Well, i bit the bullet and made a move to a new company as a contract worker, and I must say so far its been great. The new company is in Azabu Juuban which is a really nice/trendy area, although i have to ride morning packed trains now (gack!). The artists there are really skilled character animators (think Pixar-ish) and that's not so much my thing, however the environment is great since a few of the people worked on some big Hollywood movies doing CG effects and so I am gaining some great skills. It's definitely more relaxed then my previous place with a more western-style environment - kind of working and joking around too, like a lot of studios in the States. That makes the long hours much more bearable. The one owner is a great cook and she even cooks some awesome lunches/dinners for us often right there in the office!
I am having to learn Maya/Mental Ray (3dsmax/V-ray you are still my number 1 and 2!) for doing 3d lighting/rendering for these character animations, so i guess I am working as a Maya lighting artist, for now. It's really cool to work in a high-level CG environment again, especially learning the production pipeline in the same flavor as movie-style CG. What is also nice is its a very international atmosphere with a mix of Japanese, French and Americans (me) working there. Many languages are flying around over the course of a day. I am also doing some freelance work over the internet with my former company in the Philly which is really great. Overall, I think it was a really good move and so far so good. Keep ya posed : )
