Hello my name is Dzhantam Warren and I am an in-born artist and aspiring 3D animator born in New York City. During the course of my life I have searched for the perfect career to complement my natural artistic abilities. It couldn’t be just any graphics field, it had to be something specialized that would allow me to bring my art into reality and breathe the movement of life into it. Well maybe not ordinary reality but most definitely virtual reality. Therefore seeking that goal I choose to embark on entering the career field of 3D animation and modeling. I quickly became interested in the 3D animation field having seen its effects in just about everything around me from movies, to commercials, to the very TV shows that I watch every day. Thus choosing this field felt like the next logical step in moving my work towards the vanguard of visual development.

My first step in manifesting this endeavor began by practicing 3D animation and modeling over the course of a four year period. I procured 3D animation programs by any means I could, such as LightWave3D and Maya, in order to expose myself, as much as possible, to the tools of the 3D industry. Secondly, “What was the best schools to go to in order to prepare for a career in the 3D animation field”, I asked myself? In-turn I began searching for information in locations such as the internet and 3D animation magazines, like “3D World” and “The Post”. I have found that there are no specific schools that I might need to attend to compete effectively in the 3D industry. Thus any school with courses pertaining to 3D animation will do.

According to Pixar, an Academy Award winning computer animation studio which develops feature films like “Toy Story”, “emphasized in a fax that they do not judge potential candidates on the basis of the schools they did or didn’t attend, and therefore do not recommend any particular schools to study in. They look at your work first to see if it shows that you have a mastery of or great potential in the areas of animation, lighting, modeling, or writing shaders. They then look at your resume to see your background and experience”. So although a flashy school background is great to have it won’t really help much to set me apart from everyone else who went to a great school, only my skills and experience it seems will guarantee that.

LaGuardia Community College

Armed with the knowledge of how the industry rates a potential employee, I then plotted out a course of action. I decided to attend classes at LaGuardia Community College. I chose this college due to the fact that the school ranked in the top 3 of 13 large community colleges in North America and had a major that I thought would point me in the right direction of my goal of becoming a 3D animator. The other two schools that shared honors with LaGuardia College were Douglas College in British Columbia and Oakton Community College in Illinois. I chose to major in New Media Technology under the Computer Information Systems department, or CIS, which will lead to an Associate in Applied Science, or AAS, degree. I picked this major because it seemed like the next logical step of incorporation to help provide me with additional technical proficiency.

The New Media Technology major can help prepare me for careers in new media including webmaster, multimedia application developer, Internet programmer, streaming video, and digital film production. I know that this major can also instill in me a basic understanding of business organization and the role of computers in the industrial and corporate worlds. I can use this new found understanding to help build a solid foundation of knowledge. In addition I can then further develop my 3D animation skills on-top of that foundation.

Being an upcoming artist, I always felt that when I drew or painted something it was always lacking substance or reality. So by assimilating technology into my art such as 3D animation and vector graphic programs like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, I have found a bridge across the void that existed, to me, in my work. Hopefully LaGuardia can help build upon the skills that I have already learned and take me towards new avenues of discovery that I might not have found otherwise.

Once I graduate from LaGuardia College, with an associate degree, I am going to transfer to a four year college to continue my education in the study of 3D animation. I will most likely choose to attend the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies or NYU for short. This school provides programs in Design, Digital Arts, and Film which are dynamic, comprehensive, and in touch with the rapidly changing industries of today. They also offer courses in Animation, Television, and Film which are geared toward my specific needs. Their Digital Design courses are taught by today's hottest artists using the latest equipment and software. In addition, NYU offers an awesome master’s degree course in 3D animation, concepts from A to Z in the field, which I am seriously considering taking part in. But in reality any school with a course in computer graphics and 3D technology will suffice for me. Once I earn my bachelors degree from my choice school, I will apply the bulk of my energy towards achieving my master’s degree in 3D animation, which will hopefully solidify my path towards becoming a 3D design master.

I have found, in current research, that the 3D animation field and its counterparts in the other three computer animation areas, such as the games, movie, and architectural design industries, are showing good signs of long-term stability, even if not in job security at the moment. Further restructuring of in-house operations will hopefully solve that dilemma. Overall though, stability was seen in both the long term financial and industrial aspects of these fields which are a big part in why I chose to enter into 3D animation. I was always wary about investing a lot of time and effort into a career that had no long term standing or outlook. But I feel secure knowing that I could always find work, as a 3D animator, as long as my skills remain marketable. According to Robi Roncarelli of Pixel News, a unique research and consultancy company that monitors and reports on the computer animation and visual effects segment of the overall computer graphics industry worldwide reports, “that the Computer Animation Industry is on a historical growth trend and is undergoing significant changes which are reshaping the industry”.

The games industry, in particular, is under a state of fluctuation in areas like the United Kingdom because it doesn’t support an internal structure for long term employment. It utilizes mostly temporary workers on a per project basis. In addition the local animation industry is pinning its hopes, of finally making it to the big leagues, on the global outsourcing wave. The industry, based on government forecasts, is expected to grow steadily doubling annually over the next couple of years.” Even with these world facts in mind, my decision to become a 3D animator is solidified still by my insatiable hunger to make my art more lifelike. Thus by staying in a field such as computer animation, I will always remain at the forefront of future visual technologies.

After further study of the computer animation field and the mechanics that run the 3D industry, I have learned the troubling actuality that I may still need to further my education after college. To do so I will need to incorporate other profession skills into my repateur such as cinematography, video editing, directing, script writing, and set design to name a few. Learning these extra curricular skills could possibly tack another four to eight years onto my schooling timeline. But with these additional skills, I have no doubt that I will one day bloom into a 3D animator of superior caliber worthy of landing that dream job at companies such as Lucas Film’s Industrial Light and Magic, which bought us feature films like the “Star Wars Trilogy”, or the Pixar Animation Studio, which bought us animated motion pictures such as “Shrek” and “The Incredibles.”

My ultimate goals in life are to become a well rounded 3D animation master and possibly direct my own 3D motion pictures. Although I also wish to one day open my own graphic and 3D design company. Fortunately I am aware enough to also take into account other skills that I can use to fall back on if I don’t achieve one or all of my goals. These skills include graphic and web design, presentation design, computer aided design/ computer aided manufacture, or CAD/CAM, and video & photography. Hopefully I can acquire the skills that I will need to reinforce my future goals and make my dream and aspirations a reality. Look for my name in the credits of future 3D films.