Dean and I met on the day I graduated from Animation Mentor in 2010. He was on a creative high for just having just solved the character arcs for HTTYD (How To Train Your Dragon) 2 and 3. I was wrapping up my first console game as an animator at Ninja Bee Studios. His enthusiasm was contagious and I fell in love. I wanted a chance to animate the fantastic characters he and Chris Sanders created.
I understood that there was a large experience and talent gulf separating me from Dean's Dragons. Through the next 3 years I animated on a number of games and gathered wonderful feedback from mentor friends. There were spectacular CTN-X workshops with Ted Ty and long long nights battling splines (they are now bending to my will).
After working on Disney Infinity (more to follow about that) I heard about a smaller studio that was working on a HTTYD mobile game. My name was recommended and I was asked to take a few art tests. I was thrilled to join the tight team at React Games; it was exciting to wear multiple hats in the pipeline again. We produced How to Train Your Dragon : Dragons Adventure for Nokia smart phones and tablets!
I was an animator, concept artist, and UI Designer for this title. Fulfilling my dream from 4 years earlier with Dean DeBlois, I am a dragon animator.
From the login process, hatchery, settings, achievements, some popups dragon animations, painting ALL 54 achievements, and a few other spot - I got to live in Berk while at React with some killer game makers. Jess, Scott, Gary, Ezra, Brandon and Nick.
My dreams of dragons are far from over, but it was fulfilling to see this ambition come full circle.
#Animation #AnimationMentor #DavidWilsonAnimation #DeanDeblois #HowToTrainYourDragon
That is awesome!
ReplyDeleteWell, I've got the companion app on my Nokia Lumia phone....if I could just find someone with that Nokia tablet...
ReplyDelete