Learning Maya is Child’s Play Article

When 15-year-old Daniel Grigsby attended the 6th Form Open Evening, an event showcasing pre-university courses available for study, he had no idea his destiny was about to reveal itself. He immediately headed over to the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) stand with an air of curiosity and child-like excitement. “What’s Maya?” he asked the man behind the stand, as he pointed to a small book on the table. “It’s computer animation software. Films like Spider-Man®, The Lord of the Rings™

Trilogy and many others use it to create all kinds of special effects,” was the enthusiastic response.
“I want to work in special effects,” Daniel almost whispered. His eyes were dancing as he picked up the book and lingered over its pages.
“Well, you’ve come to the right place,” smiled the man.

That was a year ago and the man behind the stand was Rob Jones, Digital Arts Facilitator and Maya instructor at Lewisham City Learning Centre (CLC). Daniel has since worked on two animated films and is preparing to attend Bournemouth University, a leading school in computer animation. “When I met Rob Jones by accident, I was very lucky. I am now able to learn this sophisticated software long before going to university,” says Daniel. “Having this experience has given me the encouragement to work hard to achieve my goal.”

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