11.15.2009

Kickin' It Old-School

I went digging through some files on my old computer today when I found this video.  It's an animation short that I did for one of my computer animation classes back in college.  The requirements were that the video run 20 seconds, and that the character we made had to talk for at least 8 seconds.

The reason I posted this was because I had recently been talking to my wife about being passionate about our respective crafts. When I was in college, I was downright obsessed with getting a job on the game industry.  I wanted a position so badly that I could taste it.  I knew in full the reality of the siutation: I was competing not only against other aspiring artists for a job, but also artists that already had more experience than me.  I can't begin to count the hours that I spent doing everything that I could to learn about and practice computer art.  When I was making this video, I spent days on end trying to create what I saw in my head.  When I wasn't in class or working at the deli, I was in the commons making this animation.  When I was finally ready to render everything out, I stayed at school until 4 a.m., stuffing Little Caesar's pizza in my mouth and drinking a soda to stay awake, waiting for all of the frames to finish.

I could have easily made a clip that was the bare minimum and called it a day.  Hell, I could have done what all but three in my class did and just not turn anything in on account of not having it finished.  But the commitment that I had to myself and to this video and the obsession with artistic creation,  that's what made me push forward.   It's reflecting on that passion that made me post about this today.  Passion for my craft is what has helped bless me with the life that I have today, and it's that same passion that keeps me happy from 9 to 5.  Things can get rough at work sometimes, but it's those times when I need to watch this video again, and simply remember.

Christopher Aerostat: Simulation

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