Friday 4 March 2011

Paid and Displayed...

Well I havnt quite displayed yet as I havent got access to the AM Student Badge but im all paid up! For the first class anyway! I dont think either me or my bank account could take the shock of spending the whole $19,000 all at once even though it will cost an extra $100 per term doing it via the term by term payment plan.

My idea is to pay the first term as I have and then pay for the rest all at once, other than the reason above I dont know why im doing it this way, its just an idea I got in my head and kind of makes me feel better about it I guess.

So far in my short time as an AM applicant ive met some great people and i cant wait to get to know them more and watch them develop as animators. Everyone comes from completely different backgrounds and its great to hear how they arrived at AM.

I dont want to put a downer on the experience already but a huge factor for me regarding the whole AM journey is the money involved, and im sure this will be the same for many current students and future students. As far as my money situation goes, AM will pretty much flatline my bank balance after the 18 months, im going to have to really put this thought to the back of my mind and not let it get in my way.  As one of the main reasons for this blog is to give an insight into my own personal experiences at AM for others considering the course, I want to let those people know that ill be 100% funding my own tuition throughout the full course.

As far a work goes ill be holding down a full time job for the whole of the first term and then depending on how things go ill make a decision on whether to leave work and go full time AM from then onwards. Whats important for me is to make sure that at no point does my job get to a point where it puts in jeopardy my learning and progression through AM.

I was always unsure on what to do regarding work when I first considered applying for AM and didnt know whether to quit my job from day one. I got in touch with a great guy called Max Hamond who is a current student at AM and he gave me a little gem of advice "make the decision to leave work after you have started AM, that way you wont make a bad decision". In the end it turned out I had no choice and I couldnt afford AM without working no matter how many spending cuts i made.

As of now, im currently waiting to recieve my orientation email for access to what i believe is an introduction to AM and some other goodies such as a Maya license and some discounts to other things, right now it still hasnt sunk in that im actually going to be a student at AnimationMentor.

Its late, im tired, work tomorrow... night - Adam

4 comments:

  1. Awesome post Adam! You're gonna love AM. Love's an understatement. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

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  2. Best of luck mate. Sincerely hapy for you, especially since you're like the rest of us when it comes to the money.

    I think I'm right in saying that you must Mark's mate (i go to Teesside with him) and he mentioned that you had 3 years of a certain Mr. Wheeler.
    If that's true then i think they should let in there for free

    =D

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  3. Thanks for the positive comments guys, Nic if what i come up with is even half as good as what your coming up with ill be happy! keep up the great work!

    Andrew, again thanks for your comments. The money situation kinda sucks but if i get a job in what i love afterwards itll be worth way more that what ive paid :)

    Yeah im Marks friend and i indeed did have to endure 3 years but if i didnt i wouldnt be where i am now i guess so i like to look at it that way!. If i dont it just feels like 3 years wasted, it was a shame to call it a computer animation course.

    Im happy to see that the course has improved so much for you guys since i went but from what Marks told me theres still much room for improvement - Adam

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  4. Just thought i'd throw this out there but a friend and i have created a pose site called www.dailyposes.com which is kind of like the first class at AM: in so much as we have to create a single pose to tell a story/sell an emotion er.... daily.

    If you would like any critiques or anything when you get to that stage just give me a shout. I know the resources at AM are pretty much second to none but just thought i'd put it out there anyway in case it helps.

    Take care and hope the time flies until you start.

    =D

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