animation Content for portfolio
Hi all, since the 3D industry is being hit hard here in Vancouver, well everywhere for that matter, so I've been told anyhow, because of the economy. All I can do is go to my labor job to pay the bills and come home work on content for my reel.
I've been trying to find out what it is a game studio is looking for in terms of animation, because my field of interest is animation.
I've been told so many different things from modellers, from 2d artist, from even tattoo artists, but not animators.
Here's what I need help with.
Are there any ANIMATORS who have or are working for a GAME studio that could tell me what kind of CONTENT a GAME studio wants to see to increase my chances of getting a job?
Do they want the basic walk cycle and weight lift or am I expected to far more creative than that?
Any help or comments are more than welcome and appreciated from anybody.
However my goal is essentially trying to find out how other ANIMATORS got their jobs.
Good luck to everyone who wants to work for this industry or is working in this industry.
Cheers.
I've been trying to find out what it is a game studio is looking for in terms of animation, because my field of interest is animation.
I've been told so many different things from modellers, from 2d artist, from even tattoo artists, but not animators.
Here's what I need help with.
Are there any ANIMATORS who have or are working for a GAME studio that could tell me what kind of CONTENT a GAME studio wants to see to increase my chances of getting a job?
Do they want the basic walk cycle and weight lift or am I expected to far more creative than that?
Any help or comments are more than welcome and appreciated from anybody.
However my goal is essentially trying to find out how other ANIMATORS got their jobs.
Good luck to everyone who wants to work for this industry or is working in this industry.
Cheers.
Replies
i would hire animators based on those 2 factors if he/she can do something really subtle/realistic and something really crazy/unrealistic but awesome.
familiarity with animation blending and mocap tweaking is pretty important, too.
also depends on the kind of studio you'd like to go for. for example if they're into making FPS, first-person prop animations might be interesting to show as well.
if however you're aiming more towards cutscenes, then that is a different beast alltogether, acting, staging, facial- and camerawork, etc. go check out showreels from film school graduates, animation mentor alumni or similar for that.
Then, make some animations that you think would fit perfectly with those games they've made. If it's a sports company that's done a lot of soccer games, make some soccer animations.
Suiting your reel to the company you'd like to work for, will help your chances.
Tips:
Like how modellers focus on one area (enviro, character, props), find the area you can show focus on with your reel: mocap cleanup/editing, creature (real animals/ fantasy/ droid), fx (explosions, magic fx), cinematics (helpful if you can show you've used a games scripting language or editor tools to make them), fight choreography with multiple characters interacting with each other.
Showing knowledge and competence skinning and rigging would help a lot.
Keep reel under 5 minutes. No juvenile gags with big jug models (assume female animators are gonna review your stuff). Anime no, unless it's an anime style friendly studio you're applying to.
Motions you can animate? Go to gametrailers for ideas. Or hunt down pros' blogs/folios for more info. Post in forums for feedback.
Good luck.
Oh yeah, puppetshop and cat are free now.