I don’t think I’ve ever done some huge DIY project like building a deck or flipping a room.
But I have done something that felt like DIY survival: an animation group project at Cal State Long Beach.
We had one semester to make an animated short. Real pipeline. Real deadlines. Real critiques. A whole team: storyboard artist, character designer, director, and three animators — and I was one of the animators.
Here’s the funny part:
I could draw. I didn’t really know how to animate.
I had TVPaint and a little understanding, but there were people in class who actually understood animation — timing, spacing, all that. Me? I was like… bro, I barely understand this.
And it wasn’t just “do your part and chill.”
Every week you had to show your work to your group and the teacher, get critiqued, and then go back and fix it. I had days where I was straight up freaking out because I didn’t want to be the weak link.
So I did what I always do when I’m scared:
I winged it with intensity.
YouTube videos. Paid a couple small online courses. Trial and error. Late nights. I didn’t learn animation “perfectly.” I learned it enough to make the shots work.
And somehow… the short came out solid. Honestly, it ended up being one of the better shorts in the class.
That’s why I consider it my most ambitious DIY project:
I built a skill while people were watching — under time pressure — and I didn’t quit.
Reader question: What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever “learned in public” while you were still figuring it out?
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