JEREMY CUMMINS - WELCOME

After ten years of graphic design I started thinking that I wanted to expand my skills and I knew just what I wanted to do! From January 2010 until September 2010 I took some time to study 3-D animation at Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Oakville. I graduated with honours from their program that involved eight months of intensive training with concentrations on story structure, character development, character performance, directing, cinematography, art direction and production design. The one thing that really stood out was my ability to animate and I decided after a short break from school that I would keep studying character animation through a fantastic school called Animation Mentor which is an eighteen month on-line course that is now being titled as the best place to learn this skill.

Computer animation has always been a fascination and I always wondered how it they created such amazing graphics and now I know, now I really know! When I was choosing my career in high school I asked my guidance counsellor how I could get into animation or special effects and she promptly told me that I wasn’t cut out for it. Little did she know that all through my years as a kid I would do little animations in the corners of my text books and that I would make drawings of my favourite scenes from any movie or TV show that had cool effects. Although she was wrong and I knew I was right for it, I decided that I should still adhere to my natural artistic talented but perhaps try something else and therefore, I smartly became a graphic artist. Before I was even finished my last year of college I was offered a job where I worked part-time until I graduated, I worked there full-time under my own business for eight years and had great success. All throughout that time I made every attempt to learn any animation program that I could. I made the choice of Flash to work with, as it seemed the most logical program to learn as it was related to my career. There were animators in the studio that helped me learn, one was particularly good with 3D Max and another that was good with Flash. I took night courses, and tutorials and every time I stumbled across an animated website I would try to figure out how it was created. There was never any demand for anything that required real creativity but I thought, any experience with the program was vital so I did whatever they put on my plate. This would eventually open another door to web design where I began to design and develop web sites with working databases. When my hours were cut in 2008 I tried a few agency jobs but shortly after that I decided that I was ready to explore a bit. I always knew about Sheridan through other designers and friends and I liked how it was designed for experienced artists who were ready to make the leap. Finally, I began to think seriously about it and then thought that the only way that I would be able to do it would be to sell my house, pay off all my debt and take some time to learn a bit about the industry first. I therefore did just that and after a few months I decided that this was something that I wanted to continue learning but I needed professional training so I applied and was accepted for the 2010 class where I pounded out a demo reel that would eventually be featured on You Tube's home page. It was after this that I thought that I would really keep learning and that's when I found Animation Mentor and currently I'm in class three of six and counting down the days where I can safely say that I have head the best education that the world has to offer in this industry!

As a conclusion, I have added something to my roster that has always been a dream; this is my opportunity to continue to fuel my passion for art, design and now animation.