INTRO
Hello World. my name is Fred Ocheli AKA "Reid Krugger Al'Jabbar". I am first a construction person and now a 3D character animator. Animation is one subject i cant stop talking about. Not because I know so much about it but because i'm so in Love with it. As a kid it amazed me to see people put pen to paper, make some scribbles and okey dokey, the scribbles start walking, talking you know, just come to life. i guess that led me to animations.
Yeah, its not so much of a big deal in other parts of the world as thier works speaks for them. Companies like Pixar, Disney and Bluesky have made tons of dollars, creating jobs and Wacking Block Busters all from making animated movies. Here in Africa and sadly Nigeria, the story is however different. I doubt if the animators here are up to 2% of the entire CG populace. I mean look around You, We have very good modellers and texturers and when I think of it, a lot of the People in our CG industry are in it for the money not because they have the passion for it. And a lot of the times when You try to like, hey that's not how its done lets do... yeah they cut you off with "yeah, I know". They Know. they always know and that's why they are still where they are today. No! they dont know, and they are where they still are because of pride.
I've gone around a bit and have seen some Character Animation Schools in Nigeria and trust Me, most of them are not at All what there advert say they are. Matter of fact, they know nothing about Character Animation. Unless of course You consider moving boxes about as Character Animation. And Yeah, i'm always here if anybody feels otherwise as regards what has been said here so far.
STUDYING ANIMATIONS
Now I'm a self taught meaning I learnt Animations by myself. And if you want to do that in Nigeria, there are 2ways you could do that. either you Learn by yourself like me, trust me you don't want to take this route not unless you have plenty of time, financial support and literally living life like a kid where almost or all of your needs are met by your parent, guardian or something and you are not responsible to or for anything or body. Now the last one mentioned is important. However, if you choose this path, I wouldn't recommend you start with YouTube Videos because You probably will get carried away trying to achieve what it is that you see in these videos. And Walla, You now know how to animate. No, You still don't know how to animate because there's a lot more to Animations than watching YouTube Videos. Though there are books that will teach you how to Animate by first learning the principles but what most of us here don't know is that, most of these books are for people that already know a thing or two about animating.
The other way to this is getting around this is by searching for a school to learn like what they do abroad. This one is more effective and will prove to be more productive if You are lucky to get a competent hand to teach and mentor You through this process. Matter of fact, I highly recommend this one. But be careful, a lot of us don't even know how to use the basic tools. Yet we want to teach Animations. So Beware of these set of teachers. Either way, it will be nice if You get The ILLUSION OF LIFE: DISNEY ANIMATION [Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas], or Jeff Lews Cds, or My Personal Favorite "The Animators Survival Kit" by Richard Williams. Yeah get any of these books and CDs especially anything from Richard Williams and You could be on your way to your goal.
CHALLENGES
In this country everything is a challenge as regards animations. The best your school will teach you is modelling and texturing. Going to School is Expensive, Yeah i know and so is Learning Animations. Abroad, people learn Animations for thousands of dollars and that is NOT about to change here.
So the real "challenge' for me is POWER, PHCN or NEPA if you like. Thank God for Google and Internet, but You still need power to Light up your system. So, in this regard, I'll recommend you get a laptop with at least 4gig ram and say 300gb hard drive, i3 or more and yeah you get the idea. But this is a temporary solution to your power challenges because with this you are sure of at least say 3hrs of practice everyday, every time your lap top is fully charged.
Yeah you still have to get a very good hand to teach you how to use the software and Animate properly.
Dedication, Determination, Focus and Time are other things that could kill that dream of your's if not properly harnessed. So you have to be disciplined about it.
VALUE AND TIME
I'll give it to You Straight. Animation is EXPENSIVE and it takes time, lots of time to learn as well as create. So speaking in nigerian terms, You cant Learn Animation or at least Character Animation FROM SCRATCH in 3mths or 6mths. HELL NO. If You've come across somebody that's gone through that path, Hey let Me know. Maybe he could give me his autograph or something, or maybe give me a bit of whatever he's smoking. Not that it's impossible though, but from experience, it's almost impracticable an achievable fit. Also you cant learn Character Animation with N100,000. No Sir. At least not on a level that you gain recommendation for. As per Value, I think every School and it's worth fixed and for a lot of reasons too.
CONCLUSION
True there is money in animation, but animation like other professions is not for everybody. If you take it as a path because there is money in it, you might not get to that promised land. But if it choose you making it your purpose to fulfill, and you are determined and are ready to give at least 8 to 12 hours of your life every day or at least 6days a week with same hours, then you might be on your way. The true test is not knowing how to model or move boxes or things in general. The true test is knowing exactly what plug to pull and why, because only then can you manipulate your way through. So get any software, Learn and master it's interface and tools. Love the software and animation because if you don't, your journey's going to end up most likely like a kid that hates maths. And that's how it all starts until the final blow sets in like "you know what? f**k this, i dont need this s**t blabla yadayadayada. and you close shop. Lol, ok i hope it doesn't end like that for you.
So read and ponder upon these words before you make that Journey and if you need any assistance, you can reach me here or on chimatic@gmail.com or fredocheli@yahoo.com and i"ll be more than glad to offer any assistance within my capacity to help you push on.
And Yeah, i'll be uploading some of my animations here, just so you have an idea of whatever it is i'm talking about. But in the main time enjoy this blast from the past i did about a year ago http://youtu.be/opFjvErscKw. And do feel free to comment and subscribe to our channel. Thanks.
Good luck Animating and Cheers.
Click the link to watch our videos http://youtu.be/opFjvErscKw
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