Well, only 2 more weeks and the Maya Springboard class will be over.  It’s been a great entry class to get a handle of the 3D software.  We’re animating a robot arm picking up a can.  We can only use 100 frames, which is about 4 seconds long.  So, here’s my planning animation of what I’ll be animating in Maya.

Here’s a few screengrabs from my Maya class assignment.  I had to model a character and set and place the character into the set.  The limbs are separated because part of the lesson was how to create parent/child relationships between objects.  We had to set up several camera angles as well.  Most of these pics are from the camera angles.  The last three I took of the scene in general.

Well, I haven’t updated any on Animation Mentor because there hasn’t been anything going on just yet.  The fall class started October 1st, but my class doesn’t start until the 20th.  However, I will participate in my second Q&A tomorrow.

The virtual Animation Mentor campus is more than what you can imagine.  Compared to the traditional distance learning college courses of old, it is nothing like that.  I have to admit that there is just as much interaction at A.M. than any college I’ve ever attended.

Web cams are mandatory and you’re “miked” up as well.  In class, which is on a web page, there is a box on the left and you can see your Mentor (teacher) lecturing live through his web cam.  On the right side is a message board where students can chat and ask questions.  If you type a question, the Mentor can click on your name and another box pops up under his camera window.  Now, he is looking directly at you and you’re looking directly at him and he’ll answer your question face to face.  And, the rest of the class can see this too.  Who needs an actual campus now?

So, there’s lot’s of other cool things about the school, but I’ll save the words for now and posts more about it in time.

The only other significant Animation Mentor news worth mentioning is how quickly I’ve made friends in the program.  I’ve been texting with a real cool guy in the U.K. whose also starting in the A.M. program.  It’s been really great getting to know him and talk about a variety of animation related topics.

These friendships will become part of my network and it will be great to have so many friends in the industry.  It takes the edge off of the competition in the job market as a whole as well.  Even though we never openly compete against each other, there’s no doubt that companies are comparing demo reels.  The way I look at it is, I wish nothing but success for everyone in the A.M. program and hope to have the privilege to work with them in the future.  Who knows, the friends I make today may be the ones considering me for work tomorrow.

Check out the great Animation Mentor web site (in my links) and watch the 2008 Student Showcase to get a glimpse of what I’ll be learning soon.