Jeff Weidner:

I spent a number of years working as a marketing coordinator and marketing manager in the financial and commercial real estate businesses. But I was never really very happy professionally. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I really wanted to do. I took classes in photography and CAD, two subjects I thought might interest me, but animation was always in the back of my mind. I've always loved it, from watching so many of the classic shorts on Saturday mornings when I was a kid to watching 3D animation progress in feature films. I just didn't have a way to quit my day job so that I could learn everything I needed to know to make a career out of it – I had a family to support. Then one day, I just figured I'd search the internet for animation schooling options. I found Animation Mentor, and, voila! There was my answer – an online school founded and taught by some of the most talented animators. I had found a way to study animation without having to leave my job.

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Jeff Weidner:

At Animation Mentor, I learned everything I needed to know about animation. Seriously, I knew almost nothing about animation, other than I loved it and wanted to learn to do it. I knew about a few of the principles of animation prior to starting at Animation Mentor, but I only knew bare essentials like squash and stretch. Animation Mentor taught me everything I didn't know (but needed to!) in order to become an animator.

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Jeff Weidner:

At first, the fact that Animation Mentor is an online learning program was the most unique and appealing aspect. It was going to allow me to learn about animation on my own schedule, without having to be present in a classroom in the middle of the day. Of course, once I really got into the program, I realized that the amount of knowledge available (through the lectures, Q&As, and other students) was phenomenal, and that has become the aspect of the program that is truly unique.

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Jeff Weidner:

Trying to get up to speed in Maya while taking the first two classes was a definite challenge. I didn't know anything about Maya when I was accepted into the program. I grabbed an evaluation copy and practiced with that until classes started, but it was still a lot of work to get to a decent level of proficiency. Then there were times when I'd be working through an assignment – maybe it was late on a Friday or even Saturday, and would have a question I would really want to ask my mentor. Of course, there was almost no way to really get that question answered before the Sunday deadline. But what I've come to realize is that this was a really beneficial challenge. Not having a mentor available to me at all times forced me to turn to other resources for answers. In my case, I reached out to other students in the chat room and the forums. In doing so, not only would I get an answer to my question, but I'd also form friendships with other students. We wound up creating something of a study group, getting together online on Friday and Saturday nights via video chats for critiques, questions, etc.

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Jeff Weidner:

I got hired on a project basis for a few jobs after graduation. First, I began working for Technicolor Interactive on some game projects, then at Blue Sky to work on Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. After that, I worked on Uncharted 2 cinematics at Sony Computer Entertainment in San Diego. Most recently, I was hired at Reel FX in Dallas.

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Jeff Weidner:

I've worked as a character animator in all of my jobs so far and I've enjoyed everything about being an animator. Working with incredibly talented people, creating performances that will entertain others, learning more every day about the art and craft of animation – I enjoy all of it.

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Jeff Weidner:

I've been fortunate to work on game cinematics, in-game asset animation and an animated feature so far. I'm looking forward to what lies ahead at Reel FX.

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Jeff Weidner:

Literally everything. I knew nothing about animation before Animation Mentor and have worked as a character animator since graduation. Everything I learned at Animation Mentor is used at just about every job I've had.

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Jeff Weidner:

It would be hard to pick just one. I think one that means the most to me, though, would be when I was able to leave my previous career behind for good and actually tell people I was an animator. I still take a lot of pride in that. Of course, sitting in a movie theater with my family – my wife, kids, and parents – and seeing my name in the credits of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs was pretty special too. :)

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Jeff Weidner:

Absolutely. Personally, I can't imagine trying to learn to animate without the benefit of having mentors. I'm sure I could study a book and pick up the information needed, but I'd struggle with trying to figure out how to apply that information. And even if I were to get past those hurdles, I think I'd still struggle with learning how to improve my skills to the point where I would be employable. I don't think mentorship provides any shortcuts around the learning process, but it does provide professional advice and guidance from animators who have been working for years. That sort of assistance is, in my opinion, invaluable.

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Jeff Weidner:

Mike Walling really drilled into my head that I should always make sure that each pose is as strong as possible – to really think about each pose and how it could be improved. It seems like an obvious piece of advice, but looking back on that class and previous assignments in earlier classes, I feel like my poses were only so-so until I started to really think about them more critically. I've learned lots from other mentors and animators at some of my jobs, but that's stuck with me as something I'm always thinking about when I'm working.