yeah, i found out about bypassing the firewall after i posted my reply. i’d rather not mess around with system files.
anyway, i don’t think having a blacklist/whitelist or anything is a good idea. i’d prefer full on internet access anyway, but if the school isn’t going to provide it, i can use my laptop or polysolve. like i’ve said before, most of the problems in vfs can be worked around.
luke told me you were also working on a werewolf, drop by if you need help with the fur or something.
Yep I am. Course not til next term. Term 5 is Characters for modelers. This term is environment. I’m actually pretty comfortable with XSI fur already. Just curious to see your work.
why did Alastair remove his post? It was a very good post by him. Anyway anyone starting in this October term? Am looking forward to it. Hope everything gets sorted out and make some great friends there.
As of about 5 seconds ago- IT has lifted the internet restrictions that were on all of the ant farm computers and other labs. See, they listen!
Hey everybody…
I am about to finish my year of foundation at vfs…
going to 3D right away… who else is coming for 3D in june??
any doubts?? concerns?? let me know and i will help you out with anything you need to know…
i will see you around…
So I’m thinking of attending VFS this year. I’ve spoken to an admissions counselor about my loan options and it seems that my only option is a Sallie Mae loan. I’ve heard quite a few bad things about them, and their interest rates look pretty shitty.
Is it really my only option as a US Citizen as far as private loans?
Also, if any other US citizens here who have attended VFS for 3D Animation/Visual Effects could chat with me via AIM for a bit that would be awesome. I’m on as ceebee3d if you have any free time!
I got my loan through TERI, who sold it to wachovia, who was bought out by bank of america. 
either way, yeah private loans are serious business, make sure you have a plan on how you’re going to handle the payments and whatnot before you actually go. Luckily I’m married to a pretty smart lady, and we did something a little unorthodox:
Three separate disbursements. You are only charged interest on money that has been disbursed, so I pre-planned how much money I would be spending or need to spend with the first disbursement, and then had the other two kick in when I suspected I would be needing it. This is tricky and requires some careful planning.
We sold our house and moved into a small apartment the last year before we moved to vancouver. This cut our monthly expenses by about $700 and it went right in the bank. In addition to other money we were able to save, we went up to vancouver with $20k in the bank, so we had a bit of a cushion.
We used the money we saved up to make payments on the loan while I’m actually in school. A normal student loan is usually deferred, which means you don’t make payments until you graduate. BUT- you’re still being charged interest for the entire amount while you’re actually IN school. So your $50k student loan is probably closer to $65 by the time you graduate heh. Making payments on the interest along with #1 (multiple disbursements) made it so I made it to the end with some of the actual principle paid down (not just interest). This helps you control the ‘ballooning’ of your loan due to interest only payments.
After graduation there are several options on the table, the most obvious being aggressive paying down of the loan for a couple years. Others include consolidation to get a fixed rate, etc.
Long story short, be smart with your money and look at ALL of your options before signing anything… because life is too short to spend it stressed out about debt you can’t dig out of. I know Rebecca Kimmel has a ton of information on this sort of thing, perhaps you can give her a PM or maybe she’ll chime in here. I know she’s posted a lot of information about loans in the past, I just can’t remember which of her many blogs it was located on heh.
Unless you’ve already signed up for a spot, I don’t know whether you can attend the 3D animation program this year. All the classes are full until May 2010. That will give you about 11 months starting now to make some money and save up as much as you can. That’s what I’m doing anyways so I can get as little loan as I possibly can.
Could any alumni or people currently attending the 3D Animation & Visual Effects program at VFS throw me an IM on AIM? I have a few questions if you’re not busy :]
AIM: ceebee3d
You can always speak to an advisor. Contact information is on the website. Though instead of asking one person over IM or AIM, why not ask your questions here and get some different perspectives. Just so you are not hearing it only from one person… imo.
Hey I just checked your blog quickly. Really good work done in Term 1 ! Did you have some sort of 3D or art background prior to joining VFS ?
**egads
you live down the street from me.
I was born in White Rock.
Lesser known White Rock factoid…
Elvis visited in 1957.
Ah, because we are awesome 
Could you ask them how they deal with the daily commute ? I understand that VFS is intense, so how are they doing in having to travel long distances everyday ?
**
That’s interesting. Usually when I told people in vancouver I came from WR they would say: that’s so far.
Its only a 45 minute bus commute to Vancouver downtown from where i am though…good ol 351…
I forgot about rush hour. Rush hour is so bad.
Though going to SFU is the worst from here.
Used to take 3 hours one way sometimes.
all of them work more from home than at school.
they’re probably in class less than anyone else i know… not that the work is bad, but yeah, i dont see them in school on weekends and stuff, when everyone else usually is here
Well, it’ll probably take a good one hour ride to get to downtown in the morning due to morning traffic. Then a good 10 minute walk from the bus stop to the campus. On a good day, that’s not too bad, but when it’s winter and raining, it will probably suck 
I have to prepare myself to wake up at like, 7am or something to make the 9am class… yarrggghhh ! Furthermore, #351 will be re-routed to connect to the Canada Line when it opens so the closet skytrain station we get is Yaletown, which will lengthen the walk to campus to about 20 minutes. I am more of a school person so I plan to stay at school for longer time to get work done and interact with peers.
How can you work on Maya stuff at home unless you get a copy of it at home ? I only got the PLE which doesn’t load non-PLE Maya scenes
We have one girl from White rock in our class. After dealing with the commute in term 1 and her work being not anywhere what it could be she found a place downtown.
It shows. She is an excellent animator and is fast. Don’t commute. Get a place close. To do otherwise is not worth it.
