"Just do it" I can't tell you guys how often in my life at gnomon I had some one in front of me who's a new student, or wanting to become a student or just wants to do something that they scream from the roof tops that there pationet about. Its true when you walk around gnomon your suroinded by people who are driven by the love of there craft day in and day out to make each of there dreams come true. It almost sounds romantic right? Like hey I am really in love with games so I want to be a game designer! Or another good one is "Hey I love sculpting all day so I want to be a character modeler!" or "Hey I really, really, really love the disney movie x - y - z so I want to be a character animator!" OR "Hey I love the DESIGN of x y z so I want to do x y z."
After you asked enough questions and talked to enough students you start to hear the same thing over and over again. Not to sound board or even jaded but man you and every one ells has a dream its those amazing dreams that push us to the brink of insanity. Its those dreams that I see when I am looking over LA at night on the parking structure watching the city pulse with life and seeing all the people milling about. When I walk through the labs and its so quite that you could drop a pin and sware you could hear it. This is a place of pation. This is a place of love. But most of all this is a place were people are suroinded by other people wanting to create amazing things.
So just do it. Don't cry to your self saying your not good enough that wont get you any were in life. Don't look at ArtStation going "Well shit that person is way beyond me how will I ever get there?." Get on close to your monitors folks because here is the answer to the big question your looking for "Just do it".
I watch movies all the time. I have them playing in the background all the time. I make a screen savor of the 12 principles of animation then try to daily write them down speaking of:
12 principles of animation are:
1) Ease in ease out
2) timing
3) follow through
4) over lapping action
5) staging
6) appeal
7) good drawings
8) spacing
9) strait ahead and pose to pose
10) secondary action
11) overlap
12) sqwash and stretch
Sweet lets see if I was write! * checks agents background real quick * Nope messed up here is the correct one:
12 principles of animation are:
1) Ease in ease out (correct ya!)
2) timing (correct ya!)
3) follow through (wrong - overlapping action and follow through)
4) over lapping action (wrong - overlapping action and follow through)
5) staging (correct ya!)
6) appeal (correct ya!)
7) good drawings (correct ya!)
8) spacing (wrong - this is not a principle at all >.<)
9) strait ahead and pose to pose (correct ya!)
10) secondary action (correct ya!)
11) overlap (wrong - overlapping action and follow through)
12) squash and stretch (correct ya!)
Ok so I missed some and spread some out here is the correct list:
1) ease in ease out
2) timing
3) over lapping action and follow through
4) staging
5) appeal
6) good drawings
7) arcs
8) strait ahead and pose to pose
9) secondary action
10) secondary action
11) squash and stretch
12) exaggeration
The point of that exercise guys was to say that I did it I did not talk about it I did it. So now go do it. Draw a 100 cubes in perspective fill a page. Go sculpt a 100 figures. Go re design a toaster in 100 different styles. Go design 100 grey box games. Go create 100 stories. Go animates 100 bouncing balls. Go do it. Just do it. Stop talking about it and do it. The only person standing in your way is you. So just do it.
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Friday, January 15, 2016
How time Flys when your having fun
It's been to long I admit sense my last post. I guess I am not a vary good blogger as one of my friends told me while I TA his class. "Mark I love how you said on your blog that you would be consistent then you rarely post" well life happens and we don't always get what we want sorry guys and gals it's just a busy life here in LA.
So Gnomon has been going well I almost had a mental break down in term 10 of the 3 year program. I admit I tried to do what is commonly not done at Gnomon and that's try and stick to all my classes. I'm sorry there is somthing wrong when you are told by most your peers to drop half your classes so you can survive term 10 and not go insane. I made it to week 7 before considering one night to just walk into traffic and be done with it. I wanted to believe that Gnomon would not of made a cariculome that was imposible to achieve but I was wrong.
Well I did not do this but went to Brian and asked if I could swap my term to a half term and re take the 3 classes so I did get the content I paid for. To say the least Gnomon will work with you for your health. I always been amazed how much this schools faculty puts your health and well being first over there money. The teachers care about you and the staff strive to always help you. From a person who came from a college mill background like Westwood this is really a spetiol school that cares about its students your not just a number to them. Max / Moe / Andrea / Pauline / Tom / Misty / Charly and so many more members of the staff have put my health first and always gave me words of wisdom to live by.
I remember Max coming out during one break in his intro to maya class when I was beating my self up for being to technical and a poor excuse for a artist and he sat down next to me. My teacher who got up on his soap box every time his machine booted up for class and was a force onto him self was willing to talk to me. I used to be vary scared of this man. But he said somthing that always sticks with me: "Mark your a technical guy don't forsake your IT background it does not mean you can't be a artist embrace it. Not a lot of artist care like you do about the techical stuff. I can see you working hard don't beat your self up you'll get there."
Those words will always mean a lot to me and were a pivotal turning point to me at Gnomon. Ya I am vary techical but that's ok I will always be a artist.
Next term I was asked to pick my track and was thinking of being a TA (teacher assistent) Max threw a off hand comment to Pauline about how he would reccomend me as a hard worker and helpful student. I was vary proud to be recognised by Max that day. I also was seeked out by Skot who used to run the lab monitor program and asked if I be interested. After being hired I got to know my two bosses well Misty and Skot. They always backed me up and stood by my side when students would get angry with me. A support team that cared about there employs is a rare thing to find these days. Once again proving to me how much Gnomon staff even support each other. I really loved my time as a TA and hope some day to come back to Gnomon to teach a class as a teacher.
I also recently started to work at DreamWorks and Gnomon did it again. They pulled together to make sure I could compleat my Gnomon program and helped go out of there way to make a schedule that would fit to my 40 hour work week and it was amazing. Andrea and Moe put there names on the dotted line sticking there necks out to say I could handle this and make it happen. I will always be in their debt as well as Shannon and Pauline who made sure it would work with my scedule no matter what.
Gnomon will always have a spetiol place in my heart because it's a school that cares about there students not a pay check at the end of the day. I met with one of the higher ups at gnomon and she told me she wanted to do everything in her power to help me finish. I think by the time I'm done with gnomon I'll have been here for 4 years of my life. From doing a half term to taking a term off for DreamWorks job this school will always be a second home to me.
I still remember the nights at Northrup Grumman fantasizing on how amazing it would be to have gone to Gnomon and how lucky people were to get that chance to even enter the doors of this school. To say the least Gnomon has not disappointed me at all. Thank you Gnomon for the great work and the love you show your students. You will always be my second home in my life.
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
A update about Gnomon
Hey Guys its been a long time sense I last posted on this blog and due to not being able to sleep well right now I decided why not take this chance to for a update. One of my friend in a lab I monitor at gnomon pointed out to me that he ran across my blog while he was researching on weather he wanted to go to gnomon or not and pointed out that one of my first entries in this blog was "I am not going to be one of those bloggers that suddenly stop blogging and vanish" Well guess I should never deal in absolutes because my last blog entry was on 3/10/2014. Today is 5/19/2015 its been over a YEAR sense my last post... Way to drop the ball there Mark >.<
So lets try this again shall we? Here is a update about Gnomon and were I am at in the program.
If you read my past entries you should know I was able to get into Gnomon after taking the 1 year program "Entertainment Design Track" and I would say over all I was vary pleased with this choice. Was it cheap? Hell no after taking in the track and cost of living I payed around $26K for my first year at Gnomon (Rough estimate I have to look back at my books for the exact amount) The reality is this was a choice I made to become a better artist over all re teaching my self some of the fundamentals as well as learning about Design. I am right now enrolled in the "Entertainment Design and Digital Production" track do to credits will transfer over seamlessly from the 1 year and you don't have to re take classes. Plus to be honest after the 1 year of this track you are taking all the same classes you would of taken in the "Digital Production for Entertainment" track also known as the 2 year track at Gnomon.
I chose this wrought because I wanted to improve my skills and grow as a better Artist not to become a button pusher. Gnomon will teach you the software in the end of the day and you will have trained eyes looking at your work and offering you feed back on how to improve to be a industry professional. This is what Gnomon does really well and is why our school is recognized as one of the leading places to become trained in the FX industry. I am vary proud to be a part of such a amazing staff and student at this school. I been working as a Teacher Assistant now for three terms. I am guaranteed a work station to work at for 3 hours, get paid doing my homework, and get to help other people which I really enjoy doing. I hope after working in the industry for a while to have the opportunity to teach on the side because its something I really enjoy doing. As for the track I chose at Gnomon I have decided to become a Animator. A odd choice I know sense when I originally came to Gnomon almost 3 years ago I wanted to be a modeler. So after getting more time to be in the trenches this is a snap show of what I feel is good about the programs at Gnomon after talking to alumni, personal friends, teachers, and staff at Gnomon about the different tracks.
Disclaimer:
----------------------
Let this be a reminder that this is not gospel or hard true facts. It is my educated opinion from my own experience and those I talked to. The staff at Gnomon are amazing. Max Dayan, Andrea Adams, Crystal Mora, Liz Cooper, Shannon Wiggins, and so many other members of Gnomon staff try every day to make this place amazing and they are all great artist them selves. This school tends to only hire people with some kind of real world art background be if as something they studied in or worked doing so you always have a common ground to fall back on.
There was something I heard at one of my friends Gnomon graduations that always stick in my mind. Alex Alvarez said he made Gnomon because it was the school he always wish he had when he got into this industry. Its a amazing place that turns out great artist every 10 weeks for a reason.
What I think about Gnomons tracks:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Generalist / Modeling and Texturing Track:
I think to date Gnomon strongest track is there Generalist and Modeling and Texturing track. Why? Because the core teachers of Gnomon meaning ones that are on staff and have been teaching the longest at Gnomon are either Generalist, Modelers, or Textures artist them selves. This means that Gnomon get teachers that not only know this field intimately but also are good at teaching.
You see its a double edge sword when you always want to staff industry professionals as your teachers. What happens is you get some one who knows there trade that you just payed over $1k to learn from for the next 10 weeks but they may be a lousy teacher. Its really hard to fine some one who's not only good at what they do but also good at teaching. These are two different skills sets that not every one has. You have to build up to be a good teacher just like anything ells. Also Gnomon tends to re staff as quick as they can between breaks and this does not give any time to train the new teacher on HOW to teach. Meaning you get a shot gun approach. Near the end of the term we are given evaluations to fill out and its from these evaluations Gnomon decides if there going to keep that teacher around. If they don't pass the bar they are let go and the visas cycle starts all over again.
But why don't they have trained teachers teaching me I payed a lot of money for a good teacher! Because you wanted a teacher that is working in the industry. If you have not learned yet our industry if vary challenging place to live in. Long work hours that fluctuate rapidly does not bread a place of stability also factor in LA commute time and no formal training in teaching and you got a hog pog mess of possibilities so you never know if that teacher you are about to get is going to be any good or not and its a roll of the dice.
So lets say the teacher is just learning how to teach but now he has to pass the hurdle of "Will the students axe me because they were not happy with my performance?" Gnomon takes these things into consideration its not so black and white but it is something that they struggle with every term. They really on our feed back to see if a teacher is working or not then they have to hope we filled out the evaluations honestly and are not just venting and then from there have to hope the teacher wants to sign up for another term to teach.
The Modeling and Texturing / Generalist tracks have people who are not only great teachers like Max Dayan or Mark Dedecker, Steven Delilah, or Stephen McClure. These are Instructors that both know what there doing and know HOW to teach. They have both sides that are needed to make a amazing Gnomon Instructor. This is not to say other tracks don't have this but they do not have as many top notch teachers that are also working professionals.
This is why I feel these are the two best tracks at Gnomon right now. Also if you look at the advisor administration who over see the tracks these are the only two tracks I found that have have advisers that directly have worked in that industry that are on staff currently. I know they don't have one for Animation but I don't know if they even have one for VFX.
VFX Track:
Once again this is something I only gathered knowledge 2nd hand sense I am not a VFX artist. This track seems to be a mix bag I usually run into 1 or 2 super stars and a lot of mediocre VFX artist that come out of this track. Its odd that there is such a big extreme but there could be several reasons for this. I can only tell you what I learned from asking other VFX artist why this is or what there take is on it.
The most common complaint I get from people about this track is that they feel the equipment is not adequate for them to do the work at Gnomon so there chance to learn a new skill set it rather hampered. Creating a sim takes a lot of time and a powerful computer. To top it off it also requires a lot of space. VFX is one of the smallest tracks at Gnomon with people who choose it as there track selection. I am told some of the teachers are mediocre in the fact they cant show you ways to solver your problem because in essence they would have to re simulate to even know if there going in the right direction.
This has always been something about VFX that frustrated me. You push some sliders around hope you are right then kick off a simulation that you wait hours to finish and then look at it and try to trouble shoot if its right or not. This track requires a intense understanding of the tools you are using and programming knowledge. You have to fail a dozen times with hours of in between time to HOPE you are right. Its the nature of the beast at the end of the day.
The other common complaint I hear is that you don't get Houdini till the end of the track which most VFX artist have told me is to late to be competitive in the work force. Now I can understand this if you feel the only place you want to work at is a VFX house that uses Houdini like ILM but this is called do your research. Gnomon teaches you Maya Dynamics which is much more cost effective for small to medium size FX houses but Houdini is a VARY expensive program and should be learned by any VFX artist but it is not the only fish in the sea. At the end of the day its the artist that makes the asset not the software.
Animation Track:
So our last track which is the one I currently am in is the Animation Track. Now I don't tend to get into things and go half way. When I commit to something I through my whole self into it. I been active in trying to do as much as I can to be as successful as I can while balancing all the non animation related classes that gnomon throws at you as well as the animation ones.
I feel over all this track is good for what it is but definitely could use some improvement. Would I recommend it over the other available resources out there when it comes to learning Animation I can not say this is the best option. People do not come to Gnomon to become a Animator it is not publicized in any of the local rings when it comes to become a Animator but that does not mean you can't become a good Animator take a look at Jesse Daumgartner who works at Riot Games.
So some background on me also so you can get a clear understanding of what I am saying here. I never really animated in my life. When I chose this track it was because I found I really enjoyed telling stories and am interested in doing my own stories. I wanted a track that allowed me to tell a narrative story through CG and found I always really loved animated movies and cut scenes from games because they were miniature stories. I get board doing anything ells fast because I am not getting in the head of a character and acting them out. Call me a late bloomer when it comes to animation but its always been something I admired.
So now you know my background and you know Gnomon does not come up on the raider when it comes to school to go to for Animation yet Gnomon still does teach animation. Lets face it Gnomon goal is to build a well rounded 3D artist who knows a lot of little things and is really good at one thing. So when I leave Gnomon if I compare my self to say some one who got out of Animation Mentore and we both are hard driven people yes the person from Animation Mentor will be a better animator then me. I will know how to do more things though then him instead of just animating.
If all you want to do all day and night is Animate and never touch anything ells I would not go to Gnomon for there Animation track. I would consider at most going to the cources indivigualy and networking with Gnomon Students and staff to help you land your first job because the most important thing it seems in this industry is who you know not just what you know. Let me tell you know that I meet people who come out of school like Animation Mentore at Gnomon who are good animators but still could not land a job because they did not have a network to get them the job. Are they better animators then me? Yes they been doing this longer. What you get from Gnomon is not just a skill you get the network that Gnomon has if you work it.
So any ways back to the track. Gnomon has a list of good teachers I have not had a teacher yet at Gnomon animation program up to this point which is before demo real that I have felt is completely useless. I had a few that were not amazing teachers but all of them are incredible animators. If your expecting to come to class on time and just sit there absorbing info and having the holy grail of "If you do xyz you will get a job %100" or "Here is exactly how to fix your shot and a detailed example step by step on how to do it and this will work all the time!" NO! This does not exist. I don't know if this is just the nature of animation sense I never gone to another school but even the 12 principles of animation is really guide lines and not cold hard facts.
If I could improve the program I say get some one on the administration level who is in charge of the Animation department. They over see teacher selection, training new teachers, and are available to help any animation student during normal work hours (9am - 5pm) Do we have this? No. I love the staff at Gnomon but none of them are animators which means what help they can provide to you is limited and when they are given the job of filling in positions like the demo real teacher for animation who you will MAYBE have for half a year it puts them at a tough spot to pick a good applicant. They do the best they can with what they have available to them. Its up to you to take things further to really get the most out of this program. Be up front and honest with your teachers. If you do not understand what there saying in class try asking them out side of class or sending them a email. Oddly some people I found are horrible at explaining things in a class setting but when you get them over email or Skype they can tare your work apart and give you a detailed listing of how to fix it. I guess some people just suck trying to work in front of other people.
I see Gnomon produce amazing modelers / Texture artist / Compositers like it was a factory line with out batting a eye. Its not the same case for Animators. Most Gnomon animators end up doing pre viz when they get out of Gnomon as there first job do to our sense of timing which you don't even animate anything past a camera really. The reality is Gnomon need to re work there curriculum to build strong animators. Animation is a really different skill set and needs to be re looked at. We don't texture things, we don't software render things, we don't compost things, and we don't model thing things. Most shots I may put a cube there to represent a table or a sphere to represent a ball. Lets face it when you animate you worry about performance and sense of be-livability through movement. The reason you have these classes is because Gnomon is a Generalist school for most the tracks is still a relatively new thing. If you know you want to be a Animator then be ready to skim by on a lot of classes NOT related to Animation. I hope some day Gnomon takes a closer look at there curriculum and re does the Animation track because I can tell you there are a lot of classes that are not related to Animation.
I say rigging is good to know so you can at least fix your rig when you break it and you will break it or when you need to jury rig things together for a shot like one I am working on now were I need to have a character take his head off and still be able to emote with the head and body separately. I used to complain about the rigs Gnomon has comparing them to other schools like Animation Mentor who have in house riggers to build custom rigs for there student then realized through people who work in the industry that you wont always have the luxury and need to learn how to still get a good performance out of a bad rig.
Well that's enough for today so have a good one guys and girls I will try and get in a better habbit of updating this blog now. I wish you guys the best if you have any questions drop me a line at my email: thedeo85@gmail.com and I will try and get back to you :) Best of Luck!
If you read my past entries you should know I was able to get into Gnomon after taking the 1 year program "Entertainment Design Track" and I would say over all I was vary pleased with this choice. Was it cheap? Hell no after taking in the track and cost of living I payed around $26K for my first year at Gnomon (Rough estimate I have to look back at my books for the exact amount) The reality is this was a choice I made to become a better artist over all re teaching my self some of the fundamentals as well as learning about Design. I am right now enrolled in the "Entertainment Design and Digital Production" track do to credits will transfer over seamlessly from the 1 year and you don't have to re take classes. Plus to be honest after the 1 year of this track you are taking all the same classes you would of taken in the "Digital Production for Entertainment" track also known as the 2 year track at Gnomon.
I chose this wrought because I wanted to improve my skills and grow as a better Artist not to become a button pusher. Gnomon will teach you the software in the end of the day and you will have trained eyes looking at your work and offering you feed back on how to improve to be a industry professional. This is what Gnomon does really well and is why our school is recognized as one of the leading places to become trained in the FX industry. I am vary proud to be a part of such a amazing staff and student at this school. I been working as a Teacher Assistant now for three terms. I am guaranteed a work station to work at for 3 hours, get paid doing my homework, and get to help other people which I really enjoy doing. I hope after working in the industry for a while to have the opportunity to teach on the side because its something I really enjoy doing. As for the track I chose at Gnomon I have decided to become a Animator. A odd choice I know sense when I originally came to Gnomon almost 3 years ago I wanted to be a modeler. So after getting more time to be in the trenches this is a snap show of what I feel is good about the programs at Gnomon after talking to alumni, personal friends, teachers, and staff at Gnomon about the different tracks.
Disclaimer:
----------------------
Let this be a reminder that this is not gospel or hard true facts. It is my educated opinion from my own experience and those I talked to. The staff at Gnomon are amazing. Max Dayan, Andrea Adams, Crystal Mora, Liz Cooper, Shannon Wiggins, and so many other members of Gnomon staff try every day to make this place amazing and they are all great artist them selves. This school tends to only hire people with some kind of real world art background be if as something they studied in or worked doing so you always have a common ground to fall back on.
There was something I heard at one of my friends Gnomon graduations that always stick in my mind. Alex Alvarez said he made Gnomon because it was the school he always wish he had when he got into this industry. Its a amazing place that turns out great artist every 10 weeks for a reason.
What I think about Gnomons tracks:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Generalist / Modeling and Texturing Track:
I think to date Gnomon strongest track is there Generalist and Modeling and Texturing track. Why? Because the core teachers of Gnomon meaning ones that are on staff and have been teaching the longest at Gnomon are either Generalist, Modelers, or Textures artist them selves. This means that Gnomon get teachers that not only know this field intimately but also are good at teaching.
You see its a double edge sword when you always want to staff industry professionals as your teachers. What happens is you get some one who knows there trade that you just payed over $1k to learn from for the next 10 weeks but they may be a lousy teacher. Its really hard to fine some one who's not only good at what they do but also good at teaching. These are two different skills sets that not every one has. You have to build up to be a good teacher just like anything ells. Also Gnomon tends to re staff as quick as they can between breaks and this does not give any time to train the new teacher on HOW to teach. Meaning you get a shot gun approach. Near the end of the term we are given evaluations to fill out and its from these evaluations Gnomon decides if there going to keep that teacher around. If they don't pass the bar they are let go and the visas cycle starts all over again.
But why don't they have trained teachers teaching me I payed a lot of money for a good teacher! Because you wanted a teacher that is working in the industry. If you have not learned yet our industry if vary challenging place to live in. Long work hours that fluctuate rapidly does not bread a place of stability also factor in LA commute time and no formal training in teaching and you got a hog pog mess of possibilities so you never know if that teacher you are about to get is going to be any good or not and its a roll of the dice.
So lets say the teacher is just learning how to teach but now he has to pass the hurdle of "Will the students axe me because they were not happy with my performance?" Gnomon takes these things into consideration its not so black and white but it is something that they struggle with every term. They really on our feed back to see if a teacher is working or not then they have to hope we filled out the evaluations honestly and are not just venting and then from there have to hope the teacher wants to sign up for another term to teach.
The Modeling and Texturing / Generalist tracks have people who are not only great teachers like Max Dayan or Mark Dedecker, Steven Delilah, or Stephen McClure. These are Instructors that both know what there doing and know HOW to teach. They have both sides that are needed to make a amazing Gnomon Instructor. This is not to say other tracks don't have this but they do not have as many top notch teachers that are also working professionals.
This is why I feel these are the two best tracks at Gnomon right now. Also if you look at the advisor administration who over see the tracks these are the only two tracks I found that have have advisers that directly have worked in that industry that are on staff currently. I know they don't have one for Animation but I don't know if they even have one for VFX.
VFX Track:
Once again this is something I only gathered knowledge 2nd hand sense I am not a VFX artist. This track seems to be a mix bag I usually run into 1 or 2 super stars and a lot of mediocre VFX artist that come out of this track. Its odd that there is such a big extreme but there could be several reasons for this. I can only tell you what I learned from asking other VFX artist why this is or what there take is on it.
The most common complaint I get from people about this track is that they feel the equipment is not adequate for them to do the work at Gnomon so there chance to learn a new skill set it rather hampered. Creating a sim takes a lot of time and a powerful computer. To top it off it also requires a lot of space. VFX is one of the smallest tracks at Gnomon with people who choose it as there track selection. I am told some of the teachers are mediocre in the fact they cant show you ways to solver your problem because in essence they would have to re simulate to even know if there going in the right direction.
This has always been something about VFX that frustrated me. You push some sliders around hope you are right then kick off a simulation that you wait hours to finish and then look at it and try to trouble shoot if its right or not. This track requires a intense understanding of the tools you are using and programming knowledge. You have to fail a dozen times with hours of in between time to HOPE you are right. Its the nature of the beast at the end of the day.
The other common complaint I hear is that you don't get Houdini till the end of the track which most VFX artist have told me is to late to be competitive in the work force. Now I can understand this if you feel the only place you want to work at is a VFX house that uses Houdini like ILM but this is called do your research. Gnomon teaches you Maya Dynamics which is much more cost effective for small to medium size FX houses but Houdini is a VARY expensive program and should be learned by any VFX artist but it is not the only fish in the sea. At the end of the day its the artist that makes the asset not the software.
Animation Track:
So our last track which is the one I currently am in is the Animation Track. Now I don't tend to get into things and go half way. When I commit to something I through my whole self into it. I been active in trying to do as much as I can to be as successful as I can while balancing all the non animation related classes that gnomon throws at you as well as the animation ones.
I feel over all this track is good for what it is but definitely could use some improvement. Would I recommend it over the other available resources out there when it comes to learning Animation I can not say this is the best option. People do not come to Gnomon to become a Animator it is not publicized in any of the local rings when it comes to become a Animator but that does not mean you can't become a good Animator take a look at Jesse Daumgartner who works at Riot Games.
So some background on me also so you can get a clear understanding of what I am saying here. I never really animated in my life. When I chose this track it was because I found I really enjoyed telling stories and am interested in doing my own stories. I wanted a track that allowed me to tell a narrative story through CG and found I always really loved animated movies and cut scenes from games because they were miniature stories. I get board doing anything ells fast because I am not getting in the head of a character and acting them out. Call me a late bloomer when it comes to animation but its always been something I admired.
So now you know my background and you know Gnomon does not come up on the raider when it comes to school to go to for Animation yet Gnomon still does teach animation. Lets face it Gnomon goal is to build a well rounded 3D artist who knows a lot of little things and is really good at one thing. So when I leave Gnomon if I compare my self to say some one who got out of Animation Mentore and we both are hard driven people yes the person from Animation Mentor will be a better animator then me. I will know how to do more things though then him instead of just animating.
If all you want to do all day and night is Animate and never touch anything ells I would not go to Gnomon for there Animation track. I would consider at most going to the cources indivigualy and networking with Gnomon Students and staff to help you land your first job because the most important thing it seems in this industry is who you know not just what you know. Let me tell you know that I meet people who come out of school like Animation Mentore at Gnomon who are good animators but still could not land a job because they did not have a network to get them the job. Are they better animators then me? Yes they been doing this longer. What you get from Gnomon is not just a skill you get the network that Gnomon has if you work it.
So any ways back to the track. Gnomon has a list of good teachers I have not had a teacher yet at Gnomon animation program up to this point which is before demo real that I have felt is completely useless. I had a few that were not amazing teachers but all of them are incredible animators. If your expecting to come to class on time and just sit there absorbing info and having the holy grail of "If you do xyz you will get a job %100" or "Here is exactly how to fix your shot and a detailed example step by step on how to do it and this will work all the time!" NO! This does not exist. I don't know if this is just the nature of animation sense I never gone to another school but even the 12 principles of animation is really guide lines and not cold hard facts.
If I could improve the program I say get some one on the administration level who is in charge of the Animation department. They over see teacher selection, training new teachers, and are available to help any animation student during normal work hours (9am - 5pm) Do we have this? No. I love the staff at Gnomon but none of them are animators which means what help they can provide to you is limited and when they are given the job of filling in positions like the demo real teacher for animation who you will MAYBE have for half a year it puts them at a tough spot to pick a good applicant. They do the best they can with what they have available to them. Its up to you to take things further to really get the most out of this program. Be up front and honest with your teachers. If you do not understand what there saying in class try asking them out side of class or sending them a email. Oddly some people I found are horrible at explaining things in a class setting but when you get them over email or Skype they can tare your work apart and give you a detailed listing of how to fix it. I guess some people just suck trying to work in front of other people.
I see Gnomon produce amazing modelers / Texture artist / Compositers like it was a factory line with out batting a eye. Its not the same case for Animators. Most Gnomon animators end up doing pre viz when they get out of Gnomon as there first job do to our sense of timing which you don't even animate anything past a camera really. The reality is Gnomon need to re work there curriculum to build strong animators. Animation is a really different skill set and needs to be re looked at. We don't texture things, we don't software render things, we don't compost things, and we don't model thing things. Most shots I may put a cube there to represent a table or a sphere to represent a ball. Lets face it when you animate you worry about performance and sense of be-livability through movement. The reason you have these classes is because Gnomon is a Generalist school for most the tracks is still a relatively new thing. If you know you want to be a Animator then be ready to skim by on a lot of classes NOT related to Animation. I hope some day Gnomon takes a closer look at there curriculum and re does the Animation track because I can tell you there are a lot of classes that are not related to Animation.
I say rigging is good to know so you can at least fix your rig when you break it and you will break it or when you need to jury rig things together for a shot like one I am working on now were I need to have a character take his head off and still be able to emote with the head and body separately. I used to complain about the rigs Gnomon has comparing them to other schools like Animation Mentor who have in house riggers to build custom rigs for there student then realized through people who work in the industry that you wont always have the luxury and need to learn how to still get a good performance out of a bad rig.
Well that's enough for today so have a good one guys and girls I will try and get in a better habbit of updating this blog now. I wish you guys the best if you have any questions drop me a line at my email: thedeo85@gmail.com and I will try and get back to you :) Best of Luck!
Monday, March 10, 2014
Intro to Maya and Intro to Texturing and Sahding
Woot I got into gnomon and my first term is almost over :) I am going to dump some work I did so fare.
Here is the Progress of my Final at each step for Intro to Maya:
Concept Art that I picked for my final we had to try and match it as close as we could both capturing the mood and style in our render this peice was done by the vary talented artist Bob Ragei for the Daxter game concept work:
Finished Modeling [4 days]:
Finished UVed (I HATE THIS PART THE MOST!!) [2 days]:
Lighting... God I love this step :) [1 day]:
1 week before D DAY >.<":
Mid term time I had to try and get as CLOSE as possible to a real photo and damn is this hard when you never worked in Maya >.<
Source Image a Gentlemen's club billiard room because I love to play pool :) :
Mid Term for my Intro to Maya:
This is a re light as my Intro to Texture teacher Miguel Ortega wanted me to continue on this room for his final:
Here is the Progress of my Final at each step for Intro to Maya:
Concept Art that I picked for my final we had to try and match it as close as we could both capturing the mood and style in our render this peice was done by the vary talented artist Bob Ragei for the Daxter game concept work:
Finished Modeling [4 days]:
Finished UVed (I HATE THIS PART THE MOST!!) [2 days]:
Lighting... God I love this step :) [1 day]:
1 week before D DAY >.<":
Mid term time I had to try and get as CLOSE as possible to a real photo and damn is this hard when you never worked in Maya >.<
Source Image a Gentlemen's club billiard room because I love to play pool :) :
Mid Term for my Intro to Maya:
This is a re light as my Intro to Texture teacher Miguel Ortega wanted me to continue on this room for his final:
Friday, April 26, 2013
Better Late than Never
Hi guys! It’s been a while sense I last posted sorry for
that >.> I recently got a thanks from Dean Sanchez (here is his portfolio
he got accepted in the 2 year program at Gnomon recently http://artofdeansanchez.tumblr.com/)
and I realized something… I have not TOUCHED this blog in a LONG time…
I remember telling myself that I would not be one of those
bloggers that says they’re going to do something then they disappear in the
distance and well I did just that so I am sorry >.< *bows in shame*
Now that that’s out of the way I think we need to pick up
where I have been. Well terms ended back on March 22nd then I was on
break for 2 weeks back in Colorado and all ready the 2nd term is
moving along it started on March 11th…
So first thing is first let’s review the classes over all
and the teachers so you guys can get a better understanding of what you’re
getting yourself into. I also will include my final project and any others that
I feel are a good reflection of the class it self.
First up is:
VISCOM
Teacher: Mark Hannah
Viscom was by all means a VARY
dull to interesting course. Its one of those courses that we all had to go
through in the 1 and 2 year programs that is almost the trial by fire so to
speak. Let’s face it when your told to do 15 pages of boxes in 1, 2, and 3
point perspective you just want to grown inside.
This is the class though when you’re
done your like DAMN I am happy I took that! When we try and light things and
learn about the terms like core Spot light / shadows / parallel light / Design
Contrast / perspective lines. You may have subtle understanding of what they
are but after this class you damn well know them like the back of your hand. He
easily gives out most the time the most heavy work load out of all the classes
in the first term.
Mark Hannah freaked me out in
the beginning it was like knowing all that time and effort into your work he
was going to find something when he reviews it in front of everyone to see and
pick out all the mistakes you have and NOT subtly tell you that “You done
fucked up here!” It gets you on edge but at the same time it conditions you to
not screw it up again. He does not give out “A”s vary often in fact he said
maybe he has handed out 2 A’s ever in his class. I passed with a B myself but I
damn well worked my ass OFF in his class.
Over all even though Mark is a
bit intimidating at times he truly does care to help you if you ask for it. He
will take his time to tell you about his experiences and help guide you not
only in your studies in what he’s teaching he is also working to help teach you
how not to get screwed over in the industry through his experiences in life. He
is not the most direct person in terms of open face smile make you feel good
but he is going to go the extra mile to help you if you prove you are going to
take it there. Over all I do enjoy his company and hanging out with him out of
class on campus and just shooting the breeze. I am very happy I taken this class
as I now know the following things clearly:
- Perspective 1/2/3
- Creating rudimentary geometric shapes in perspective (Cones, Pyramids, Cylinders, Box, Cubes, Spheres)
- Making shapes surface readable due to lien weight (1 /2/ 3 in thickness of line)
- Understanding how to light all geometric primitives
- How to correctly find the shadow to any geometric shadow based on lighting set up
THE BOTTOM LINE
---------------------------------------
Over all I would say I recommend this class to ANYONE.
You can always try and make the shapes more difficult and learn to challenge yourself
but this is always a good course to make sure you DO understand the fundamentals
of 3D objects in a 2D environment.
---------------------------------------
Objective: We were given 2 weeks to create a product that we would need to render out in 3 shots. One being the beauty shot that will show off our product and reflects scale. The second shot is the Usage shot which tells you how to use the product or what it does. Last is the Detail shot which will tell you something about the product like things that are working on the inside like a cut out of the engine. Mine was a straw that allowed you to drink anything and change the flavor to what ever you wanted. So say you hate drinking water do to no taste well with this straw you could be tasting a rick ice cream chocolate milk shake instead when your drinking water :)
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Do it for the money or do it for the passion?
When
I went to Westwood and graduated with a BA in game art and design I was told
coming in to the degree that there was going to be a shiny new job at the end
of my 3 1/2 years of studding and that the industry was roses, sugar, and
everything nice. I was wrong...
We
were sold a image of working in a creative environment making Video games,
playing Video games, and talking about video games because we loved video
games. I was going to come to work in a T-shirt with some smart ass phrase pointing
the hilarities of life and then develop cool things in the computer to
contribute to something I was passionate about. I was going to have toys galore
in my work section and a nerf gun I used to shoot at ppl that pissed me off
near dead line time.
This
is NOT what the game industry is. Do you get to work on game projects? sure but
you better hope the studio you go to is not some soul sucking whore that will
take all that is creative out of you. The hours are long as hell, the benefits
suck, there is no retirement plan, and you live off of scraps to get by but at
least your doing what you love right?
Then
I thought to myself "Man the movie industry has been around longer and I
bet they got better benefits then the game industry which is still in its infancy
right?" Nope it sucks... Rhythm and Hues filing chapter 11 bankrupt,
laying off 250 artist, and WINNING the damn OSCARS of all things in 2013 just
proved how much shit the CG industry in movies is in the toilet. Once
again you will be hard pressed to find a company that offers good benefits like
medical / dental, good pay, pay increase aka as raises, and getting paid for
over time. For more info here is some great articles on the matter:
http://thebigsocialpicture.blogspot.ro/2013/02/the-oscar-protest-that-you-didnt-know.html
http://www.fxguide.com/quicktakes/visualeffectsprotestatoscars/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oAMz0Ppi8tQ
http://vfxsoldier.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/an-open-letter-to-ang-lee/
http://vfxsoldier.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/an-open-letter-to-ang-lee/
It's
like artist are universally shit on but in the reality we all want cool looking
stuff. Artist do this. At Gnomon your studding to be a VFX for movies or a game artist ultimately. I
read and met allot of artist in the game industry and more I look at the other
industry, movies, I am learning that the same thing is happening. You are going
to plop down over 100k in loans or out of pocket. You are going to spend
every min at this school working on your craft. Relies right now as it stands
the industry your going into you're not doing it for the money. You're not
doing it for the great 401K plan. You're not doing it because you are going to
retire at 55 in Hawaii. You're doing it because you love it. I am probably
going to live the rest of my life in debt from school but I want to do
something that I truly love. I worked for 5 years to make money. I was doing pretty
good for myself near the end and I learned something very important. Working
for money to live SUCKS.
I
rather do something that I love every day and just get by on the bills then
make millions of dollars but have to work 8 hours a day doing something I do
not love. I am going to go forward remembering this for the rest of my life. It's
like how my parents always told me. You're going to work for the rest of your
life then you better do something you love.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Mid terms are over half a term to go
Hey guys its been half a term sense I started and man what a term its been. The world load keeps heaping on every term I am in but in the end you keep plugging away at it one step at a time. If your not good at time management well you will get good.
Here is a break down of how to do the work flow of a project I learned in Perspective of what I like to call "Illistration class"
=============================
Process of Creaking work
=============================
0. Define the Problem "Where r you going"
- What should the audience be getting?
- How to Deliver emotionally (Target audience)
1. idea - thinking and writing stuff down
2. Sketches/thumbnails - You know your ideas now you need to explain it in picture
- Develop the size / placement / over all composition of the piece now
- Thumbnails are done at this point also
3. Drawing - research your subject matter this is only when you do this part
4. Value - What is the most important part?
- Direct the viewer to the most important part
- Light to dark (Under painting)
- Decide on mood / focus / form at this point
5. Color - This is the sprinkling and clean up
- Not as important as value
Lets see what to tell you guys who are looking at gnomon. I don't sleep much if I can get in 8 hours I am lucky most the time I sleep any ware from 4 to 7 hours pending how late I am working on a project.
Eventually you stop looking at a calendar thinking "oooo what day of the week is it!" And you start to think "How much time do I have till my next dead line?" Gnomon time of days does not exist what does exists is just dead line after dead line. And if you don't put all your effort into these pieces then your just cheating your self.
The truth is the class mates who do not do this slack and if you slack your not going to get a job. Treat school like work and don't slack. Take good notes on what you did wrong. Go back and fix those things in the piece or if you don't have time make a running list of things to "watch out for" and keep it near you when you do your next piece.
The instructors are there to give you the tools not to give you a job. That is your job to give you a job. The students that make it and get jobs out of gnomon are the ones that have heart and fire in there blood to work as hard as they possibly can on something. There not the people who are just lolly gagging around waiting for life to fall in there laps.
When ever I have a spare min I try and work on skills I am week at. When I am given a open ended project to do then I try and do it in a medium I am not good at. Why? Because I need to work harder at that medium. Spending hours modeling something in Zbrush is not helping me become better at figures or painting in Photoshop. Am I going to be a concept artist when I get out? Nope that's not my goal but that does not mean I can not learn from my other skill sets and become better at Zbrush by becoming a better traditional artist. We need to train our eyes and hone our skills consistently.
There are students at school who work in the labs till 1am in the morning. Poring there time into a environment with few distractions and trying to get as good as they can get. This is our job as artist and it something we should take advantage of. The students that do this will have jobs before they leave school because there both seeking there next step and also honing all there skills towards there crafts. The students who wait last min and rush there homework doing a half ass job are the ones that will fail and not get a job.
Gnomon does not get student jobs they get you contacts and opportunities. Students at Gnomon get them selves jobs. Know your place and work hard to over come it.
To close up this post here is me working on one of my assignments for my Art history class:
Here is a break down of how to do the work flow of a project I learned in Perspective of what I like to call "Illistration class"
=============================
Process of Creaking work
=============================
0. Define the Problem "Where r you going"
- What should the audience be getting?
- How to Deliver emotionally (Target audience)
1. idea - thinking and writing stuff down
2. Sketches/thumbnails - You know your ideas now you need to explain it in picture
- Develop the size / placement / over all composition of the piece now
- Thumbnails are done at this point also
3. Drawing - research your subject matter this is only when you do this part
4. Value - What is the most important part?
- Direct the viewer to the most important part
- Light to dark (Under painting)
- Decide on mood / focus / form at this point
5. Color - This is the sprinkling and clean up
- Not as important as value
Lets see what to tell you guys who are looking at gnomon. I don't sleep much if I can get in 8 hours I am lucky most the time I sleep any ware from 4 to 7 hours pending how late I am working on a project.
Eventually you stop looking at a calendar thinking "oooo what day of the week is it!" And you start to think "How much time do I have till my next dead line?" Gnomon time of days does not exist what does exists is just dead line after dead line. And if you don't put all your effort into these pieces then your just cheating your self.
The truth is the class mates who do not do this slack and if you slack your not going to get a job. Treat school like work and don't slack. Take good notes on what you did wrong. Go back and fix those things in the piece or if you don't have time make a running list of things to "watch out for" and keep it near you when you do your next piece.
The instructors are there to give you the tools not to give you a job. That is your job to give you a job. The students that make it and get jobs out of gnomon are the ones that have heart and fire in there blood to work as hard as they possibly can on something. There not the people who are just lolly gagging around waiting for life to fall in there laps.
When ever I have a spare min I try and work on skills I am week at. When I am given a open ended project to do then I try and do it in a medium I am not good at. Why? Because I need to work harder at that medium. Spending hours modeling something in Zbrush is not helping me become better at figures or painting in Photoshop. Am I going to be a concept artist when I get out? Nope that's not my goal but that does not mean I can not learn from my other skill sets and become better at Zbrush by becoming a better traditional artist. We need to train our eyes and hone our skills consistently.
There are students at school who work in the labs till 1am in the morning. Poring there time into a environment with few distractions and trying to get as good as they can get. This is our job as artist and it something we should take advantage of. The students that do this will have jobs before they leave school because there both seeking there next step and also honing all there skills towards there crafts. The students who wait last min and rush there homework doing a half ass job are the ones that will fail and not get a job.
Gnomon does not get student jobs they get you contacts and opportunities. Students at Gnomon get them selves jobs. Know your place and work hard to over come it.
To close up this post here is me working on one of my assignments for my Art history class:
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