Class 2 Progress Reel.

Wow, it’s been ages since I last updated my blog, sorry about that! I have just finished class 2, I now have a 10 week break and then I’m going straight back into class 3. It’s weird to think that I’m a third of the way through my training already!
I had a great term 2. My mentor, Leigh Rens was brilliant and my class was once again awesome. I’m very much looking forward to class 3, AM just keeps getting better!
Here is my progress reel from class 2, I sure feel like I have learnt a lot.

Class 1 Progress Reel.

My first term at AM is over already! I can’t believe how quickly it went. This is a compilation of all of my work so far. I’ve still got a long way to go.

Week 2.

We have some real work to do this week! No animation yet, but that’s ok. We have to go out and draw some people and then re-create one of the strongest poses in Maya. Should be fun! I’m just a little worried of coming off a little ‘creepy stalker’ sitting in a cafe or the mall drawing people… hmmmm. I’ll take my sunnies.

I met another Animation Mentor student two days ago. It was so awesome meeting him, I had no idea that there would be another Aucklander on AM, let alone someone who lives so close to me! We had a great long chat. Turns out he went to the same animation school that I was at last year! It really is a small world. I’m sure the staff at Paper moon were a little annoyed that we stayed that long and only had 1 glass of apple juice and a complimentary water. Oh well.

So I’m off to draw some people today, I think I might try the beach. I’ll take note of where I need to catch the bus to come home this time. Last time I walked home and it was a bit of a disaster as its all uphill and I’m not as fit as I used to be. I guess thats what happens when the most exercise you get is walking up and down the stairs. I need to get out more.

Class 1. Day 1.

I’ve now officially started training at Animation Mentor! I’m only a day in and the school has completely surpassed my expectations. My mentor is wonderful, her name is Alison Sanders and she currently works for Tippett Studios. She has animated on The Golden Compass, Prince Caspian and The Tale of Despereaux. (I adored ‘Despereaux’!) My class is fantastic too. In fact, all the students are. I was overwhelemed by the amount of friendly welcomes I received on the first day! These people are awesome, I can see already why everyone raves about the AM community.

It was a very pleasant surprise to find some other Kiwis on AM! One of them lives close by, and we’re planning to meet soon. I never would have imagined this happening, I thought I’d be the only one!

We haven’t been given any work to do yet. They’ve given us a week to set up our Profiles and get familiar with the site, but they have given us the ‘Stu’ character so I plan to have a mess around with that as well as check out the schools forums and maybe watch a dvd or two while I still have the time.

Maya Springboard.

Well, this is it! I’ve finished the Maya Springboard training program at Animation Mentor and I’m set to start class one in 2 days time! I’m hoping to keep this blog updated with my work as I go through my training so I’ll make a start by showing you some of the animation I have done over the last 12 weeks.