Do you need a degree to work in the vfx industry?

Jarox

Hello!
In the last about half a year I became very interested in vfx and made myself "familiar" with Houdini and Maya and especially the modeling and fx part. So because I'm still in school I got interested in the pursuit of a career in the vfx industry. So I wondered if you need a degree to work in vfx or If there are more important qualifications.

Ashervisalis

No, it's 100% dependent on your portfolio. You can teach yourself and make a great portfolio, and get a job that way. It may be difficult to get a visa for another country without a degree though. If you're hoping to keep going in this, make sure to join some killer communities (here, or Slack or Discord), you'll progress much faster that way.

Jarox

@Ashervisalis Thanks for the reply!
I just wanted to ask if you know what software (Maya or Houdini) is in demand in the industry atm because I can't really make my mind up between wich programm to choose or to just learn both.
And do you know if you need a visa if you work remote and if a lot of companies offer this?

Meloncov

You should learn both. Knowing Houdini can definitely be a big plus, but the core of most pipelines are still built around Maya.

Ashervisalis

I'm going to disagree, I don't think you should learn Houdini yet. Maya and modeling skills in their own take ages to develop. If you're trying to learn both Houdini and Maya at the same time, it'll take so much longer, and that will be longer for you to score a job. Unless your dream job specifically calls for Houdini, I would just focus on getting great at Maya (Or 3Ds Max). I know in Vancouver, Maya is the go-to software, but I know a lot of studios use Max. See what the studios use around you. If there aren't any studios around you, I'm not sure which one you should choose :P

I'm not 100% sure about remote work, I know some companies do, but I'm not sure about the %.