I am someone who likes to draw alot, fancy myself a decent draftsman even, and I am a rather impatient person – learning 3D-Software can be a hardship. Still, I grew to love the technology and even though my drawing and story telling skills need further developement, I kind of always wanted to learn 3D. Not because there is this  supposedly huge market for 3D-artist. It is more a matter of princible for me and how I see myself as a professional film maker. Just as I don’t want to let weak drawing and design skills border my capabilites to express myself in comic or illustration – I don’t want to be stuck on doing 2D animation when my ideas would need real 3D work. I feel, I have to know all the tools before I can make a good decision which to apply to a certain task. #

Also, owning so expensive hard and software kind of makes me feel all pro and shit.

I found out that I learn best when I have a project that I can apply my new skills to and that is the motivation that drives the learning experience – when you have fun you don’t realise that you are working. Recently, I made the mistake to take on a project that was too big and needed too much technical knowledge in too many areas. Hence, I got sidetracked and found myself fighting too many battles, ultimately failing. There is a reason that animation one-man-bands like Bill Plympton or young Jedi David O’Reilly are successful. Keeping it simple and and not spreading oneself too thin on a project is as important as dilligence and good ideas. I learned this the hard way again.

I also found out that I am not particulary stupid. A friend of mine is working on his gratuation film with a partner and they decided to do the film completely in Maya. It took them about a year to set up the technique, modelling, rigiging, lighting, rendering before they animated a single scene. If you start out, start out small and build up one by one.