although I think they had some trouble with the wording of my question (I cant believe I typed "Authentic" instead of legitimate - an honest mistake, the keys are right next to each other!) :)


Lag was pretty scary though, I couldnt keep up with the chat window after a while as it seemed to be about 10 minutes behind (and I did check I was scrolled down to the bottom of the chat pane) :)

[sinbad]

Yeah the q& A was great but packed-in. The main thing is being able to hear what is being said, the visual stuff is so heavily compressed and so slow in parts, it wasn't worth bothering looking at it. At one point I restarted my machine and logged back in which seemed to do the trick, and everything worked ok. Anyway the main thing was hearing the ninjas, and soaking up the nuggets.

[fluffybunny]

Good gravy the Q&A was packed to the rafters! Crazy but totally fun. Hope all the new students had a good time, I know I did. Always a pleasure to hang out with my fellow mentees and the 3 ninjas!

I'm sure it's nothing compared to the rockin good time that's happenin somewhere in that 'greater bay area' this weekend. :twisted::buttrock::arteest::beer::beer::beer: :buttrock::applause:

You're lucky I live in the outback of the Pacific Northwest.....I'd bring my dirtbike over ;)

eric

[Roger Eberhart]

Any other Mac users having difficulty with the iSight? I keep getting booted from the chat when I'm on screen. I'm thinking of upgrading my cable connection from 384kb to 3mb. Hopefully that will help.

[bentllama]

I'm sure it's nothing compared to the rockin good time that's happenin somewhere in that 'greater bay area' this weekend.
You're lucky I live in the outback of the Pacific Northwest.....I'd bring my dirtbike over ;)

eric

don't worry. there will be a BBQ at my place sometime [just outside of seattle] for the Pacific Northwesteners...and then the bay area peeps will be crying. i will zip up to Canada and bring back some real beer for the party. :)

[mikefeil]

animationmentor does not support apple yet, so it probably has to do with that. Not your broadband connection.

[seasterling]

Our Q&A with Stephen Gregory (incredibly nice guy) went over 2 hours tonight and my iSight worked fine.

[Roger Eberhart]

Our Q&A with Stephen Gregory (incredibly nice guy) went over 2 hours tonight and my iSight worked fine.

What's your connection speed? Are you running Tiger?

[seasterling]

I am running Tiger. I'm pulling about 2.7 Kbps.

[Bentagon]

Hey guys,

send this link out to Bobby, I'm sure he'll love those first few posts :)
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=251362

- Benjamin

[Sean MacNeil]

Hey guys,

I got inspired after I heard we were having an Episode III Q+A on Monday so check it out.
This is going to be soooo sweeeeeet!

Just wanted to add that Stephen Gregory is an incredibly cool mentor, our first Q+A was great.
http://photos1.blogger.com/img/255/6467/320/light_saber_duel1.jpg

[melmann]

heheh awesome sean! Cant wait for monday!

[agreenster]

Hey guys,

send this link out to Bobby, I'm sure he'll love those first few posts :)
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=251362

- Benjamin

I'm pretty sure Bobby knows that people liked Monsters Inc

[Animental_Sean]

Hi, I'm a new AM-er in L.A. There are courses that look like they would supplement AM really well at the Animation Guild ITASE 839, in North Hollywood who have courses on Animation related subjects like storyboarding, life drawing and a ton more. They're REALLY inexpensive, the first introductory course is $40 for four, 2 hour sessions!

It might be good networking, as well as development. Follow this link if interested... (http://www.mpsc839.org/_Classes/Classes_pdf/AAICAT.pdf)

- Sean

[Bentagon]

I'm pretty sure Bobby knows that people liked Monsters IncAnd I'm pretty sure he'll be glad to hear that some think Monsters Inc is the best animated film ever due to the character he helped develop. Even if he heard that from other people before. :)

- Benjamin

[Kimotion]

Hey guys,

I got inspired after I heard we were having an Episode III Q+A on Monday so check it out.
This is going to be soooo sweeeeeet!

Just wanted to add that Stephen Gregory is an incredibly cool mentor, our first Q+A was great.
http://photos1.blogger.com/img/255/6467/320/light_saber_duel1.jpg

Stephen Gregory teaches (or taught) at my former school and I kept hearing how awesome he is. Unfortunately I never got the opportunity to take his animation class. :sad:

Dave Burgess used to teach at my former school. I was actually approved by the department to take his class but he left that following semester! I JUST missed him. :banghead:

[polymath]

Dave is awesome :D! Too bad! Lots of good insights since he's coming to 3D from trad2D :)! And he's animated about getting out of his chair to act out movements and stuff, just cool :).

[Sean MacNeil]

Hey guys,

The Episode 3 Q&A was good, those guys...Delio, Kevin, and Charles did some pretty amazing shots eh? Delio talked alot about how challenging it was animating the Greivous character. Kevin and Charles both animated Yoda and the Emperor and their fight scene in the senate. I can't believe they did that, that animation is off the hook! I wish they would have got to my question though. Maybe someone here knows how many shots each animator was responsible for in Episode 3 and other cg films on average? Anyway, very down to earth people and alot of fun to hang with. On to animating...I'm inspired...

Later,
Sean.

[kaveh_michael]

Maybe someone here knows how many shots each animator was responsible for in Episode 3 and other cg films on average?

I don't know about ILM and E3 but in Pixar, I think it depends on the level of an animator, meaning how good he/she is, the usual footage time per film for each animator at Pixar is about one minute. The senior guys would get more shots thou, or sometimes block them out and give off to junior animators to finish.

[JSW32]

Hello everyone. This is my situation. Please bear with me. I just graduated from a 4 year program with a BA in Psychology. I want to go into animation. My options are to go to a grad school and a get a masters in it (that is if i could get it based on a portfolio, etc. which id hope so) do an online program like animation mentor, do a certificate program, etc. where i can be studying at schools in California, Vancouver, East Coast, West Coast, whatever. I'm just trying to figure out what my best next step would be. I want to be a character animator, and I also understand and have been told that to be a great animator it is important to understand the principles of traditional animation first. So right now I am taking classes in traditional animation and basic drawing for animation, and i practice my drawing daily. But it has seem to be that there are many animators out there who dont know how to draw, etc. So why did you choose animationmentor? how do you find it? what do you like about it? What don't you like about it? What are the advantages and disadvantages of it (and there has to be disadvantages cause there are to everything). What would I be missing out by not going to a grad school if I signed up for this program. I know its a big difference in price, but also its a difference in time spent learning something, as to where you can go learn animation at CalArts for 4 years, or do a grad program for 2-3, as to where this is only 18 months worth. I know no students have completed the school yet, but what do you think the way it is heading to? Are the instructors really there for you all the time? Isn't it better in a sense to have 'physical' contact with an instructor so you can ask them more questions, as well as being able to physically interact with students? Also, after the basics are finished and when you start to take those acting classes in the program, is that when you ultimately animate a character, with dialogue, expressions, facial movement etc.? Also is it a negative that you are not given modeling lessons to model your own character, as well as drawing classes? That has to be a downside. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY TO ME, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO STUDY 2D TRADITIONAL ANIMATION FIRST, THAT IS ON PAPER, BEFORE YOU DELVE INTO 3D ANIMATION. CAN YOU LEARN TRADITIONAL AND APPLY IT TO 3D AT THE SAME TIME? Please give me your honest opinion, not just as a student hoping to promote animation mentor, but just as a student of animation. THank you.

[Nitefyre]

Whoa! Slow down little buddy!

Hehe, I'll do the best I can from my experience, anyone else chime in to fill in gaps or disagree.

I want to be a character animator, and I also understand and have been told that to be a great animator it is important to understand the principles of traditional animation first. So right now I am taking classes in traditional animation and basic drawing for animation, and i practice my drawing daily.
Good start! Yes, traditional animation is very important. There are some differences but 2d animation and 3d animation is...well...animation. Animation has its roots in 2d so I think its very important to study it.

So why did you choose animationmentor?
Ultimately the main points were money and location. AnimationMentor can be done anywhere, I didn't have to move to L.A., Vancouver, Portland etc. I was going to 24,000 per year private Uni :eek:.

how do you find it?
Mostly CGTalk and a little 10 Second Club headline

what do you like about it?
Ummmm, everything? Really the school is structured very nicely and you really do learn by leaps and bounds. There's the bugs about being the first class but I've taken at least 4 surveys from the school asking for crits and ideas for improvements. They are always looking to make it smoother experience. Even have a dedicated area in the forum for site suggestions.

What don't you like about it?
Truthfully, just the beginning bugs can get kind of annoying. But we usually only have to put up with them for a few weeks then they are fixed.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of it (and there has to be disadvantages cause there are to everything).
This post will get way too long with that answer, it seems like your looking for something negative....Time! The only complaint I have is that my 2 other jobs take away from my animation time. I would rather be learning and animating.

What would I be missing out by not going to a grad school if I signed up for this program.
No idea! Never went to Grad school...

I know no students have completed the school yet, but what do you think the way it is heading to?
Very exciting! They are constantly trying to bring us new sources of info and surprises. The Star Wars Q and A, who wouldn't geek out on that!? Bobby has hinted at more stuff to come but is being very tight-lipped about it! Bobby did mention in that studios are already calling the school.

Are the instructors really there for you all the time?
Just about! Besides the our regular mentors, we have some mentors dedicated soley to criting and providing help. The students (some are quite experienced animators already) are equally as helpful, always willing.

Isn't it better in a sense to have 'physical' contact with an instructor so you can ask them more questions, as well as being able to physically interact with students?
Thats what the live Q and A's are about. For some reason I've managed to get on the topic of alcohol while talking to both my mentors so far, hehe, just call me a boozer. :D

Also, after the basics are finished and when you start to take those acting classes in the program, is that when you ultimately animate a character, with dialogue, expressions, facial movement etc.?
Not sure haven't gotten there yet, only made it to Body Mechanics so far. We are working on full-bodied characters at the moment.

Also is it a negative that you are not given modeling lessons to model your own character, as well as drawing classes?
No. Thats one reason why the class is only 18 months. To learn animation you study animation and just animation. They are making you into pure animators not well rounded cg artists. In a studio your most likely only going to be animating. They already have modellers who model and riggers who rig.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY TO ME, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO STUDY 2D TRADITIONAL ANIMATION FIRST, THAT IS ON PAPER, BEFORE YOU DELVE INTO 3D ANIMATION. CAN YOU LEARN TRADITIONAL AND APPLY IT TO 3D AT THE SAME TIME?

You can learn both at the same time.

Please give me your honest opinion, not just as a student hoping to promote animation mentor, but just as a student of animation.
I tried to give more factual evidence than opinion so I hope this helps. One thing is that it is an online course so the motivation and determination to learn has to be there. This is a unique job and very fun but you have to be passionate about it. They did a real good job of picking people who plain love animation to go there. Its not hard to stay motivated in that place. I think you need to ask yourself 'Is this really what I want to do? do I love what I do? Can I sit hour upon hour to animate?'

Trying to be helpful,
Nitefyre

[mgarward]

Even though nitefyte has done a great job, there seem to be two main questions that you are asking that I wanted to address in a bit more detail. (and this will have more of my own opinion than his reply.)
I also understand and have been told that to be a great animator it is important to understand the principles of traditional animation first.
...
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY TO ME, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO STUDY 2D TRADITIONAL ANIMATION FIRST, THAT IS ON PAPER, BEFORE YOU DELVE INTO 3D ANIMATION. CAN YOU LEARN TRADITIONAL AND APPLY IT TO 3D AT THE SAME TIME?
Nitefyre is right, animation is animation. The tool you choose shouldn't make a difference if you know and can use the principles. The "principles of traditional animation" are the principles of animation in general. And that where this class is standing out to me: they are building a solid foundation on the animation principles first, and slowly getting more advanced.

AnimationMentor is also not geared to 3D only, so if you wanted to do the assignments in 2D or stop-motion there is nothing stopping you. in fact, doing at least one assignment in either (or both!) methods is an invaluable learning experience. We are also being given our assignments now (second semester) to be completed in a blocked mode, essentially giving a pencil-test of keys and breakdowns. So even if we're not drawing, we are thinking in a traditional way. I think there are reasons you may want to do the course in 3D, and the course is slanted towards it so they can explain how to achieve something in CG that could easily be drawn. But it is NOT a '3D animation course', it's an 'animation course'.

Are the instructors really there for you all the time? Isn't it better in a sense to have 'physical' contact with an instructor so you can ask them more questions, as well as being able to physically interact with students?
this was one of my primary fears as well. No the instructors aren't always there for you: they are professionals working at Pixar and Dreamworks and ILM and so on, as such their time is limited. (But one of the advantages here is that your teachers are in the industry and really know their stuff.) The mentors are usually available by email, or in the forums, and there is the weekly Q&A session, and a recorded critique each week. So a downside might be that you can't just pop in and ask a question or show what you have so far.

The biggest advantage is that being online, school is always open, and everything is accessible. I can go in anytime and ask for an opinion, and if I wait a little while I'll have feedback from several people. I can see EVERY student's critique from their mentors. I can see everyone's work and study and learn from it. And if I really wanted to I could do it all day or all night.:) It's the feedback from anyone willing to give it, and the ability to refine your work again and again before submitting an assignment, that is helping us all to improve so much, so quickly.

There are downsides to AM, as there are to everything. But I had the feeling that these were your main concerns, and they were mine as well. But right now I feel like I've never learned so much, and had so much fun doing it.

[Bentagon]

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY TO ME, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO STUDY 2D TRADITIONAL ANIMATION FIRST, THAT IS ON PAPER, BEFORE YOU DELVE INTO 3D ANIMATION. CAN YOU LEARN TRADITIONAL AND APPLY IT TO 3D AT THE SAME TIME?Let's first let you know that what I'm going to say is entirely my opinion, just to be sure.

I've heard people say that 2D training will always be better, but I don't know how much experience they had, and I don't know any arguments for this. So I won't say that training one is better then training the other, because of that.

I do feel however, that 2D is the future. Not 2D as we know it, but rather the 2D that Glen Keane is/was trying to achieve with Rapunzel Unbraided. This means drawing as we used to, but with a 3D result. That's why I, when I'll be joining AM Online in Fall, will focus most of my efforts on drawing and 2D animation. I will definitly try some stop-motion, and I will also do my own tests in Maya PLE, but since it's PLE, I will do those for myself, and not for the school.

But it's really up to you what route to take yourself. I'd say pick the medium you like best, with which you have most fun. Since a lot of studios have been training 2D guys in 3D the last couple of years, I think that if you have a seriously awesome 2D reel, you'll get hired anyway.

One thing I'm sure, is that you have to draw, whether you like it or not. It might be for thumbnails, it might be for pitching a little storyidea to the director, you might be a supervising animator in the future and have to develop a character,... Fortunatly, I've heard AM Online asks 2 pages of sketches every week, but I will definitly draw more. I believe that the more you draw, the better of an artist you'll become.

Anyhow, I'm not trying to make you pick 2D or anything... I'm just hoping I might have given you another way to think about it. Good luck!

- Benjamin

[JSW32]

Thanks guys so much for your responses. Ok first off what I want you guys to know is that , not to sound spoiled or anything but forunately my parents are willing to pay for my education, so if it was that I would be going to a graduate program or other school, etc. my parents would be paying for it, whether it was in California, Vancouver, wherever. That being said, I feel the reason that a lot of people may choose a program like AnimationMentor is because of its price as well, obviously besides all of its mentors. So would you say that that the fact that I would have the chance to go to a school with money provided my parents for my education would be the better choice? Keep in mind I just graduated from a a 4 year program, so I guess I'd go to a graduate program (that is hoping my portfolio/drawing skills would be up to par with their acceptance level).The mentors are usually available by email, or in the forums, and there is the weekly Q&A session, and a recorded critique each week. So a downside might be that you can't just pop in and ask a question or show what you have so far. so this muse be a bad thing? i mean despite the fact that you have access to your fellow classmates opinions, would it seem like a better idea to be in a school setting where you can have more access to ur teachers? for those of you who have been in the school setting or are still in it, what is it like? where do you go, and how much access to you have to your teachers? also ive heard that people have really learnt more in the past 2 months or whatever then they have in their whole college career studying it? how is this tru and why? Also do you guys learn about storytelling, composition, cinematography, etc? cause i know you end up making ur own animated short film by the end of the semester but dont u kinda of need to know about storytelling etc, and camera moves, etc. do they teach you that?
I do feel however, that 2D is the future. Not 2D as we know it, but rather the 2D that Glen Keane is/was trying to achieve with Rapunzel Unbraided. This means drawing as we used to, but with a 3D result. what did you mean by this? I don't understand?
Also for any of you Mac users out there, what is that experience like with the program, or if anyone else knows? I have a Mac and I was told that they don't support it yet but are working on it, but what have your experiences been like with that, technically etc and if any of u have isight. thanks guys i appreciate it.

[My Fault]

That being said, I feel the reason that a lot of people may choose a program like AnimationMentor is because of its price as well, obviously besides all of its mentors.


I can say without question that the main reasons I joined AM was twofold. First, the mentors are some of the best in the biz. People who I have followed for years and whose work I love and respect. About the only school that would make me leave this school is one taught by Eric Goldberg, Glen Keane and Andreas Deja... but then again I think most of the mentors would join that school as well :)

Second, I am 37, married and have a 16 yr old (or the 16yr old has us, depends on the day LOL) and as much as I would love to attend Cal Arts or Sheridan, I have too much other responsibility. The structure of AM works perfect for me. Saying that if I was 19 and single there is no force on earth that would keep me from attending Cal Arts.

As for having mentors around and access, that gets better every day. The amount of opportunities we have to speak to our mentors, the campus mentors, lectures, etc keeps everyone fairly busy. Plus they come up with new stuff all the time. With the BOOM at the helm you know each day is going to be fun. And you can not discount the value of 350+ passionate students who have varying experiences to share.

As for what they teach, they start out with the basics. Really stress getting the mechanics down solid before we move on to acting which will come in a later semester. We have some very experienced students who have openly stated how much they picked up the first semester even with as much as they already know. Heck, even the mentors have said they have learned a lot from this.

[fabianv]

Hello everyone,

I would have loved to read this entire thread tonight but it seems that its gigantic and dates back quite a while.

I have noticed the inclining interest in Animationmentor.com and have finally decided a week ago to join in the AM craze. My first plan was to study 3d at a school here in Cape Town but quickly realised this is going to benefit me in Animation much more than that school ever could.

I signed up last night and got an invite to do an IQ test today.. was a bit afraid at first and only managed to get to question 28.. I hope thats fine... anyways, so far its been the only reply from them (the invite) Im guessing they will email me shortly. I am too excited beyond words because my parents have approved to support me financially for my studies at AnimationMentor.com. (must be because my dad is such a Pixar fanatic)

I will be applying for Fall 2005 and will be purchasing the 2 books and Maya in a months time; I heard from some its also good to start a blog? I cant wait for all of this to get started! Lets hope im accepted!

Tommorow I might gather up the strength to read this thread completely :)
I believe I would be the second student from South Africa if I am accepted.:thumbsup:

Anyways, trying to contain all my excitement!!! Ahhh!

Yours truly,
Fabian Vercuiel

[Sean MacNeil]

Hey, I am a first semester student at AM, here is my opinion...


I want to be a character animator, and I also understand and have been told that to be a great animator it is important to understand the principles of traditional animation first. So right now I am taking classes in traditional animation and basic drawing for animation, and i practice my drawing daily.
Let me start by saying that you appear to have the dedication it takes to be a kick ass animator if you practice everyday. If there is one common trait in all animators it is passion, and I have never experienced it so much as with AM. If you are not passionate about animation you will not survive AM. At AM they drill into you how important the traditional basics are, ESPECIALLY, and I can't stress that enough, if you animate in 3d. The whole point here, however, is that whether you animate in 2d, stop motion, or 3d, you are bottom line an animator, who lives and dies by the traditional principals. Taking what they teach and applying it to 2d, 3d, or stop motion, is your decision. Do whatever you want. We still all attend the same lecture and learn the same thing. The approach for great character animation is the same across all three mediums.

So why did you choose animationmentor?
This one is easy...I wanted to go to a school that had the best faculty in the world. If you want to be a lawyer you go to Harvard to learn from the best law professors, if you want to be an engineer you go to MIT to study under the best engineering professors, and if you want to be an animator you go to AM because they have the best animators in the world teaching there.

How do you find it? What do you like about it? What don't you like about it?
I find AM to be a breeding ground for inspiration and great animation. I like AM because I feel at home here, and I'm in the company of like minded people. The only thing I don't like about it is that I wish there was a new guest speaker recorded lecture every week, but that is asking alot. I don't think other schools have weekly guest speakers either.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of it? (and there has to be disadvantages cause there are to everything).
Advantages: the faculty, the AM community, the help and support you get from the mentors and other students, the short length of the program. Disadvantages: you only get one Q&A session a week with your mentor.

What would I be missing out by not going to a grad school if I signed up for this program?
I don't know, getting a graduate degree I guess.

I know no students have completed the school yet, but what do you think the way it is heading to?
There are going to be talented animators available that have been taught the ways of Pixar and Dreamworks animators.

Are the instructors really there for you all the time?
Here's an idea of how involved the mentors are...my mentor is Stephen Gregory, a Pixar animator. We had our weekly Q&A session with him yesterday which is only scheduled for an hour, and I think he spent an hour and a half with us. The week before he spent two hours with us before they had to kick us out, and as Stephen said yesterday, "I'm here for you guys!" He gives each of us a recorded video critique of our work once a week. We have his email that we can use to ask him stuff and show him stuff, and he emails us a couple times a week with info. Plus, guys like Bobby Beck, Shawn Kelly, Carlos Baena, and Jason Schleifer weigh in on posts in the forums on a frequent basis to give opinions on animation issues and answer questions. And Bobby gets the best in the industry to do live Q&A's and guest speaker lectures. It's only the second week of the semester and already there was a live Q&A with three ILM animators who worked on Revenge of the Sith, and Bobby has finished recording the next guest speaker lecture, a presentation by ILM animator Hal Hickel.

Isn't it better in a sense to have 'physical' contact with an instructor so you can ask them more questions, as well as being able to physically interact with students?
You can interact during the live Q&A's and through critiques and emails.

Also, after the basics are finished and when you start to take those acting classes in the program, is that when you ultimately animate a character, with dialogue, expressions, facial movement etc.?
You can animate whatever and whenever you want. But first you need to learn to walk before you can run. You get a full character to animate right from day 1. However, you can't create good acting if you suck at the basics. It'll just suck altogether and be a big waste of time unless you're some kind of animation prodigy.

Also is it a negative that you are not given modeling lessons to model your own character, as well as drawing classes?
I don't really care to learn that other stuff, it just takes time away from learning to animate. If you want to be a modeler, or a texture artist, or whatever, don't come to AM.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY TO ME, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO STUDY 2D TRADITIONAL ANIMATION FIRST, THAT IS ON PAPER, BEFORE YOU DELVE INTO 3D ANIMATION. CAN YOU LEARN TRADITIONAL AND APPLY IT TO 3D AT THE SAME TIME?
The traditional principals are the foundation to 2d, 3d, and stop motion animation. Whether you do this animation or that animation, it doesn't matter what you put in front of the word, you apply the traditional basics no matter what. Really, each frame in the computer with a model posed on it is identical to a single piece of paper with a drawing of a character posed on it. It's ultimately up to you which medium you want to animate in, if you want to animate in 2d, work with pencil and paper, if you want to animate in 3d, work with a computer. You definitely don't need to have mastered the artform in 2d to be a great 3d animator, that's really a ridiculous thought. In fact, you could switch it around and say becoming an awesome animator in 3d first would no doubt make you a better animator in 2d, that's obvious, but it would take you twice as long as a person who went right into 2d.

So would you say that that the fact that I would have the chance to go to a school with money provided my parents for my education would be the better choice?
Nope, not unless they have a better animation faculty than AM.

Would it seem like a better idea to be in a school setting where you can have more access to ur teachers?
I think it's a bad idea if the teachers aren't as good.

For those of you who have been in the school setting or are still in it, what is it like? where do you go, and how much access to you have to your teachers?
I find the AM community setting to be very intuitive. It's divided into two sections. In the first one you get your own workspace where you can upload work and recieve critiques from mentors and students, kind of like your own little office. You can also visit all other students workspaces from here. This is where you also read all incoming news and announcements and get access to tech support as well. The second section is where you will find the forums, view all lectures, enter into the live Q&A's, get weekly notes, and check your grades. As I have said, I find mentor access to be more than adequate.

Also ive heard that people have really learnt more in the past 2 months or whatever then they have in their whole college career studying it? how is this tru and why?
Can't say, I've only been here two weeks.

Also do you guys learn about storytelling, composition, cinematography, etc? cause i know you end up making ur own animated short film by the end of the semester but dont u kinda of need to know about storytelling etc, and camera moves, etc. do they teach you that?
Well, I don't think this is focused on too much in the first two classes as they are for learning the traditional principals and body mechanics. Storytelling and composition go hand in hand with acting so I'm sure there will be lots of focus on this in the acting and advanced acting classes. Although, composition and camera placement is constantly being talked about as we practice posing our characters even in these early weeks. With mentors from Pixar and Dreamworks, I'm not too concerned about whether storytelling will be an issue at AM.

I hope this helps a bit. I couldn't be happier here. I wish this school existed 4 years ago.

Sean.

[JSW32]

thanks, also i was just wondering for those of you who have been it in for a little while, but how much of the learning experience is relied on The Animators Survival Kit? Is it like, after you watch the video sessions they give u an assignment, and then u take what u learned from the lecture and then refer constantly to that book? Why do they want you to have it. I have the book, and it is very confusing just to read it on your own as a beginner. So how much do you need to refer to it.? And what I meant before about going to school since my parents are paying for my education was like what if you have the chance to apply and get into a school like CalArts, etc. I mean Calarts obviously has a great reputation of animators and artitsts, etc. Also still does anyone know anything about the technical issues if any with an Apple computer? I have a Powerbook G4 laptop with Panther, and I can upload to Tiger if needed so what's the deal with that?

[Nitefyre]

The Animators Survival Kit, I found to be more of a reference source than a straight teaching tool. I tend to skip around a from week to week. I would read recommend reading the Illusion of Life first, the basic principles are covered a little better. Once you understand the basics it does become much easier to read.

Edit: I use it almost every week.

[AjaBogdanoff]

I've posted a lot about how awesome I think AM.com is elsewhere in this thread, my blog, somewhere on CGChar, etc, so I'll bow out this time around, but I just wanted to say that I'm a Mac user and don't have any trouble with AM. My iSight works fine with their Flash interface (when my iSight is working at all, something funky happened when we upgraded to the new computer, but that's on my end, not theirs). Only thing I'd worry about is the speed of your laptop, since some of the Flash stuff is pretty processor-intensive. I think you definitely want to have about 1.3ghz or above, the faster the better. I do a lot of stuff on the site on my really old G3 iBook, like cruise the forums and check out workspace comments, but most of the video stuff doesn't run well on something that slow. For everything else I use our dual 2.3 G5, and it's niiiice. :)

[JSW32]

hey thanks, i have a powerbook g4 1 ghz. is that bad?

[Bentagon]

I do feel however, that 2D is the future. Not 2D as we know it, but rather the 2D that Glen Keane is/was trying to achieve with Rapunzel Unbraided. This means drawing as we used to, but with a 3D result.
what did you mean by this? I don't understand?It seems to me that some people want to have the best of both worlds. For example they'd like to combine the ability to FEEL what you draw, where you simulate a feeling when posing in 3D, with the detail and dimension you can get in 3D. There's still no way to do this (except if Glen Keane recently found that way), but I do believe they will find something like that.

That's why I'll be doing mostly 2D. You can learn a computer program in a pretty small timespan, but learning to draw takes a lot more time.

Hope you get what I mean. But don't believe everything I say :D. This is just what I think will be happening. It wouldn't be the first time I was wrong :)

- Benjamin

[AjaBogdanoff]

hey thanks, i have a powerbook g4 1 ghz. is that bad?

It's not "bad", but the video might be kinda choppy on it. I'd be a little concerned about the Live Q&A sessions on it, too. I haven't tested a 1ghz machine with the site, so I don't know for sure. You can always try to find a faster computer for the 1 hour lecture and 1 hour Q&A a week, and use your laptop for everything else. That's what I do. :)

[Kimotion]

That's why I'll be doing mostly 2D. You can learn a computer program in a pretty small timespan, but learning to draw takes a lot more time.



I'll disagree here. Computer animation programs do NOT take a short time to learn. For most people, it takes months, perhaps over a year just to have it become "second nature." And after 18 months, when students venture out to get jobs, studios want to see their new animators hitting the ground running. The industry (film or games) now seem to expect animators to be computer savvy.

[JSW32]

I'll disagree here. Computer animation programs do NOT take a short time to learn. For most people, it takes months, perhaps over a year just to have it become "second nature." And after 18 months, when students venture out to get jobs, studios want to see their new animators hitting the ground running. The industry (film or games) now seem to expect animators to be computer savvy.
Well then how can a program like Animation Mentor then help you have such a high level of understanding a 3D program if your not even really learning much of the software, (maya for example). from what ive heard and been told bout this animation mentor program is that the instructors only teach u 5-10% of the program to know how to animate, yet, ur saying studios want u to understand more than that? so then is the suggestion to also take classes in Maya etc at the same time as the schooling on AM?

[AjaBogdanoff]

I think Jeff may be referring to smaller studios, where they like you to be able to "wear many hats" and contribute to more than just character animation. At the biggest studios, though, I think the desire to find top-notch animators is so strong that they don't care if you know how to use a computer, they'll just teach you themselves. Shoot, in the Pixar job postings, they even say that computer animation experience is "optional". :)

[Kimotion]

The reality is that you you might be likely to start in smaller studios. But I heard that even in smaller studios, they are segmenting their roles more to model after larger much successful studios. When I said that they "expect" you to know software, I should have said that they expect you to be "very very willing" to learn the software and have little fear of it.

They do have Maya walk-thrus at AM because the art of animation of the focus. But I'd be lying if I didn't see a huge difference between people who have had experience with Maya, compared to those who never touched Maya for the first time. However, those who had very little experience with Maya have vastly improved through the weeks.

So in my opinion, because it is in demand to be Maya savvy, I would try to know the tool so you would have a much easier time focussing on the art of animation once you start AM.

Yes, Pixar often states that software knowledge is optional. But Pixar is not the only studio. If you look at Blue Sky and PDI, they usually specifically state that Maya or computer animation knowledge is "highly desireable." Yes, they have proprietary softare, but if you know Maya, you'd have a much easier time (and require less time) to learn their softare. I don't have personal experience in studios, but it's what I hear all the time in articles and in forums here at CGTalk.

To be honest, if the job market for 2d and 3d is the same, then I would choose 2d in a heartbeat. But I want to eat and pay rent too.

But with AM, the more I study animation, the more I realize how 2d thinking can vastly help with producing higher quality animations. You realize how the differences are not that vast between the 2 artforms. However, I feel it is wiser to get as much marketable skills as possible: in this case, it's having computer animation skills.

Like what is often said in many industries: Evolve or Die.

[Hotdawg]

I think Jeff may be referring to smaller studios, where they like you to be able to "wear many hats" and contribute to more than just character animation. At the biggest studios, though, I think the desire to find top-notch animators is so strong that they don't care if you know how to use a computer, they'll just teach you themselves. Shoot, in the Pixar job postings, they even say that computer animation experience is "optional". :)

There are more companies than Pixar out there. And like Jeff said, the chances of someone starting at a major studio is almost impossible. I think that mostly applies to former Disney animators who've been doing it for 20 years, not new graduates.

You'd better get some software experience if you want to compete.

But oh, wait, you're getting hired straight from AM to Pixar, I forgot.

Cheers

[Kimotion]

There are more companies than Pixar out there. And like Jeff said, the chances of someone startingat a major studio is almost impossible.

You'd better get some software experience if you want to compete.

But oh, wait, you're getting hired straight from AM to Pixar, I forgot

I wouldn't state that it's almost impossible. Really hard? Yes. But not impossible. It's almost every animator's dream to work for companies like Pixar (of course I'm one of them), but if that is always what you're focussing in constantly, then you will feel burned by you own perceptions. One way to prevent this from happening is to focus animation as an art and experimenting with various tools, like 2d, stop-mo, etc. But have a main tool like Maya to ground your skills.

Back to topic: I don't think anyone here really thinks they will automatically get hired by major companies after AM. Animation is a life-long artistic journey and I think the majority knows this. But having this vision of working in a major studio can be a major driving force to produce the best work possible while being in AM. This will only help your demo reel.

[Hotdawg]

Whatever. It's impossible. Unless you act all mamby-pamby and put on fake enthusiasm and say things like, "Golly, I'm learning so much from all my best good friends and I'm going to be a BIG animator someday! Look how cute I am!" Get a grip. Quit kissing butt. The blogs are the worst.

Actually, I take that back. Many of the students are probably great (I have no idea about you Jeff) but the over-excited antics by some of you blokes are sickening

[agreenster]

Whatever. It's impossible.

Actually, it's not. I know a student who just got an internship at Pixar straight out of college. He wasnt "mamby pamby," just talented. Granted, he DID work at a smaller game studio DURING college.

You sound disgruntled or something there Hotdawg.

[Kimotion]

Actually, it's not. I know a student who just got an internship at Pixar straight out of college. He wasnt "mamby pamby," just talented. Granted, he DID work at a smaller game studio DURING college.

You sound disgruntled or something there Hotdawg.

I know 2 who went straight from school to a major animation studio in NY with the acronym BS. And one went straight to a certain studio in New Zealand working on the movie with the acronym KK.

These people worked their @$$es off.

[peanuckle]

Alrighty let me chime in here.

On the whole 2D vs 3D debate it does not matter in the least bit what you do in the school. Mentors really dont care. That said do whatever you are most comfortable in. I tried doing all my stuff in 3D and felt more distracted so I went to doing 2D. Simple as that. Really studios today do want you to know how to animate on the computer. They can teach you but it takes time. I know that. But hey, I can always learn maya after the school stops. I am focusing right now completely on animation. That way I didnt waste my money on buying maya and I really am not wasting it on AM.

On wheither you can get into a big studio right out of school. Yes you can. simple as that. Can a baseball player make it to the major leagues right out of high school? Yes they can. What do you have to be though to do that. Really really really good. Simple as that. Really I am not some protegy of animation and I know that. I think most of the people who are going to this school know that. When they talk to the mentors they find out all the little jobs they did before they got to the big studios.

When I get out of AM i really dont expect to get a job at one of the big animation houses. If I do WOW! that would be great! Am I setting my heart on gettnig there right away? no. I have stuff i want to make do my own stuff. Then when my work is on par I will send a good reel to then and they hope to possilby get hired.

I do notice hotdawg that there is a lot of over excitedness that is in AM and in my opinion that is GREAT! Whenever someone is really excited about something they tend to put there all into it. I really like that.

Talk with you all later

Tanner

[sternio]

Whatever. It's impossible. Unless you act all mamby-pamby and put on fake enthusiasm and say things like, "Golly, I'm learning so much from all my best good friends and I'm going to be a BIG animator someday! Look how cute I am!" Get a grip. Quit kissing butt. The blogs are the worst.

Actually, I take that back. Many of the students are probably great (I have no idea about you Jeff) but the over-excited antics by some of you blokes are sickening

Hey Hotdawg, Why do you read this thread and the blogs if they bother you? Then again judging by your avatar it looks like you don't get out very much. doh!

I'll chime in on the mac stuff here for a bit. I don't believe that the site supports macs at this point, but we did get a survey at the end of last semester asking about any issues we had.
I have a 1.4ghz G4 laptop, and it can handle everything on the site with the exception of the videos. I can view the videos but they drop frames and lag a bit. So in all honestly, if you only have the 1ghz mac and you plan on taking AM I think you may need to upgrade.

[mattmos]

Whatever. It's impossible. Unless you act all mamby-pamby and put on fake enthusiasm and say things like, "Golly, I'm learning so much from all my best good friends and I'm going to be a BIG animator someday! Look how cute I am!" Get a grip. Quit kissing butt. The blogs are the worst.

Actually, I take that back. Many of the students are probably great (I have no idea about you Jeff) but the over-excited antics by some of you blokes are sickening

Hotdawg, didn't we already go through this like a month ago, what is it, AM student baiting time again? If you've got nothing positive to add to a thread why bother continuing to follow it, or the blogs for that matter.

Your entire contribution to this site so far has been almost completely negative, go troll somewhere else. People like you aren't wanted or needed here.

[Bentagon]

Getting back on that 2D/3D topic: I never said I would do solely 2D. Everything for school would be 2D, but I'd definitly try to do some things in Maya PLE from time to time. Just to get the hang of the software, and to make sure I can animate in 3D too. I just feel more comfortable, more of an artist, in 2D, so that's what I'll focus on. I simply won't do any 3D for school, because I don't want to spent $500 on a package I'll use once every one or two months. My 3D will just be "Personal Learning" ;)

So kimotion, I'll restate. "a pretty small timespan when you already know the big lines of 3D animating /another program" or "a relatively small timespan, compared to learning to draw".

Hotdawg: I've got no problem with your opinion, so feel free to criticize what some of us are doing, feel free to criticize AM Online as a whole, but please, do it in a respectful manner.
And not to be all "moderator-y", but guys, don't lower yourself to the level of giving low blows. Don't judge people by their avatars, or things like that.

- Benjamin

[agreenster]

Bah, just ignore him. We're making fun of him at work today. A bunch of us just think he's a sad lonely old man

[Kimotion]

Hey Hotdawg, Why do you read this thread and the blogs if they bother you? Then again judging by your avatar it looks like you don't get out very much. doh!



Quoted for laughs.

[sternio]

Don't judge people by their avatars, or things like that.


I know...I know...That's not usually my style, it was there staring at me and I couldn't resist :)

nobody talks smack about my blog.. haha

[Hotdawg]

Then again judging by your avatar it looks like you don't get out very much. doh!

Cheers mate, thanks. That's what happens after 9 years of animating behind a desk.

I know it must be frustrating for the lot of you to hear this, and Im sorry for being abrasive, but Im speaking for the 98% of those animators in the mentor program who wont get jobs when they leave school, 10.000 pounds poorer. Like someone said earlier, just focus on becoming a good artist and leave the childish behavior at home.

[bledsoed]

im sorry if i am posting this is the wrong place, and again sorry if this as already been asked but i couldn't find it.

I have a simple question, i am currently working as an animator, and i been considering joining AM since the first session, so i can hone and become a better animator. i was wondering how many people are still able to work while doing this. currently i work the standard 40 hour weeks(luckly), and i am home by 5-6 and the weekends are compeletly free. given this info do you think it would be doable? i am very use to working hard long hours from my last job so staying up in the wee hours of the night for AM is not a problem for me.

what are some of your thoughts on this?

thank you in advance
Derek

[fabianv]

ugh.. guys.. as you all already know very well theres an ongoing debate about whether or not you should or should not know Maya before starting studies at AM. I know its not a must but I would really like to get a good grounding of it before I start in Fall 2005. Is it possible to get a grip of things before Fall if youre a noob by just reading the Manual.. i.e ''f1 button.''

>_< Dont get me wrong , I love my pencil and paper very much... im just eager to have a very good knowledge of maya so that I can create a very good short film.

Should I rather invest in Gnomon dvd's? Any advice would be priceless.

[peanuckle]

Ive been working about 70-80 hrs per week plus this. Its possible to do it you just have to manage time accordingly and love caffiene :)

Tanner


im sorry if i am posting this is the wrong place, and again sorry if this as already been asked but i couldn't find it.

I have a simple question, i am currently working as an animator, and i been considering joining AM since the first session, so i can hone and become a better animator. i was wondering how many people are still able to work while doing this. currently i work the standard 40 hour weeks(luckly), and i am home by 5-6 and the weekends are compeletly free. given this info do you think it would be doable? i am very use to working hard long hours from my last job so staying up in the wee hours of the night for AM is not a problem for me.

what are some of your thoughts on this?

thank you in advance
Derek

[bledsoed]

cool, exactly what i was looking for, and yes i do have quite the taste for the caffine

Thank you
Derek

[mattmos]

Ive been working about 70-80 hrs per week plus this. Its possible to do it you just have to manage time accordingly and love caffiene :)

Tanner

I've been working pretty similar hours, and it is hard, but do-able. If you're on a 40 hour week you're laughing :) At a minimum you probably need one weekend day and a couple of long evenings, but the more time you can give the more you will get out of it.

[bledsoed]

ohh this is great news, i had been wanting to join since first session, which guess wasn't that long ago, but hesitated because of i was working about 80 or so hours a week at my last job.

Awesome, sounds like as long as i manage my time it should be nno problem. with that said hope to see all you guys here in the fall.

thanks again
Derek

[Roger Eberhart]

Cheers mate, thanks. That's what happens after 9 years of animating behind a desk.

I know it must be frustrating for the lot of you to hear this, and Im sorry for being abrasive, but Im speaking for the 98% of those animators in the mentor program who wont get jobs when they leave school, 10.000 pounds poorer. Like someone said earlier, just focus on becoming a good artist and leave the childish behavior at home.

9 years animating has given you perfect precognition? That's amazing. Speaking of 98%, I see that 98% of your posts are bashing one thing or another. Seems very childish to me.

[AjaBogdanoff]

:( I'm spoiled by all the enthusiasm and positivity on the AM forums, I guess, cause Hotdog's response actually threw me for a second there.

Anywhoo, yeah, Derek, if you're working a 40 hour week and don't have a family that needs your time, then you should be just fine! Though you'll probably spend your days at work doodling little stick figure balls with legs walking around and getting into trouble. :)

Even if you do have a family, there are plenty of students in AM who manage to balance work, family, and studies with remarkable grace. It all depends on how motivated you are to find the time. :)

[seasterling]

I've got a wife, 2 kids, and my own design business and have survived the first 2 weeks :applause: The program, mentors, and other students are very inspiring and it can be pretty hard to keep things in check. You really want to go all out, I do anyway. Maybe I should just go ahead and reserve a room at the hospital for 18 months from now. If you want to animate, make the time. I think it is a great opportunity.

[My Fault]

Edited because I realized I shouldn't feed the trolls

[Jozvex]

I don't think anyone can really maintain false hopes for long while doing the AM course. The mentors aren't just going, "ooooh, kinda a popping leg and not much personality in that walk, but great job!! A+!!".

I got a B+ for my overlappy walk we just had to do, but still my critique goes for ages! Pointing out tons of areas where it isn't the greatest, and where it could really be improved etc.

That doesn't say to me "HOT DAMN you'll be working at Pixar in no time!!", it says I'm not doing too bad but it could be a whole lot better.

I'd have to be extremely good at selective listening/reading in order to maintain false hopes of amazingness. I think the mentors are very realistic in their critiques, without being life shatteringly blunt.

[DigitalToon2]

Well I just found out last night that I got accepted into AM so I will be starting in September as well! Now all I have to do is make the conversion from 3ds max to maya. Anyway I'm really excited and looking forward to the oppitunity to get to know all my AM peers.

[AjaBogdanoff]

Congrats, DT! I made the transition from Max to Maya in a few weeks last year, with the help of the Maya Fundamentals book by Jim Lammers, I think. Just needed a few good walkthroughs to get used to the new controls and way of looking at things. You've got plenty of time, for sure. Enjoy! :)

[DigitalToon2]

Thanks Aja I will check that book out, I figured a few tutorials should get me going. I have played around with maya a bit, it just looks like it's a matter of getting used to the new interface and figuring out the different controls.

[clockwerkz]

Cheers mate, thanks. That's what happens after 9 years of animating behind a desk.

I know it must be frustrating for the lot of you to hear this, and Im sorry for being abrasive, but Im speaking for the 98% of those animators in the mentor program who wont get jobs when they leave school, 10.000 pounds poorer. Like someone said earlier, just focus on becoming a good artist and leave the childish behavior at home.

Sounds like someone's not happy. Maybe you should quit and get another job. Because if you have sat behind a desk animating for 9 years and enjoyed doing so, you'd be more encouraging.

Seriously.. maybe animation just isn't your cup of tea, dude.

As for the 98% who won't be getting a job, they stand a better chance than some of those graduating schools with subpar education in animation.

[Kimotion]

Sounds like someone's not happy. Maybe you should quit and get another job. Because if you have sat behind a desk animating for 9 years and enjoyed doing so, you'd be more encouraging.

Seriously.. maybe animation just isn't your cup of tea, dude.

As for the 98% who won't be getting a job, they stand a better chance than some of those graduating schools with subpar education in animation.

That is exactly what I was thinking. I don't know exactly what kind of animation he actually worked on, but obviously he's been discouraged and jaded.

Evolve or die.

We should thank him and learn from his example by realizing that animation is something that needs to be practiced all the time, something that we need to continuously improve. Or we'll end up disgruntled and jaded.

[JSW32]

so im confused, how exactly does this work in terms of levels and courses? i know there are the 6 courses, each with 12 sessions. but then when i was viewing the videos on the site it says there are levels a, b, c, d, etc.? what are they? are they individual levels within a course? if so how does that work? is it like the students who end up understanding a concept better or something move up to a higher level and you get graded differently and can thus advance further, maybe getting more perks? so thats that, and im gonna be applying soon, does anyone have any idea if there is any room left for the fall semester? i want to apply asap, what is the essay like for the application and how hard is the test they give u. whats it like? also im going to prob have to buy a new computer for this, and i have a apple powerbook g4 with a 1 ghz, but people have been telling me that i may need something faster, so i was thinking about getting a g5 desktop, maybe with a 2.3-2.7 ghz, will that work? any reccomendations? also since now there will be much more students due to the incoming classes of students, when you get to review and look at the feedback of other students work, do u also get to look at studens from previous entering classes? like if i enter this fall, would i be able to look at the feedback of the first entering class' work or is it just my entering class. one more thing, for those of you attempting to experiment with trying the exercises in 2d, how have you found it, like if you have never done 2d before and tried to? do u find it hard to do it in 2d if uve never done 2d before? thanks guys
-Justin

[effilang]

Hey AM guys and girls ;)


Concidering i dont use Maya, but would like to start, is AM a good place to begin that journey?

Im a max user you see, i need to know whether they can teach absolute Maya noobs to use Maya for professional animation through the course OR will i have to stick to max and rig my chars there?

thanx.

[Bsmith]

better yet if you want to learn maya basics before you start AM...you can d/l the VTM's over at www.buzz3d.com (http://www.buzz3d.com). They are free and after those you should be pretty set to take on AM

[coop]

some familiarity with Maya is useful, so you won't waste time figuring out how to use the graph editor, but the focus is on animation, and they provide a rigged character to work with- it's pretty basic and easy to pose, so not a lot of tech challenges involved with it.

If you're worried about the jump from max to maya, i'd just download the PLE version and maybe a character from rigging101.com and just play around with setting keys. The biggest hurdle in jumping from max to maya is how the curves interpolate, but it's not really that hard to switch.

[effilang]

Thanx guys :)

and er..thats 3dbuzz lol :P..u bin drinkin too much:D

wait for me im comming too :P :scream:

[Bsmith]

haha oops my bad.

anyways...those VTM's have taught me soo much....I literally went from opening up maya and kicking myself in the face...to knowing how to model and understand a lot of the UI. It is truly a great thing.

[effilang]

COOP i downloaded PackageMan:deal: from rigging101, but when i load it into maya, all i see is a rotation controller two letters (controllers) and two cameras.

Where are all the other controllers and how do i reveal them?:bounce:

Thank you.:wise:

[Bsmith]

I also opened up a rig for the first time...what the hell was all that swiggly line crap all over the place?

actually these are prolly better questions for the maya section.

[AjaBogdanoff]

Dual 2.3 G5 is what I have, and it works like a charm. It's overkill, probably, but I need it for upcoming freelancing work. If you're concerned about cost, the new iMacs would also probably do a great job running AM and Maya, as long as you put enough RAM in them.

[AjaBogdanoff]

Actually, I'm thinking the Lowman rig is closer to how the AM rigs are set up, if you're using them to prepare for AM. I had no problems using the initial Stu character at all after a month or two with Lowman. :)

They do have plenty of Maya training videos and character specific videos, but as long as you're waiting to get started, you might as well get a head start! :)

[Roger Eberhart]

Dual 2.3 G5 is what I have, and it works like a charm. It's overkill, probably, but I need it for upcoming freelancing work. If you're concerned about cost, the new iMacs would also probably do a great job running AM and Maya, as long as you put enough RAM in them.

Which, incidentally, is what I'm using. I have the 2ghz 20" model and upgraded the RAM to 1 gig. The only problem I'm having is with the chat sessions. I tend to lag out when my mentor puts me on camera. I think it might be because the iSight uses such a high-res image. In iChat there is on option to limit the bandwidth, but since AM uses Flash I don't think I have that control.

[suitepeas]

I think this animation mentor sounds like a great opportunity and a great learning experience. One thing I would like to see is a student option to request a preferred mentor. Or two or three of preference which upon availabilty may be granted. It's just like that in colleges where many students have the availability to seek out a particular instructor based on good reference.

[AjaBogdanoff]

Hey Roger, have you tried talking to support? Maybe they could set up a test Q&A for you to try to isolate what's causing it. My iSight has never given me problems in the Q&As, and I don't think Eric's has, either... and I know there are other people using iSights, I just don't know who off the top of my head.

[seasterling]

Hey Roger, what kind of connection speed do you have. I have an iSight and I have no lag during q&a. I'm using a DP 2ghz G5 and I am pulling about 2.7 Kbps.

[JSW32]

so should i get a g5 computer then to use AM and maya if i already have a powerbook g4 laptop? i have the money luckily, and it would be pretty sweet to hook up the g5 and the g4 screent together so i could have dual screens. what r ur thoughts on me doing this (that is buying the g5) is it gonna be a mistake? am i gonna have problems being that ill have an apple computer? cause i know the support isnt there yet for apple. also if someone can please answer my questions from b4 which were that im confused, how exactly does this work in terms of levels and courses? i know there are the 6 courses, each with 12 sessions. but then when i was viewing the videos on the site it says there are levels a, b, c, d, etc.? what are they? are they individual levels within a course? if so how does that work? is it like the students who end up understanding a concept better or something move up to a higher level and you get graded differently and can thus advance further, maybe getting more perks? so thats that, and im gonna be applying soon, does anyone have any idea if there is any room left for the fall semester? i want to apply asap, what is the essay like for the application and how hard is the test they give u. whats it like? the other question was also since now there will be much more students due to the incoming classes of students, when you get to review and look at the feedback of other students work, do u also get to look at studens from previous entering classes? like if i enter this fall, would i be able to look at the feedback of the first entering class' work or is it just my entering class. one more thing, for those of you attempting to experiment with trying the exercises in 2d, how have you found it, like if you have never done 2d before and tried to? do u find it hard to do it in 2d if uve never done 2d before? thanks guys
-Justin

[Jozvex]

*takes a really deep breath*

(because lots of typing is about to start)

so im confused, how exactly does this work in terms of levels and courses? i know there are the 6 courses, each with 12 sessions. but then when i was viewing the videos on the site it says there are levels a, b, c, d, etc.? what are they? are they individual levels within a course? if so how does that work? is it like the students who end up understanding a concept better or something move up to a higher level and you get graded differently and can thus advance further, maybe getting more perks?

There are 6 classes within the one 18 month course. Each class is 12 weeks long. The levels a, b, c, d, e and f are just quick names of which class you're up to. I started last term, so I'm currently in level B, which is the second of the 6 classes.

so thats that, and im gonna be applying soon, does anyone have any idea if there is any room left for the fall semester?

Sorry I'm not sure about that one.

i want to apply asap, what is the essay like for the application and how hard is the test they give u. whats it like?

The essay is just about yourself, why you love animation and why you think AM is the right course for you, what your goal is etc. The test is 'easy' in that all the questions are definitely doable by anyone, but it's timed and so you just have to get through as many as you can until time runs out. I only finished just over half or something and I got in, :) The questions are just like a mini IQ test, "which of these pairs of words do not match?" type of thing.

also im going to prob have to buy a new computer for this, and i have a apple powerbook g4 with a 1 ghz, but people have been telling me that i may need something faster, so i was thinking about getting a g5 desktop, maybe with a 2.3-2.7 ghz, will that work? any reccomendations?

Well I don't really know anything about how macs perform, but if we take my...:

AMD Athlon 1800+ (1533mhz)
768 meg of ram
64 meg GeForce3 Ti200
Windows XP SP2
256kbit connection

....computer as a benchmark, anything of that standard or better will be fine. The flash is a little bit slow for me sometimes (as in redraw speed), but everything else is great. I suggest that a 256kbit connection would be the minimum you should use though. They provide the video lectures in both 128kbit and 256kbit streams, and even though my connection is actually 320kbit, I can only really watch the 128kbit stream without any pauses. The difference in streams is in quality rather than size, but the 128kbit stream is most definitely fine. Maybe I'm missing some of the detail in Shawn Kelly's iris patterns, but I can live with that (no offence to Shawn's iris patterns!).

also since now there will be much more students due to the incoming classes of students, when you get to review and look at the feedback of other students work, do u also get to look at studens from previous entering classes? like if i enter this fall, would i be able to look at the feedback of the first entering class' work or is it just my entering class.

I'm fairly certain that you can look at the more advanced level's work and critiques, but I don't know for sure because no classes are above mine. Someone from the lowly babies class (haha just kidding!!) left a comment on my workspace though, so that means they can at least see my work.

It might be a bit detrimental to view critiques in the higher up classes though, because you're supposed to be learning stuff in the order that they teach you. If you're trying to remember tips you saw from the next term's 'advanced overlapping' critiques, while you're only learning about basic timing, it could get really confusing!

[Bentagon]

About the 2D: I doubt anyone trying out 2D has really had problems with it up till now. The basics are the same. It's the drawing that makes a lot of difference... but since in the first class, you only have to animate balls or balls with legs, there's not much drawing talent needed.

- Benjamin

[kaveh_michael]

Benjamin,

I've done some 2D traditional animation and I gotta tell ya, it's no easy stuff, you have to time everything on 2's and then go to 1's for fast actions, and the transition between these usualy creates hick ups in your animation, until you get good at them.

for a ball with legs, it's fine as long as you're drawing in the side view but when you want to do rotations in space and 3/4 views, you have to worry about perspective and it needs to be fairly accurate. Aside from all that, you need to scan all the pages afterwards and put them together in some editing software which usualy bores the hell out of me, and takes a lot of your time which you could otherwise spend on animation practice.

And as someone who's done a lot of bouncing balls, both in the computer and on paper, ive learned the most about spacing and timing from my computer excercises, as long as you treat your animation in the computer the way you would do in 2d, meaning you do every frame and dont let the computer inbetween for you, there's really no difference in learning the basics.

but again, if you somehow manage to go through AM and do all the assignments in 2D and come out with a good grade, you'll be one freakin' animator to become! :)

-Kaveh

[DigitalToon2]

I was just wondering how similar maya 5 and 6 are because I can find a lot of maya 5 books on amazon like "inside maya 5" or "maya 5 fundamentals". Thanks

[SkyZero]

I have a question about AM. I'm not sure if it was answered in the thread so I'm going to ask it here.

So we have the first wave of students and the second wave has started for the summer term. Do the summer term students watch the same lectures that the first wave saw or do their mentors record new lectures for their respective classes?

Just a little over two months until the fall semester starts! :thumbsup:

[AjaBogdanoff]

DigitalToon, in all the ways that are important for AM, I don't think there's a difference at all. I used the 4.5 book while I was learning 5.something, and I think it would all still be relevant in 6.5. At least, I don't remember going through any interface changes or anything.

The video lectures for the first semester will probably be the same for each entering class.

:)

[DigitalToon2]

Thanks for the info Aja, I appreciate it!:)

[clockwerkz]

DigitalToon, as far as I know, things like the graph editor and dope sheet and stuff have been pretty much the same throughout both 4.5, 5 and 6. I can't remember of any major change in any of those aspects.

The really great thing about AM is they provide the models and a short vid on how to use them. So if you're learning Maya for the first time, I would suggest you focus on learning the translate and rotate tools. Create a few objects.. poly cubes and such, and practice rotating and moving them around. Then play with setting keys by both pressing the "s" key to set keys on all attribs, and by maybe right clicking on the individual attibs and setting key by the option on the pop up menu. Explore into the auto key function, the different types of keys you can set (i.e. the tangents: stepped, linear, spline, flat), learn to read the graph editor (basically a graph of positions over the course of time), and the dope sheet. If you can get a good working grasp of that, you should be good to go. I wouldn't waste much time in learning modeling, rigging or even rendering for that matter (I don't mean at all, I just mean for the sake of this course). They just require you to do a playblast, so learn that.
ALSO, your first two weeks you'll be handed a model to play with and pose just to get the feel of it, so do not sweat it at all.

Another point.. AM is not "throw you in the deep end" mentality. There's a method to their madness. I remember at one point last semester, there were a few ppl having a couple of issues on the bouncing ball, and Bobby put on a special Q and A just to hammer out those issues. The classroom isn't going to get any more virtual than this. The forums are a source of gold, too. Every so often, you'll encounter a real juicy nugget of animation goodness. It really is just a fantastic program. Those of us in level B have been majorly propelled in a new direction, and it's only the start of week 3.

So if I got you salivating over starting in the fall, you should be! This thing kicks major ass, and the only way that you won't learn animation is if you just don't try. if you do your assignments and you listen to your mentor feedback, you will be pretty solid. It's not going to happen overnight. It won't happen in a month, or 2 months. In fact, in won't happen in a year.

It's all about evolution, not revolution. So I'm going to shut up right now! LOL.. Can't wait to see you on the other side in the fall, as well as the rest of you folks starting! (Including you, Bentagon! There's a bunch of us that'll be hammering on you to crank out CLASS A material! hehehe).

Carlos

[edit] Corrected the Bent.. sorry, bentllama, not you.. you already kick ass!

[bentllama]

(Including you, Bent! There's a bunch of us that'll be hammering on you to crank out CLASS A material! hehehe).



BENTagon or BENTllama????

OMG 2 bents!

[stewartjones]

This thing kicks major ass, and the only way that you won't learn animation is if you just don't try. if you do your assignments and you listen to your mentor feedback, you will be pretty solid.

Clock you forgot about peer critiques! Peer critiques are amazingly awesome too, and every now and again a compus mentor comes along and tells you where you're going wrong before your mentor gets to you, it's SWEEEEET!!!

Oh, on the issue of Maya upgrades, from my limited knowledge, 4 is nearly the same as 5. 6 is 5 with added features, and 6.5 is 6, with one or two things sorted out! So I wouldn't be too worried about the version issue thing!

Oh yeah, if you're 100% new to Maya, I suggest checking out 3dbuzz.com. They have the coolest videos so you can get up to speed with Maya's interface in around 30mins! :thumbsup:

[mikefeil]

hot dog...less then 2 months. Can't wait, been waiting for this since this thread was on page 1, and Jason was saying how much he was going to do the program...ha ha ha, seems like an eternity ago.

[heathenPagan]

hot dog...less then 2 months. Can't wait, been waiting for this since this thread was on page 1, and Jason was saying how much he was going to do the program...ha ha ha, seems like an eternity ago.

Hey Mike,

I take it you are in the fall term then?
If so, it's good to see another aussie will be there.

Cheers

[mikefeil]

yes..hell yes...I thought I might of been the only aussie for the fall, but I guess that is a bit ignorant, we are a pretty big country.

Anyway,

Awesome, looks like I'll be with you probably :D

[Mechis]

Couple questions for ya:
Is anyone using Lightwave to do the animations? I know that I can buy the student edition of Maya, but I'd like to save as much money as I can (and I'm a hobbiest, so learning the industry standard isn't really a priority for me).

Are the models posted in different formats? Or as unrigged models?

Has anyone made versions of the models/rigs for use in other programs, besides Maya?

Thanks!!!
Mechis

[stewartjones]

Couple questions for ya:
Is anyone using Lightwave to do the animations? I know that I can buy the student edition of Maya, but I'd like to save as much money as I can (and I'm a hobbiest, so learning the industry standard isn't really a priority for me).

Are the models posted in different formats? Or as unrigged models?

Has anyone made versions of the models/rigs for use in other programs, besides Maya?

Thanks!!!
Mechis

Brian and a few others have posted the models in object form for you to rig up. I know that Peter has posted a rigged version of the Stu model for Max users. I haven't heard anyone mention Lightwave for the moment bud. :shrug:

[3FnD]

max to Maya. If you understand max the transition to maya shouldn't be much of a problem; once you know how to translate and rotate, select and set keys, and know where certain things are you're done learning what you need to learn in maya for AM purposes (up to what we're doing so far). Some things I like about Maya and others I really miss max!

The place where it's frustrating for me is that maya seems to have some annoying quirks. Sometimes the Set Key hot key doesn't actually set a key. Create Motion Trail, the closest Maya equivalent to max's Show Trajectory, doesn't work consistently on my computer, nor does Ghost Selected--two otherwise very useful tools. Selecting objects and entire hierarchies seems hit and miss as well, but I don't know if that's because of the way the rig is set up or if it's Maya.

If you haven't used Maya before it wouldn't hurt you to learn it as much as you can before class (I intended to do this but Maya was on backorder and then mine had a huge shipping delay!). You don't have to know it inside and out but the better you know it the easier it will be to do whatever you want.

Aja- how were you using max if you have a Mac?

[AjaBogdanoff]

Macs Max Macs Max.... :D

I was using it in school, in the computer lab. I made a very bad short film that I'm sure will come back to haunt me someday, much like a certain clown on a certain pair of stilts.... :D

Mechis, have you used Lightwave for character animation much? We use it here at work for much more technical animation, and man... I'd rather poke myself in the eye. ;)

[mmkelly011881]

speaking of Aja... CONGRATULATIONS AJA! ON BEING FEATURED STUDENT!

[Mechis]

Brian and a few others have posted the models in object form for you to rig up. I know that Peter has posted a rigged version of the Stu model for Max users. I haven't heard anyone mention Lightwave for the moment bud. :shrug:

Are the obj files available for the public? Or only to current AM students?

Is it possible to get the Maya files? I'd love to play with the rigs in the Maya PLE


@Aja
Dumb question-- what features make Maya better than LW for character anim? I thought all you needed was a dopesheet and a graph editor.

Thanks all,
Mechis

[Kimotion]

My thoughts go out to London and the country of Great Britain today. The rest of the decent and civilized people are with you.

Here's a thread to express your thoughts: Explosions in London (http://cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=256411)

[AjaBogdanoff]

Thanks Matt! :)

Mechis, I don't know enough about LW to be very specific, but things like having more than one level of undo really help. And bezier handles that actually work like bezier handles, instead of having to rely on the TCB values. And a million different options for parenting and constraining. Not to mention having professional and complex rigs provided for you. :)

It's not impossible, but especially since no other AM students appear to be using LW, you'd have your work cut out for you with the rigging and stuff. If you're okay with that, though, go for it! :)

[harmonic01]

That's wierd. Lightwave doesn't has Euler controllers?

[AjaBogdanoff]

It has the handles, but they don't seem to work very well. Instead you adjust tangents with three numerical values. :shrug:

Again, though, I'm no LW expert, so I could just be blowing hot air here. :)

[Mechis]

Thanks Aja. Oh, and I forgot to mention.... that poking in the eye thing... not recommended :)
Mechis

[stewartjones]

Mechis: So far the Maya version are supplied by the school, so I don't think anyone wants give them away.

As for the object files, and the max Stu file, I would suggest asking the guys who made 'em!

[Mechis]

ok. I figured that I wouldn't be able to get the school's models, but it never hurts to ask :)

Who can I ask for the obj files? I'd like to take a shot at rigging them up :)

thanks,
Mechis

[mattmos]

I don't think you'll be able to get hold of the obj files either, as its still basically the Stu model.

I would advise you to create a basic character similar to Stu but make it different and unique to you. The model is intentionally simple so you focus on the animation, so creating your own should be pretty easy. Then there are no problems with copyright etc.

I'm sure the guys at AM want everyone to learn, but the stuff they've put together has taken them a long time, and it wouldn't hurt to respect that. The Stu model is kind of a mascot for the school, the same way that the Hogan model is a sign of an AAU student, there are similar rigs out there but none quite the same. No-one but AAU students get to use Hogan, so the same goes here I think...

[stewartjones]

Too true Matt. Oh, I just saw a thread in the rigging part of this website and someone has created their own version of ballie! I would check that out if anyone is interested!

[d_jnaneswar]

Hi there,

I have this internet connection which is giving me 30 Kbps always on. Is this Good enuff for AM?? If it is.. then, im gonna jump right in and finish my application by tomorrow.

One more question tho... There was this talk about two speeds at which the classes happen, one for three months and the other for 6 months. Is this still on?? I would like to take the slower option if possible for some terms. I couldnt find any thing on this in their site or on their brochure.. Any info on this please...

And by the way.. How many MBs of data do you download per Month from AM? More than 1 GB? More than 2?

[fluffybunny]

Hi there,

I have this internet connection which is giving me 30 Kbps always on. Is this Good enuff for AM?? If it is.. then, im gonna jump right in and finish my application by tomorrow.

One more question tho... There was this talk about two speeds at which the classes happen, one for three months and the other for 6 months. Is this still on?? I would like to take the slower option if possible for some terms. I couldnt find any thing on this in their site or on their brochure.. Any info on this please...

And by the way.. How many MBs of data do you download per Month from AM? More than 1 GB? More than 2?

Everyone was probably busy working on their assignment (and may still be...), hence the delay and general lack of any comments you see from AM peeps from Saturday through Sunday Noon PDT.

I know you used a lower case b, but if you meant 30k Bytes/sec you might be borderline okay. If you meant 30k bits/sec....no way will you be able to do any live Q&As which are a key part of AM....and everything else will be painfully slow and likely choppy.

As far as total download quantity.....that's really gonna depend on how many critiques and assignments you peruse and how many other videos you watch. Lemme just guess here at bare minimums of downloads......with the assumption that the Q&A works for you...
I'm just gonna roughly assume you watch 3 hours/week of 256kbps streams.
If my calculations are correct, that's about 1.4GB per month.

I would venture to guess that most people are quite a bit higher than this...you may watch the lecture twice...the Q&A might go over occassionally...there may be a 'bonus' Q&A...you might watch several of the other videos on spacing, stop mo, maya, or news clips. And you're probably going to look at dozens of peoples assignments and mentor critiques.

You will definitely have some limitations if you don't have a solid broadband connection.

Hope that helps and hope to see you in here!

eric

[stewartjones]

My only advice for connections is get the fastest you can, and try to get unlimited bandwidth. Mine is absolutely sky high, with AM and browsing other sites, uploading stuff to AM, uploading to websites etc. I've heard a few folks say that the site is a little slow. I don't really find too much of a problem with my 2mb connection, but loading can take a few seconds... Something which we're all used to anyways! :)

[bentllama]

http://animationmentor.com/forum/showthread.php?p=16176#post16176

for you fellow students out there...please post your feedback, be it positive or negative...

thanks.

[Bentagon]

Benjamin,

I've done some 2D traditional animation and I gotta tell ya, it's no easy stuff, you have to time everything on 2's and then go to 1's for fast actions, and the transition between these usualy creates hick ups in your animation, until you get good at them.

for a ball with legs, it's fine as long as you're drawing in the side view but when you want to do rotations in space and 3/4 views, you have to worry about perspective and it needs to be fairly accurate. Aside from all that, you need to scan all the pages afterwards and put them together in some editing software which usualy bores the hell out of me, and takes a lot of your time which you could otherwise spend on animation practice.

And as someone who's done a lot of bouncing balls, both in the computer and on paper, ive learned the most about spacing and timing from my computer excercises, as long as you treat your animation in the computer the way you would do in 2d, meaning you do every frame and dont let the computer inbetween for you, there's really no difference in learning the basics.

but again, if you somehow manage to go through AM and do all the assignments in 2D and come out with a good grade, you'll be one freakin' animator to become! :)

-KavehMy hopes exactly :D
I just hope the perspective thing will come with practice. And I will be practicing A LOT for sure. Walt Stanchfield notes, Rebecca's anatomy classes at the 2D forum, my own anatomy studies, life drawing, gesture drawing, practicing with Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and Drawing on the Artist withing by Betty Edwards, etc.
Same thing with the popping. Practice. I've heard Andreas Deja talk a bit about it in one of his Animation Podcasts, and he says that comes with experience. Who knows, if I get the chance to meet him in October at his Disney Jubileum in his hometown Dinslaken, I could ask him for some advice about that:)
And I would never scan all those pieces of paper! I'll make myself a wooden rig to put my webcam on and snap the pictures that way. Should work.

BENTagon or BENTllama????

OMG 2 bents! I know! Just call me Ben or Benjamin from now on. I've heard "bent" is a slang word for "gay" anyway :rolleyes:

(Including you, Bentagon! There's a bunch of us that'll be hammering on you to crank out CLASS A material! hehehe). Thanks, man! I will need all the pushing I can get. Pressure and positive stressss... now I'll just have to learn to drink coffee.

And Aja! Congratulations being the featured student! I was just watching your First Semester reel, and it totally kicks major bahougey(*)! You really deserve it!

- Benjamin

(*): That's what the squirrel says in the Open Season trailer, right? Must be some kind of scottisch slang...

[d_jnaneswar]

Hi there eric and vyntax,

My connection is a 256kbps which give me a bandwidth of 30 KBPS.

here are the details from pcpitstop.com : Test details: 101 kilobytes downloaded in 4.917 seconds.. this is while having other browsers open.. one more site called www.abeltronica.com (http://www.abeltronica.com/) gave me a similar result saying that my speed is around 30 KBps..

so I guess it should be alright. This is the highest speed connection out here in hyd for home users. I am right now paying about $12 a month for this.. The next is a 512 kbps connection which costs me almost thrice as much, but gives me almost double the speed.

Thanks for the info there guys. 2 to 2.5 GB should be alright for me to download.

by the way, Is it possible to work with MAya PLE for AM? or must I buy this student version??

[DigitalToon2]

You'll probably want to get the maya student version, because in the maya ple version not only are the renders watermarked but when you switch to the smooth and highlights mode in the viewports they are water marked as well, probably so that people can't just do screen captures, but it was really annoying and made it hard to work. The maya ple is really only good for hobbiest that want to play around in maya and not do anything serious, but if your going to want to do full animations later that you can use on a demo reel, your not going to want the watermarks.

[AjaBogdanoff]

I'm pretty sure the PLE license doesn't cover stuff like AM.com, so it wouldn't be legal anyhow.

Thanks, Benjamin! I think he says something like "pahookey". I've been calling my dog that since we saw the trailer. Crazy little pahookey. :D

Edit: Oh cool, I just found a scottish slang dictionary. I think it was "bahookie". I'll be sure to call my dog the right term from here on out. ;)

[fluffybunny]

Hi there eric and vyntax,

My connection is a 256kbps which give me a bandwidth of 30 KBPS.


another thing I just thought of about your connection. Just go to animationmentor.com and play the trailer and part of bobby's spacing video. that's pretty much an acid test. If those work well for you, you'll definitely be able to watch all the videos easily. The QnAs might take a little more bandwidth, but it will just make things a bit choppy. you'll still be fine.

eric

[stewartjones]

another thing I just thought of about your connection. Just go to animationmentor.com and play the trailer and part of bobby's spacing video. that's pretty much an acid test. If those work well for you, you'll definitely be able to watch all the videos easily. The QnAs might take a little more bandwidth, but it will just make things a bit choppy. you'll still be fine.

eric

As above! :)

Oh, Aja, I noticed that a few people at AM are using the PLE version anyways. I'm sure for educational purposes it should be alright?!?!:shrug: It would be an idea to email the guys at Alias and find out for sure tho!

[Bentagon]

PLE is PERSONAL Learning Edition, so you can't use it for Educational purposes. You can only use it to learn by yourself. Obviously, for education, you should use the version that's built exactly for that, with the educational pricing. I will be using PLE too while at AM, but I won't be using it for the assignments.

- Benjamin

[AjaBogdanoff]

It'll be interesting to watch your work in all-2D, Benjamin! I think you'll have it harder in some ways (like when you get to perspective views, and just working with volume-conservation and line weights and stuff), but you might have it easier in others, like no problems with curves or constraints or driven keys... I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes!

[d_jnaneswar]

Cool,

The whole preview takes just less than a minute to download and is playing fine.. I ve deleted all the history and cokies before playing it so that it does not play from my harddisk.. I could watch it with in a couple of seconds so that it can buffer enuff and then its just going along quite well... So, I guess its fine..

And about Maya Student Version... Any one knows how much it costs??? Couldnt find it no alias website. It must be there somewhere, but somehow, i couldnt fiind it.. I think its around 300$ right??

Thanks..

[bledsoed]

im am just curious as to how long it had taken AM to get back to you have to had taken the test regaurding your acceptence? I took the test last wednesday, and have yet to hear from them. I guess i am just getting ancy though, but the wait is killing me.

Thank
Derek

[DigitalToon2]

Hey bledsoed hang in there, I know what your going through! It took almost a month before I found out I was accepted for the fall.

[harmonic01]

HEy Guys. For educational version of Maya, take a look. http://www.journeyed.com/itemDetail.asp?T1=28016473 once you're part of AM, you'll be qualified for this buy. :)

[JSW32]

Hey guys! I just got accepted into AnimationMentor.com for the fall term!! I'm really excited! Can't wait to join the rest of the community!! See ya there!
-Justin

[heathenPagan]

Hey guys! I just got accepted into AnimationMentor.com for the fall term!! I'm really excited! Can't wait to join the rest of the community!! See ya there!
-Justin

Hey,
Well done JSW32, I'll see you in the fall...:bounce:

[andy_maxman]

Hey Jnaneswar...was just wondering if there was anyone else from India doing AM....?
It would be great to see you in there by Fall. I also suggest you have web-cam-based chat with one of the seniors to see how well the streaming works with your bw issues...

and congrats! to all the folks who made it in.....i'm sure its going to be 'serious fun' in there...
cheers!

[droidzlander]

Hei guys,
congratulations to all the new comers to AM!! You'll have serious fun, specially when you can talk face to face with the best animators of the industry!!
d_jnaneswar: for every new enrolled they send you a proof of agreement with which you are allowed to buy a student discounted version of maya (but I don't remember the price, sorry).

Also I suggest to buy a good pair of headphones to enjoy better all the lectures but, most important, without them you're gonna experience an annoying echo when talkin with mentors that will make everything pretty difficult.
And also a thick sketchbook with which you're gonna experiment with a lot of poses.
Best luck to all. You will enjoy AM! Granted!

Andrea

[mikefeil]

quick little question...would AM work with Linux? I guess what I'm actually saying has there been any developments with AM working with firefox,or any other browers besides ie?

[harmonic01]

I don't know about Linux. But I'm using Firefox for AM and works just as well for me as IE does. :)

[d_jnaneswar]

hey there mates,

thanks for all the replies. I am finally getting a 384 kbps connection with 2.5 gb d/l limit for Rs. 2K per month. Its from tataindicom. Its adsl.. so things should be fine, i guess. I am also getting a good webcam. so things should be fine. I have good headphones.. gotto get a good mic too. also need to upgrade my ram from 512 to 1 gig. but this is my last priority. neways... where can I get to the blogs of AM guys??? ne good links? I got to some of them thru "Mentor" Jason's site... Any others around??

Andy: I am raring to get in AM man... I am preparing my essay right now. I am also lookin about to find any one from India in AM. I will ask on cgtantra and see. Thanks droid and thanks harmonic for the link.

[Mojo Rizen]

Dual 2.3 G5 is what I have, and it works like a charm. It's overkill, probably, but I need it for upcoming freelancing work. If you're concerned about cost, the new iMacs would also probably do a great job running AM and Maya, as long as you put enough RAM in them.

Hello Aja B.

I've posted this question once or twice and you look to be a fellow Mac user. Do you run everything through your Mac to interface with AM, or do you interface with a windows machine?

I'm currently looking to upgrade my home Mac, and if a Mac will work to interface with AM that would prevent me from having to also pick up a Windows laptop.

If you are interfacing with a Mac do you use IE or Safari?

[AjaBogdanoff]

Hey Mojo!

Yep, I only use Macs to access the AM site. However, Macs aren't yet officially supported by AM, so it's an at-your-own-risk kind of deal. So far I haven't really experienced any problems that the Windows users haven't also experienced, except for a general sluggishness with the Flash player on the Mac that seems to be much improved in the new Player 8 Beta.

In some ways, I think, my experience is better on a Mac... I watch the lectures zoomed full-screen with the universal access zoom feature, and I can playblast stuff in Maya without having to be careful not to do anything to interrupt it... Overall, though I think the experience is pretty much the same.

Oh, and I always use Safari. :)

[JSW32]

Hey Aja,
Justin here. Just got accepted for the fall term for AM. I'm really excited. I just had a question about computers with AM since you are a Mac user as am I. Ok so right now I have a powerbook g4 laptop, with a 1 GHZ, and I think 512 MB SD RAM? Whatever that means. I'm not too technical when it comes to specifications of computers. Anyways, I just wanted to know if that was going to be good enough to use AM in terms of video conferencing, using the site, and also usage with Maya (i.e. program functioning, rendering, etc.) I was also thinking about getting the iSight to use as my webcam? Any idea on how good that is? See if I were to upgrade my computer I don't think I could cause it's one of the first models of the G4 laptop and I don't think they can upgrade it with hardware. So if I have to I was thinking of getting a new computer, maybe the g5 desktop, etc? Any reccomendations? Or should I just get a PC? Thanks for the advice.
-Justin

[AjaBogdanoff]

Hey Justin!

Well, I can tell you that just from anecdotal evidence, it seems like you need faster than a 1ghz G4 to run everything on the site without lags and stuttering. If you're okay with less-than-realtime video, you could certainly get by with your current computer, but stuff like the lectures and the Q&As would probably be choppy. Personally, it doesn't bother me that much, and I'm back to watching the lectures on my slow but convenient old G3 iBook, which does the job with the new Flash Player beta.

On my dual G5, though, the site is clearly much faster, and everything is in sync and everything. So if you want the smoothest AM experience, yeah, you should probably look into buying a faster Mac.

And, of course, if you want a computer that's fully supported by AM right now, you should buy a PC. :) But Macs won't be unsupported forever, and if you prefer one platform over the other, I don't really think it would be worth switching for.

So yeah, it's up to you. Personally, I'm happy with my combination of portable and slow with fast and nailed down to a desk, but whatever works for you is good!

[JSW32]

well what about this. when i view the previews of lectures, and trailers, etc on the current site (without me being registered yet as a student) the videos play back without any lag or anything? so would that mean that i wouldnt have a problem when i enroll, or i would? thanks. and so u were saying that the 1ghz, etc was too slow for maya too? thanks
-Justin

[serinth]

correct me if i'm wrong but is this the longest thread ever on cgtalk? :applause:

glad to know theres tons of positive feedback from participants of animationmentor.com though, just wished i could join !!:sad:

[fluffybunny]

correct me if i'm wrong but is this the longest thread ever on cgtalk? :applause:


it was for a while....but it ain't now.....by over 1500 posts. There may be other dark secret threads that are longer too, but none of us mere mortals have knowledge of that ;)

[StapleGun]

Damn. Where the hell was this school 3 years ago? If it existed I wouldve never applied to academy of art in san francisco. What a horrible waste it is. I hope it's better for you guys. I can't see how it can't. Im considering applying for animation mentor but I just dont want to spend money again just to see no returns. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me! Or something like that.

[harmonic01]

Damn. Where the hell was this school 3 years ago? If it existed I wouldve never applied to academy of art in san francisco. What a horrible waste it is. I hope it's better for you guys. I can't see how it can't. Im considering applying for animation mentor but I just dont want to spend money again just to see no returns. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me! Or something like that.

Heh, couldn't be much worse then Art Institute of Philadelphia. Now that is a big freak'n waste of time and money.

[Kimotion]

Damn. Where the hell was this school 3 years ago? If it existed I wouldve never applied to academy of art in san francisco. What a horrible waste it is. I hope it's better for you guys. I can't see how it can't. Im considering applying for animation mentor but I just dont want to spend money again just to see no returns. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me! Or something like that.

I feel your pain StapleGun. I went to AAU too and yeah......*sighs heavily* ........ yeah.

I don't know if this will help you but there's actually a AAU vs AM thread. It's great to vent.

Academy o fArt vs. AnimationMentor (http://cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=255929)

OK, Kimotion back to animation.

[d_jnaneswar]

Hi people,

I have more questions about AM.

1. Is it possible for me to take a 3 month break between terms?? That would give me enough flexiblity to work on things outside of AM. Is this possible?? I have seen on their site that theres a maximum of 100 days leave during a year, but couldnt find any thing on taking a break betn. each term.

2. Is the slower option of taking a term for 6 months still available???

I am sorry if these are asked earlier. Its a lot of pages to read through searching for these questions and its quite impossible.

thanks for the answers.

[DigitalToon2]

d_jnaneswar that's probably something you'd have to check with the school on, I start in the fall and I know that there's a couple week breaks in between some of the terms but as for taking an entire term off I don't know.

[Mesi]

Hey d_jnaneswar, it is possible to take a leave of absence for a whole term. That's what I'm doing at the moment.

[Mojo Rizen]

Hey Aja B.

I was out of town over the weekend and just wanted to say thanks for the info. It's nice to hear from someone running the programs with some first hand experience. Now I can start the registration process and looking into buying a new Mac.

Thanks again

[LIGHTYEAR]

I am now the very proud owner of an AM T-Shirt which arrived in the post this morning with a note thanking us. Just thought I'd share that with you all (not that wanting an AM T-Shirt is reason enough to do this course, but it helps).

[SkyZero]

I have another question in regards to all the up and coming students that have yet to purchase their student version of Maya.

Somewhere on here I read that Maya 7 is going to launch on August 1st. Question I have is would it be a good idea to go ahead and get that version of Maya? Do you think the rigs provided by AM will work fine with it?

[JSW32]

I am now the very proud owner of an AM T-Shirt which arrived in the post this morning with a note thanking us

Do you know anythign about the new students in the AM program getting t-shirts as well? I got accepted for the fall semester, so will I be receiving one too? I'd love one hehe. thanks

[swadepgh]

Wow you got your AM t-shirt already?!?!


I am jealous. I hope that I get one before SIGGRAPH. :-)

[rhino23]

I received my shirt on Saturday, and it rocks! I say that all of us going to Siggraph should plan to wear them on the same day, or would that show just how nerdy we truly are...? http://cgtalk.com/images/smilies/grin.gif

[mikep1980]

Yeah I'm totally wearing mine at Siggraph! I hope tons show up for the Birds of a Feather event!!

[Kimotion]

Yup I got mine too. But I'm so skinny I won't model it here. :D

[SheepFactory]

mine is too big for me , but i am sure it'll fit just right after a couple rounds in our killer dryer.

[purebrook]

I will enjoy it! Great!

[rab]

I am also lookin about to find any one from India in AM. I will ask on cgtantra and see.

I was in class last semester with a person from India, I think she lives in Mumbai. Her name is Harsha, she's a very cool person. Here's her site with some nice stop mo stuff.

http://www.nonstopanimation.com/

[Kimotion]

Here's a short film I was involved with from Feb-Apr of this year. Our "director" finally decided to post it on CGTalk yesterday.

Please check it out and leave comments and critiques! Yeah, I know...many of you are critique-ed out, but hey! You won't be looking at Stewie and the Ball this time!

Old Dog New Trick (http://cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=259853)

In case you guys are curious, I did the Flower animation and the part where Melody (girl dog) screws up the piano playing as Rusty (boy dog) looks through the window...like my avatar. Oh, and the part where Rusty kicks out Melody when they are both on screen.

[SlipGun]

I was just wondering: How many people in any given class use XSI, on average? I'm trying to decide between it and Maya. I know that in the end it really isn't about the software (as Bobby Beck said earlier in the thread) and I'm not interested in discussing the pros and cons of each. What I would like to know is whether a newbie would have an easier time doing the AM exercises in Maya, as opposed to trying to adapt them to XSI's workflow.

[SheepFactory]

there is no "adopting" use what you know the best. if you are not familiar with xsi go with maya because the xsi models and rigs are created by students and not AM , they do not provide tech support for it. if something goes wrong you are on your own. There are quite a few of us using xsi though.

[My Fault]

I was in class last semester with a person from India, I think she lives in Mumbai. Her name is Harsha, she's a very cool person. Here's her site with some nice stop mo stuff.

http://www.nonstopanimation.com/

Can't say enough good things about Harsha. One of my favorite fellow students and one of the nicest people you would ever have the pleasure to meet. Yeah Harsha!

[My Fault]

I was just wondering: How many people in any given class use XSI, on average? I'm trying to decide between it and Maya. I know that in the end it really isn't about the software (as Bobby Beck said earlier in the thread) and I'm not interested in discussing the pros and cons of each. What I would like to know is whether a newbie would have an easier time doing the AM exercises in Maya, as opposed to trying to adapt them to XSI's workflow.

Not a ton, but I know folks like Ali are using XSI. Only disadvantage is that the school only provides models in Maya. On the plus side most of them have been rebuilt by students for other packages to work in a similar fashion to the Maya models. So really, whatever package you work in should be fine. Like you said, they are more interested in the animation then the software.

[rsluman]

I applied and took the test last Thursday to start in the fall. I am SOOOO excited...and sooo nervous I won't get in for some reason.

:::Crosses fingers:::

I'm checking my email about every seven seconds, just like a lot of you did to know if you were accepted or not (I know some of you were obsessed as I am because I've read almost all 366 pages of this thread!...like I said, I am excited!!!)


:eek: New email notice! :eek: MUST CHECK... :eek:

[Maciek Gliwa]

Hi Ryan,
I took the test more than two weeks ago and still have no answer from AM :(. I'm nervous and really excited too. I think everybody feel the same way when waiting for this one single message from AM. Patience is the first lesson we are going to learn I guess ;).

[stewartjones]

I applied and took the test last Thursday to start in the fall. I am SOOOO excited...and sooo nervous I won't get in for some reason.

:::Crosses fingers:::

I'm checking my email about every seven seconds, just like a lot of you did to know if you were accepted or not (I know some of you were obsessed as I am because I've read almost all 366 pages of this thread!...like I said, I am excited!!!)


:eek: New email notice! :eek: MUST CHECK... :eek:

ALMOST ALL 366 pages?!?! ... You best take some time to read the rest of them and get up to speed! haha! :D Thing is, the obsession doesn't go after you start the course either... It just keeps getting bigger! :)

[Mojo Rizen]

Ok, this is my last systems related question. Is anyone running AM and doing the exercises on a laptop/powerbook? At work I run a dual tower with plenty of power, but I travel partial weeks on a regular basis, and when I look at the amount of time this program is going to take to do well, portability is something I have to consider.

1.5 GHZ is the base requirement. Everything through work and personal is Mac, so I can get buy with Safari, and the hottest powerbook is 1.67 GHZ. I’m considering this option with a gig of RAM.

From what I’ve seen on other projects the exercises are stripped down to concentrate on animation, not texturing, lighting etc. so I’m guessing render times should not be that long.

Does anyone have any feedback on if this is a feasible option to run everything through a laptop/powerbook.

Thanks for the info on this question, and all the answers I’ve received in the past.

[My Fault]

Hi Ryan,
I took the test more than two weeks ago and still have no answer from AM :(. I'm nervous and really excited too. I think everybody feel the same way when waiting for this one single message from AM. Patience is the first lesson we are going to learn I guess ;).

They are doing a lot of prep work for SIGGRAPH so things might be a bit slow. No worries though, I'm sure you'll hear real soon.

Good luck!

[Maciek Gliwa]

Yeah!!!

I just got accepted for the fall term!!! Now I only have to wait for september when my adventure is going to start :). Can't wait to see all am students :).Wow, I am so excited, I just want to start learning! This is so cool!!!

[rsluman]

Yeah!!!

I just got accepted for the fall term!!! Now I only have to wait for september when my adventure is going to start :). Can't wait to see all am students :).Wow, I am so excited, I just want to start learning! This is so cool!!!

:applause: :applause: :applause:

That's awesome! I hope they go through the applications in batches and mine is the next on the pile!

[maelstrom]

Ok, this is my last systems related question. Is anyone running AM and doing the exercises on a laptop/powerbook? At work I run a dual tower with plenty of power, but I travel partial weeks on a regular basis, and when I look at the amount of time this program is going to take to do well, portability is something I have to consider.

1.5 GHZ is the base requirement. Everything through work and personal is Mac, so I can get buy with Safari, and the hottest powerbook is 1.67 GHZ. I’m considering this option with a gig of RAM.

From what I’ve seen on other projects the exercises are stripped down to concentrate on animation, not texturing, lighting etc. so I’m guessing render times should not be that long.

Does anyone have any feedback on if this is a feasible option to run everything through a laptop/powerbook.

Thanks for the info on this question, and all the answers I’ve received in the past.

you should be fine. Assignments don't even have to be rendered at all, it's enough to upload a playblast.

[Mojo Rizen]

It's getting late and I'm on the road for the next few days (a little time off!) and thought I would check in quick.

Thanks for the info, knowing a laptop should have plenty of power makes the purchase now down to picking and loading the machine up.

Everyone have a good couple of days.

[DigitalToon2]

Congratulations Maciek Gliwa! I'll see you in the fall.

[Bentagon]

Hey guys,

How do I join the doodlesquad blog? I've just drawn my "when frogs go bad" drawing (not good, but wanted to post it anyhow), and I have no idea how to join...

- Benjamin

[My Fault]

From what I’ve seen on other projects the exercises are stripped down to concentrate on animation, not texturing, lighting etc. so I’m guessing render times should not be that long.

The attitude at AM is every minute spent on lighting or texturing is a minute you should've been animating. Hard to adjust to at first but you get used to it and realize it really is the best way. What some folks will do is do a fully rendered version a few weeks after the assignment is finished up so they have somethin pretty to show.

[mmkelly011881]

Benjamin.. check your gmail

yeah.. about rendering... dont do it.. no need for props either.. you're just cheating yourself and wasting your time and money :)

[Maciek Gliwa]

Thanks digitalToon,
perhaps we will be in the same class :). See you in september!

[anthea]

hello cg talk forum people and my friends from AM, i am in finally, now i can keep up w all yoou ninjas in training>

-anthea

[Bentagon]

It seems lots of people are coming in fall! Can't wait to meet y'all!

- Benjamin

[rsluman]

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

::: Dances around room :::

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

I got in!!! I got in!!! Fall Quarter!!!

Maciek, DigitalToon, Anthea, Bentagon etc., I'll see you on September 19th!!!



...man...this is going to be a long 60 days...

:cool:

[DigitalToon2]

AM in 60 Days :eek: . So close yet still so far away!

[mmkelly011881]

Anthea... what the devil?

[JSW32]

Hey all, I got in like last week or so. Soooooo excited. See you in the fall!
-Justin

[Kimotion]

Comment deleted due to potential slander and character assassination.

[Sean MacNeil]

Congrats to all the students who are getting accepted for the fall term...awesome! You guys are going to love it, the AM community is great, and it's a wonderful place to hang out if you're an animator. Can't wait to meet y'all.


Later,
Sean.