wow! i'm so excited about having my very own blog that i'm really confused about where to even start! should i start with my new, wonderful baby girl? should i talk about my wife's new job? should i post updates on my quest to become a kick-butt animator? or how about blogging the random thoughts that pass through my head every second?
ooohh.... so many choices!
how about starting with my daughter, cora!? (
pictures) she's been growing and growing and growing. this morning, cora and i went on a stroll to the bank and post office. she made those funny baby noises the entire way, kicking her feet all the while! so much fun! tonight, we were at a "new faculty and staff" dinner, and she pulled the lemon slice off of cindy's tea... well, let's just say that she started down the path of food that wasn't mommy's milk... surprisingly though, after a few scrunched faces, she began licking it like it was a lollipop! she loved it! ha!
cindy was recently hired on as the women's residential director of tabor college! we're both very excited about this. we've felt god's call here in hillsboro, and we think this might be the direction he'd like us to head. the job does come with a fairly spacious apartment that just a few steps away from the girls' dormitory. all this week and most of next she's been training the residential assistants (as well as herself), which has mixed up our life completely (in a good way). cora's been coming with me to work and spending a little time at a babysitter's. we're all learning a ton about being flexible!
animation :) animation :) animation :P~~~
prior to cindy being accepted as women's rd, we were trying to figure out our 5 or 10 year plan... and one thing i've come to realize is that even though i like computers and learning about making them do work efficiently and reprogramming them and pushing them to the limits... i really don't like fixing/cleaning/debunking them all day long! i feel like a digital janitor. "somebody just dropped their drink on the floor over there" "the carpets need vacuuming" "the trash needs taken out" "the cats just vomitted on the poop that the dog left on the sofa" so anyways, i started to explore areas of interest to me, namely graphics and computers. i also seem to carry a bit in intuition when it comes to movement. and i absolutely love seeing great computer animation and visual effects! so, let's see where that takes us!
i've researched a handful of schools that teach computer animation and have narrowed it down to two. vancouver film school (yes, vancouver, canada) is quite famous for producing some very good animators. i really enjoy looking at the students' demo reels. it's a concentrated 12 month course, where basically i'd be eating, sleeping, and doing only computer animation for that entire 12 months... they say about 80 hours a week will be dedicated to lab and lecture. i've definitely got mixed feelings about that part. but, the topper is the people involved in training the students are out in the industry right now. they aren't just some professors that love theory. they actually make the movies, they do the scenes, they follow the rules they teach. the other "school" is called animation mentor. it's web-based, 18 months long, and i'm super impressed with the students' work! they also have industry people teaching... actually... mentoring and critiquing the students. it's also about half the price of vfs and i can attend from anywhere. however, i will have to provide/purchase the computer and software, it's 6 months longer, and it focuses only on animation (not modeling or visual effects).
but, i don't have to decide right now.
i have been practicing my animation and modeling skills. i'll definitely post a bit along the way ;)
hope you've enjoyed my first posting. i'm headed to bed! good night!
today, ham is starting to get some front paws. i really liked the cartoony legs he had before, but the time has come to get 'em right. i've also fixed his nose and eyebrow, as well as done a ton of work on his ears. also, i'm starting to add some color to him. i did try adding fur to him from a tutorial i found online, but i must be missing a setting cause it made him look like a plucked chicken. i found myself playing around too much trying to get the settings right that i finally gave up and continued modeling. he's still far from finished, but it seems that i can only work for a little bit before i get a call from cora asking me to pop in her pacifier or bounce her or something.
