I haven't been around but I wanted to bring this up with the only community I've ever talked with. Monty Oum the creator of RWBY, Dead Fantasy and Haloid passed away. I don't know when but I just found out today.
The title alone doesn't express my feelings for this man's dedication. When I was growing up I didn't care for all the popular idols everyone flocked to in school. I just wasn't interested into all that gangster stuff. I was simply a gamer with a goal to work in the gaming industry. At the age of 19, I was getting used to youtube and clicked on Dead Fantasy 5 and was amazed at how much entertainment he made. Forget all that about the quality of the animations, lighting and rendering. I was entertained for the duration of that video and all the others he made before that period.
When I finished seeing all of them, I had to find out who he was and how he learned to do it. I looked for as many interviews and panels I could find of him. At 19 I found someone I could call my hero. Even though I wanted to work in games, I always had ideas for manga, anime or movies. After seeing his work and listening to his interviews, I hoped that one day I would have worked hard enough to be able to work by his side.
Now that can't happen. I never even got to ask him a question. All this time and all the times I could have asked him for advice on modeling, texturing, animation or rendering, were blocked because I was too ashamed at my level of quality. I felt I wasn't good enough to show my off my work and now I'll never get the chance.
I never knew Monty personally but knowing that he's gone hurts. It really hurts.
I just want to know if anyone else has had feelings for him and what he's done. I don't care if anyone uses this thread or sends me a pm. If anyone around here is feeling this loss, I wanna know.