I was born Thomas Schaper in Bremerhaven, Germany and moved to the United States in 1967 when I was five years old. We lived in New Jersey in a city called West New York, which is located directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan. I attended Public School #3 and then attended Memorial High School; also in West New York.
My interests had always been in the art field. I enjoyed sketching animals, landscapes and especially spaceships. I designed countless numbers of spaceships, futuristic cities and interior designs during my childhood and teenage years. My inspiration had come from watching "Star Trek" and from watching two British, Gerry Anderson TV shows entitled "UFO" and "Space:1999".
After high school, I was undecided about going to college cause I wasn't sure which career field I should choose. I also felt I needed some growing up to do. So instead, in 1980, I joined the Army National Guard and went to Ft. Benning, Georgia for Army basic traing. A number of years later I attended a drafting technical school in Paramus, New Jersey. I had gotten my first job as a draftsman in 1988. In 1993, I saw the movie "Jurassic Park" and I then new what career field I wanted to pursue. I was blown away by the incredibly realistic computer generated dinosaurs. Since then, I have tried to learn as much as I could about 3d modeling and animation.
In 1996, I attended Bergen Tech in Paramus, New Jersey (an authorized AutoDesk traing center), and enrolled in the 3d modeling/ animation course offered utilizing 3D Studio MAX. It was a facinating and informative course. A number of years later I attended New York University's Center for Advanced Digital Applications and enrolled in the Intensive SoftImage 3D Extreme modeling/animation program. I was amazed at how powerful this software was.
Presently, I am in the engineering field as a PDS (Plant Design System) 3D Designer. I work with the Intergraph software EERWAY, Equipment Modeling, Drawing Manager and Bentley's MicroStation 3D. My job is to generate 3d model representations of cable trays, underground conduits encased in concrete (duct banks), substations, iso-phase buses, step-up transformers, mcc room layouts as well as some renderings and fly through animations.
It seems I've always had a late start on everything in my life. Even though I don't have a career in 3d animation, I do find my work to be very enjoyable and fullfilling. Now that I am married with a child, I have a new focus in my life.
I will introduce my son to the wonders of 3d modeling and computer animation at an appropriate time in his life. If he should show interest in this type of career, I will make sure, unlike me, he will have a jump on this facinating career field. I had once dreamed of being able to work for visual effects companies such as Lucas Digital's Industrial Light & Magic or Digital Domain and see my name in the list of animators credited for the latest animated blockbuster movie. Maybe some day my son will be able to realize this dream instead. That would make me very happy.
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