Hello from us at Letterbox Animation Studios.

The Economy is in a bad way. That statement has turned into what's called a 'self fulfilling prohpcey'. And while it may be true right now, understand that it won't stay that way forever. So what can you do to future-proof yourself against this?

Educate yourself. Because that's the simplest and most cost effective strategy you can do right now. Because when the economy gets better, and it will, you'll be in the best seat in the house.

And talking of houses (a tenous link I know)...I understand why people complain about the migration of the Softimage cummunity site, but think about this; they are all one company now, it makes sense, not only for cross pollination of ideas, but if they didn't migrate Softimage it would look to many, probably you too, as if Softimage was less important to Autodesk, and you couldn't get further from the truth.

Know this too, it's the same people that are on the Area as were on the Softimage community site, and believe you me, when I say it's not the URL that's important, it's the people that make up that community.

For those that are somewhat anti-Autodesk as a company, well that too is a self fullfilling prophecy, and the motivation for that kind of thought is simply a function of scale and profitability of any company, that makes it so. But Autodesk can change this perception, as other companies have. It's just a case of strategy and understanding. So in some ways they're in the same boat as you, learning too, as everyone does, every company does, and like us all, mistakes are made. It is only important to learn from them.

But even with that, And you have to understand its the same people that are still there at Autodesk, just like before, just like the community example above, again that's whats important. Let's be honest, they really are very helpful, and qdos to them, even thru the toughest of times, the hardest tests, the curtest of comments, they have remained that way.

And having talked to some of the staff at Autodesk, I too was suprised to find them very supportive of Letterbox in terms of what we've done with Redi-Vivus. And they find it laudable that we are hoping that it raises the bar of professionals out there.

Because I believe that with detimination, motivation and education, one can achieve amazing things. I tested that very belief with the RM program (here) to manage and motivate two young professionals to create a large amount of first class work in a very short amount of time. They surpassed even there own beliefs.

So, the point is, if they can do it, you can too.

You just need to educate yourself. And Letterbox with Autodesk, are helping you with that, as you'll see, so you manage your time, and motivate yourself.

And get others to help you too, which is why galleries/WIP's are an important part of the process; it's peer review.

So Letterbox in conjunction with Autodesk are putting onto Revi-Vivus, more training material, again, all for free.

I personally believe education should know no boundaries, ALL the material is accessible in every country. Education is for everyone, regardless of borders, boundaries, race, creed or colour. After all, we're in the 21st Century.

The training material will encompass

a) The FULL 5 DVD production series and with scene files and PDF's too.
b) The FULL set of "Tips and Tricks" covering all commonly used tools.
c) First Contact ... for beginners or moving from another application.
d) Pixel Corp training (pending approval).

Others may well follow...

Again I do have to thank Autodesk for helping us and giving us permissions to put this material up.

I wish you all the best in your current / future career.

Regards
Steven
Managing Director, Letterbox Animation Studios.

Visit www.Redi-Vivus.com for all your training needs.