Hi guys!
I’m considering to sign up to this amazing school on next year, but I have two things which I’m worry about:
Thanks !
no problem. You can use whatever you want really, there are usually rigs for most major apps around in the AM forums. However you obviously won’t get support and can use the specific tools AM provides. Otherwise it really doesn’t matter, you only ever deliver playblasts, where they came from nobody cares.
That said, for what you need to do (basically just setting keyframes and working on curves) you should be able to get familiar with within a few days tops, if you’re familiar with max.
no problem again. they are not about looking good, they are just about conveying an idea and helping you block out animations. stick figures are enough.
books: get the Animator’s Survival Kit. a must have. if you find it cheap, get the Disney Illusion of Life book, but imho that’s no must have.
Hey Polg,
let me try to answer your 2 questions. Very simple answers 
For your question about Maya. They have a Maya Springboard class you can take where they teach you to use Maya. I have just completed that course and going on to class 1. I dont think i would be able to concentrate on animation in class 1 and on if i had to worry about learning Maya and animation at the same time. So i would advise you to take that because it would make you time much easier at AM onwards.
As for sketching, i can’t draw to save my life But right now alot of the great CG animators can’t draw well. But they can draw very good stick figures.Only thing you have to do is make sure when you sketch you can tell exactly what your trying to convey in your drawing, with strong poses. ]
But! I’m just learning animation my self so they will ease your mind with all that when you do decide to start the school is an amazing place and all the people there and welcoming and always willing to help.
As for books The Illusion of Life is a great book, The Animators Survival Guide. There is a new one called How to cheat in Maya and it was done by a past AM Alumni called Eric Luhta and Character Crash Course is other great one i can go on but you can scan this Am Forum and there will be also of suggestions
Hope this helps. Sorry of there is any typos. Im at work and i was rushing to answer your questions. If you dont understand anything Please free to ask. And i hope you decide to attend AM
Hey Andy,
What i can do for you is Copy you question and post it in the AM forums and see what your fellow aussies says. Is that ok with you?
that would be massively appreciated. still haven’t been able to get an aussie perspective.
cheers man.
Hey Andy,
I have posted your question. Just waiting on replies. As soon as i get some ill put them together and post them here or send you a Message.
Hey Andy,
Here is an answer from one person so far. See below…
[i]Hey Derrick
I can’t answer part 2 yet, but for the first question: i funded it by working fulltime from terms 1-4, took an LOA to catch up on finance too. for class 5 to 6 i’m not working at all, just doing AM full time and living an extremely frugal lifestyle. I also sold off most of my worldy possessions, but it was always my plan due to moving overseas.[/i] [i]
Hope your friend comes to an informed decision! Best of luck to him.[/i] [i]
-i[/i]
Here is other one:
I paid for the course by living at home and working part time. I pretty much spent every dollar I earned on AM til it was paid for but only because my parents where nice enough to feed me in the meantime 
I found it easy to get my first job but then again I was the only AM graduate on the continent looking for one at that time. Things are tougher now but I’ve managed to be employed most of the three years since I graduated but I definatly owe that to the skills I picked up here. Although I should say I’ve spent about half my time working OS and thats currently what I’m doing because I couldnt get a job in Australia.
Hope that helps : )
Other:
My answer to part one is that I already had the money sitting in the bank from my previous 10 or so years of employment. The answer to part two is that I’m still looking for work. I would probably have more luck getting a job if I were able to move away from Melbourne, but Melbourne is where I want to be. I’ve been looking for a full-time job since the start of February, but I’m also targeting roles that are 3D but not necessarily animation related.
I agree that the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis and the current high value of the Australian dollar compared to the US dollar is putting a dent in local companies ability to gain contracts and hire people.
Hope this helps but i will still post info once people comment.
Congratulations Summer Student!
You have been accepted into the Summer 2010 Term for the Advanced Studies in Character Animation program at Animation Mentor!
Well, Luke and Jordan all you have to do now, is prepare yourself for the experience of a lifetime. You can do this by sketching people in parks, malls or airports, practicing using Maya, reading up on animation ( Chapter 3 in the Illusion of Life and the Animators Survival Kit) and working yourself up in a frenzy until you start. I’m in class 1 and so far it is as great as everyone says and then some. See you guys on the other side.
Cheers
Moises
Good stuff guys, I’m in the Maya Springboard class now and will be starting Class 1 in the Summer term as well.
Hey Michael, doing good but nothing too exciting yet, it’s another week till we start actually doing Maya stuff. For now it’s browsing the message boards and waiting impatiently
Got accepted last week to be in the Summer 2010 class. It will be my pleasure to work with all of you guys in the near future. Very excited!
Hi people! I’m interested in animation and considering applying for animation mentor, but I’m not sure about the prospect of a certificate from AM here in Singapore.
A little on my situation. I just finished a 1-year-long Higher Diploma in the gaming field, but I do not find that it has benefited me much, and therefore I’m looking for alternatives to continue my studies, preferably animation-related. Bachelor Degree courses are rare in the animation field, so I’m looking to see if there is a reliable diploma course for me instead.
So, if I have no other certificates related to Animation except for this one from AM. How will my career path looks, both locally (Singapore) and overseas? I know that AM doesn’t teach you how to draw, and my drawing is no where near professional standards, will this affect my career as an animator in the future?
On a side note, I don’t mind working in other countries like, maybe, USA if the job prospect is good (just that I have no idea how to even apply for overseas job, but this should come later).
Thanks in advance for any advices.
Hey Timber, I am not sure about the circumstances of visual effects and animation in singapore, are there alot of studios? However I have been working in the industry, here in the US, for a couple years now. All I have to say is it doesn’t matter if you have a degree or not, its all about your demo reel. If you can show that you are capable of making quality work whether it be modeling, texturing, lighting, compositing, or animation then it doesn’t matter if you have a diploma. Now I am taking animation mentor because I have always been into character animation however the school I went to didn’t really teach animation very well and the class was 3 months long (not really long enough). By the way I went to school at Digital Animation and Visual Effects, in Florida. Fantastic school, a year long, pretty much a jump start to get your career going in visual effects. Now what you need to decide is whether you want to do strictly character animation or if you want an overall knowledge of everything. If you want to do strictly character animation then I would say go for Animation Mentor… well worth it if you ask me… however if you want to have an overall knowledge of all aspects of visual effects then I would suggest finding another school. There a lot of school in the U.S however I am not sure about Singapore. Also if you cant draw don’t worry about it, yes it is a useful skill to have but its not necessary. Now that I am done rambling I hope that helped answer all your questions…
Thanks for the quick reply Jules!
Well, I find myself getting amazed over those small thoughtful animation done to characters in a CG movie like the recent “How to train your dragon”. Up till now, I’ve only been pondering whether I want to specialize in modeling or animation, not so much into what kind of animation. However, seeing that what amaze me is the way characters are brought to life through many detailed animation would put in the spot for character animation.
Here in Singapore, there are a few relatively more well-known schools like Egg Story, 3D Sense, Digipen, etc. But their fees is really high, and they have foundations in drawing. I’m considering Animation Mentor because it focus purely on animation alone for the good 18 months. If drawing will not affect my career so much in the future, then it brings me one step closer to applying to AM.
One more question, how often are the lessons conducted? From looking at their website and PDF file, I concluded that once a week, you have a Q&A session with the mentor, you submit assignment, and get opinions from the mentor, all on weekly basis. Does that mean that lesson videos are to be viewed on your free time? Will there be a lot of free time or will the classes occupy most of the time already because there is just so much content to pick up?
I’m asking because I’m thinking of getting a side job (and most likely unrelated to animation) to see me through those 18 months as well as hopefully save up some money so I can clear my study debt more easily later on.
