2 years of animation
Many many years ago, after getting a fine degree in a sensible subject from a fairly old uni, i decided to stick it to the man, rebel against the olds, give up the job and the trendy flat in Edinburgh and go to a piss pot college in a one horse town (and the horse was dead) and study animation - the great and abiding love of my life.

Why a shitty little college instead of a shiny nice BA at art school. Couldn't be arsed with another 4 years of chiselling someone elses beanfeast off my plates in a hall of residence kitchen. I digress

It was the first year they'd done the course and they didn't have a clue. It wasn't until a year in that they even attempted a walk cycle which in the end they asked me to teach everyone. I desperately wanted to do stop motion and they had promised me the wherewithall and the software, in truth they gave me a cupboard and a spotlight and i somehow managed to cobble something together. We were running maya on our fisher price PCs, rendering scenes overnight. Those of us with real talent banded together to share our skills, coz the tutors had feck all. This was in 2002 and you would expect that we could somehow burn our work to disc and take it home to work on it. Nope, they gave us HD floppies FFS. Which none of us had a reader for at home. At the end of the year we had eye wateringly massive files at college of all our 3D, 2D and in my case stop motion work that we'd done. We all passed the course - not fucking surprised as we were self taught - and we were all looking forward to our promised CD Rom of work to take to our prospective employers at the end of the year.

But they wiped it all, overnight, because it was taking up too much room on their servers. All of it. Every last little walk cycle, lip sync, music video, wire frame, beautifully realised grey clay angel with silk and metal wire wings crying tears of glycerine over the body of a dead clay soldier in a stop motion version of Dulce Et Decorum Est.

I work in PR now, never did get that Animation job, Craig, one of the most talented 3D modellers i've ever seen drives a JCB on a building site, Colin, a naturally gifted 2D animator had a nervous breakdown.

not funny, not cool, but true
( Animanga, Thu 14 Aug 2008, 22:14, 4 replies)

Heyyy
You told me you were on the game in 2002! That's why I married you
( Cheeses of Nazareth Where's Captain Kirk? www.whereiskirk.com, Thu 14 Aug 2008, 22:25, closed)

:(
I know the feeling - I graduated from an animation degree over 2 years ago. I'm an admin manager in a microbiology lab now.

I very nearly got a job at Cartoon Network in January, they gave it to the other person :(

Damn you, stupid unrealistic career ambitions!!!
(claireyfairy There's a smell in here that will outlast religion, Fri 15 Aug 2008, 15:22, closed)

Yup me too
Got my shinny degree in animation from half assed art collage, and yes had to self teach there too.

I now work in construction, renovating houses into flats.

Maybe i should make an animation out of bricks.
(Lord Potato, Mon 18 Aug 2008, 3:51, closed)

Where ?
Did you go to uni?
(Lord Potato, Mon 18 Aug 2008, 3:52, closed)