| How
I Became An Animator
My love
for animation began at the age of six when I fell under the
spell of Disney's 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. As a
teenager, I started animating as a hobby and though it has
since become my career, it has never ceased to provide the
enjoyment and fulfillment it did as a youth. After training
as a traditional artist I decided to pursue my interest in
animation by enrolling in University.
My addiction
to video games spawned the day I discovered Pong but it was
not until I received my first computer(Acorn Electron) at
the age of seven that my obsession really took hold. Twenty
five years later, my addiction is as strong as ever.
  
After
years of avid games playing, I began to turn my interest to
the art packages and in my pursuit of the perfect one I started
to explore hardware developments and so was born my interest
in the PC.
Unfortunately
my high school did not offer computer classes so I enlisted
in electronics in the hope that it would lead me along a similar
route. I always loved art and computers but never imagined
that I could turn my passion into my career. Actually, it
was my school's Career Guide who shared the thought of
such a profession. Until that point I felt destined for a
career in design or architecture.
When I
left high school I spent three years at the National Centre
of Computer Animation, Bournemouth, where I gained a BA(Hon's)
degree in Computer Visualisation and Animation. Bournemouth
University's philosophy was to teach practitioners an understanding
of both the technical and creative aspects of Computer Graphics.
The course covered theory and practice relating to computer
visualisation and animation including, for example, programming
and maths as well as 3D computer animation and related practical
skills.
After
graduating I was fortunate enough to land a job at Infogrames,
where under the expert guidance of John
Clark, I began my career in computer animation by animating
Looney Tunes characters before landing my dream job of breathing
life into Tony Hawk in California.
Since then, I have spent many years working as an animator/animation director on a variety of products for the N64, PS1,
PS2, PS3, GameCube, Xbox, Xbox360 and PC on projects such as Tony
Hawk, Splinter Cell and Jade Empire. I'm now happily settled at Rockstar north in Edinburgh, where I've been given the opportuniry to work amongst some of the industry's top talent.
If
you want to know more about me or computer animation, please
don't hesitate to contact me
and I'll do my best to answer any of your questions.
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