Testimonial from Lu Ramos - iAnimate Motion Capture student

Why did you enroll in our motion capture workshop in the first place?

Truth be told, I was hesitant to enroll into the Motion Capture Workshop at first. I spoke with Richard Arroyo, Head of Game Animation, about my troubles with body mechanics. He helped me see that working with MoCap would really help me learn and understand motion better, and was he right!

Are you enjoying the workshop so far? Is it what you expected? What did you learn that you didn't expect?

I have done a great deal of online learning and this workshop is by far one of the best experiences I have had yet! Having Brent George as an instructor with great energy, knowledge and teaching experience has made the workshop all the more enjoyable!

The workshop turned out better than I expected. It really showcases not just how to use MotionBuilder as another animation tool, but also how to use my animation knowledge and experience to shape the data into something unique and fun!

I didn't expect to learn so much these short fourteen weeks! I learned how to extract key poses from data, blend entirely different motions together seamlessly, and create game animation loops! The is so much cool stuff you can do with MoCap, its crazy!

What kind of valuable knowledge and feedback have you received in the workshop?

I learned how to extract key poses from motion, something I was really struggling with before this workshop. Knowing what to take from reference is really the key to making great animations.

The feedback I get from Brent each week has always helped me enhance my work and gain greater understanding of pitfalls when working with MoCap data and how to avoid them.

You recently found work related to motion capture, congratulations! Tell us about the job and how you got hired.

Thank you! I was hired as a MoCap animator at Vitruvian Entertainment responsible for taking data from MVN Studio and then clean, keyframe and enhance it in MotionBuilder.

In my daily job searches I came across a listing looking for someone with keyframe/MoCap experience. I immediately set out to create a small sample of my work from the MoCap workshop. I applied and heard back from them very quickly. The recruiter was impressed with my demo and knowledge of MoCap and hired me on the spot! It definitely was a case of preparation meets opportunity.

Do you feel the workshop helped prepare you for this opportunity?

Most definitely! At work I have been utilizing all the skills I have learned in the workshop, which have also served as building blocks to the new techniques I am learning on the job.

Would you recommend the workshop to a friend?

I already have! Most of my animator friends along with myself, have found it very difficult to break into the industry. Knowing how to work with MoCap is invaluable these days! You see it used more and more in films and games. The more diverse you are, the better chance you have to land that first job or transition into a new one.

Lu's blog page: http://lramos3d.blogspot.com/