Graduation Blues? Hardly

Well Graduation just happened this last weekend and the only word for it really is... speechless! So many elements of it was fantastic and surreal it's hard to know where to start. The actual ceremony itself was creative and entertaining, done in the style that only Animation Mentor could pull off, but on top of that, meeting most people for the first time that I've only met before through webcam or even text was an amazing experience. Especially being harnessed as such a global community and knowing how far people travelled, just... wow! There was also a career fair the day before in which I was able to introduce myself to numerous recruiters, I consider that to be the most important element rather than simply prospects of finding work, though that plays into it as well. And being able to do all the touristy things that San Francisco offers with friends from literally around the world was just as exciting. 5 days was not long enough.

Although I was nominated for 2 student choice awards, I didn't end up winning either, but I wasn't disappointed, as both people who won them were entirely deserving of those awards. I did however, get to meet up with my last mentor, Kenny Roy who's an awe inspiring individual, but having won his class award, I received a 3D maquette of one of my film characters. All I had to do was send him a pose in a maya file and the rest was his; I plan on painting it, but it was an honor to receive it.

So I guess it's official, I'm now a full fledged alumni, but the work doesn't stop there. After graduation, a group of us got tours of ILM and PDI Dreamworks and both places were just amazing. So many good vibes that I definitely feel rejuvenated on finishing my short film, even sooner than later. So I've begun work on that as well as continued to bust away work for the Age of Chivalry mod I'm part of now. Mostly working on Sprint cycles at the moment, and I'm realizing how challenging cycles can actually be. It is definitely a good test of... well darn near everything and a really good learning experience. Hopefully I'll post something soon.

Also, one of my shots for the new Mass Animation contest was chosen as a finalist and I had a skype call with the director Yair Landau earlier today. Offering me some feedback on how to improve it and getting me set up for working with ReelFX to push it up to finalized production quality. It's a very exciting prospect and I can't wait to start to finish it (sounds ironic I know). I've decided to do one more entry for the DCUO contest, this time a game cycle. If it gets chosen, it would be an interesting sense of achievement seeing some of my animation in game being used by players and NPCs alike.

So all in all, even tho becoming alumni would seem like a bit of a denouement, the animation wheel keeps on turning, and I'm glad I have enough to keep my plate full until the next studio job comes my way. :D