April is here - as we prepare to
release a new set of courses, we'd like to let you know of new
developments at our school. As you might have noticed, we're
increasing the TDC presence on CG related websites, spreading news
about our school to the community. More and more people are signing
up for our newsletter, and our free online Maya videos and TechBytes
are receiving a lot of visitors. We have also recruited a number of
new mentors, who will be introduced later on in this letter.

We
have also being doing a lot of new software development for our
online learning system and are very excited to announce that these
features make their debut with the courses starting April 19th.

It
seems that our idea of providing the best TD training available is
beginning to catch on, and our students agree. Here are some quotes
from some of our recent students:

"The whole
TD-College
experience has been absolutely amazing for me so far, even more than
I imagined! I've learned a lot, done a lot and having a blast the
whole time and I can't wait to take on more courses. Even if my
company wasn't ready to pay for TDC, I would get a loan this instant
and mortgage my right kidney if need be.
Congratulations on the
amazingly done job to you and all your colleagues at TDC and I wish
you all the best in the future. You are destined for success with
this kind of selfless sharing of invaluable information and an
inspiration for all those who seek knowledge." - Tarik
Sabanovic.

"My TD
college experience has been phenomenal. From the very first week
I was learning to make scripts that were useful at my job. I am blown
away by how much I was able to achieve in just six weeks. I feel that
I have the tools now to make any MEL script I could possibly need.
The level of instruction was fantastic. Kevin went above and beyond
in answering my questions and making sure that I was grasping the
concepts needed. He also provided a lot of insight into the
production process that was invaluable." - Travis
Barber.

"I had already read some books on python but
TD-College's
python class really got me up and going. In the middle of the class I
already began to use python at work for tools and inside Maya. Also
having a look at how python is used Houdini was great as I would had
never discovered it that fast on my own. Very motivating lectures
straight from production. Can't wait for more classes on new topics."
- Katrin Schmid.

NEW MENTORS:

We're
always scouting for talented professionals working for the top
studios throughout the world. Over recent months, we've been able to
welcome to our team a vast number of mentors who offer an incredible
wealth of knowledge and experience. TD-College
collects all of that experience and places it at your fingertips.
Here is a list of the latest additions to our team of professional
mentors:

Mark
Story
Educator/Engineer/Artist - Digital
Cinema Arts
General and
Effects Mentor
Credits:
The
Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Tropic Thunder, Beowulf, Surf's Up,
Spiderman 3, The Ant Bully.

Kevin
MacPhail
Pipeline Technical
Director - Reel FX
General Mentor
Credits:
The
Wild, Everyone's Hero, Open Season 2.

Pablo
Gimenez
FX Technical Director - Double Negative
FX
Mentor
Credits:
GI JOSE: Rise of the Cobra

Rob
O'Neill
Founder, Animation,
Research & Development - Kickstand
Character
Mentor
Credits:
Madagascar,
Shrek 2, One Rat Short.

Stewart
Jones
Character Technical
Director - Animal Logic
Character Mentor
Credits:
Knowing,
The Roboteers.

Tom
Kluyskens
FX Lead -
Imageworks
Effects Mentor
Credits:
The
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return
of the King, Ice Age Columbus: Who Were the First Americans, Valiant,
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Surf's Up, Beowulf, Cloudy with a
Chance of Meatballs.

UPCOMING
COURSES:

In these tough
economic times, it's more important than ever to invest in a new
beginning - an education that will provide you with the newest,
long-term and advanced technical skills sought after by employers
today in the CG, games and visual effects industries. TD-College
provides you with those skills by offering the most advanced courses
available today and by pairing you up with VFX veterans. Our
production oriented courses, developed by active professionals with
at least 5 years of feature film experience, will definitely allow
you to gain that added edge that employers drool over. Slotted to
start April 19th, these are the newest releases in a growing library
of interactive courses:

Python
Programming
Mentor: Matt Schnittker
Start Date:
April 19th 2009
Cost: US $1200
Spots Open: 4

Procedural
Effects with Houdini
Mentor: Mark Story
Start Date:
April 19th 2009
Cost: US $1200
Spots Open: 6

MEL
Programming
Mentor: Kevin Mannens
Start Date:
April 19th 2009
Cost: US $1200
Spots Open: 6

To enroll
in any of the courses mentioned above, students must first be
admitted into the school by filling out the registration form at
www.td-college.com/enroll

We
have several other courses in production, such as "Math For
Technical Directors", "C++ Programming", "Introduction
to RenderMan", "Introduction To RenderMan Shader
Programming" and "Writing Character Deformer Plugins
in Maya". We'll let you know more about these courses as we
get closer to their release dates.

Sincerely

The TDC
Team