Search the Community

Hey fellow GreenSockers A little over five years ago, I took a chance and posted a question on the GreenSock forum. Nobody called me dumb and that was a HUGE relief! So much so that I wrote an entire GS post about it four years ago. It was a turning point for me and my JavaScript journey. Today, I’m taking another big leap in my life and launching a web animation tutorial site. My reasons for doing so are both personal and professional. This thread is a sequel to my One Year post listed above. Call it My Five Year Journey. Personal reasons My life has been full of twists, turns and milestone events over the past few years. I turned the big 50 and ask myself every day how that’s even possible. The memories of getting my first computer (TRS-80) and learning BASIC in the early 80s are so vivid that they feel like it was only a few years ago. Wasn’t it just yesterday I was programming the PET, VIC-20 and Commodore 64 in high school? Time does fly and I’m not getting any younger. I also celebrated my 30th wedding anniversary. That event itself isn’t a reason to start a new website, but the longer I’m married, the more I realize how lucky I am to have a partner and cheerleader with me when I try new things. She has been a tremendous support in this new endeavor. I wonder how I ever talked her into marrying me all those years ago and how she has put up with me for 30+ years. The other recent personal event that has shaped my decision is the one that is affecting us all right now. Seeing the effect of COVID-19 on the world and how it has robbed too many people of their lives and livelihoods has reminded me that time is precious, and you never know what’s around the corner. As they say, seize the day. Professional reasons After taking the leap and posting that first question on the forum, I was hooked on the GreenSock community. I’ve tried to help as many people as I could in my free time. I love seeing someone have that ‘ah-ha’ moment. This new site is an extension of that desire to help and teach. This will be a difficult challenge. It would be far easier to not do this. As a lifelong introvert, I’m far more comfortable in my dark office typing away on the keyboard so this definitely pushes me out of my comfort zone. It will also be a time management challenge to keep posting new content while taking care of clients and still helping on the forum. I’ll do my best. My final professional reason is that this just seems like the universe is pushing me in this direction. I loved computers and programming in my youth, but my career turned to my other loves of video production and photography. Throughout the last decade there have been many forks in the road, and it seems like every decision has led me here. My life has now come full circle. Fear and self-doubt Despite all the personal and professional reasons listed above, there has still been the nagging self-doubt. Will it be any good? Will anyone read it? Hasn’t this already been written? Maybe others don’t have that little voice in the back of their head, but mine starts yelling at me loudly when I try something big. It’s one thing to post an answer in the forum, but quite another to really put yourself out there with a whole new site. After some sleepless nights, I finally found calm from one realization. If I can help even one person with a problem, teach them something new or spark an idea, it will all be worth it. The rest of the fears don’t matter. Life is just too short to be scared or worried. The website’s focus If you know me from the GS forum, you know I love SVGs and making them move with GSAP. The website will, of course, feature a lot of SVGs and GreenSock will power everything. However, my primary focus will be real world projects. I find that I learn best when I’m building an actual project, so I’ll try to keep that as the focus. I’ll have lots of little tips and quick things too, but projects will be the main thing. Frequent visitors to the forum also know I don’t take it all too seriously and joke around a lot. You’ll be happy to know that several of the tutorials feature terrible jokes and puns at no extra charge. Thanks to the GS gang I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again. Thank you to Jack( @GreenSock) for creating the tools, but more importantly, thanks for fostering a terrific online community. Had I not discovered GSAP and started hanging around here, I would not know much about JavaScript and the new site would not exist. Special shout-out to @Carl too. He’s already in the trenches with training and tutorials and has encouraged me the whole way as I was getting this thing launched. All my fellow mods — thanks for the help and comradery over the years. You are all awesome! motiontricks.com Finally, without further ado, I introduce you to motiontricks.com My best to all of you. Thanks for reading. Now, let’s get those pixels movin’! ? -Craig (PointC)