The primary/secondary strategy is probably a good one, but most studios either state 'must be expert at our choosen 3d app' or state 'must be expert in either 3d app'. I haven't seen job postings that state 'must be expert at our choosen app or at least familiar with it'. It's still a good strategy though.
I think it's good to have at least looked at all the major apps and be familiar with at least their superficial features and limitations. That way you can put on your resume that you are at least familiar with the app. It will help answer the lingering question: how much does this guy already know, and how much are we…
Thanks for the detailed reply, Vig. :) Good point, I don't have to make my major showcase pieces in Maya. I'll just do a few minor props to get the general gist of it. Seems like a sound strategy to state primary/secondary apps too.
I think the problem he would run into is the place would need to buy 2 seats of software for one artist. Some places might be fine with it, others, not. At that point I think skill weighs in heavily. Skill translates from one app to another it just takes time, are they willing to put that time in? Is the skill worth it?
Ehh, that's not really a workable long-term solution. Last gig I was at all the environment artists used Max and it was a problem when people tried using Maya then porting over, because of things like when another person on the team needs to make tweaks to the asset and they don't know the other app. Eventually it was…
I haven't done a lot of studio hopping but I'll toss my 2 bits as I've been in that boat before when I was looking around. It really depends on the studio and how much time and effort they are willing to put into someone to get them up to speed. A mediocre artist might get passed over if they don't know the core software…
Hey guys, got a general question for you. This is more for the guys who have been through a few gigs or have been involved in the hiring process at their studios. How important would you say it is for me as a potential hire to be familiar with a target studio's primary 3D package? In other words, I'm pretty much 3DS max…