Careers outside of Animation/ Games/ VFX

Evemy

Hey there. I was hoping that someone one out here could give me (and the hundreds of people in my position) some guidance in regards to careers outside of the industry. I graduated last year with a degree in Animation Production, since then I’ve been trying to find work. My plan was to get a running position, find my feet, and work my way up. However even basic entry level positions seem impossible to attain. I’ve tried applying online, phoning studios, even just turning up in person and handing in my application. I’ve had a couple interviews since but nothing has come of them. I currently work in retail, but due to the trend of 0/hr contracts that seem to be plaguing the job market I don’t earn enough to support myself and have to live with my Dad and basically sponge off him, which obviously isn’t ideal. I’ve managed to get some freelance work but again it doesn’t pay enough it live off.

So my question is this. Are there any career options outside of animation/ games/ VFX that are applicable to someone with an animation degree? I haven’t thrown in the towel completely, but for the meantime I need some sort of reliable trade to fall back on to start supporting myself. Considered teaching, but I would rather avoid that for the time being. Are there any secure jobs out there, or jobs currently in demand that are related to animation? Would like to put my degree to some use if I can. Seen a few jobs advertised for rotoscoping and matchmoving which seem to be standard entry level ways into the industry. But are these easier to attain, or are these positions just as hard to land as running ones?

Sorry for the long post. Really hope someone out there might be able to point be in the right direction.

Thanks in advance,

Peter.

tharle

first thing first - post a link to your reel and get some crits and feedback on how to improve. i'm afraid the stark truth of it is that if you're not being hired then you probably need to work on your skills more and getting good feedback is the first (and most important) step.

secondly are you just aiming for animation positions or anything within games? most games have way more environmental artists than anything else and in my experience most animation roles are either filled with people with experience or people from within the company, so it might be worth working on your environmental skills and getting a job as a modeller or texture artist first and moving into animation (i personally did this with vfx.)

you mention roto and matchmoving which afaik work the same in the vfx industry - you do some for a while then you move up and specialise once you've been there a while. i'm afraid i dont know if they're any easier to get or more secure though...

Evemy

Hey Tharle, thanks so much for getting back to me ! Good point, my reel is on my website (http://www.peterevemy.com/) along with other examples of my work. Most of my work is geared towards 3d visualisation, mainly environment. However as I'm pretty new too 3D (came from a traditional animation course) I've only got a couple pieces of that style in my showreel.

I'm currently selling myself as a 3d Artist/Generalist. Would it be better to specialise more? My thinking was that if I stayed general I could cover more job opportunities, however am I shooting myself in the foot by doing that? Most of my experience is in regards to animation production, however I'm currently doing some work for an Indy games studio (unpaid) to get some experience working within game engines.

If you have the time some feedback on my work would be appreciated a lot, especially in regards to what I could work on to fill certain job roles.

Thanks again.

praetus

While some smaller places may need a generalist because of having few positions most larger companies want specific skill sets for their artists. Depending on who you're targeting, you may want to pick a subject and truly throw yourself into it. I currently work doing modelling for MilSim type work. We only have 4 people here (including myself) that do modeling so we're expected to have a wide knowledge base, but we mainly focus on environment, vehicle, and prop art. From what I understand most larger companies will hire for specific roles, so you really need to be a master in that discipline.

Some career areas that get overlooked are crime/crash scene recreations for courts, military simulations, and training simulations. Well...I guess simulations or training in general.

unit187

Before you read, please, don't get me wrong, I don't want to say anything negative and merely want to help. And it is also my personal opinion and you don't have to agree with it.

I am afraid you aren't getting a job because your portfolio is not good enough yet. I mean, you are off a good start, but you are just at the very beginning of the path to become 3d artist.
I would also suggest you to reconsider your desired specialization. To be generalist, you have to have broad range of skills and each of those skills is developed enough to land you a job by itself. You at this point don't have a single skill that can do that. Pick one thing you enjoy the most and spend time polishing this skill, it will take months for sure.

Another thing that bothers me is your reel, there are just too many different things (architectural visualization, animation, etc.). It left me with questions like "what are you really want to do? do you want to work on games or what?" - it is bad sign.

Evemy

Thank you for the honest feedback Unit187. I don't mind criticism and if anything its good for me. I was afraid I might be spreading myself to thin. My works a bit over the place as I did mainly cartoon-style stuff for my degree yet have preferred more realistic visualizations since graduating. Would you have any advice for me in regards to what areas I should work on? Would you think it's best for me to cut the cartoony stuff from my showreel completely, or sieve it out when I replace it with better work? Also are there any particularly areas that I need to work? And any areas that are currently working well?

unit187

Evemy wrote: »

Would you have any advice for me in regards to what areas I should work on?

I'd say do some soulsearching and try to decide which area of art you enjoy the most? Is it realistic visualization or maybe it is Disney-like cartoony animation? Believe me, I know that it is not a trivial thing to do, but it needs to be done.

Once you know what area you want to improve: start working on it. Do personal projects, work with indies, constantly ask for feedback. A little while after you will grow your skill and should be able to find a job.

Evemy

Thanks unit187 I’ll do that. I think I enjoy the environments the most. I’ll have a proper re-think of my showreel now. Cheers for the advice ☺!

ExcessiveZero

a lot of bad artists make a lot of good money in architectural visualization

Dylan Brady

Evemy wrote: »

even just turning up in person and handing in my application.

that's not a good idea. studios will not take kindly to you showing up at their office unannounced and dropping off a resume. its not like a retail job where you just walk in off the street and apply. 9 times out of 10 the hires are going to come from a friend or acquaintance of someone at the studio. I would say instead of driving all over the place to knock on doors of studios you should be spending that time going to IGDA events/mixers/networking and posting online. that will get you connections that can lead to jobs.

Evemy wrote: »

I don’t earn enough to support myself and have to live with my Dad and basically sponge off him, which obviously isn’t ideal. I’ve managed to get some freelance work but again it doesn’t pay enough it live off.

its not ideal yes. I understand and applaud the desire to be independent and not feel like a freeloader. however (and I don't mean too pry into your personal situation) but if your dad is happy to support you because he wants too see you realizing your dreams than you should be grateful to have awesome parents and spend this time working your butt of to improve.
Most of the great artists throughout history have had patrons and family support.

anyways, just a thought before you choose to compromise on your goals.

tharle

yeah i've checked out your reel and it's got some nice things on it but it's really not a games art reel. there's so much more to making things work in game (hi to low poly baking, keeping vertex counts optimised, realtime shaders vs offline rendering etc.) and you basically dont show anything like that.

you say you have an animation background but then half the pieces in your reel are architectural, which really isnt going to be helping - as people said earlier you need to focus on what you want to work on (animation, games, vfx, arch vis etc.)

Evemy

Hey Dylan, you're right I should be more grateful that I have a parent that can support me ! When i turned up at the studios I handed in my application inside a wooden box full of tea with the companys logo on, for the whole part it went down well.

A little development. Since posting this thread I've been invited for an interview at a VFX studio in London early this coming week. Its for a running position. How would you guys advise making changes to my work in time to have a better application my then? I'm currently re-rendering the bathroom shot with some better (i hope) lighting and materials. Was planing on taking all the cartoon-style stuff out and just having a reel with my two environment pieces, as thats what I want to work on the most. I could then add a second separate showreel for my other work if needs be later. Is two pieces in a showreel too small? Would last about a minuet including breakdowns.

katana

I can't really comment on your work, but good luck with the interview.

tharle

hey, grats on the interview - for this one i'd say just leave things as is, or add things that make it better. even if it's not the right sort of stuff for this company they've presumably seen your reel already to offer you the interview, no? there's nothing in your reel that's bad, it's just a little schizophrenic so i'd say leave it as is for now.

Evemy

Thanks ! I sent them a link to my website along with the application so I'm assuming they saw it? They actually asked for me to bring my reel along with any works in progress I have, which throw me a bit as the other running interviews I'd had they never mentioned my reel. I'm currently re-rendering the bathroom piece, here's a preview render of it (do excuse the graininess.) Is it an improvement? Thanks for the help guys. Any one you wouldn't happen to know any good questions to ask at the interview?