Class 1 - Week 12

Well, there was no assignment for this week. Just a end of term Q&A with Charles where he kind of went through everybody and gave some final advice. Charles was a good mentor - super nice guy and a very talented animator. He emphasized that animation isn't an exact science, so it was interesting to see how he tackled problems, and how his workflow was different from other animators (like how he likes to work in splines from the get-go) and that there are different workflows for different animation needs - the critiques are tailored to each student's work that way. I could always expect very intelligent feedback that wasn't hard-nosed.

I tried to make it a point to leave comments on all of my classmates' workspaces during the week, but wasn't always successful. I saw a lot of other classes really come together and give each other lots of feedback, but alas, that wasn't the case with this first lot. Like in life, it's really up to you to get out there and make friends and get involved. Not that there are factions, but there are obvious benefits to making friends with fellow students that really know their stuff.

There were times that I cared a lot if I was getting comments, and other times when I didn't really care because I thought that the students leaving feedback didn't know what the hell they were talking about. I would only really pay attention to my mentor and to the campus mentors who left comments here and there (Doug Dooley being the premiere, rockstar campus mentor).

I remember feeling a little bombarded and being scared of animating balls with raccoon tails, but slowly growing confident about my budding animation abilities at the end of this first term. All of that was soon to change...