Customer Success Story: Rick Cikowski
I play dual roles in my life. By day I am a motion graphics and editing teacher
at Miami International University of Art and Design, and by night I am a freelancer
designer and editor. Needless to say, my life is pretty hectic, and lynda.com has
been a lifesaver in both areas of my work.
When I'm wearing my freelance hat, it's always the same story: clients have no budget
and no time. I was working on the intro for an upcoming reality television series
(starring an acclaimed rapper who shall remain nameless), and we had about one hour
to complete the rough cut because the client was flying in from Los Angeles just
to see the spot.
Right before we began working, the producer decided he wanted me to switch from
After Effects 6.5 to After Effects 7. Now, normally this wouldn't be that big of
a deal, but in the upgrade from 6.5 to 7, Adobe completely changed the interface.
I immediately jumped on lynda.com and began looking up the key points of After Effects
7.
I was able to scroll through and get the gist of the differences. I would also refer
back to the site whenever there was something specific that I didn't know how to
do. The title was so easy to understand that my back and forth didn't take up too
much time and we were able to complete the spot before the client arrived—whew!
I loved it, they loved it; hopefully the audience will love it when it airs.
When I'm wearing my teaching hat, I am constantly recommending lynda.com to my students.
I work with beginning design students who I only see for four hours a week, and
despite what they think, four hours is not enough time for them to master any design
skills. To supplement my lesson plans I encourage them to use lynda.com instead
of buying a book because most of the books will only tell you what to do, not what
not to do. lynda.com gives them the complete picture in an easy-to-understand format.
They can get refreshers on what I taught in class and it's a great way to supplement
their studies if they truly want to succeed in this industry.
