[Mike Ciance]

you should be thinking about the storyboard now. when you decide what you want to do, start learning all the skills you will need. you should have the animation started in or before the fall. take it from a guy who started his animation mid-january, you want to have a lot done before kickoff, especially if your mid-terms are during build season (like mine).

also, don't make your animation too flashy or complicated. the last thing you want is to start the render a week before the deadline and have it still going when the deadline passes. i found it useful to do as much as you can, and set it to render overnight to check how it looks (if you CAN render in one night)