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.After another sixmonths, they hired me full time.John became the in-house expert on LightWave, back when NewTek wasjust introducing the software (ancient times in computer lore, about 1991!).But he yearned for greater horizons and eventually heard about a computer 01_200505_Avg_ch01 12/16/03 9:00 AM Page 21Your First Day on the Job21Figure 1-2Animator TonyBryant at hisworkstation atCartoon Pizza inNew York Cityanimation studio called Amblin Imaging that was being set up by StevenSpielberg to handle all the computer generated imagery (CGI) for a TVseries to be known as SeaQuest.John sent his reel to Amblin and wasoffered a job.Eventually, he became one of the two top animator-managersof the shop, working directly with Spielberg.In addition, John s ability tosqueeze the maximum efficiency from both computers and artists createdan excess capacity at Amblin.Excess capacity means that a shop has morecomputers and labor than it needs to be profitable.Obviously, if the capac-ity can be used for more work, the studio can make even more profit.SoAmblin started bidding on outside work, such as the space effects for StarTrek Voyager.Eventually, Spielberg decided to shut down Amblin when he formed hiscurrent partnership, DreamWorks SKG.For a while, Gross and Spielbergdiscussed being partners in an independent animation studio that Johnwould helm, but eventually John went off on his own, and today runs EdenFX, one of the most successful Hollywood animation shops.On a regularbasis you can see John Gross s name rolling up the credits of major filmsand television shows (see Figure 1-3). 01_200505_Avg_ch01 12/16/03 9:00 AM Page 22Chapter 122Figure 1-3John Gross, right,being interviewedby the author fora documentaryduring theshutdown ofSteven Spielberg sAmblin Imaging,just prior to Johnstarting his ownanimation studioThe point of all these stories is this.If you decide what it is you want todo and where you want to do it, you can get there if you invest a little bit ofmoney and a lot of work.Once there, if you continue to work hard at it, youcan go really far.The sky, or at least a virtual copy of it, is the limit.How This Book WorksWhen I sat down to start this book, I didn t want to open it up with a lot ofboring stuff about how this book was organized or what you could expect toget out of it.That s always a cool glass of ice down your back when you refired up to get into the meat and potatoes of a new career.So I started youoff with some tasty nibbles of what your career as an animator could be like.Now that you ve bit that off and are chewing it through your imagination,here s that cold beverage to wash it down.This book combines two essential knowledge paths to being a successfulanimator.First, it tells you about the basics of animation, which involve thecreation of a storyboard, objects, scenes, and characters.Secondly, it tellsyou about the business of animation that involve getting an internship,making a show reel, getting a paying job, and starting your own business.I 01_200505_Avg_ch01 12/16/03 9:00 AM Page 23Your First Day on the Job23decided to write a chapter for each step on both paths.To make the book funto read, I decided to alternate the chapters between animation craft andbusiness science.To add icing to the cake, I interviewed several professionalanimators who allowed me to put their own experiences in this book.The result, I hope, is a fun and educational book to read, with practicalsoftware applications that enable you to get out of the starting blocks andtoward reaching your goals.Boldface TypeIn order to help you learn the terminology of the animation business, I veput all the new words in boldface type.These words may also be found inthe index.Therefore, if you search for a word in the index, you can go to thepage listed and easily find it by looking for the boldface type.Fictitious NamesFor various reasons, some of the stories in this book use fictitious names forpeople and companies.Any resemblance between these names and real peo-ple is coincidental.For the sake of brevity, I have not noted which names arefictitious and which actual, so you may amuse yourself with conjecture orInternet searches for possible contacts.The Most Popular SoftwarePrior to starting this book, my publisher, McGraw Hill and I did a survey tofind out what was the most popular animation software.Our resultsrevealed three animation products: NewTek s LightWave, discreet s 3dsmax, and Alias|Wavefront s Maya, all of whom assisted in the creation ofthis book.My goal is not to produce a shootout competition between these threecompanies and their offerings, but to provide my readers with a compre-hensive overview of the tools.Consequently, rather than accentuating thedifferences between the products, their commendable features, and regret-table shortcomings, my effort is to promote a general appreciation for and 01_200505_Avg_ch01 12/16/03 9:00 AM Page 24Chapter 124understanding of all of them.My wish is that you become an expert in, orat least become familiar with, all three.My experience as a professional animator and creative director for asmall corporate media facility I cofounded in New York City in 1982 hasgiven me a broad perspective on both the animation business specificallyand the e-media business in general [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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