Online and Hybrid Digital Arts & Computer Animation Training

All throughout his childhood and adolescence, Chris Koehler found a profound longing to create art. During his high school years, Chris had a realization that creating art could be more than a hobby, it could be a profession. His passion to become a 3D artist and teach 3D arts has led Mr. Koehler to obtain MS Instructional Design and Technology from Full Sail University, BS in Computer Animation from Full Sail University, and Occupational Associated Degree from Laurus College.

While working in the industry, Mr. Koehler has found great joy in teaching and helping colleagues with technical issues. In 2007 that joy led him to take an instructor position at Laurus College. Chris feels that teaching his passion has become one of life’s greatest gifts. He has found great pleasure helping his students achieve their dreams and playing a part in forever changing the lives of his students and their families.

When Chris is not lecturing at the college or working on freelance projects, he can be found along California’s Central Coast hiking, freediving, and competing in archery tournaments.

Teaching at Laurus since 2014

When I was young the world was filled with magic and many fascinating things. As time moved on fascination became knowledge, and knowledge just did not contain the magic I grew to love. I was a child of fantasy, not fact. This drove me to pursue a career in a field that could take fact and turn it in to fiction, which uses knowledge to bend reality and communicates deep meaning without using a single word. I earned my Bachelor of Applied Science in Animation & Visual Effects at Ex’pression College for the Digital Arts, where I immersed myself in the world of 3D animation and film. I learned the skills necessary to take a film from concept to completion under the instruction of industry professionals. I have been working as a freelance graphic artist for the past few years, and in the process I have discovered 3D is a limitless field. It is constantly changing and birthing new possibilities. It is the application of storytelling, science, mathematics, and art. It can create new worlds, render unimaginable beasts into existence, and tell stories that warm our hearts. In essence, the world of 3D is a world of magic.

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Teaching at Laurus since 2010

I’ve always been fascinated by computers and was hooked since the first day I sat down at an Apple 2E. As I grew up, I also found a love for art, movies, video games, and anything computer. Through college I dabbled in Network Security, a couple programming languages, and several terms in recording arts hoping to find a career with a basis in the things I love, but I could never quite find a discipline that felt right and eventually I left college. After my first week at Laurus College I had found what I was looking for. 3D Animation was a career that brought all of my passions together into a perfect storm that just seemed to resonate with me. I now spend my time teaching the skills of the career I love to our students, as well as doing movie and commercial based VFX work for a local Arroyo Grande company.

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Teaching at Laurus since 2011

Having had the privilege of working directly under and being mentored by some amazing animation veterans, who had worked for companies such as Sony Image, Disney, and CAT Media, I greatly appreciate the way they took the time to befriend and instruct me, well beyond what was just required. I believe that is why today, I greatly enjoy working closely with all my students, in order to uniquely equip and prepare them for their own professional careers in the 3d animation industry. My philosophy is that, while it is admirable to learn how to press a particular button in order to get a certain outcome, true greatness comes from ones’ own passion to fully understand and appreciate the engineering and hard work that it took to get there in the first place; then to expand on that and creatively pass it on to those who would come after. I would imagine that, ultimately this is what truly defines what it means to be a professional in any field or discipline.

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Teaching at Laurus since 2013

I’ve been in and out of the video game industry since 2001. I’ve held various positions where I’ve gained a broad knowledge of the industry; including positions as a Production Assistant, Animator, and Technical Artist. I was initially inspired to do 3D by watching Jurassic Park. As I was exposed to 3D and interactive entertainment, I was fascinated by how art and animation could increase the immersion factor for the user. My mentors include animators from companies such as Pixar, Disney, and ILM as well as many colleagues that are currently in various game studios. There is so much creativity that is bottled up inside of us all. With enough enthusiasm, inspiration, and hard work, we can create amazing things when we let that creativity out. My goal is to help students learn tools that can help them express that creativity.

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From a very young age I was given a book, The Black Art of Visual Basic Game Programming by Mark Pruett, which came with a game cd, all of which made to run on DOS. During high school, I studied music and sculpture along art foundation classes. Then I joined a few bands, starting making logos in Photoshop and spent most of my high school free time in photoshop, designing or making art. From there I pursued a BS in game art and design, where I graduated at the top of my class with special mentions and a job working on big projects for clients in the video games industry. My work includes shipped titles for mobile, pc and console, at an indie scale and full team production scale. At the heart of it, I love playing games as much as making them.

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