I’m starting AM this summer Can’t wait It looks SOOOO awesome!
But… simple question. At the school i’m currently inn, i’m using 3ds max.
And i know my way around max pretty well know. But… AM is using maya. So i’ll have to do a transition. Is this an easy transition or…?
I’ve read people say you basicly only need to know fcurve and animation tools. And i really don’t see the reason to pay 425 dollars for the maya workshop and use 3 months extra on that. Any1 here who has done the transition without doing the workshop?
I have a maya beginners book… shouldn’t that be enough?
Download the free trial of Maya 2010 (you could get the trial of Maya 2011 but they just changed the interface and it will not match any books or tutorials you find) Spend some time getting to know the program, if you have experience with a 3D program already then it won’t overwhelm you at all.
And the poster above me says to get “How to Cheat at Maya 2010”. I agree you should get it, it’s a great book only costs like $30 and was written by an AM grad. The beginner sections will be all you need to transition into the AM program.
Submitted the application for Summer. Gave the Wonderlic test that was emailed the very next day.
I kept my essays really short, exactly to the minimum of 70 words ! I hope I wrote it good. Now I’ve to be worrying for the next couple of weeks and is gonna be a torture !
Not sure if this has been asked already, but can I combine classes at AM and a full-time job? Or the classes designed in a way that people are dedicated to the program 100%?
Well up to class 3 it is fairly easy to balance work and AM. Depends of how much are you into animation already and how much time do you need to pick up everything.
But from class 4 and especially 5 and 6 it is really hard and a lot mroe time is needed once when you get into finer polishing.
If you have possibility to dedicate yourself fully to AM, or at least half of the week for AM only I would highly suggest it. In my last two classes I had only 2-4hours per week for AM and my Am work suffered a LOT!
I hope that this helps you.
In any case AM is fantastic experience!
Hi Oleg,
I’m in class 3 right now, and most people that I communicate regularly with are holding down a full time job while in AM. I usually put in 45-50 hrs/week at work. It’s difficult, but it’s doable. If it starts to get really difficult in class 4, then I may have to do something about it, but for now, it’s manageable.
it’s Rosie from Animationmentor.com. hadn’t been in here for a bit and thought I’d drop by. If you would like to have a quick chat to answer any questions you may have on the time commitment for AM, feel free to email me at rosie@animationmentor.com and I’ll be glad to help.
Hey everyone, congrats to SplineMax and the other people who will be starting in the summer! Very jealous ;D
I was wondering if anyone knew the answers to the following questions:
-Do you have to take the Wonderlic test if you’ve already got a bachelor’s degree and/or GRE scores? I’m in grad school right now (getting a masters in an unrelated field) and my GRE scores are reasonably good. I don’t know why I’d need to take yet another test when I’d think that the GRE would be sufficient
-What does AM actually provide to their students? I know we get models/rigs, but when I see their student demo reels, the characters have hair and clothes and they’re in settings and stuff. Do students have access to, say, a “storage closet” of sorts, where they can get things that they need for their work, or do they have to model that stuff themselves? Based on the fact that AM doesn’t teach modeling, I would hope that they provide the models that I see in demo reels. I’m only interested in animation and don’t want to spend hundreds of hours modeling when I could be animating
Pixarfangirl, The wonderlic test is mandatory, no matter what. Its a test comprising of very basic maths and english questions. Some students here have said that they prepared for a few days before going for the test. But really the test is a breeze, that i felt few questions were very stupid
And AM provides you all the ‘vanilla’ character rigs. Modifications like adding clothes, hair, glasses, facial hair is upto the student and it isn’t tough to do it.
Of course, AM is razor focused on Animation alone.
Before they ask for proof of any education, you would have already taken the Wonderlic test and been possibly approved into the program by then, where you probably only need a copy of your high school diploma at that point.
I took every sample Wonderlic test on the web for fear I had gone soft over the years. I ended up with a page full of notes and formulas for all kinds of math problems. The AM test ended up much more simple the practice tests, plus all the notes I took were not needed. They test will request you not use a calculator, just a piece of paper.
With a clock ticking, it might be hard to resist a calculator even if you know how to do it on paper, but don’t want to waste the clock. You just answer one question after another until the time runs out. It’s been six months, so I’m trying to remember if there was an option to skip a question if desired. Overall, I think others can confirm it, it’s pretty simple stuff. Still not sure, try sample tests out there that I felt had higher difficulty.
I’m in the workshop, so I can’t see all the tools yet. AM might provide some basic stuff here and there, not 100% sure. Most the time, your assignments are just playblasts. Mentors might not like doing extra modeling to characters, just depends. I bet the work shown in student demo reels or showcase was polished to look nice after the class.
It looks nice, but as you read his comments, he went back to do those polished renders during a Christmas break. So when doing an animation assignment, that’s what you focused on, the animation. You turn in playblasts, which is just animated preview in Maya. No modeling, lighting, texturing, or rendering. They usually won’t want students to modify much or turn in renders with lighting and textures that can ruin a good animation. In demo reels, often all the fancy stuff was done after. Not sure about final class projects.
Many students do build their own props and clothes ass seen, even rig them. My workshop teacher, who took AM in 2008, people share their props in the AM community, and you can always find free models. Sometimes students might trade or offer their skills. Where one person is a great modeler, but poor scene lighter, so a trade could be done with some that knows how to light, but not model. Often it can be simple to get what you want. Like my teacher’s bishop characters for his short that he’s still working on and off. One has clothes that are basically painted on the model’s skin with texture. A woman’s hair was a simple shape on the scalp with bumps, and hair tied in the back looked like donuts rotated together.
I’ve modeled before, but still I took the Maya workshop, and it might not be my modeler of choice. Our first 4 sessions were basic Maya interface, hierarchy with simple shapes with a figure as an example, basic modeling for scene props, then materials and lighting. We are not graded, and not asked to create anything fancy, but now many know how to make a simple prop. No one is going to be a great modeler from this unless you took extra time to push yourself with more info online, or even lighting, but a good foundation.
The body character with hierarchy was simple with no bones, just moving the pivot point. Just a sphere for a head, boxes for the body parts. Then we built a simple scene with props, finally set up lights and render. We all did something different. Here’s how mine turned out: http://picasaweb.google.com/110770522098089364518/AnimationMentor#
But no way would I want to have to worry about getting lighting like that, props, while trying to animate for something that’s due. Now we’re finished with that and onto just basic animation.
Good answers from Brian here, I’m in the Maya workshop as well and I’ll be starting in Summer term.
As per the Wonderlic question, I’ve also got a Bachelor’s and have taken the GRE but it’s not that sort of test, it’s done totally online and will take you maybe 15 minutes start to finish. I’ve taken one or two in job interviews before and they’re all pretty much the same.
Hey everyone, thanks so much for answering my questions Especially Brian–your response was really helpful! I had actually looked at that guy’s videos the other day. He’s really talented, and the fact that he’s been animating for less than a year really gives me hope for myself I love that blueprint design, too. I hope to be able to come up with something that clean-looking and clever for my animations as well
My masters is in sociology with a focus in law and child abuse. It’s really depressing and I don’t know that I can handle doing that stuff for the rest of my life. And I’ve always dreamed of being an animator. I know dreams aren’t enough, and you have to work incredibly hard, but everyone starts somewhere! I’m doing the Digital Tutors introduction to Maya classes right now, just to see if it’s something I actually enjoy. I hope that’s a good way to figure it out
Best wishes to the folks who are starting soon–I hope it’s everything that you dreamed it would be
Hey everybody! quick question. This may be old news but I noticed on AM’s website that the last class is Polishing & Portfolio. Didn’t they used to have a Short Film class instead?
Can’t wait 