Because of these several impediments, as well as other technical difficulties, you will find typos and occasional replication of text. In our humble opinion, typos show that the logs are of *live* chats, not canned interviews, and minimal editing of these logs has taken place.

April Lee's Home Page

[Cybling] Welcome April. Good to have you join us this evening!
[April_Lee] It's nice to be here!
[Ryan] April: Good to see you. You're one of the people I've been waiting all day to talk to :D
[Cybling] If you have questions for our guest, please just ask. But please, let the guest answer one question before you ask another.
[April_Lee] Really???
* Ryan nods.
[Cybling] Well ask questions, she's here to answer them Ryan 8^D
* Cybling nods too
[Ryan] Well, I enjoy computers (a bit too much) and I love games such as Heroes of Might and Magic. :D How did you become a computer game animator
* Kimmo doesn't know much about April Lee but listens attentively since he's a gamer too
[Ryan] Generally computer game animators don't get the credit they deserve ]:D
[Ryan] Nor does anyone who actually makes the game. Only the company.
[April_Lee] I started as a traditional artist. Did a few SF art shows, went to art school and studied illustration, then did art for computer game manuals---MM2, actually
[April_Lee] The computer game companies were desperate for artists in those days, so they would hire artists with no computer training
[April_Lee] I learned on the job.
[Cybling] Good for you!
[April_Lee] First Deluxe Paint on the Amiga, then it kept going--on to 3d modeling and animation
[April_Lee] Because games are so art intensive now, it's not a bad job market for artists
[April_Lee] They treat us OK... Not great, but OK
[Ryan] How long did it take you to become good at it?
[April_Lee] We had to be good very quickly!
[April_Lee] You know they don't want huge lead-times before they release games
[April_Lee] We usually do a game a year
[April_Lee] So when I learned 3DStudio Max, we put out a game a year and some from then--stuff went right in the game!
[Cybling] April...you already had formal art training when you started on the computers though...didn't that help?
[April_Lee] Yes. There are quite a few of us who had art degrees
[Ryan] I'm looking at the art on your website and I'm quite amazed.
[April_Lee] Some don't, though--they are the most proficient at the programs
[April_Lee] Thanks. That's www.aprillee.com
[April_Lee] Most of that is my painted card game art
[Cybling] Wonderful! All of the work on your site is computer graphics generated?
[April_Lee] No--it's painted. The computer/digital stuff is just on the CD-ROM game pages
[April_Lee] I try not to be on the computer for 24 hours a day!!!
[Cybling] If you have questions for our guest, please just ask. But please, let the guest answer one question before you ask another.
* Ryan chuckles.
[Ryan] So do I ;)
[Ryan] What was your hardest job?
[April_Lee] Actually--if I was just internet surfing, I could do that all day... :(
[April_Lee] Actually, Heroes 3 was pretty tough. You mean computer-games-wise?
[Cybling] LOL...it's hard sometimes not to be on a computer 24 hours a day. But I understand.
[April_Lee] Yep, I e-mail a LOT...
[April_Lee] H3 was hard because H2 was very popular and there was lots of pressure to repeat it or do better
[Ryan] April: No, the hardest thing you can remember during your entire career :)
[April_Lee] Actually--it's not hard. It's a lot of fun. I guess the sleepless nights can get to you, though! I've been sleep-deprived for 5 years now...
[Ryan] I sometimes know how you feel.
[Cybling] LOLOL...and I do as well.
[April_Lee] I'm on a ton of e-mail lists and also addicted to ebay, so that doesn't help
[Ryan] April: Try chatting here every day and I guarantee you'll be hooked within 24 hours.
[Ryan] ;P
[Kimmo] I'm looking at your web pages now, April, and I have to agree with Ryan: pretty cool stuff!
[April_Lee] I'm supposedly in crunch-time at work, trying to get stuff done for Christmas--PS2 game... so that's 60 hrs a week easy
[Cybling] Folks, we'll be bringing April's chat to a close now. Since you're online April, we'll have to get you out for another chat in the near future....
[Ryan] Definitely.
[Cybling] I'll be emailing to set up a special longer chat with you soon...okeydoke
[Cybling] ?
[Cybling] I think you have a lot of fans on this network.
[April_Lee] BYE! It was great chatting with you all!