I started my animation career at the age of 9. But before that age I was trying hard to learn how to draw. At first, it was my first love, my first hobby. I wasn’t very good at it but I kept at it. Eventually I came across stop-motion animation. This was back in the days were CBS holiday specials included stop-motion greats like Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer. I really believed these models had life, thus somehow my toys must have life when I’m not in the room with them. Silly, I know. Also around that time was Gumby. Seeing Gumby pushed me over the edge of wanted to know how. I found a PBS special explaining the process of stop-motion animation. So me and my friend Ron who is two years older than me and the only one with a camcorder gave what we learned a try. We amazed ourselves with our quirky little animation results involving G.I. Joe figures, Legos, and Transformers. Eventually our interests evolved into cut-out animation using the same techniques, and finally, flip books.

Fast forward to the teen years, we are still heavily into the arts, my drawings improved greatly, and we were exposed to this new animation style from the Japanese called Anime. Anime blew our minds. Coincidentally, the Commodore Amiga was released and they had an animation software called Deluxe Paint (Electronic Arts) and Fantavision (Broderbund Software). Both animation software packages were really good at helping us transition into the 2D realm. Needless to say, we created a few shorts using those mediums. Ron would eventually invest his time in this new form of art called 3D. It looked way too complicated to me and I stayed with what I knew best. Drawing and Anime became my life for a while until I was an adult. Ron’s advancements by the time we were adults in 3D inspired me to begin learning.

In 2007 I enrolled in Westwood College in Calumet City, Illinois in the animation program to refine my knowledge and to learn the ins and outs of 3D modeling and animation. I graduated in 2010 with my Bachelors in applied science of animation degree and immediately enrolled in The Academy of Art University (San Francisco) for a Masters in Fine Arts Degree in Animation and Visual Effects. After schooling, I created my own business where I wanted to practice animation under my own name and market myself as an animator for hire. But, I felt more comfortable creating my own in-studio productions due to time constraints being a father first to my beautiful daughters.

But now, after raising my little ones, I’m realizing that the thirst still exists within me to animate. I can’t get away from it, so I have extended my business to help others where I can, be it title screens, visual effects, or even stop-motion. Currently, I still create in-studio productions but I’ve done animated graphics for clients for years now just to keep the blades sharp. I still am close to my friend Ron, and yes he’s still at his 3D profession so as you may have guessed, I am still learning 3D via Blender, after leaving 3D Studio Max and Maya. On my channel MRocPerine (YouTube search), I have started to post the old and the new to show progression and my love for simply creating visuals. I’ve also been writing for a feature stop-motion film that I plan to release in a few years. Stay Tuned!