,b>Lyn Hart, Capilano College Commercial Animation Program, North Vancouver, B.C.
Here I am; a squeaky-clean, fresh-out-of-school animation graduate. With my portfolio in hand and a slightly hesitant smile, I'm stepping out into the real world. But what has my two years of sweat and toil in Capilano College's Animation Program done for me?

For starters, it did exactly what it was supposed to do by providing me with the important basics I needed to land my first job. Some might have expected more. I must admit, I thought I was pretty hot stuff when I first began my animation education. I soon realized a good school could only teach me so much. The rest was up to me. There was a lot to learn and it was going to take plenty of hard work, discipline, and humility to succeed.

I was very fortunate as were others in my class. At our grad show, studios were invited to view our portfolios and reels. I received interest from several companies including Studio B and Bardel Animation in Vancouver, and Nelvana in Toronto. It was a tough decision but I went with Studio B. I felt they could give me the best training in my chosen area, character design and storyboarding.

Who knows what the future may bring but I hope there's never a shortage of work. I hope to succeed and become good at what I do but that is always challenging. I hope I'm always gracious to students trying to enter the industry no matter how successful or unsuccessful I become. I hope that no matter where I am, I never turn down the opportunity to learn from someone who wants to share their experience. And lastly, I hope I can one day afford the two-week vacation in Hawaii I've always wanted!

Art by USC's Rebecca Rogers. Image courtesy of USC

Rebecca Rogers, MFA Animation Program of the Animation and Digital Arts Division of the School of Cinema-Television, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
The expectations for my future in the art of animation are rich and exciting. I went into this genre of art specifically because of the variety of career choices I felt I had. Currently I'm intrigued simply by the study of movement. It has opened up a whole new way of looking at art for me, visually and conceptually. All areas of animation have interested me and I would probably be happy working in any field whether it be hand drawn animation, 3D modeling or special effects in film. I came to school to try and learn it all (Ha! Ha!). My number one expectation is to someday be involved with stereoscopic animation combined with live performance. I get tremendously excited when visualizing 3D animation in the form of characters, particles or environments in congruence with live performers. Presently you need a screen to project these stereoscopic images, but I want to someday realize the possibility of animating three-dimensional holograms. I believe I will have the chance in my life time to play with this idea, maybe even in the near future.

For now, at the University of Southern California, I will first be concentrating on learning how to animate. I plan to accomplish this amazing task by making hand-drawn projects, studying animations frame by frame and learning from our professors. Regarding my studies in computers I will begin to learn about stereoscopic animation in a class next semester titled "Virtual Reality and Stereoscopic Animation, Expanding 360 Degree Painting to Virtual Environments." The remainder of my time at the University will be spent continuing to study animation film, and stereoscopics. At the same time I will be applying this knowledge to my semester projects and finally my thesis. With the availability of the SGIs here at school and the support of my professors, I feel I have every opportunity to graduate and achieve the vast number of animation career opportunities of which I have dreamed. As for animating 3D holograms, I plan to continue working towards the idea and see it realized.

Linda Sharp, Capilano College Commercial Animation Program, North Vancouver, B.C.
I can't think of anything I would rather be paid for than animating. I am currently halfway through a two-year commercial animation program at Capilano College. Character design and layout are my current obsession, but we have much more to learn in the upcoming year.

When I graduate next year I hope that the industry will be in a hiring frenzy. My chief concern is to obtain a job upon graduation. In the best of all possible worlds, I will be able to work full-time in a studio for three to five years. After that necessary grounding in reality, I would like to work part-time and take courses to learn more sophisticated computer skills. I then plan to return to full-time work, but to keep developing my skills.

I am keenly aware of the cyclical nature of work in the animation industry, especially for the novice. If I am faced with downtime I have the option of doing illustrations (former career), more skill development, or the ever popular "I have this idea for a film..."

I believe that animation is in a renaissance, building on the possibilities generated by new technology, and the excitement of new markets. I hope that the industry will be able to absorb a substantial number of the many students presently training in animation.

Human plans are often the playthings of the gods, so I don't discount the possibility that one aspect of animation will absorb me so completely that my career path will dictate itself.