...pastpresentfuture?

To know where you're going, you need to know where you've been.

Over the last 8 weeks (and the next four if you want to be picky) the main theme seems to have been to have a go with everything. I guess the idea for this is that, there are so many different areas of the animation industry - most of which a lot of people may not even have thought of. So, by trying out each different specialism, you get a better idea of yourself as an 'Animator' - where do your skills lie? Where are you most talented?

Things like this rely on how you got to this point in the first place, what you're going to do with it now you've 'found yourself' and where you think you want to be going.

PAST

I've always loved hands-on art, machining and sculpting being to two main areas I focused on. At college I specialised in metalwork and 3D modelling. Now, admittedly I never created 'characters' - they were all either abstracted or inanimate 'decorative' pieces. However, there are so many skills I learnt there that, since starting the Animation Modelling section of the term, I've been able to put into practice and realised I missed using. In metalwork, accuracy of cuts and the ability to operate any machine the workshop had to offer (as well as a weird love of mechanical drawings) are now allowing me to push my abilities when it comes to armature making. This is allowing me to create 'skeletons' that have a much greater range of movement.

As for sculpting, I love working in 3D. You become really aware that, unlike in a 2D drawing where all you see is from the 'front', in 3D you seem from ALL SIDES. Because of this, you have to learn to see your final creation in a 3D space before you've even started making it - this is coming in so handy in both stop-motion modelling and CG modelling as it's all good and well creating a really expressive face on a model - but not if you can't see that in profile. Also, a large part of my college projects involved latex moulding which seems pretty handy right now.

PRESENT

Now, I'm torn. Which way to go - CG or Stop Motion? I originally started this course with my 'specialism' firmly planted, well it's not so firmly planted anymore. To begin with, all I wanted to do want to animate in stop-motion. However, at the time, it was easy to experiment both with drawn animation and stop-motion animation but next to impossible to even 'try out' computer animation - so that never came in to the equation. Now, however, I love CG. I love the math-ey side of it and also how, once you know a few different 'lessons' - you can really start doing things with it. But, I still love clay and foam and all its hands-on goodness - you can't feel a computer screen.

So here's the current conclusion I'm at - I love modelling. In CG and Stop-Motion. It draws upon my previous 'art' skills/passions and also my love of computers. Now, I realise I am on an ANIMATION course - and as such, have to animate things. Obviously, I love animating or I wouldn't be here in the first place but when it comes to it, I'd rather make the things that move and animate them a bit to show off how well they work rather than animate the crap out of something someone made for me.

FUTURE

What do animators animate? Models :D Do they make them themselves? Well, unless it's a one-man show, probably not. So, from that assumption, I can only see that the animation industry will always need people who make things, right? Well, I hope so anyway.

It seems that even in CG productions, the characters are first made up in clay before being modelled on a computer. I recently came across the blog of a guy who has my job! Shaun Cusick is a 3D modeller for Blue Sky Studios and creates clay moquettes which he then transfers into 3D CG versions. He's been a modeller/sculptor on all sorts, including Ice Age, Robots and Horton Hears a Who :D I actually think I want to be this bloke!

So I guess that's where I'm headed - at least for now! Down the 'make' side of things. I know I'm on an animating course, but there'd be no real animation without models, right? So, I'm playing to my strengths for once :D