The Animation Mentor Student Showcase premiered at Comic-Con 2006 with an amazing response from fans, onlookers and studio representatives. The best thing about the Animation Mentor Student Showcase is that it shows work that has been done 100% by our students, some of which came to the school with no prior animation experience!

So you want to be an animator? Before you commit to a lifetime of Glen Keane worship, consider the advantages of an exciting career in previz. I was a character animator and a layout artist at Disney Feature Animation for five years. Both disciplines were extremely rewarding, but in the long run I chose to focus on previsualization. Here’s why I turned to the Dark Side.

Deter Brown: I was a software developer for about 8 years before I had finally had enough! I knew there had to be something more interesting and creative that I could spend my time doing. Always loved animation, but never thought about pursuing it as a career. However, the whole marriage of computers and animation removed a very large hurdle for me... that whole drawing part. Loved watching Disney, Warner Bros., etc... but the Pixar films pretty much got me to think that I might be able to give this a shot.

Sandy Christensen: I was inspired to become an animator from childhood. Although I wasn't aware of a 'career' as an animator, I was fascinated by any and all animation (especially the old Christmas specials done in stop motion). I remember telling my big sister that I couldn't IMAGINE ever getting tired of cartoons and couldn't understand that most adults seemed indifferent to that magical Saturday morning cartoon watching experience!

View an excerpt from a forum thread at Animation Mentor. Students have the ability to ask a featured mentor animation related questions. It is one of the many features offered exclusively to AnimationMentor.com students.

It's time to celebrate!! That's right, this is the one year anniversary of our famously rambling tips & tricks article!

There are various books out there that teach you about the software, and many books that teach you the principles of animation. This book teaches you how to apply traditional principles while animating on a computer and is written by working professionals who do just that.

Did you know Nickelodeon Movie's animated feature film, "Barnyard" worked with Sun Microsystems to develop a solution to meet the challenges of rendering the film that contained scenes with more than 200 characters?

The Animation Mentor Report is your inside guide to US movie releases and the visual effect companies who made movie magic.

Check out this month's photos! Animation Mentor and its students made their presence felt at Comic-Con in San Diego, CA and Siggraph 2006 in Boston, MA.