Professional Mentors from Top Animation Studios, Cutting Edge Curriculum
and Advanced Online Technology Sets the Bar for Character Animation and
Online Learning
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- AnimationMentor.com, (Animation
Mentor), the leading online character animation school created by animators
for animators, today unveils its new winter term curriculum for January
2009 and releases the new version of the school's state-of-the-art online
campus.
Unique among art schools worldwide, Animation Mentor exclusively
teaches character animation in an environment where students learn directly
from professional animators from top studios including Disney Animation
Studios, DreamWorks, Industrial Light & Magic, Pixar Animation Studios,
Sony Pictures Imageworks, and more. Within classes that maintain a
mentor-to-student ratio of no more than 1-to-15, students learn the art of
animation and the real-world production skills needed to be successful in a
studio environment -- all within a truly interactive online classroom where
students collaborate and learn side-by-side with direction from mentors.
The personal attention, combined with a condensed 18-month online education
program without the "fluff" of traditional art school curricula, produces
production-ready graduates that are sought after by animation studios.
"Our goal is to create the best school on the planet for character
animation," said Bobby Beck, chief executive officer and cofounder of
Animation Mentor. "We continue to look for ways to make our program more
valuable to aspiring animators and cultivate a strong sense of community. I
am humbled by the dedication and expertise of our mentors. Their
contributions combined with a cutting-edge curriculum and advanced online
technology helps us lead the way for innovation in character animation
education and online learning."
Dedicated to continuous improvement, Animation Mentor's new curriculum
incorporates feedback from students, ideas from mentors, and input from
industry professionals to create best practices instrumental to having a
successful career in animation. While still maintaining the core elements
of the program that have led to an exceptional 78 percent job placement
rate of graduates, Animation Mentor has also incorporated more training in
developing body mechanics expertise. This new course content is designed to
better teach students how to overcome the inherent challenges in animating
body mechanics, avoid common mistakes, and allow them to better apply
advanced concepts and complex acting choices to their characters.
In addition, the school has added a polishing and portfolio class that
will give expert guidance from mentors to help students select their best
work, polish it to perfection and create an outstanding demo reel. The new
portfolio class will involve learning the ins and outs of getting a job in
the animation industry from professional recruiters and other industry
experts.
The new curriculum, which is still 18-months in length, will no longer
offer the two short film classes that were in the previous curriculum.
These courses will be offered as electives in 2009 to all Animation Mentor
graduates upon completion of the new program.
Animation Mentor's online campus leverages a hybrid of Web 2.0 and next
generation technology to give students and mentors the most powerful tools
available for remote learning. Within the virtual classroom mentors are
able to easily view and critique student work and host real-time Q&A
sessions. Here, students also download lectures on demand by industry
experts on all aspects of production, and interact with other students and
mentors in the same way they would on popular social media sites such as
Facebook. The new release of the online campus upgrades the functionality
of the online campus and enables even faster uploads and downloads of
digital content, and more intuitive navigation, documentation, and
reporting of student work.
Animation Mentor at SIGGRAPH 2008
Animation Mentor is participating in SIGGRAPH 2008 in Los Angeles,
California from Monday, August 11 through Friday, August 15, 2008. Event
attendees are invited to visit Animation Mentor at SIGGRAPH 2008,
exhibition booth 1401.
To learn more about Animation Mentor events at SIGGRAPH 2008, visit
http://www.AnimationMentor.com/siggraph.
For more information about SIGGRAPH 2008, visit
http://www.siggraph.org/s2008/.
About Animation Mentor (AnimationMentor.com)
Animation Mentor is a state-of-the-art online education and mentorship
program teaching students the skills needed to succeed as a professional
animator in the studio environment. Focused 100% on character animation,
the 18-month program is designed and taught by some of the industry's top
professional animators from top studios. Animation Mentor's online campus
environment provides students around the world with a convenient, flexible,
and accessible learning environment 24 hours a day, seven days a week. By
graduation, every student will have worked in a production-style
environment with mentors who are working studio animators. Students learn
how to accept guidance and criticism, to meet deadlines and to budget and
schedule their time to succeed in the working world. The program leads
students to a diploma in Advanced Studies in Character Animation and is
built with a focus on production studio skills, allowing students to get
comfortable with the many challenges and opportunities they will experience
when working in a studio environment. Upon graduation, Animation Mentor
coaches graduates and connects them to job opportunities with major
recruiters, video game companies, and film studios. For more information,
visit http://www.AnimationMentor.com.
CONTACTS: Sundrop Media
Erica Garver, 971-570-3291 or EricaG@sundropmedia.com
Christy Caplan, 503-412-8850 or ChristyC@sundropmedia.com
Spencer Crandall, 503-735-4038 or SpencerC@sundropmedia.com
On deadline? Send a message to SpeedyResponse@sundropmedia.com
SOURCE Animation Mentor
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Related links:
http://www.AnimationMentor.com
http://www.AnimationMentor.com/siggraph
http://www.siggraph.org/s2008
CONTACT:
Erica Garver, +1-971-570-3291,
EricaG@sundropmedia.com, or Christy Caplan, +1-503-412-8850,
ChristyC@sundropmedia.com, or Spencer Crandall, +1-503-735-4038,
SpencerC@sundropmedia.com, all of Sundrop Media, for Animation
Mentor, if on deadline, SpeedyResponse@sundropmedia.com
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