Sam Pagan

- Animation coach
- Former CG Artist at Nickelodeon
👇 Schedule a session with me 👇

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

Pain is the ultimate teacher. It's your choice to accept the lesson

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

Just realized reputation is an asset

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

Success is not a feeling,
Is a result.

A result from untiring discipline.
For a long period of time.

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

If you want students to memorize, tell them data.
But if you want students to understand, tell a story.

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

It's never too late.
Do your best from this point forward.

Bank
931.59

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

I want to have this on the record for my future fans.

I feel stupid every day learning on the internet about business, marketing, and social dynamics.

It feels stupid realizing how the world works at 31 years years old. 🤦‍♂️

I feel behind every day.

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

I look back to see how I could have known this knowledge earlier.

But the truth is, I could never have. I grew up in a poor family. Which means the knowledge I acquired was the best my parents could give me.

All I can do is be grateful that I finally did. So, to my future fans:

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

What makes Main Characters different from NPCs?

Main Characters: take risks
NPCs: They follow their programming

In real life taking risks is what makes you different from an NPC.

So, take risks
Make your own conclusions
Don't just follow your programming.

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

procedural generation for textures, models, and environments.

Have Ai study a specific art style and generate assets that fit that style.
But these workflows have to be FLEXIBLE and CONSISTENT.

You do this, and you'll have Ai integrated in production in no time.

(9/9)

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

Of course, it will help many industries. But it will not help ours YET.
Until Ai doesn't meet our specialized needs, it will not serve us anything.

Recommendation:
If Ai wants to be integrated, it could help us by accelerating our iterative workflows. Such as...

(8/9)

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

3D software are specialized to our field.
Generative Ai is a generalist tool for the masses.
(I know, it's the whole specialist vs. generalist argument all over again.)

(7/9)

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

6. Flexibility - Nothing ever goes with the first pass. Lighting, characters, textures, and camera angles will change in production. Ai isn't flexible and creates more bottlenecks down the line.

Conclusion:
3D software fit our needs! Ai tools not YET.

(6/9)

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

5. Team collaboration and scalability -

Difficult to integrate into BIG projects and teams. The current 3D software allows automation, asset sharing, and version control. Ai does not.

(5/9)

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

4. Predictable performance -

We need tools that guarantee stable performance. Speciallu through long projects. AI tools can be unpredictable and may introduce errors that need manual intervention. Slowing down the process instead of accelerating it.

(4/9)

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

2. Customizability - Ai creates pre-generated results that are difficult to modify. We need precise creative control for storytelling.

3. Consistency - Ai struggles to maintain consistent art direction.

(3/9)

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

We need:

1. High fidelity imagery - Ai often falls short in delivering highly detailed renders. It may look great on your phone, but it's not great for the big screens (Theaters).

(2/9)

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

Here's where I disagree with the Generative Ai enthusiast.

It's not that Ai isn't impressive. It's that this tool doesn't meet production needs. Specifically for the Animation Industry.

In 3D animation we need:

(1/9)

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

Dancing has taught me that you can take 15 salsa classes and if you don't practice what you learned, all that knowledge will be forgotten.

Practicing at home is where 70% of learning takes place.
So if you apply this to all art disciplines, you will realize why you don't improve

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

People value convenience than time itself.

Here's my proof:

There's a fast food chain in Puerto Rico called "El Mesón". People prefer to wait 20 minutes in the drive-throug rather than getting parked and ordering inside.

Mind you, inside was no line.
ZERO!

Convenience 👌

[Sam Pagan @SamPagan10]

The best version of yourself comes out after going through your darkest time

Be grateful of the dark times