Interview with an Animation Faculty/Tutor Part1

welcome

DEGREE IN ANIMATION (DIA): Hello, can you introduce yourself to us?
TUTOR: My Name is Jake. I am a teaching staff of TGC ANIMATION AND MULTIMEDIA, in South Extension, New Delhi. I am presently teaching 3D Modeling in both Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3DS Max. Most of my students are degree students, affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University and Punjab Technical University.

DIA: Thanks, but why did you choose the animation field?
TUTOR: Nothing really, I wanted to learn something interesting and animation looked very interesting to me. I was initially a graphic designer and sketch artist and I was getting bored just designing and sketching alone, especially because our local clients don’t really think outside the box, most of them want exactly the same thing, that you did for someone else. In my quest to go deeper into the world of multimedia and find something much more interesting, I found animation and I have been doing it ever since.

DIA: Thanks, but why did you decide to teach animation and not work in an animation studio?
TUTOR: I actually have experience working in an animation studio. I worked at  Arena for some time before coming to the teaching field. Initially, I didn’t know I was really going to stay in the teaching field for a long time. Working in the studio was becoming monotonous, I was designing using a preinstalled template and just had to tweak a couple of things, any extra additions were regarded as too flashy or not appropriate for the demographic. I later took a freelance teaching job to utilize my extra time and discovered that I could not only teach students but also develop myself to an international level while I worked. Those were the selling points for me.

DIA: So you are definitely enjoying teaching animation?
TUTOR: I am.

DIA: So why did you choose TGC or is it TGC that chose you?
TUTOR:  I guess we just found ourselves together. For me, it was all about having students to share my knowledge with and watch them develop. TGC provided the students for me and the rest was left to me.

DIA: What has being your greatest challenge in teaching animation?
TUTOR: Having to teach students who have no passion or desire to learn animation but have been brought here by their parents. Some other students too are just in the animation field to while away time, they hope to eventually figure out something for themselves and then leave. Some students too are not really very good at computers. These kind of students were initially very challenging to teach but now, I have devised a way to spark their interests by showing them things, they can achieve by being in the animation industry.

DIA: What is your favorite aspect of animation?
TUTOR: Modeling.

DIA:  Favorite Modeling Software?
TUTOR: The Almighty Maya

For the next part of the interview please click on the following link

Interview with an Animation Faculty/Tutor Part2