www.animationmentor.com

[Vespers]

Man, that news just has me even more excited to start my class next month. Congrats to you guys. You deserve your rad jobs.

[mttjss]

1 month left before classes start.I wanted to get an idea of who is attending this quarter for the first time. I want to try and get a chance to talk with all the new mentees so we can try and buld a pretty good community.

sounds lame, but it will help us all in the long run...if youre in just post on the thread.

Matt -

[SePu]

HEY!!! I just got accepted !!! so Exciting !!! .... I cant wait to get starting...... so happy ....
just 1 month !!
so mttjss I will be there !

[3D-SBG]

1 month left before classes start.I wanted to get an idea of who is attending this quarter for the first time. I want to try and get a chance to talk with all the new mentees so we can try and buld a pretty good community.

sounds lame, but it will help us all in the long run...if youre in just post on the thread.

Matt -

I'm in and can't wait :p

[Littleberu]

Well I sent all the things they needed, so I guess I'm in baby. I'M IN THE BED WITH YOU, MATTHEW.

[mmkelly011881]

build.. BUILD MY LITTLE COMMUNITY>>> MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!

ANIMATION MENTOR IS MADE OF PEOPLE! PEOPLE!

[xixax]

I'm in the fall semester also. :)

[Fede]

Hey guys, i'm in all the way from Johannesburg South Africa. Good thing that there is a strong online comunity cause i don't know any people close by interested in animation here.

Look forward to meeting you all.

fede

[jwr38]

well here I come. I am in the fall course :)

looking forward to meeting you all in the classroom.

[anthea]

Hey guys, i'm in all the way from Johannesburg South Africa. Good thing that there is a strong online comunity cause i don't know any people close by interested in animation here.

Look forward to meeting you all.

fede

That's one of the coolest things about the school. Getting to interact and make friends with people all around the world, people you would otherwise have no way of meeting. You'd be surprised that even in "animation dense" areas like NY or California, people don't get together in person as much as you would think. So wherever you are, you will still get something out of the online community.

[meta87]

I'm starting this fall too. I'm so excited to start, I live in Austin and all my friends are already back in class at UT. One month left!

-Travis I.

[alesmav]

tut, tu tum, tum, tum!

Damn it feels good to be an AM student :)

ALES

[achavero]

Congratulations to everybody!!! welcome to AM, i sure you're gonna find it very addictive =D



Hey guys, i'm in all the way from Johannesburg South Africa. Good thing that there is a strong online comunity cause i don't know any people close by interested in animation here.

Look forward to meeting you all.

fede


Don't worry you will find a lot of people here interested in talking and talking about animation. The forums right now are sooooooo big that you can spend weeks and weeks learning a lot of new stuff.

I'm eager that you guys from the fall term start, because i will be starting my short film and I'm as excited as you and afraid at the same time... it's like a year ago when i started class 1.... looks like yesterday

[JohnWest]

Hi everybody,
I'm new to this forum, but i watched this thread since beginning - It's really informative, funny an just awesome!
I'm from germany, so please apologize my bad english...
I really want to get to AM too, but I'm not sure if it is possible, even I have the money and fulfill the requirements (except the ability to speak english ;) ) - there are just a few questions that want to be answered to kill last doubts (can I say so?):

When can I apply? What is the procedure? Is there just one day for each term i can apply? Or can I apply whenever I want - in that case, what chances do i have to get a place in the winter term 07? When do I have to pay the fee? ...

I would be glad if there's someone out there, who could me help figuring out these questions...
I really feel lonely here in germany :P ... You guyes really rock, and there are no communities for animators like this one... I hope I have a chance to study at AM. It's my dream!!!

I hope you could understand my lame english - sorry again!
Greetz from germany!

[Vespers]

Okay, since I recently went through this, I'll try and answer some of your questions.

You can apply whenever you wish to. Just go to the site and go to where it says apply. You'll have to fill out all the basic info about who you are and where you live. It will ask you what term you would like to start. You would just select Winter 07. There isn't a specific day that you have to register for Winter 07. You can do it any time from now until the last day to register, November 24th. You'll also have to write a brief essay about why you want to be an animator and why you think AM is good for you. In the next few days you will get sent an email with a test you have to take. It is just to verify that you can understand English enough and have basic math skills. Then you just have to wait around a couple weeks for an e-mail saying that you're accepted. As far as payment goes, I know you don't have to pay right when you apply or anything like that. You probably have to pay a week before the first class. I'm still waiting for the packet in the mail that explains that stuff.

And don't worry about your English, it seems just fine to me.

Good luck, hope to see you around AM in the Winter.

[MadMax]

I'm from germany, so please apologize my bad english...
I really want to get to AM too, but I'm not sure if it is possible, even I have the money and fulfill the requirements (except the ability to speak english ;) ) - there are just a few questions that want to be answered to kill last doubts (can I say so?):


DUDE!!!

No sweat. The School has people from all over the bloody planet! My class alone has such a mix of nationalities in it that it's like a UN assembly, without the lame.

And I've got Scottsmen in my class and no one on the planet can understand them, and they supposedly speak english!

Get your butt over to the site and sign up fast.... A new class is starting in a month. We are currently just starting week nine out of 12 for this class period so you 'll want to get in fast if you want to start next term.

[JohnWest]

Wow!
Thanks for answering that quickly! I calmed down reading the posts - it seems to be really easy to manage the formal stuff to get into AM...
I hope I can sign in that quickly, cause right now i'm still struggling with my flat situation - well financiating is not that easy, but it'll work... anyway, I WILL BE part of that dream, no matter what obstacles I have to pass (can I say so?)! And by the way, thanks for nice comment on the language issue - I'm still nervous speaking, or even writing, in english, but this feeling will be gone in a few weeks I hope...
So then, Thanks again and we'll see on the other side!!!
WEEEHHAAAA

(I'm so excited and can't wait to get into!!!)

[ThePredator42]

Wow!
Thanks for answering that quickly! I calmed down reading the posts - it seems to be really easy to manage the formal stuff to get into AM...
I hope I can sign in that quickly, cause right now i'm still struggling with my flat situation - well financiating is not that easy, but it'll work... anyway, I WILL BE part of that dream, no matter what obstacles I have to pass (can I say so?)! And by the way, thanks for nice comment on the language issue - I'm still nervous speaking, or even writing, in english, but this feeling will be gone in a few weeks I hope...
So then, Thanks again and we'll see on the other side!!!
WEEEHHAAAA

(I'm so excited and can't wait to get into!!!)

Wooohoooot! Would be cool! We´re "just" about half a dozen germans in there, so it´s about time some more drop in :)

Feel free to add me in ICQ or MSN if you happen to have any more questions!

Hope you can make it to AM asap! :)

Micha

[Littleberu]

Wow!
Thanks for answering that quickly! I calmed down reading the posts - it seems to be really easy to manage the formal stuff to get into AM...
I hope I can sign in that quickly, cause right now i'm still struggling with my flat situation - well financiating is not that easy, but it'll work... anyway, I WILL BE part of that dream, no matter what obstacles I have to pass (can I say so?)! And by the way, thanks for nice comment on the language issue - I'm still nervous speaking, or even writing, in english, but this feeling will be gone in a few weeks I hope...
So then, Thanks again and we'll see on the other side!!!
WEEEHHAAAA

(I'm so excited and can't wait to get into!!!)

Dude, I'm friggen FRENCH. I mean, I am le french. Don't you think I'll have an accent or something? Of course. No biggie. International FTW, I say.

[Fede]

Hey guys,

I was just wondering how the Q&As, feedback, excercise etc are streamed though the AM site, not asking for technical description just if it's similar to youtube cause i was watching all the Richard Williams stuff i could find and was so impressed with the speed of the stream so i'm kind of hoping to get similar performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VpT5Xa2cDk

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQN0YQOwcg0&mode=related&search=

fantastic content here, you should all have a look

[harmonic01]

Fede, yeah it's kind of like youtube but better quality. :) at least that's how I remember it. :D

[achavero]

don't worry Fede, the stream of the videos have super great quality. The webcam quality is pretty good, but will depend on your high speed connection and the illumination of the room you will be. But I can tell you that on Q&A I usually show drawings to my mentor for talking about doubts.

And i forgot, critiques have also great quality, so there's no doubt about what you will have to rework... =D

[Fede]

Thanks for the response guys, in all honesty i'd rather have less quality but better connection / frame rate as in this part of the world we don't really have true broadband. We got ADSL but somehow doubt the speed equals the equivelant internationally.

Will have to see

[ThePredator42]

Dont worry Fede,
you don´t have to stream the videos if you don´t want to (At least the lectures). you can have your computer buffer the entire file and then watch it without any dropouts. Ok students will correct me here. This option was taken out a week or two ago, but we were told that it would be back as soon as possible, they had to fix something there. For those who are totally dependent on the non-streaming option, they also offer a solution for the time till it´s fixed. So no worries, the support team is really taking care everyone can enjoy AM as smoothly as possible.

[clockwerkz]

Fede, yeah it's kind of like youtube but better quality. :) at least that's how I remember it. :D

Wait, wait, wait.. this totally slipped under my radar. Blur Studios?? Nice, dude!! Late Congrats to ya!!

[AjaBogdanoff]

Whoa, me too!! Congratulations Peter, you sly devil! :applause:

[harmonic01]

heh heh, thanks. :beer: This is my 3rd week here at Blur. :bounce:

[My Fault]

I hear Peter snuck in to the offices disguised as the beer man and hasn't left since! :D

[clockwerkz]

Nice, Peter!!! Ripclaw's gonna tear it up over there!

Big congrats to you, man.. make us proud. :D

----


Brian! Sup, dude? How you been? We miss you at AM. :)

[mttjss]

Congrats Peter - another AM mentee showing off his animation ninja skills :buttrock:


The days before my first term just seem to creep by....
I am awaiting patiently to see who will be my first ninja master to teach me the ways.

Matt -

[achavero]

congratulations Peter!!!

[cgTim]

Hi everybody,

I received an email from animationMentor with only a "Congratulation" text, does this means that I'm accepted by the school? I'm hoping that it is a YES :)

- CG

[JohnWest]

Just wrote my essay ...

http://www.johnwest.de/pics/d.jpg

45minutes work, Photoshop

[JayEpperhart]

heh heh, thanks. :beer: This is my 3rd week here at Blur. :bounce:

Super congrats man! Everyone here at Animation Mentor is extremely happy for you!

I'm sure you are glad not to have to do 10 seconds of animation a day now like your previously did, hopefully Blur will treat you right :)

Again, congratulations Peter!

[JayEpperhart]

Hi everybody,

I received an email from animationMentor with only a "Congratulation" text, does this means that I'm accepted by the school? I'm hoping that it is a YES :)

- CG

Yes it should Tim, but the e-mail should have more text explaining about the program and what happens next. Did your e-mail only contain an image that says "Congrats" or was there more to it? If it was just the image or word "Congrats" then send me a private message and I will see if I can get to the bottom of this, we want to make sure you have all the information you need to get started!

[harmonic01]

Super congrats man! Everyone here at Animation Mentor is extremely happy for you!

I'm sure you are glad not to have to do 10 seconds of animationa day now like your previously did, hopefully Blur will treat you right :)

Again, congratulations Peter!

Hey Jay. Thanks. :D Yeah, time wise, it's A LOT better now. :) At my last job it went up to 20 to 30 sec/day. :( Anyways, thanks bunch again. I am so unbelievably glad that I took classes at the awesome AnimationMentor. :love:

[seasterling]

It was just a matter of time. Congratulations Peter!

sam

[JohnWest]

Hi@all,
as I mentioned in the post before, I'm still struggling with the essay... I am extremly uncertain about style, structure, etc. Can I just write down what I think, or is it more recommend to use arguments, conclusions, etc... ? I have so deep emotions about animation, i have no idea where to start, by the way, I have to write in english, that's hard anyway... Maybe I'm still knocked out by my decision to apply at AM. Could anyone give me some advice how to start? I don't want to hear what I should write, I just need some tips how an essay looks like in USA... Thanks a million!!!
John

-oh, damn, i nearly forgot: Congrats to Peter as well from me of course!!!

[oliveUK]

hehe. I don't know how but I managed to keep it for myself. How is it going at Blur then Peter?

Jay made your new job official at AM so expect few people to congratualte you. Adam Strick, Vincent Florio and Megan Hobby already left some comments on AM forum.

And what about XSI? Was the transition easy?

Olive

[Littleberu]

Hi@all,
as I mentioned in the post before, I'm still struggling with the essay... I am extremly uncertain about style, structure, etc. Can I just write down what I think, or is it more recommend to use arguments, conclusions, etc... ? I have so deep emotions about animation, i have no idea where to start, by the way, I have to write in english, that's hard anyway... Maybe I'm still knocked out by my decision to apply at AM. Could anyone give me some advice how to start? I don't want to hear what I should write, I just need some tips how an essay looks like in USA... Thanks a million!!!
John

-oh, damn, i nearly forgot: Congrats to Peter as well from me of course!!!

Just write what you think is right, seriously. Some made their essay funny, other made it serious. Just go with your personnality.

[JohnWest]

Thanks, even this short comment helped me a lot... For sure, I'm not very self-confident... Still workin' on myself :P

[harmonic01]

hehe. I don't know how but I managed to keep it for myself. How is it going at Blur then Peter?

Jay made your new job official at AM so expect few people to congratualte you. Adam Strick, Vincent Florio and Megan Hobby already left some comments on AM forum.

And what about XSI? Was the transition easy?

Olive

Heh heh, Alas, I don't have access to AM forums. Hmm..., maybe Dave Vallone will let me browse while he's getting coffee in the morning. :twisted:

going to XSI was pretty easy. Blur has some great tools to automate a lot of things, so all I have to worry about is setting keyframes and tweaking curves. I still miss 3dsmax's fast, and interactive Trajectories, though.:shrug:

[harmonic01]

oh btw, I'd like to take this opportunity and congratulate Matthew Garward on getting in to ILM. WooHooo. Sweeeet! :buttrock:

[SePu]

Hey guys that's great ... I will just say big congrats to everybody who is getting a job !

[magan3D]

Well its been a while since I've chimed in over here!

Its great news to hear of everybody landing jobs. They are all very deserving of them!

Hopefully I will be among them in a year or so :applause:

To all of you considering AM as your school, its defenatly worth the time and money.

Good luck everybody!

[Littleberu]

Ok so we see people being hired by Blur, ILM and Disney. Who's going to Pixar?

Let's start the bets!

10 on Aja.

[storyForge]

I bet Luis Llobera is gonna get a job somewhere pretty swanky. Aja's progress reel is stellar too, can't wait to see where she ends up. Congrats to Peter and Matthew as well!

[Im2Dguy]

Cheers on the new job Peter!!
You're an LA local now.
We should meet and 'do lunch!'

-Brad
:beer:

[splintah]

wow

congratulations man

[oliveUK]

i like your picture a lot Kris ;-)

Olive

[AKS]

I'm betting Luis for Pixar. And John, your essay is really sweet ;)

[mmkelly011881]

way to add pressure on people that are already puttin in 16 hour days on their shorts guys

we should put bets on who's going to snap first

[achavero]

I think all people from class 6, has great demo reels and deserve to work wherever they want. I hope that all the companies realizes that soon.

Just 17 days before Generation 01 graduates! Keep on the hard work on your short films, they look pretty amazing!

[SePu]

hey by the way guys ... does anyone knows how many people will graduate ? this year being the first generation ?

thx

cant wait until september 25th !

[Kimotion]

hey by the way guys ... does anyone knows how many people will graduate ? this year being the first generation ?

thx

cant wait until september 25th !

About 110.

[andy_maxman]

*edit -

gosh! i didnt know we went incognito....

[JohnWest]

This thread is dying, isn't it? What happend? No more enthusiastic posts? Everybody is busy?...
I'm still waiting for my online-8-minute-test to hopefully become an AM student. Besides checking my mails, I discovered a cool interview with Carlos Baena on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpTyzMBpGkY
For me it's great to hear his spanish accent, cause as a german, I actually have a similar pronounciation LOL... However, check it out!

[MadMax]

This thread is dying, isn't it? What happend? No more enthusiastic posts? Everybody is busy?...
I'm still waiting for my online-8-minute-test to hopefully become an AM student. Besides checking my mails, I discovered a cool interview with Carlos Baena on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpTyzMBpGkY
For me it's great to hear his spanish accent, cause as a german, I actually have a similar pronounciation LOL... However, check it out!


Dying? don't think so. it's week 11 of 12, for the respective classes, which means crunch time. Lot of people working 24/7 to get stuff done, and get prepared for the next class.

FYI, the "8 minute test" is nothing to worry about. It's the equivalent to a game show going:

"ok Bob, for 50,00.00 dollars and the win, what is your first name?"

"10 seconds Bob"

"uh...BOB!!!"

"Thats right!! congratulations Bob!!"

It's a no brainer so don't sweat it.

[My Fault]

Like MadMax said, it is the end of a quarter so things get busy and people don't have time to post. Give it a bit and this thread will light up again.

I'm back in this next quarter after taking a short break. Can't wait!

[fluffybunny]

yeah, everyone is probably on the Sunday evening wind-down. Myself, I got 4 hours sleep last night and put quite a few hours into my shots this weekend. Could have stood to put several more hours into them and well...they still look...well...like they need alot of love.
All this is of course my fault. (no relation).

eric

[MadMax]

Myself, I got 4 hours sleep last night and put quite a few hours into my shots this weekend.

You slept 4 hours?????

slacker.

[Littleberu]

Is it me or this thread was locked for a while? I swear, I wanted to post, but the Reply button wasn't there. It DISAPPEARED.

[fluffybunny]

Is it me or this thread was locked for a while? I swear, I wanted to post, but the Reply button wasn't there. It DISAPPEARED.


hmmm...that must have happenned while I was sleeping. I'll try to stay alert and pay more attention. :wise:

eric

[Bentagon]

Yeah, the thread had been closed for a while. I sent a message to a moderator trying to explain why it should stay open, and then followed his advice of contacting the admins instead. I'm guessing some others have contacted them as well. And apparently they've reopened it :-)

- Benjamin

[leigh]

Guys, please try to keep this thread on-topic. That means cutting down on fluff and other non-constructive or off-topic comments. Please keep posts to the subject of CG-related items, the AM course and animation in general.

If this thread becomes a social chatfest, it may be closed permanently.

[Fede]

Hey guys, any idea when they appoint the mentors? do we know only once we log in for the first time?

I'm so glad its a public holiday here on the 25th so i can spend the wholde day surfing the forums :bounce:

[Bentagon]

They usually let us know which mentor we have a few days before class actually starts. I don't think you'll know once you login: I believe your first login will be the week before your first week in the school, to an orientation area. You'll have to wait a few days for an e-mail about your mentor.

At least that's how it was when I started, but that was back with the first version of the website. It might have changed with the new one.

- Benjamin

[sketch404]

Hi everyone!

I'm pretty new to this thread but I wanted to speak up and let you guys know I'm here. My name is Josh, I'm 20 years old, and I'm very interested in becomming a Character Animator. Like most of you it's been a dream of mine to give life to lines and shapes, to really make them feel alive! So enough of that! I wanna make that dream a reality and I'm looking for a school that will help me do that.

AnimationMentor.com looks so friggin' cool it gets my heart pumpin just thinkin about attending there.

but then that stupid little serious part of my brain kicks in and says "are you going to be able to find a job after graduation?!" I say, "I dunno but there have been students who landed jobs already in the program so there!"

So I'm just having jitters about attending AM.com, racking my brain and looking all over for a reason NOT to go to AM.com because I all I find is awesome reasons pointing towards me to go.

So I need help figuring out if I should go to a traditional art school and pay up the monkey, or.. AM.com join you awesome community of artists and learn to become an excellent character animator....

anywho thanks for reading
here's a link to my DeviantArt account if anyone is interested in seeing some of my artwork: http://sketch404.deviantart.com/

[Fede]

I think if you read back a few pages your type of question has come up many times.

At the end of the day no one here is going to convince you on what to do, only you can answer that question. But looking at the AM showcase, i think it's pretty safe to say that there is no better place right now especially considering the value for money.

Hard work, late nights , lots of practice and some skill will make you a great character animator. An institution won't.

[sketch404]

thanks for the reply ^^

yea I've been reading as much as I can on AnimationMentor for the past week or so, and it seems like the best thing for me. I sent in my app so hopefully I'll see you guys in class winter 07 term :D

[MadMax]

Welcome.

Yeah, it's a big decision. If you have a passion for it, then there is no reason not to go to AM.

Whether you find a job or not depends on if you are any good or not. If you have the desire to do it, then AM is the best way to acheive that goal. It's not some fluffy bunch of tutorials or videos you could pull off the web. This is bloody boot camp bucko. They'll crack your nuts there.

You will work your ass off there, youll get more out of it than you could possibly get at University. Most other programs teach students how to USE a program. The result being hundreds of demo reels end up in the trash. At AM, you will draw, do sketches, thumbnails, animate things and learn to get it right from professionals. Not some schmuck who is teaching and never been in the industry like most schools.

Bottom line, you will get out of it as much as you are willing to put into it.


And yes, students are getting hired, several as early as class 3. A little secret.. AM is already well regarded with recruiters for the quality of students it is turning out.

So what are you waiting for? go sign up!!



My name is Josh, I'm 20 years old, and I'm very interested in becomming a Character Animator. Like most of you it's been a dream of mine to give life to lines and shapes, to really make them feel alive! So enough of that! I wanna make that dream a reality and I'm looking for a school that will help me do that.

AnimationMentor.com looks so friggin' cool it gets my heart pumpin just thinkin about attending there.

but then that stupid little serious part of my brain kicks in and says "are you going to be able to find a job after graduation?!" I say, "I dunno but there have been students who landed jobs already in the program so there!"

So I'm just having jitters about attending AM.com, racking my brain and looking all over for a reason NOT to go to AM.com because I all I find is awesome reasons pointing towards me to go.

So I need help figuring out if I should go to a traditional art school and pay up the monkey, or.. AM.com join you awesome community of artists and learn to become an excellent character animator....

anywho thanks for reading
here's a link to my DeviantArt account if anyone is interested in seeing some of my artwork: http://sketch404.deviantart.com/

[sketch404]

Welcome.

You will work your ass off there, youll get more out of it than you could possibly get at University. Most other programs teach students how to USE a program. The result being hundreds of demo reels end up in the trash. At AM, you will draw, do sketches, thumbnails, animate things and learn to get it right from professionals. Not some schmuck who is teaching and never been in the industry like most schools.


So what are you waiting for? go sign up!!

YES DRILL SERGEANT!!!

applied earlier today, hehe

[JohnWest]

So what are you waiting for? go sign up!!

-Yeah that's it! That is the right attitude in my eyes! I have not a degree from any university yet and propably won't have one anytime, because my current studies at university are expensive and useless, so i will lay it down soon. For me, AM is the best opportunity ever!!! It fits the autodidact learning style an animator has to have, it's cheap (in relation to its features) and you get to know great people ... There are so many pros, I can't list them...
So hundrets of reasons why I did not waste time and applied at AM by now 12 days ago... As I already mentioned some posts before, I fear that something has gone wrong with application because of my "individual" mail adress (viras@gmx.de) - They do not answer my questions via this adress (on my other mail account, it just took a few hours to get response!!!), I did not receive any Newsletter yet and I am going crazy waiting for the online-test to complete my registration... By the way, I got an automatically generated confirmation mail after applying - so I will try to keep my nerves (can I say so in english?) and stay cool - for sure they have a lot of work and maybe (and hopefully) that's the only reason of this "case"... I dont want to bother them with mails (as I already did :P ) so I will wait till end of this week and see what happens... Hope you can understand my fears - it's my absolute dream to learn at this school and meet other people with tons of toys and the same interests and same feelings about animation...

Damn, sorry about my english ;) - I am too nervous to check the correctness...
Hope to see you on the other side, guyes...
Greetz from germany, Jonas

Update: They finally answered my mail concerning the newsletter - extremely nice people workin' there, by the way... So there's the applicaton-confirmation-mail left...

[d_jnaneswar]

Thanks CG society for putting this thread back up! You Rock!

I clearly remember the posts that encouraged me to join AM, and its a good career move on my side. But I also remember Aja, brian and sheepfactory's posts that influenced me most and i will remember them for a long time for making this happen for me.

Now that the thread is back, I can be in the same position in others hearts and minds.. as the guy that told me so and so that made me take a better decission in joining AM (or not).

So, once again.. Thanks CG SOCIETY!

And by the way.. The AM student reel rocks! (A bit of old news.. but still :p) Congrats to all those whose work made that reel. If you havent checked it out yet, go to www.animationmentor.com (http://www.animationmentor.com) and enjoy the beautiful and inspiring animation in the student reel!

dj

[thebulfrog]

Hey,

I wrote a while ago, and since have been so busy I've barely had time to look back at this thread. I made the decision and will be starting AM in two weeks, and I was hoping a few of us prospective students/current students who are in NY could meet up. If you're interested please post saying as much, and feel free to send me an email (thebulfrog@gmail.com).

I'm shooting for this next Monday (9/18) at around 7:30 (possibly later) - location we'll figure out based on where we all are.

If someone wants to post on the AM forums seeing who's interested, I'd appreciate it.

Also, on Tuesday I'll be at the Society of Illustrators where they have figure drawing and Jazz on Tuesday nights (www.societyillustrators.org (http://www.societyillustrators.org) 6:30, $7/students), and would love to meet up with some people there.

No reason to wait till AM starts to meet up.
Hopefully there's a bunch of us who are interested.

[JohnWest]

I am finished! I just completed the online test and now I am worrying about the result, cause I KNOW that it woun't be a good result - I answered 23 of 30 questions because for me, as a german, some questions were a little difficult to understand so I had t read them twice. Furethermore I know that at least 4 questions were answered incorrect... So I still have the hope I got more than the half correct... -> That's the reason why I doubt now that I'll get a place at AM. It's time to wait now anyway...
Greetz Jonas

PS: Damn!! I should have learned more english before... CRAP!

[tredeger]

lI am finished! I just completed the online test and now I am worrying about the result, cause I KNOW that it woun't be a good result - I answered 23 of 30 questions because for me, as a german, some questions were a little difficult to understand so I had t read them twice. Furethermore I know that at least 4 questions were answered incorrect... So I still have the hope I got more than the half correct... -> That's the reason why I doubt now that I'll get a place at AM. It's time to wait now anyway...
Greetz Jonas

PS: Damn!! I should have learned more english before... CRAP!

I wouldn't fret so much about the test. It's really just a formality required by the state of California for accreditation purposes and won't weigh all that heavily in determining your acceptance. In fact, AM won't see your percentage score. All they get back from the testing center is a score of 1, 2, or 3. A score of 1 basically means "didn't answer enough questions correctly" while 2 is "did answer enough" and 3 is "answered a lot". Not a lot of resolution to the results.

I recall quite well the anxiety that most people faced when waiting to get in, but for the most part few have reason to worry. Good luck with your studies.

[MadMax]

seriously dude, don't sweat it. It's not like that test was anything serious like an SAT.

a few days from now you'll probably be in here making an annoyingly happy post about how you were accepted for winter blah blah blah.. ;)



I am finished! I just completed the online test and now I am worrying about the result, cause I KNOW that it woun't be a good result - I answered 23 of 30 questions because for me, as a german, some questions were a little difficult to understand so I had t read them twice. Furethermore I know that at least 4 questions were answered incorrect... So I still have the hope I got more than the half correct... -> That's the reason why I doubt now that I'll get a place at AM. It's time to wait now anyway...
Greetz Jonas

PS: Damn!! I should have learned more english before... CRAP!

[cgTim]

Hi,

Anyone has been accepted for the winter term? I'm still waiting for their reply ever since I took the online test last month :( Keeping my fingers cross!

CG

[mmkelly011881]

24 hours and five minutes left in the first graduating class's program

[Vespers]

Hey cgtim, if it is really bothering you, go ahead and call them. I got tired of waiting so I called and the lady that answered the phone was really nice and said I'd be getting an e-mail the next day. Sure enough, the next day I got my acceptance. So she might not have an aswer for you but she will let you know when you can expect to know.

[djo]

Same here JohnWest,

I am Dutch and had a some difficulties with the test too. I was a little stressed because I did not know exactly what to expect from the test. I hope the outcome of this test does not stand in my way of becoming a character animator. I am so excited about AM that it would hurt like crazy if the outcome of this test would prevent me from studying at Animation Mentor. When I am accepted I hopefully will start in January.

Does anybody know how long it takes before you get a response after doing te test?

Is there anybody who is already accepted to start in January 2007?



I am finished! I just completed the online test and now I am worrying about the result, cause I KNOW that it woun't be a good result - I answered 23 of 30 questions because for me, as a german, some questions were a little difficult to understand so I had t read them twice. Furethermore I know that at least 4 questions were answered incorrect... So I still have the hope I got more than the half correct... -> That's the reason why I doubt now that I'll get a place at AM. It's time to wait now anyway...
Greetz Jonas

PS: Damn!! I should have learned more english before... CRAP!

[My Fault]

24 hours and five minutes left in the first graduating class's program

Congrats to all the first graduates. It was a tough road but you all did fantastically. :thumbsup:

[anthea]

There are actual graduates now??!! I can't believe it! Congrats on all the new graduates who have just become a part of animation history. : )

[mttjss]

There are actual graduates now??!! I can't believe it! Congrats on all the new graduates who have just become a part of animation history. : )

Yes - congrats guys. I have spoken with a lot of you and realized the sudden looming deadlines and putting your new found respect for animation into your short films. I am anxious to watch all of them over the next few months.

I have exactly 1 week before I start my journey into AM. I cannot wait till I look back after 18 months and realize all the joys and benefits I have gotten through AM.

Matt -

[Fede]

Let me in ( shaking at the gates )

So close, i'm so pumped for this i can't even tell you guys. Just wondering, am i supposed to get an email stating that the payment went through fine and that the contract i sent had no errors and that i'm defenetly in? just a bit paranoid i guess.


Well done to all of the graduates! look forward to seeing your shorts.

Will any of the shorts be entered into festivals?

[meta87]

I just got my email to setup my account. I am now watching all the orientation videos. This looks awesome! I cant wait till Monday when I get full access to the site!

I'll see you guys in there! :)

[mttjss]

I just got my email to setup my account. I am now watching all the orientation videos. This looks awesome! I cant wait till Monday when I get full access to the site!

I'll see you guys in there! :)

Same here Meta - was viewing the videos last night. I already have that feel that the school is 100% behind you but they still let you know that the success for each student is up to them.

Now to work on my personal avatar.:D

Matt -

[TobiWanKen0bi]

Hi everybody I get my login data es well, hope to see you all in the chatroom ;)

till Monday

Tobi

[thelostcucumber]

congrats to all class 1 people =)

See you all monday!

-Cucumber

[MLMckenzie]

Last night I decided to check my email before going to bed, and there it was. Accepted. Start date Jan 1st 2007.
Oh boy, I've got a lot to do between now and then…

Mike

[Littleberu]

Mentee, ASSEMBLE!

Oh my god, it really IS starting. Oh my!!!

I'll be seeing you Monday. I'll be the guy named "CarlBerube". I'll be easy to recognize, I'll be the only one running naked and screaming : "OH MY!!! PIRATES!!!".

You'll see.

[csprance]

Just got accepted for the January 2007 Winter Term. Anybody else accepted yet?

[SePu]

Hey guys same here .... getting ready for this awesome journey just a few more days...... Im so exciting !
I hope to see all of you guys on there ...

Big Big Congratulations to all graduates !
I cant wait to see what you came up with for your short guys!

[JohnWest]

Last night I decided to check my email before going to bed, and there it was. Accepted. Start date Jan 1st 2007.
Oh boy, I've got a lot to do between now and then…

Mike

Congrats Dude!!! Great to hear that there are acception mails for winter07 already coming out. May I ask when you finished your test? I finished mine last saturday, but I can't wait anymore...
We will hopefully meet on the other side!
-John

[JiCe]

Hey all
I can't wait to begin too, 2 more days =)
And to know who is my mentor.
Anyone know id there will be a live session the 1st day or something ?

[Vespers]

Yeah, it's one waiting game after another! Wait for acceptance, wait for the login, wait for the mentor announcement, wait for class to start. I'm sick of waiting! Patience is a virtue I don't have I guess.

[achavero]

Hey all
I can't wait to begin too, 2 more days =)
And to know who is my mentor.
Anyone know id there will be a live session the 1st day or something ?


There's supose to be a general Q&A session only for class 01 on the second week. I don't know if they still do it.

But every wednesday there's a session for technical problems and doubts.

Don't worry, I know at the beginning you want to animate, animate, animate... like crazy but the great thing of this school is that they teach you pacience to the young ninjas so their basic skills develop strong so in class 2 you can start with the real thing.

Congratulations to everybody and welcome to this great journey!

[MadMax]

Hey all
I can't wait to begin too, 2 more days =)
And to know who is my mentor.
Anyone know id there will be a live session the 1st day or something ?


When you get your login, you can find out quickly by clicking on the Calendar link on the left side of the screen.

This will show you your scheduled events, your QA times with your mentor, and everyones favorites "OFFICE HOURS" which is an informal QA, you can ask all kinds of questions.

Also, Community Chat is highly recommended. A lot of times it's just idle BS and goofing off, but you can also get help from any number of fellow students, ask for a quick critique and a number of mentors pop in there occasionally as well.

When you are in a crunch and need quick help, it can't be beat.

[JohnWest]

Sounds great! ... as usual ... Damn, is there anything bad about AM?! I haven't heard any critiques or disadvantages yet ... that scares me somehow... is AM maybe an unhuman project? something extraterrestrial? There have to be some less cool aspects...
Waiting all the time really drives me insane as you see... hold on... WAITING!!! <- Yeah that's it! Something negative....
-greetz,
John, still waiting for acceptance :P

[JiCe]

Ok I know who is my mentor now =)
Keith Sintay, I didn't check his filmo yet.

And I can also see that there is a Q&A on Thursday.

[JiCe]

Keith Sintay worked for Disney and Dreamworks Studios ^^ ( Shark Tale, Monster House, Tarzan.......)
Sound really great

[meta87]

Keith Sintay worked for Disney and Dreamworks Studios ^^ ( Shark Tale, Monster House, Tarzan.......)
Sound really great

I also have Keith Sintay for a mentor. Sounds like he has worked on some great movies. I will see you in class!

-Travis

[JiCe]

I also have Keith Sintay for a mentor. Sounds like he has worked on some great movies. I will see you in class!

-Travis

Cool.
Nice to know you Travis.
See you in class ;)

[JCAddy]

so........... they say you don't HAVE to use Maya for the program....but, won't it make it harder to follow? I'm going to be a complete n00b if I have to start learning maya right now. Although I don't start until January 1st so I have some time to get familiarized.

Anyone?

[achavero]

The thing is that if you don't use Maya, you will have to make your own characters and as the course progress the characters rig become very complex. So if you use maya, AM gives you a professional rig with all the controls and the manuals to learn how to use it.

When I entered a year ago to the program, I didn't have a clue of maya also. I learn with all the tutorials that the school gives you and also from other tutorials on the web and Gnomon DVDs. Also there's a special class of Maya (additional cost) that was created for the people that had software problems.

My advice is if you are starting until next year, take this 3 months to learn just how to animate in maya. You can download the free version from the autodesk website. Dig into the help files and make all the tutorials related to animation. You don't need a state of the art rig, just a simple sphere that you can animate and move around. That's enough to understand the way maya create, delete and move keys around also how to use the graph editor and how to make playblasts.

That's it if you get this concepts (one month is more than enough to feel comftable with the interfase), you certainly will be creating cool animations.

[Littleberu]

Are there any reasons I can't read my Mentor bio or something? I just can't see it anywhere.

It's Steve Gagnon-Cady, FYI.

[achavero]

Steve Cady is from Montreal, Canada. He studied at Sheridan College's Classical Animation programme. His most recent film projects have been Scooby2, Ring2 and The Chronicles of Narnia at Rhythm & Hues.

Is strange that you can't read it... maybe until monday.

[Littleberu]

Steve Cady is from Montreal, Canada. He studied at Sheridan College's Classical Animation programme. His most recent film projects have been Scooby2, Ring2 and The Chronicles of Narnia at Rhythm & Hues.

Is strange that you can't read it... maybe until monday.


Oh my, a quebecers! Oh, Animationmentor, you!!! Always full of surprise!

[Solario]

You guys have an amazing mentor....I met Keith back in 1996 when he was on Mulan here in Orlando and been friends with him since. Great teacher is all I can say and very approachable. Good luck to you guys in your animation venture.

[JiCe]

Are there any reasons I can't read my Mentor bio or something? I just can't see it anywhere.

It's Steve Gagnon-Cady, FYI.

I can't read Keith bio on the AM website too =/

[mttjss]

Got my mentor as well - Dave Burgess.

He worked on several Disney 2D animated films - Beauty & the Beast/Lion King/Aladdin/Tarzan
Since 2001 he has been with PDI/Dreamworks working on Shrek/Madagascar & Over the Hedge.
been doing animation for a long time and also has both the traditional and digital animation.

very cool.:thumbsup:


Matt -

[JCAddy]

The thing is that if you don't use Maya, you will have to make your own characters and as the course progress the characters rig become very complex. So if you use maya, AM gives you a professional rig with all the controls and the manuals to learn how to use it.

When I entered a year ago to the program, I didn't have a clue of maya also. I learn with all the tutorials that the school gives you and also from other tutorials on the web and Gnomon DVDs. Also there's a special class of Maya (additional cost) that was created for the people that had software problems.

My advice is if you are starting until next year, take this 3 months to learn just how to animate in maya. You can download the free version from the autodesk website. Dig into the help files and make all the tutorials related to animation. You don't need a state of the art rig, just a simple sphere that you can animate and move around. That's enough to understand the way maya create, delete and move keys around also how to use the graph editor and how to make playblasts.

That's it if you get this concepts (one month is more than enough to feel comftable with the interfase), you certainly will be creating cool animations.

that is what I wanted to hear! thanks Alejandro.

[Littleberu]

Hey, I just wanted to ask a question concerning Maya.

Is the app used a lot during the first 3 weeks?

[mttjss]

its not used till week 2 I read somewhere. They want the new students to be able to get it with the discount if they dont already have it.

Probably be studying principles and doing sketching and poses.

Matt -

[Rabid pitbull]

Things could have changed but when I started we had to create a few poses in maya the first week. We also had some reading to do but basically when class starts they jump you right in. That was a long time ago and much has changed since then, but I was able to buy maya before class started as a student. Send an email to the school and ask them what the procedure is. Good luck and get ready for lots of FUN!!

[AjaBogdanoff]

Congratulations everyone! I'm so excited for you. :) You've got some excellent mentors there!!

Maya is the only platform that AM will provide rigs for, however, over the past 18 months some of our incredibly talented classmates have ported them over to other platforms themselves. I know that the XSI students have got themselves covered all the way through Bishop, and some work has been done on rigs for 3DS and I think Animation Master? Your easiest bet is to just go with the AM-supported Maya rigs if you're doing 3D (you can always do 2D or stop-mo instead, the mentors will love you for it!), but if you want to stick with your own software, you can make it work. Just be aware that you might be spending time rigging etc. that you'd rather spend animating. :)

And yeah, you don't start working on assignments until week 2, I believe, and even then it's still poses. Your first animation assignment is a bouncing ball in week 3. :)

And just so you guys know, I believe the site is going to be down for the between-semester rollover until around 1pm San Francisco time Monday, so don't panic if you can't log in until then.

Good luck, and I'll see you all in the alumni site someday! Woooooo! :D

[Fede]

Hey all,

I can't find my mentor on the list "Eris Lessard" but i did google him and from what i gather he is from DreamWorks and has worked on some kick ass movies! sweeeet.

[toonpang]

I got my class 4 mentor, Brett Coderre. He's been at Pixar since A Bug's Life, and was the animator behind Dory speaking whale. :thumbsup:

The AM site is down until tomorrow at 12... BAH!! I always watch me lectures on sundays. :sad:

-Kevin

[FatFatFatty]

I just finished the first term and Aja is correct. The first week you get to know the site and your mentor. Second week you create a still pose, and the third week you have your first animation. So you would need Maya by the second week.

[MadMax]

its not used till week 2 I read somewhere. They want the new students to be able to get it with the discount if they dont already have it.

Probably be studying principles and doing sketching and poses.

Matt -


your first actually assignment where Maya is used is week 2. No animation, but you will have to pose this character they provide to display some form of emotion. despair or excitement etc. You'll get a lot of those along the way.

Week 3 starts the fun stuff.

Advance tips for the new guys, hit Amazon or eBay and get a couple books.

1. Animator's Survivial Kit by Richard Williams. It gets referenced by mentors a lot.

2. track down a copy of Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. There is alway some on eBay.

Chapter 3 of Illusion is the spirit of the entire class 1. It covers the traditional principles of animation, they are the animators 12 commandments.

Both books really are a must have for your animation library.

Additional reading, suggested by one of the mentors were books by Heinrich Kleys. lots of interesting illustrations, a lot of really great examples and well worht the cost. I picked one up on Amazon for like $9.00


3. Familiarize yourself with the Graph Editor real fast. It is essential. You'll get behind if you are struggling with it, and trying to keep up with the assignments every week. If you need help, sign up for the Maya class they offer, it's an additional 299.00. IF you are not comfortable in Maya, it's money very well spent.

4. Outside sources/DVD's. Gnomon Character animation series (3 disc set) is a decent start, it will help you learn some of what you need to know. Digital Tutors Maya Walk Cycle DVD covers a lot of what you will need to learn in later assignments in class 1.

Another inexpensive resource, Ketih Lango DVD's www.keithlango.com he has a monthly subscription service, I think it was 14.95 a month or something like that. Plus you can buy "back issues" which are videos, that cover things like Timing and spacing, poses etc. Lango also has a few really good tutorials and tips on his site which are free.


Good luck new guys, drop by community chat and introduce yourselves later when the site is back up!!

[MadMax]

For those interested, I found out about a week ago that one of the students had also converted several of the rigs to Lightwave format as well, if anyone still uses that.....




Maya is the only platform that AM will provide rigs for, however, over the past 18 months some of our incredibly talented classmates have ported them over to other platforms themselves. I know that the XSI students have got themselves covered all the way through Bishop, and some work has been done on rigs for 3DS and I think Animation Master? Your easiest bet is to just go with the AM-supported Maya rigs if you're doing 3D (you can always do 2D or stop-mo instead, the mentors will love you for it!), but if you want to stick with your own software, you can make it work. Just be aware that you might be spending time rigging etc. that you'd rather spend animating.

[camjam26]

So I'm patiently waiting for the site to come back up. First class for me and I'm completely excited that it's starting. I've got Ray Chase as my mentor. No profile was available for him but found his blog on the web. Worked on Jimmy Neutron and The Ant Bully with DNA Productions. Looking forward to meeting everyone!!

-Chris

[MadMax]

For those curious about their mentors, and can't see their Bio or whatever, you know you can look them up by name at imdb.com right?

[SePu]

yep I was also wondering about that ....
anyway now just waiting for the site come back just a couple hours more !

my mentor is Steve Gagnon-Candy ...

looking forward to meet all you guys and share experiences and all that good stuff .

[MadMax]

Sites up.......

[SePu]

I was going to say the same !!! :scream: ....


now another thing ...
am I the only one who cant see this thread on the CGNEWS ? to write or whatever I have to look for it with the search option .... I cant never see it even when someone write a new message ?
does anybody has the same problem ?

[JohnWest]

YES! I got it!!! I am in!!! I can't believe it! I just got the welcome mail - so i'm accepted for winter07... You can't imagine how glad I am... just incredible...
john

[storyForge]

I just finished up my first semester and I want to welcome all of you new class one'rs to the fold. You're going to be so wrapped up and loving AM you're not going to know what to do with yourself.

and to all returning students, YAY WE'RE BACK AFTER A DAY OF REST! LET THE ANIMATING BEGIN. Again. :) Can't wait to see everyone's work this semester.

and to all of you making you're way to the Alumni site and (soon to be going to) various studios, congratulations so much on making it through AM. You are all such an inspiration to those of us going through now. IT was a privelege to get to watch you work through the gauntlet of the first class, seeing you tackle the short film production class. All of them came out beautiful and I can't wait to see them fully rendered and shown off on your demo reels. Congrats guys! Go get a beer, you deserve it.

[djo]

Yess... I just got an email too that I am accepted for Winter 2007 starting january 1st. I am gonna use the next three months to prepare myself for the first lessons. Can't wait to start. Best of luck to all who started this fall-semester.

YES! I got it!!! I am in!!! I can't believe it! I just got the welcome mail - so i'm accepted for winter07... You can't imagine how glad I am... just incredible...
john

[JohnWest]

Yess... I just got an email too that I am accepted for Winter 2007 starting january 1st. I am gonna use the next three months to prepare myself for the first lessons. Can't wait to start. Best of luck to all who started this fall-semester.


Congratulations dude! Great to hear that I am not the only one who has to prepare a little bit for AM. Currently I'm learning Maya in detail (even this is not a requirement) and I am animating a lot of bouncing balls, hehe.

Actually I'm still looking for a english speaking person (doesn't have to be the mother language) that'll start AM soon as well and I can talk with to improve my english abilities. If anyone is interested (for preparation reasons as well)... Feel free to contact me via private message, so we can share contact data (ICQ or stuff).
Furetheremore, I am still looking for germans that will start next term, maybe there is someone...
-John

[mattmos]

Hey there animation mentees, i'm currently in a break from the course and can't access my animation mentor PMs, just got contacted by marcus lee but can't read it (may have something to do with using xsi for AM) - could someone please forward this on to him if you know this person?

he can reach me by email at mattmorris at excite dot com

ta
matt

[JohnWest]

Hey there!
Are there any reels of the graduated mentees released by now? I havn't found any yet - can't wait to see the great work!
greetz john

[3DChobo]

I'm planning on joining AM next year, because i'm currently still at College studying Multimedia.


Is it possible to do the whole course with 3D Studio Max ?

or is it just gonna be too complicated with changing rigs, etc.

or is it possible to use the learning edition of Maya all the way through?

[AKS]

Hey Marcel,

It is possible to do the program with a software other than maya, IF you really know the other software. I did the whole program with XSI, and it worked out fine.

You can basically just export the geometry that they give you for the rigs from Maya and re-rig it in the software of your choice. That said, you want to make sure that doing that is not going to cost you animation time. For me, in the early terms it only took me 1/2 a morning or so to move the rigs over, by the time it got up to Bishop (the 3rd/4th term model) it took me about a day to move it all over. Mostly b/c the full facial setup that they have in Bishop took a little while to reconnect in XSI.

[oliveUK]

I was speaking with some other AM students and I wouldn't suggest you to do AM on Max. AM is an "advanced training for animation". What it means is that by the end of AM you should be looking for work in feature, TV series and commercials and in that business most of the companies use Maya as a primary tool. Pixar doesn't, PDI hardly uses it but the majority of companies in the mentionned businesses do.

I am a max user myself but I wanted to use AM as an opportunity to discover Maya. As you realised the rigs are provided for Maya in the first place and at school it is easier to find help if you use Maya.

If you are fluent in Max what I would suggest you instead is to do the first 4 classes in Maya then go back to Max for your short.

[edit] Why is Alison a veteran and me a new member if I joined CGTalk 6 month before her???? ;-)

[Kimotion]

Hey there!
Are there any reels of the graduated mentees released by now? I havn't found any yet - can't wait to see the great work!
greetz john

I think one of the reasons is because we do get a demo reel critique. For me, I just finished mine so I will get some feedback, make the changes and then *gasp* load it on my site.

[AKS]

[edit] Why is Alison a veteran and me a new member if I joined CGTalk 6 month before her???? ;-)
Olivier, More posts ;)

I agree that knowing Maya is more useful for the industry, especially if you are planning on going into film work instead of games. Max is mainly (correct me if I'm wrong here) used by game studios. I used AM as an opportunity to push my XSI skills mainly b/c I already knew Maya quite well.

[timeless3d]

I've been thinking about it for a long time. All the recent talk about the Animation Mentor graduates as got me itching for it. So, I just submitted my application and essay. The catalog has me so excited about the courses, they all sound fascinating.

Cross your fingers for me :)

Anyone have any idea about the ratio of applicants that don't make it?

Congratulations to the first AM graduating class.

[DigitalToon2]

Before AM I was a max user and when I started AM I decided like others that it would be a good oppintunity to learn maya so I just bought a student version of maya and I've been using maya for the past year. Although any time I uaually need props or something I usually model them in max and just export them so I can use them in maya. The transition from Max to maya isn't to bad either, if that's something your worried about, it just takes a few days or so to get used to maya. I know there are people who have done the entire program using max, but all the rigs and any tools or plugins that AM has are all for maya and when ever you have trouble with something it's easy to get help because you can just search the forum because most likely someone else has had that exact same problem or you can email support and they can help you out. If your going to use max or anything other than maya, you just want make sure that your focused on animating and that your not getting hung up with anything else.

[HenrikJonsson]

Hi there,

Today I wanted to apply to the animationmentor program, but the apply page seemed to be down. Later today it seemed to be working again, but after spending an hour or so filling everything out correctly, after clicking "next" on the last page, I was just brought back to the first page again. No note of "Application sent" or anything.

I just wanted to ask if anyone who has applied before has had this experience, or if it may be a bug and I would need to try again in the morning?

Regards,

Henrik

[timeless3d]

sounds like a bug to me. i recently went through the process, and afterwards i was sent an email confirming my submission. you might want to email registration@animationmentor.com and see if they got your info.

it has been a few days now, and i am still waiting to get the email about the test. so, you might want to email them soon if you haven't heard anything.

good luck!

[corneliu]

Hi Henrik

As far as I can remember there should be a confirmation email after you finish the aplication.


Hi there,

Today I wanted to apply to the animationmentor program, but the apply page seemed to be down. Later today it seemed to be working again, but after spending an hour or so filling everything out correctly, after clicking "next" on the last page, I was just brought back to the first page again. No note of "Application sent" or anything.

I just wanted to ask if anyone who has applied before has had this experience, or if it may be a bug and I would need to try again in the morning?

Regards,

Henrik

[timeless3d]

I just took the test, I got through about 25 questions, I think. Did anyone 'finish'? or does it just keep giving you questions till the time runs out?

It only gave me 8 minutes to do them, but the email said 15 minutes.

[corneliu]

I just took the test, I got through about 25 questions, I think. Did anyone 'finish'? or does it just keep giving you questions till the time runs out?

It only gave me 8 minutes to do them, but the email said 15 minutes.


It's' ok, don't worry ... for me it was also 8 minutes

[timeless3d]

good to know

i was thinking we should do a google earth thing that shows were all the am students are, like the one for cgsociety members, anyone into starting one? (or is there one?)

[timeless3d]

As fas as money goes, it's one of the cheapest animation schools to go to and one of the best, so you've got the best of both worlds there. What other schools are you thinking of that are cheaper or as cheap? ... Other 2 year programs out there can cost around $30,000 or more. Some might be a little less

I'm slowly working my way back through this awesome thread. This is from page 494, but I hear this thinking alot and wanted to comment on it.

I am sold on AM, it is totally worth the money for the professional crits alone.

That being said, I don't think it is fair to compare it to degree programs. Yes, AM is cheaper then a 2 year or 4 year school, but it is not a degree program. This is an advantage in that you can concentrate solely on animation, but this affects the cost greatly for me (and others, I would guess).

If this were a degree program, my federal financial aid would cover it. This is low-interest, payment-deferred, lended funds that anyone can qualify for (my credit is crap). I don't qualify for the aid offered through AM because it isn't Federal aid. So, for me, it is more expensive then the $30k school because I have to pay it all out of pocket, as I go along.

I feel certain it is way worth the money, but it is costing me more then a degree program would. But, a animation degree isn't an option for people who aren't in an area to go to a good school that offers such a thing.

[HenrikJonsson]

Thanks for your replies guys. I eventually got my application in ok, and I took the test this sunday. It gave me 8 minutes too. Hope to see you on the inside.

[MadMax]

If this were a degree program, my federal financial aid would cover it. This is low-interest, payment-deferred, lended funds that anyone can qualify for (my credit is crap). I don't qualify for the aid offered through AM because it isn't Federal aid. So, for me, it is more expensive then the $30k school because I have to pay it all out of pocket, as I go along.



To recieve federal financial aid, the school has to be established for 2 years. AM will be acheiving that status in the spring, at which time you should be able to get that assistance. And yes, I talked to people in student loans at AM, so this is coming from them.

Problem with the financing available now, you are paying gross amounts of interest, that 14k for AM results in a 34k repayment.

[timeless3d]

I thought for sure you had to be in a degree program to qualify for federal aid. But, I checked the FAQ on fasfa's website and stand corrected

To be eligible to receive federal student aid, you must meet certain requirements. You must:



...
Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a regular student working toward a degree or certificate in an eligible program at a school that participates in the federal student aid programs

[MadMax]

I thought for sure you had to be in a degree program to qualify for federal aid. But, I checked the FAQ on fasfa's website and stand corrected


SEE!!! you got good news now!!!

sadly for me, by the time the two year mark hits I'll have paid for more than 60% of the courses by then. All on loans :(

[timeless3d]

im still crossing my fingers 'till i get accepted, but if I do it will be jan, or spring was my second choice

hopefully, even if i start in jan i will just be paying for one class before spring.

here's to wishin' and hopin'

[MadMax]

A helpful hint... start studying NOW.

Illusion of Life, Animator's Survival kit, and make sure you are real familiar with the timeline and graph Editor.

[timeless3d]

thanks, MadMax, I'm doing just that. I have been in contact with a few others who are also waiting to start in Jan (they are already accepted, lucky!) and I've order both of those books from amazon over a week ago. In the mean time, I am becoming as intimate with the graph editor as I can, as this seems to be highly recommended.

if anyone else wants to join our little study group, please contact me!

[voxelMan]

Hi All,
This has been a very helpful thread indeed.
I've applied to AM 3 weeks ago, completed the online test, and a couple of days ago
got a letter referring to me as "Winter 2007 Student," asking me to pay by October 25th.
Does this mean I got accepted ? :scream:
I read somewhere in this thread that there is an acceptance package which I didn't get.

What to do? I'm so excited about starting AM that I'm losing my mind.
I've emailed AM asking them, but still no response..

Anyone? Help ?
:shrug:

Ziv

[timeless3d]

Sounds like acceptance to me!

You want to make sure you pay your $500 by the 25 like they say, in order to get this year's tuition rate. After the 25th, it goes up (according to their website). I applied on the 9th, and am still waiting to hear. I am encouraged that you were accepted for Winter, as I was afraid it was already full.

Congratulations!

[Atrex]

Congrats to all who got accepted. Just out of curiousity, anyone apply and not get accepted??

[smearframe]

I haven't come across such a case so far but somewhere in this thread Aja said that there have been some instances where people got rejected because of their poor essays.
here's the link:
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?p=3666518&highlight=rejected#post3666518

If you are wondering whether there is a max number of students allotted to a class then I would like to point out that the Fall 2006 term has seen the highest number (http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_4397455) (154) of admissions so far and AM accomodated all of us :)


Congrats to all who got accepted. Just out of curiousity, anyone apply and not get accepted??

[timeless3d]

anyone apply and not get accepted??

Not me! I just got the Welcome letter!!!

Now I have to wait till Nov 20 for registration. I still haven't been asked for any money though, so that's a bit odd. I'm trying to call and see what's up, I want to get that deposit in before Oct. 25!!!

[MLMckenzie]

Hi all, I just paid my deposit for the Winter 07 class, and would like to ask a few questions of those here who might know ( this thread is truly a shadow of it's former self, but I don't know wherelse to ask)
Anyway, I have done some searching on the thread, but did not find any conclusive answers.

1- Although I own XSI Essentials I am strongly leaning toward going with Maya, just so I don't make this any harder on myself than it needs to be. So my question is: Can the educational version of Maya be installed on more than one machine? I would like to use it on both my workstation and a laptop that I would need to buy.

2- Is there any real difference between the Mac and PC version of Maya? I have both platforms.

3- Has anyone used the iSight camera (either standalone or on an iMac or MacBook Pro) as their webcam for the class?

4- How do I get this grin off my face in anticipation of becoming a part of Animation Mentor???

Thanks!!

[tredeger]

Hi all, I just paid my deposit for the Winter 07 class, and would like to ask a few questions of those here who might know ( this thread is truly a shadow of it's former self, but I don't know wherelse to ask)
Anyway, I have done some searching on the thread, but did not find any conclusive answers.

1- Although I own XSI Essentials I am strongly leaning toward going with Maya, just so I don't make this any harder on myself than it needs to be. So my question is: Can the educational version of Maya be installed on more than one machine? I would like to use it on both my workstation and a laptop that I would need to buy.

2- Is there any real difference between the Mac and PC version of Maya? I have both platforms.

3- Has anyone used the iSight camera (either standalone or on an iMac or MacBook Pro) as their webcam for the class?

4- How do I get this grin off my face in anticipation of becoming a part of Animation Mentor???

Thanks!!

1. If you like using XSI and are comfortable with it, stick with it. Migrating to a new and unfamiliar app can be a frustrating experience and an obstacle to focusing on your animation. And you'll be missing a lot of XSI goodness switching to Maya.

See if you can get a hold of one of the XSI versions of the characters and if you have no problems with that rig, then everything else they teach you will apply in XSI just as well as Maya. The advantage you get using Maya rather than MAX or XSI is that there are official rigs and technical support for Maya. The disadvantage is that you're stuck with Maya. So if you have a rig for XSI that doesn't need support, you're fine sticking with what you know and you'll probably be better off.

Good luck with your studies.

[timeless3d]

I am strongly leaning toward going with Maya

Maya is not my application of choice, I am a big blender supporter. However, I decided to learn Maya for this class. I will probably always use blender in any project in which I have the choice, but I believe Maya is pretty much standard in most studios (if they don't have their own, proprietary software) so I am glad to learn it. Making it easier to work in the class is a bonus. No matter how much faith you have in a non-Maya rig, it would totally suck to find your self stuck on something stupid and have trouble getting past the issue because your software isn't supported by the AM guys.

Can the educational version of Maya be installed on more than one machine?

I'm pretty sure it can be installed anywhere with an Internet connection, I have downloaded the ed ver several times on different machines. The only time I had trouble was in a classroom where the teacher couldn't get it on a non-networked mac, but that might have been the teacher's ineptitude, there might be a work around.


Is there any real difference between the Mac and PC version of Maya?

I work in both, I haven't noticed many differences other than the keyboard issues in every application.

How do I get this grin off my face in anticipation of becoming a part of Animation Mentor???

I'll let you know as soon as I figure that out myself. Congratulations! See you in January!

[MLMckenzie]

Quote: No matter how much faith you have in a non-Maya rig, it would totally suck to find your self stuck on something stupid and have trouble getting past the issue because your software isn't supported by the AM guys.

Yes, that is my worst fear. I'm not that familiar with CA in XSI, so I don't think I'll risk it.

Thanks for the response!

Mike

[DigitalToon2]

I think you'll end up saving yourself a lot of headaches in the long run if you use maya. If something happens you can get help from the AM support or 99% of the time if you have a problem you can search the AM forum or post the problem your having and at least at one time or another there's another student who's encountered that same issue. Plus if you have a question such as constraints or the GE you can ask your mentor because most of them are pretty familar with maya. Good luck!

[fluffybunny]

The standard maya is node-locked to the ethernet MAC address (one of them of your choosing if you have multiple) in your computer. This goes for Apple, PC, and Linux...and the educational version.
Many people have successfully used a USB/ethernet adapter to successfully "dongolize" their version of maya since maya dongles can only be purchased for the full non-student edition. In this mode you can move the USB/ethernet adapter to the computer you wish to use maya on....it's not trivial to setup, but not too hard. I have no idea if there are any technical difficulties doing this across platforms, so your mileage may vary.

eric

[sketch404]

Sa-weet! I'm accepted for Winter 07'!
now to pay my deposit, buy a webcam, books, and start learnin some Maya.

see you guys in class.

[JohnWest]

@sketch404: Congratulations!!! So we'll meet on the other side...
Currently I try to improve in Maya too. Everybody's struggling with the biiig application problem... To my eyes rigging all the AM rigs in an other package than Maya isn't the effort worth. I came from 3dSMax and I can safely say that learning Maya with focusing on animations isn't hard at all. In my case it took just a few days/weeks do become confident in using Maya's graph editor n stuff...
My tip at this point: Try to get to know other fellow students that have to prepare (like me ;) ) - Fortunately, i met a couple guyes from all over the world, who'll start this winter too. All of them try to learn Maya and attempt to animate. This helped me a lot, now i feel prepared for AM... If u ask me, let's start now :)

[d_jnaneswar]

congrats to all those enrolled into the coming term! you will enjoy it a lot.

I am taking a break for this term and I cant wait to come back into AM!
woohoo!

dj

[Seven3D]

I also got accepted for Winter 07' Looking forward to it :) Congrats to everyone else who got accepted.

[timeless3d]

webcam?

I got my miniDv camera to work as a nice webcam with a driver from here:

http://www.trackercam.com/TCamWeb/download.htm

anyone know if i will be able to use this firewire camera as a webcam for AM?

[My Fault]

Yup, shouldn't be a problem. I use my sons firewire camera sometimes....well, when he lets me. :)

webcam?

I got my miniDv camera to work as a nice webcam with a driver from here:

http://www.trackercam.com/TCamWeb/download.htm

anyone know if i will be able to use this firewire camera as a webcam for AM?

[HenrikJonsson]

I'm in for Winter '07 too. Though I have had some production experience with Maya, I am basically from a Max background, so I'm going through the Maya UI now as well.

Are there any others in London who're in for the upcoming semester start? If so, maybe we could hook up for a coffee or something.

[voxelMan]

Hi All,
I'm in for Winter 07 as well. :thumbsup:
Very excited, can't wait to start.
I'm a Maya user, which is one less thing to worry about. My main
concern is the time I'll have to put it, I have a new baby girl coming in one month, and
it is definitely going to be a major challenge.
If anyone wants to hook up online - through IM, I'd be happy to do so. just drop me
a line. :)

Ziv

[timeless3d]

Yup, shouldn't be a problem. I use my sons firewire camera sometimes....well, when he lets me. :)

awesome, thanks for the reassurance. after further experimentation, it seems as long as the trackercam software is running it works in camfrog.

can't wait till jan!!!

[jwr38]

Hi All,
I'm in for Winter 07 as well. :thumbsup:
Very excited, can't wait to start.
I'm a Maya user, which is one less thing to worry about. My main
concern is the time I'll have to put it, I have a new baby girl coming in one month, and
it is definitely going to be a major challenge.
If anyone wants to hook up online - through IM, I'd be happy to do so. just drop me
a line. :)

Ziv

You will be fine. I have a 6 month old and it is easy to find time. You will find the first few months hard until you teach your child bedtime hours but by the 4-5 month you should have time at night to spend at AM. Oh, congrats on the young one coming.

[voxelMan]

Thanks, that's very reassuring. I'm making a big leap into fatherhood and into
a new career choice. 2007 is going be an amazing year!

[timeless3d]

Still working backward through this thread, and I recently found this gem:
The recording of the session is available at the following link:

http://flash.kmi.open.ac.uk:8080/fm/fmm.php?pwd=1cc766-4418


Wow, what a cool idea. It is cool to hear the passion of the current AM students and the excitement of the new comers. I am assuming this was done unofficially, outside of AM? Any chance we could do something like this again? I wouldn't mind setting it up (if someone points me in the right direction). It would be cool to chat with some AM students, and troubleshoot our webcams at the same time!

[tuderose]

Just jumping in here to say I have been accepted for the Winter '07 class. No experience in Maya or animation. Mmmm.... interesting.

Hello to my other classmates - guess we'll get to know each other quite well beginning next January! :)

[MadMax]

Just jumping in here to say I have been accepted for the Winter '07 class. No experience in Maya or animation. Mmmm.... interesting.

Hello to my other classmates - guess we'll get to know each other quite well beginning next January! :)


new student advice... study and prepare in advance.

Hit eBay and snag a copy of "Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life"

Also, get a book called Animator's Survival Kit

If you are light on Maya experience, you might also want to look a ta book called Mastering Maya 7. It's a pretty decent noob book.

If you don't have Maya yet, get the PLE version at least and make sure you know your way around the timeline, Graph Editor etc., otherwise you may end up struggling a bit.

AM gets pretty fast paced, and you get hit hard with a lot of stuff to absorb, last thing you want to do is get left behind.

GOOD LUCK!!

[tuderose]

Thanks for the good advice MadMax. Last night tried to win a copy of Illusion of Life on EBay but someone else had the same idea and got there before me. Must be another future Animation Mentee! Will go for the next one.

Got a copy of Richard Williams book - enjoying it immensely.

Am madly working my way through Introducing Maya 7 right now with Maya PLE - just to get an idea of what the bleep is going on.

Also am finding a lot of useful information in the AnimationMentor blogs which am following up.

Keep reading the classwork is intense. Fortunately I will be able to work almost full time - it will be necessary in this case. Brains work slow at my age!

Where my studio is they have life drawing sessions which is a real bonus. It appears many people don't have access to a live model. My drawing skills need touching up big time.

Good, now I have posted twice in the forums and can put an avatar up - it's quite embarrassing to be such a newbie! :blush:

Cheers!

[timeless3d]

congrats, tuderose

amazon has that book listed, but who knows when they will decide to ship it. I have been waiting since Oct 7. The last update from amazon said it should ship Nov 20th. So, amazon might have it cheaper then ebay, but you may or may not get it before classes start. i guess that is a risk with ebay too.

some of the new students have been chatting back and forth. you will probably see it mentioned if you read back some in this thread. or, pop me a message if you want to join in the pre-am fun.

[voxelMan]

just recieved word that Amazon is delaying my shipment of Illusion of life - damn!
I've been browsing around and saw that this book is considered rare - look at this link (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/used/product.asp?z=y&EAN=2699971971273&Itm=38)-
it is sold for $1109
I think I'll write AM for help on this matter. Currently Amazon is estimating delivery at January 9th... and it may be delayed further.

[AKS]

Ziv, the $1109 version is a first edition collectors hardback "Signed by the authors".

For a long time this book was out of print and it was extremely rare. Just here in the last couple of years through they re-printed it (I'm pretty sure of this). This is definately a book that you want to own, but you don't need the collectors edition or even the extended edition (there's just about another 100 pages of history in it, cool but not necessary).

[DigitalToon2]

The Illusion Of Life is a very good book to have and a must read for any animator, but don't fret if it doesn't come in time for class, there's never any assigned reading out of it, if that's a concern. Also you might want to try looking for it on Froogle and find some place other than amazon to order it from. Just a thought you might have better luck.

[tuderose]

Okay, I won't get my tail in a spin about the book. If I get one oh goody, if I don't oh well.

Thanks for the group invite. Have emailed Jonas already and will definitely ask questions about Maya. I am pretty good about learning new software but I must say this one boggled me seriously! The only animation I have worked with is very basic stuff but I do understand the principles, which helps.

Back to the books.

[sketch404]

Hello again everyone. So I just bought a webcam and it seems to be working fine, I was wondering if there is anyway to test to see if it will be okay for AM.com? it's a HP VGA Webcam with Integrated Mic.
I was searching around the forums cause I thought I saw somewhere that they recommended a webcam but I couldn't find it again. so I went with a mid range one.

and I had a question for the current students as well. Has anyone done their loans through SLM Financial? I was wondering what the process was like, I've never gotten a loan before. do they handle all the payments or do they just give you money and you pay as you go? I was a little confused on that. and I wanted to apply as soon as possible.

hope everyone is doing great, if any of you winter 07' students wants to chat just lemme know. I know someone had a group goin on somewhere but I forgot who :P

[tuderose]

I am unable to get a wireless connection set up at my house. Has anyone used satellite for AM? I have a nasty feeling video conferencing isn't the greatest - lag problems.

Not the end of the world as I have hi-speed at my studios. Would prefer to be able to work from the house.

[MLMckenzie]

Sketch404 wrote "do they handle all the payments or do they just give you money and you pay as you go?"

SLM pays all Tuition money directly to AM. I started the loan process with SLM, but I'm not sure yet if I will be using them to pay for AM. It is basically a "credit card" type of loan where interest accrues on top of interest every day. Unfortunately right now it is the only "student" loan available directly thru AM - until they hopefully get certification for Federal student loan programs in a year or so…

HTH

Mike
AM January 07!

[IestynRoberts]

Im really thinking of applying to AM, but im also intrested in a VFX course down at Escape Studios in London, and i dont know what to do. The only thing im worried about is, that if I go to London, then at least im actually moving to London and have someware to go to everyday. Right now i live in the remote Welsh Moutains, and i really dont like the idea of staying here for another 18 months. But then again, I could move down to Cardiff or someware and get a job just to pay the rent. Do you guys work as well as attend the AM course? Would be great to know if you can juggle both?

Also - what's the Essay you have to write about? Im quite nervous about that one, dont know what to expect.

-Iest

[JohnWest]

@iest-rob:
Well, I am not a student yet (I'll start in jan), but I got to know a couple of great guys who say that it isn't a problem at all to work besides AM, but it's a challenge to organize that. I even heard of people who work fulltime(!)...
Refering your question about the essay's content: I think we are supposed to write what kind of emotions are related to animating - why do you want to become an animator, why is it important for you to be one? - why do you think is AM the right place to learn? ... I was told that they want to see your personality, a mental profile, concerning animation to see if you are passionate enough for AM and if you have the ability and the discipline to learn on your own ... So I introduced myself, who I am, what I have done before and then I just wrote down what I feel about animations and animating - I got accepted, so no need to worry about that.... I hope that helped you a bit
(Sorry for my bad english... as usual)
Greetz,
Jonas

[sketch404]

SLM pays all Tuition money directly to AM. I started the loan process with SLM, but I'm not sure yet if I will be using them to pay for AM. It is basically a "credit card" type of loan where interest accrues on top of interest every day. Unfortunately right now it is the only "student" loan available directly thru AM - until they hopefully get certification for Federal student loan programs in a year or so…


thanks, that helps

so for right now SLM is the pretty much the only option for a loan. besides a private loan.

[timeless3d]

I read a post here (they said it was from the horse's mouth) that I think said after this next term (that starts in Jan) they will have been established for 2 years and will then be able to offer federal aid. I am starting in Jan, and it would be cool if I don't have to pay for any more terms after that out of pocket. Right now, I am staying in my other college program for the only reason that I don't have to pay back my federal loans while I am in school and a do get a little extra aid that will help pay for AM. I am crossing my fingers to see what happens in the next term financially.

[IestynRoberts]

Heya John, nice one, thanks a lot for your comments, that puts a really good light on things! Thanks

[mmkelly011881]

Woohoo.. JeffKim Posted his reel!
congrats jeff! It's Lookin Great!

Jeff Kim's Reel Thread!! (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=432297)

[Opelfruits]

woooohooooo, im in for January :bounce:

see you all soon

[Bentagon]

Lordy Lord, I haven't been on this thread for ages! Good to see everyone's still so pumped up!
Anyone of the new folks trying his/her hand at 2D?

- Benjamin

[ukyo]

im in for january also. im so excited i could pee myself

[Bentagon]

Well I'll be darned! Guess who's nominated for his very own Annie Award? (http://www.asifa-hollywood.org/2006/12/2006-annie-award-nominations-by_04.html)

Our very own mad Spaniard! Woohoo! Congrats, Carlos! Any chance we could see the submitted reel?

[TAKADS]

I hate to break the news, but I'M IN!!! for winter07.
To all those applying, who are afraid of the application process, well don't be. I mean it's good i actually didn't read any of the comments here(no offense to any), but they'd have just made me nervous. It was pretty straightforward with the essay. Just write about your aspirations for animation, ambitions and it'll all be fine. The aptitude test was a bit tricky; 30 questions to answer in 8 minutes.Some of them were pretty easy, others needed a pen and paper(basic math but u still need a pen and paper). And so i got in. Paid my first term last week, sent my application. Now i'll just sit and wait for that glorius day!! See y'all

Oh and for any fellow prospective mentees in london or its roundabouts, please come foreward. Maybe we can organize some gathering one of these days for coffee and such or just to share thoughts....

Cheers

[Kimotion]

Not sure if this has been posted yet.

For those who are concerned about the online nature of the program (a very valid concern), check out this news item on AWN:

Animation Mentor Garners Leading Distance Learning Awards (http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top&newsitem_no=18263)

This may help quell some concerns.

[voxelMan]

- I'm in for the Winter 07 term. wheepee!
- Got "The Illusion of Life" book today from Amazon. looks great!
- My webcam is ready
- "The Animator's Survival kit" is here also.

20 more days!!!

[Bentagon]

20 days? You mean 13/14 days? Or did I miss something... An extra week to focus on drawing would be nice ^^

- Benjamin

[My Fault]

Next term doesn't start until the 8th, so you have your extra week Ben.... not that you need it!

[MadMax]

ah...... fresh noobs for winter. Tasty. :)


Congrats to the new arrivals. You're in for quite a ride.

Check out the community chat room for assistance, get to know the regulars and occasionally even talk about animation!!

[voxelMan]

according to the emails and the site, school starts at Jan, 8th - 20 days from now.
(I have a countdown widget for it... :) )

[Bentagon]

What tha? I was SURE that when I checked the site a few months ago, it said Jan 1st (or 2nd). I remember cause I was surprised that it started so soon after the holidays.

Well, it's actually kind of a relief! So many things I still want to do, yet so little time... see you in 3 weeks, then, I guess!

- Benjamin

[MadMax]

What tha? I was SURE that when I checked the site a few months ago, it said Jan 1st (or 2nd).


there was an error on the calendar that was only fixed recently. Trust me, it's the 8th.

[Bentagon]

Yeah, Tomislav just told me...

Hot diggity!

[HenrikJonsson]

Just out of curiosity, have any of you guys who've been accepted for Winter '07 received your login details yet? Personally I haven't heard from them for a while, and I am dying to get used to the environment in there!

[voxelMan]

Nope - haven't recieved account setup details, yet.
Last communication was on Nov, 29th - saying they recieved my enrollment agreement and started processing it.
They also said that they will soon send me account setup details.
waiting... waiting... :shrug:

[corneliu]

Hi guys,

For those entering class 1, I assume you will receive login data, 1 week before the actual start.
There are a lot of details to accommodate with first time you start with AM.
As far as I know actual school begin is on 8 January.

The above should be true if nothing changed from what I have seen in the last 9 month

[MadMax]

Just out of curiosity, have any of you guys who've been accepted for Winter '07 received your login details yet? Personally I haven't heard from them for a while, and I am dying to get used to the environment in there!

you likely will not get it until a few days before class starts.

the student site is undergoing some upgrades, but not to worry, it doesn't take long to figure out where everything is.

[ttesla]

hi guys. :)
welcome to all the newcomers and good luck with your future education!

as for the site access, all of you that are enrolled in the winter 2007 term should get access to the orientation site at december 23rd, where you will be introduced to the school and the site's operation. yet all of you will probably be already contacted by the school representatives by then.

have fun and see you all "over the hedge"! :D

[zogun]

Hi :buttrock: ,

anybody know how much is the tuition fee? or any other info related to CE program? Thx

[DigitalToon2]

Hi :buttrock: ,

anybody know how much is the tuition fee? or any other info related to CE program? Thx

No, I don't think anyone knows more than what's on the main AM site. There hasn't been any school announcement or anything about this mentioned on the AM forums.

[MadMax]

sigh......

the break just seems to be flying by. Winter class tuition paid today.. Ouch.

[timeless3d]

should get access to the orientation site at december 23rd,

That soon? They work so close to Christmas Eve, and on a Saturday? It would be so cool if we did get it tomorrow.

[d_jnaneswar]

Hi guys,

any thing we people who are returning after the break need to know before we get back into AM in the new year? Any globals? Any new software required?

Oh by the way.. welcome to all the new comers! Join the party!

DJ

[heathenPagan]

Hey DJ,
Nothin I can think of that you should know...
They're workin on a bunch of new features by the sounds of things, not all will be running by next term though.....
Oh, one thing worth mentioning for all concerned...
Apparently AM won't be supporting Vista until there is a service pack for it.... I assume the site will probably run under Vista, they're just not officially supporting it until the first service pack, which I think is fair enough...

It'll be good to seeya back in there...
=P

[Badger]

I received login details on Friday. Can't wait to start now. Santa, can you fast forward time ? :B

[AkaKico]

I'm in for January! Look forward to getting to know everyone and start learning!

[sergeantT]

Welcome to AM you guys!
Can't wait to see y'all 'round campus!

You'll love it ... it's a blast and it absolutely will change your life.
I know that sounds a bit over emphatic. It's all those doggone coco beans.

[DigitalToon2]

Welcome to AM!!! Only one more week of break for the rest of us...than back to work! :)


I'm in for January! Look forward to getting to know everyone and start learning!

Hey Chris it's great to have more people from the Chicago Area at AM. Welcome.

[AkaKico]

Hey DigitalToon2 are there any other Chicago area people you know of? I searched this thread but not much came up.

Can't wait to get started! Hurry up time, get a move on!

[voxelMan]

Since the account setup came, I checked the site several times a day seeing that the start date was 31/12/06... now I see that they updated it to what I originally knew - 8th of January... grrr.. I'm so eager to start!

Anyone from Israel in AM ?

[DigitalToon2]

Hey DigitalToon2 are there any other Chicago area people you know of? I searched this thread but not much came up.

Can't wait to get started! Hurry up time, get a move on!

There's maybe 8 or so, I think, and a couple have already graduated.
I need to get crack'n on my blocking this week.

[d_jnaneswar]

so.. when does it actually start? jan 8th?

DJ

[DigitalToon2]

so.. when does it actually start? jan 8th?

DJ

Correct, Jan. 8th

[jules]

I´ve been reading this thread for a very long time and I have to say you are amazing, you have helped me to decide if AM´s worth it.

I´ll see you in a few days.

[rag-man]

Congrats to everyone starting in six days!
And welcome almost back to those poor souls that had to rest for almost three weeks!

:bounce:

[super_mouse]

Hello,
I'm trying to find the money to re-start Animation Mentor, and I was wondering if any students in the UK or Europe could suggest any banks that offer a deferred loan for this sort of course?
I'm really struggling to find anyway to pay the tuition costs at the moment without taking out a loan and working 40+ hours while studying to pay back the bank, rent, etc!

I was also wondering if anyone had taken out a Career Development Loan to pay for their AM tuition fees?

Thanks,
Leigh

[norman365]

Hey everyone, I'm also in for the winter term but just writing to ask if anyone knows when the office is back open? I received my setup details on the 22nd, but the link has never worked for me; all I get is a message saying that the page has encountered an unexpected error and to contact the website administrator. I've tried to contact people through e-mail and phone, but as yet had no luck. after checking the thread to see if anyone else has experienced the same thing, I'm getting really worried now...

[MadMax]

No need to worry, the site isn't even accesible right now anyway, so log in details or not, you can't do anything anyway.


Hey everyone, I'm also in for the winter term but just writing to ask if anyone knows when the office is back open? I received my setup details on the 22nd, but the link has never worked for me; all I get is a message saying that the page has encountered an unexpected error and to contact the website administrator. I've tried to contact people through e-mail and phone, but as yet had no luck. after checking the thread to see if anyone else has experienced the same thing, I'm getting really worried now...

[norman365]

ok thanks a lot :) , It's just that I haven't been able to purchase the full version of Maya yet with less than a week until we start (currently stuck with using PLE) or view the info etc.

[timeless3d]

Hmm, it is weird that you can't pull up the page. I would recommend you view the source of your email and find the actual link and try copying / pasting that into your browser. I haven't had any trouble pulling it up. (it would be nice if they would have put the actual link in the email to avoid these kinds of problems)

If you can't get it to work, try not to get too worried. There really isn't much there right now. It will take you maybe 10 to 20 minutes to read the PDF and the videos don't explain much more then what is in the PDF (or what you could figure out on your own). The cool stuff, like the Maya videos and the community features are not enabled until class starts on the 8th.

Even if you can't get on till the 8th, you have another week from then before your first assignment is due.

See you soon!

[norman365]

thanks for the advice, unfortunately the same old error page appears. :shrug: sure it'll be sorted in time, THE WAITING'S NEARLY OVER!!! :scream:

[MadMax]

thanks for the advice, unfortunately the same old error page appears. :shrug: sure it'll be sorted in time, THE WAITING'S NEARLY OVER!!! :scream:


ok.....try this.....

go to animationmentor.com, click on enter site, then click on "sign in", located in the upper right corner will take you to the member site.

But as has been said before, you can't do anything anyway. well, not exactly ;)

Regarding your PLE issue.....

Go to Studica.com, this is where AM recommends for student purchases. If you have your student info already, you shou8ld be able to buy your educational version now with no problems.

And the First couple weeks you won't do anything anyway. Week one you will be challenged with your ability to say hello to your mentor in a PM or email. But don't worry, you have an entire week to complete your assignment ;)

So you should have plenty of time to get your copy of Maya.


Oh yeah, I got Victor Navone for a Mentor this term YEAH!..........

[DigitalToon2]

Max is right the first two weeks are pretty easy. Your just getting used to the site and learning how everything works. When I started I ordered my copy of maya the first week of school, so you'll be fine if you can't get it till then.

I've got Kenny Roy!!

[FatFatFatty]

Nicole and MadMax,

How do you guys know who your mentor is? Was it in the grades section before the site went down?

[MadMax]

Nicole and MadMax,

How do you guys know who your mentor is? Was it in the grades section before the site went down?



it's in the grades section today ;)

[FatFatFatty]

how are you logging on? I thought the site was down until the 8th? You and Nicole aren't first-termers, right?

[MadMax]

how are you logging on? I thought the site was down until the 8th? You and Nicole aren't first-termers, right?

it is down until the 8th, and yes, I'm most definitely NOT a first termer.

[norman365]

thanks for all the help, but the page that I can't access is where I set up my account so signing in's kinda impossible at the moment...also did something incredibly stupid and accidently deleted the email DOH!

as for that first assignment Madmax, better get studying...:thumbsup:

[norman365]

thanks for all the help, but the page that I can't access is where I set up my account so signing in's kinda impossible at the moment...also did something incredibly stupid and accidently deleted the email last night DOH!

as for that first assignment Madmax, better get studying...:thumbsup:

[icedeyes]

Anybody thinking of joining for the spring term? I will if i can manage to sum up some money until then... If i cant, then i will go for the next term...

Is the deadline still February 24th like it says on the calendar? And what are the tuition fees this year? no mention on the site... they still have last years prices...

I am also a little worried about the time that i will have to devote because i have a full time job now and i was wondering who else managed to make it through the course so far while working...

Finally, does anyone know if there is a specific procedure if i want to pay in six terms rather than up front?


Thank you in advance for your replies

[DigitalToon2]

It really just comes down to time management and the old saying you'll only get out of it what you put into it. I did the first three terms full time and during the first and second class I also interned a few days a week at a studio. But I've worked full time during class 4 and 5 and will do the same in class 6 and those classes aren't any easier, especailly class 4, so I just attempt to manage my time. I don't know really know how many hours a week I work on AM, but I just make sure the time I spend on AM is quality time and that I am progressing and I try to push myself beyond what's expected or due that week. I'm also lucky enough to have a very supportive boyfriend, but there's a lot of people who have families and kids and they've done AM from the beginning with a full time job and a full time family and their work is awesome, I don't know how they do it, but they do.

[achavero]

I've done AM since the beginning with a full time job (8am to 8pm) and a wife and I'm 3 months from graduating... and I can tell you that sometimes it can be very difficult... so the only way to survive is to have a great communication with your wife, her support and mentalized that for 18 months the nights will be very long and weekend will be the best time for doing AM assignments. As Nicole pointed you will get what you put on, so everytime you feel that you will crack, just remember that at some point in time your hard work and enthusiasm will pay off.

For example this 3 weeks of vacation was great to start blocking my short film so I can be a little bit ahead when classes start and when term is over finish with a stronger animation.

So everything comes down to really love what you do. That's what this 15 months have taught me, to realize how much i love to animate.

By the way Nicole, i went to the grades section and I still don't have mentor assigned =(
The waiting is killing me.... =)

Welcome to the new future animators, you will have the time of your life. =D

[norman365]

Finally, does anyone know if there is a specific procedure if i want to pay in six terms rather than up front?


Thank you in advance for your replies

Yes there is, it's the only way I've been able to pay for it as well. the first four are about £1200 (sorry for the english currency,) and the last two about £1500. some people almost faint when I tell them how much it's costing but ,considering the tutoring, I always thought of it as a real bargain :thumbsup:

[icedeyes]

Thank you all for your replies... I am used to late nights (one of them is right now because of the work) so, that will be the least of my troubles... I really hope i can manage to gather up some cash until feb but it all depends on when i get paid for a freelance job i am currently doing...

If all goes according to plan, i will have the money by next month but my country is kind of strange in terms of payments from companies... too much slack..

I really hope my girlfriend will be as supportive as your partners... I think she will but its a test of time i think :D...

Once again thank you all for the help...