Aspiring VFX Artist- Advice sought!

Jimick

Hey all,

I would like to break in to VFX in the industry, I've had a little experience with Unity's engine and my knowledge of scripting is abysmal at this time.

I'm looking for advice on what software I should learn first, and where to find some good resources to get going.

I've been trying to get going in PopcornFX but that may have been a little ambitious as I find myself stuck when it comes to scripts.

I currently work as dev qa in the industry and have some training in photoshop and after effects.

Any advice would be fantastic,

Thanks.

Torch

Can't offer a whole lot of info, but in terms of resources have you checked out Imbue FX? Think they're mainly UE focused, but worth a look:

https://www.imbuefx.com/

Jimick

That's great!

I've been considering the UE subscription for a little while, these tutorials seem perfect for getting started.

Thanks

Rwolf

Best to find programs that are cross compatible applicable to maya (which shouldn't be hard anyway). VFX for tv and movies can be daunting, and there are many disciplines, from tracking, composting, and multiple different types of simulation.

Best is to stock up tutorials if your not going the school route.

It'll take quite a bit a effort to pump out a good reel, so here is my friend as an example

student level: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNK_VMtAk_E
Senior/Lead level: http://jamesmcphail.net/demo-reel/

Jimick

Thanks, you can really see the difference from his student reel to his most recent one!

I also see that I missed a word in my first post, I meant to say in the games industry at the start.

How transferable are the skills from the film industry to video games?
It seems like it would be similar for pre-rendered cinematics, but what about back-end / in-game effects?