Good to have you back!
I got a friend suffering from depression, it is not an easy thing to live with, but with professional help, and a goal to focus on, every day should be worth living ...
sorry can't provide help for the animations - I am trying to build a decent computer for cutting movies for some time - and hoping it will come together this year ;-)
But I will keep an eye on this thread and try to throw in some ideas from time to time ...