Aspiring Animator – The other A.A.

Normally I would put these images on my Facebook, but this is too cute.  Look how upset she is.  “Dad!…..you’re making me go out it public with this geeky shirt on!”

So it begins. Again.  After taking a leave of absence last semester, I am back for more.  My Class 6 mentor is Kevin Koch.  I am way excited to learn from him, I have heard great things about him.  Here is a little background on him from his website www.synchrolux.com:

After a brief career in neuroscience and medicine, I’ve been animating professionally for the last 12 years. I actually started before that on a friend’s personal project (Steve Rude and Nexus, specifically), learning from books, and trial and error (still a great teacher). My professional career began at Warner Bros. Feature Animation, in a tall building on Brand Boulevard, as a lowly inbetweener on The Quest for Camelot. I was lucky that my first supervising animator was the inspiring and talented Mike Nguyen, so even though the film was a dud, I couldn’t have been happier. Then I moved over to DreamWorks as an assistant and worked on all the studio’s hand-drawn films, eventually progressing to animator. I learned from and assisted some of the best of the best, people like James Baxter and Kristof Serrand and Rodolphe Guenoden. I switched to CG animation about six years ago when the rest of the industry changed over, and happily found the transition as natural as could be.

My credits include Over the Hedge, Madagascar, Shrek 2, Terra, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, The Road to El Dorado, The Prince of Egypt, and The Quest for Camelot. I’ve also done some freelance and consulting work to keep things interesting.

I enjoy teaching animation, and for the past year I’ve been a Mentor for AnimationMentor.com, teaching Introduction to Animation, Beginning Acting, Advanced Acting, and Short Film Production. There’s nothing like teaching eager students to sharpen your skills and your eye.

no no, not the software!  My wife and I welcomed our 2nd child and first daughter, Maya (I know, I’m a geek) into the world Fri. night.  So now matter which way you look at it, I am a slave to Maya.  I wouldn’t have it any other way

Man this stuff is soooo cool!