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I took computer science instead of Fine Art, so watching the tech evolve was like being on a ringside seat to a fight, and knowing or guessing correctly, how it would progress. I had 3D graphics programming books at the time, and coding and tinkering with raytracer code familiarized me with all the stuff under the hood.

But it was the art that I cared about most, as I had been a traditional artist since I was 4, and drawing and making stuff with cardboard or clay were my favorite outlets for my creativity.

Seeing Jurassic Park was what made me realize that my true calling was in animation, not in graphics/game dev. And luckily for me, two of my cousins were already traditional animators who had entered the industry eight years before me.

My cousins told me that I should follow their footsteps and learn how to do things the old-fashioned way, as most 3D animators at the time were veterans of the trad scene. It didn't take long to convince me that they were right.

Besides, there weren't many studios doing 3D yet, in the mid to late 90s here in the Philippines. So, traditional animation was the best place to go and get trained up in animation.