Animation Mentor is a wonderful place to learn character animation. My experience has to be as unique as anybody elses. Like any school it has its pros and cons , so there were great moments; exciting moments, some not so exciting and some really frustrating moments but it helped me develop a strong foundation none the less.Joining Animation Mentor was a decision that i had to make based on my own circumstances, yours might be different.
In a country like mine there isn't any animation education and that's a reality i have to face even today; and so it made perfect sense to begin my animation studies at Animation Mentor. Also there isn't any animation community per se, so it was that much difficult for me to work through the assignments. I'm not saying it was impossible to do the assignments without anybody's feedback but growth is accelerated through interaction and that happens only if you grow along with a community.
Speaking of which, the Animation Mentor community was my sanctuary; The people at Animation Mentor are amazing! Everyone is passionate and the staff works to provide the best possible resources within the limitations for an online medium. Having said that there's no replacing the 'rubbing your shoulders in class' effect and at times when i needed help, the best i could do was chat live, on video or send a message to my mentor or talk to the mentor in a Q and A but that instantaneous effect of being able to get feedback or being walked through and talk something over and do it a number of times was missing. It made things harder since animation was very new to me.
The problems do increase in such cases and i have to tell you AM is not an easy program. You really have to apply yourself and dedicate a fair amount of time necessary to extract the minimum results. The more you put into the program the better results you'll get. Animation is both art and craft and since i didn't have prior animation experience things took longer than usual to sink in. For me the assignments were a means to practice and learn the concepts; unlike others who could afford to 'show off' their understanding and skills using the very same assignments. Being human, it creates mild envy, a feeling of lack of achievement but importantly it helps to develop the eye. It lets you know where you stand and highlights the weaknesses.
At Animation Mentor we learn the very important skill of taking notes and working on the projects selflessly. We are taught that the mentor (animation director / supervisor) has the final say and we can never bring in our ego. As a professional we would have to be obedient and help the team realize the directors vision. In the process we learn to give and happily take feedback.
I should point out something which has to be irrelevant in the professional world and that is 'feedback discrimination'. I was the lesser animator so there was this natural polarity for the ones better than me to help each other out more. May be its because they felt I wouldn't be able to give feedback 'useful' for them (which was a fact) and so feedback turned into mere wishes and ultimately stopped. I was the idiot wishing people and praising their work which is nice once in a while but deep down everyone wants to spend time doing something constructive, which i wasn't helping them out with and it was embarrassing but not my fault.
Feedback should NOT be considered work! and It would be criminal not to mention this. Its the best way to learn and train the animation eye. To make up for it, i tried to identify errors and areas of improvement in student work and see if the mentor had the same observations in the critiques. Once you do this for a while, you'll get addicted or at least i was and ITS THAT HELPFUL! By volunteering as an alumni peer buddy I plan on giving back to the community and help out the younger students, something which was due and i missed out on.
The other thing i found a little tricky was the grading system. At times i was more worried about my grades rather than concentrating on making the assignments better. As ironic as it might sound, it is true and I'll explain why. The grades are there to make students work harder. I personally do not agree with that. I think if there are no grades people who really want to pursue animation education they'll still apply themselves equally, so grades shouldn't be a measure to justify someones commitment. Now, by no means I'm suggesting not to penalize below par work but at times walking down the wrong way shows you the importance of the right one.
I honestly i could not afford to fail a class. That was the bottom line and I'm sure there are people who too are financially constrained, who have time limitations and have to finish the program in one go. Initially the mentors are forgiving but gradually they become more demanding and expect better work. Half of the time i was worried i wouldn't do something to offend the mentor because strictly in the grading there's this section that the mentor evaluates your work based on his/her feedback and if you deviate too much from what he/she instructed you to do you're going be penalized. Its all OK but at times if there's some communication gap then things get a little scary, things get a little frustrating and it made me afraid of making mistakes.It is the worst thing that can happen to anyone; because then you're not learning anymore.For me learning is all about making mistakes, falling down getting back up and then falling down again. That's how i am, that's how learning works for me and i was learning with a restricted mind so on that note i rest my case. You should be prepared to deal with such instances too; Importantly be smart and not lose you're head.
The mentors are wonderful. At times it feels as though they're really being harsh but i think in hind sight one can understand they're just doing that for our betterment. The purpose of being so candid is to help future students know what to expect at an emotional level and continue to put in the best despite all the challenges. If you sincerely love animation you'll eventually make it through!
I thank everyone at Animation Mentor for helping me on my way to a fabulous journey.
