how did u get your first job? what's ur laboral status now?

Thought this would be very interesting, specially for newbies like me...

It would be nice if people could talk on this thread about their personal experience from getting their first job in the cg industry (things you went through, what does it feel like, how long did it take you to get to that point...) and also telling how are you currently doing in the job you have now (if you have one).

I'll start with myself:

i'm still a uni student (on my final year now)... never got a chance to do an internship, though I did work for a small "company" (two guys that were graduates from uni own it) on a short project as a character animator WHILE studying in Uni ...I admit it was a worthy experience from which I learned a lot, but it was....kind of "unexpected"... and definitely not as ?cool? as it sounds

things I went through are explained in detail here: http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=351558
(bear in mind at the time I wrote the post I was quite nervous?I?ve got over it already and currently wanna focus on other more important things such as my studies and my personal work)

I wonder how hard is it gonna be for me to find a ?stable? job in this industry?so I thought maybe I could directly talk to everyone here through this post about the subject matter.

expecting to hear from y?all

Diploma in 3d Animation & Compositing, im still looking for a paying job, however I did get an internship at the school as a Teacher Assistant for a couple months, but it was unpaid, it (hopefully) looks good on a resume.

Hey I agree...cool thread

As for me, I was a 3d hobbiest (sp?) all through highschool, did a year of Bible College and then a couple months after graduation (shortly after creating my "sparrow" animation") I was contacted by numerous companies asking for my services (one of them being MAKE). After deliberating for a while, I decided that the work I would be doing at MAKE (according to what they told me I'd be doing) would be the most interesting compared to the kind of work that some of the other offers I had said I'd be doing....so I headed out here to Minneapolis and have been working for MAKE for just over a year.

Looking back, and at the type of work I've been doing here, I'd say I made the right choice . Off to New Zealand for school (hopefully) in a few months though!

I actually just decided I was going to start doing this line of work back in 2002. I just went to school, and graduated with a bachelors degree in visual effects and motion graphics from Art Institutes International MN. By the time I was out, I already had a job here at MAKE. I basically interned here during my last year of school, and then I had an opportunity to work with a place that was starting up in town and work on some feature stuff. We were set to go to austrailia and work on Superman, but our producer got it canned at the last minute by being too cocky or some crazy stuff. So then that place folded and I came back to MAKE. That was when Tyson had just got hired and was working on the SONY "Transformations" spot. So now i'm just kind of working and building my reel. I really want to composite and work on features rather than commercials and long format DVD presentation material, So I kind of have my sights set on some places for the near future, But for now this job is decent and pays the bills but our boss is Just kidding. He's a good guy to us.

-Z

i work at a video store.....nuff said.

I was nearly 28 and in need of a complete change of job / lifestyle etc. (was an Audio/Visual Technician at an AV Hire company, basically setting up PA systems and lighting for corporate events and exhibitions)

I knew where my interests lay (3D) but had a long way to go and a lot to learn. So I needed to buy myself some time, which is why I ended up living here in Thailand. (I'd saved enough cash to be off of work for a few months in the UK... or 18 months in Thailand!)

And it took me nearly that length of time to get to an employable level. (if I'm even there yet! hehe) But I got the job. Never underestimate the power of badminton! Yep, I networked for a bit. Just got my face known, became friends with a couple of people in the industry here (an invaluable source of help and advice). When it actually came time to get a job it was almost a natural progression (In fact I just popped into a studio where my friend worked, without intending to apply as they used Maya not Max, but the boss hired me soon after)

So yeah... I then had to pull my socks up and learn another app from scratch. And I'm still learning, both the app (Maya) and the craft. The job is going well though. I came in close to the start of the project, which was perfect timing as it allowed me to progress at a steady pace but become useful to the company very quickly. One year on and I am now the studios TD, developing and automating character setup. I still find time to animate though and have been asked to tackle the first production shot.

well hey I am still at school here at the art institute getting my bachelor in Game Art & Design. so I currently dont have a Job in the biz but I am gunning for an internship and EA and from what I have been told its a big deal to get in with EA. Game are great and all but in the end I think i would prefer a job in an animation house so im teaching myself animation and technics for animation while learning game while in school.
This thread is a great idea, along with where everyone is for those people who are in what kind of things would you sugest for us "upandcomings" to prepare for future employers.

grrr lucky people all of u got a chance to study a major in graphics or is connected to in some way in this place the computer graphic program started in my second year of university which is also my final so had no chance to change other wise would be lossing load of money BUT i have a question can i make it into the CG (specially 3d) business though i am a computer science graduate and how much time do u think i need to get to employment level (I HOPE TYSON ISNT THJE EMPLOYMENT LEVEL other wise i would never get a job)

opps missed the post point i also worked as a teching assistant in graphic department of NYiT for a year thinking it would help almost volenteer 3$ per hour

Good thread Ravi.

Im still a hobbiest but come January (or March - depends on how much money i end up saving!) Im heading down to London to attend a Maya Comprehensive course with escape studios - http://www.escapestudios.co.uk - which i cannot wait! The studios have very very strong likns with The Mill, Blur, Pixar and WETA, which is great! About 70% of the student get into these studios after the course so im told, so i really cannot wait. (The day i went down there i met Chris Ford from PIXAR, he programmed renderman) so i really have high hopes in attending the course!

Im currently working at the local Government designing roads and car parks etc using AutoCAD and Bentley MX. By using ACAD at work i became into 3D - i pressed the wrong button on the screen and a sphere came up, and after just turning the sphere around in the viewport for a few hours, i was hooked!

Maybe in the future im also thinking of applying to animation mentor.

Tyson - what's sneding you over to New Zeland?

This new book has got stuff related to the topic we're covering here, if people are interested:

http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=page ... le_no=2992

i should start by saying that my ultimate goal is not to be an animator. I originally wanted to work on effects for big movies, now i want to make my own movies. I enjoy making things that are not real appear real on screen, and telling stories. 3D and animation lends itself well to these tasks, so I use it.

In the ealry 90's i was in a metal band, and loved it and wanted to do it forever. Then our singer left for a job, and i decided to go to school to learn to run a recording studio so i could produce our albums when he got back. I called the Art Institute of Pittsburgh about their recording program. While on hold talking to a rep there, the recording i was listnening to mentioned that Doug Smith from ILM was on their board of advisors. when the rep came back, i asked why an ILM guy was on their board. Star wars, indiana jones, and the back to the future movies were my favorite movies of all time, so i knew ILM. The rep said they had a special effects program there at the school, so i thought that sounded like more fun, and asked to be on that tour instead. It also meant my career wouldn't depend on the moods and whims of 3 other people.

So i went to school for two years and learned the basics of every kind of special effects - miniature models, prosthetic make-up, prop and set building, design and drawing, prototyping, and a bunch of other industrial design stuff. During the AutoCAD class, I started messing around in 3D Studio (before it was Max). At the end of my second year, Max v.1 was released and we all took classes with it. Most people hated it, but i loved it. Most people were there only to make Klingons and zombies. After a while, I started asking questions the teachers couldn't answer for me (how do i make smoke that looks real?). So my last quarter there I got the computer animation dept to let me into an Alias Power Animator class. I didn't like it much - it was so much easier to do the same things in Max. When I graduated, I was the first person at the school to make a short movie there that used digital effects.

anyway, i graduated and within the month packed up everything i owned and moved with a friend to Los Angeles. I only had $600 and we didn't even know where we were going. I had no job or interviews lined up, and didn't even know where to start looking for somewhere to live. We got off the highway in Burbank, and I'm still there 9 years later. When we got out here, I was really hoping to get a job doing computer effects. But once here, I realized what a beginner I was and how hard it was to get into big shops. My first job was doing fiberglass molds at a miniature shop where every day i had to shop-vac the water from the leaky roof, and the boss would call all of us "chimps", and i made $6 an hour under the table. But, on the plus side, i got my first movie credit there and got to work on a commercial at ILM's commercial division here in LA (back when they had one). I left there to go to another small shop, where i worked on TONS of tv commercials, tv shows, and B-movies. I learned a technique called foam fabrication which I still use for making props, armor, costume pieces, or almost anything else practically. i was there for almost 2 years before a friend of mine invited me to work at Amalgamated Dynamics Inc on "Bubble Boy". Right after Bubble boy, i was one of the few people they transfered over to work on "Spider-man", and I ended up staying at ADI for quite some time. The only times I left throughout most of it was to work at Rick Baker's make-up shop. It really is true - connections and networking are extremely important. Once I was into the big shops, I was able to work anywhere I wanted.

During the first Spiderman, one of the owners of ADI was putting together a book project. I asked if I could help out doing some Photoshop work. I volunteered for free, just to get some real experience doing something - anything! - digitally. So i worked on maybe 3 or 4 shots for the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Mission-Di ... F8&s=books

Also during this time, a friend of mine wanted to make a short sci-fi movie, and asked if i'd help out doing digital stuff. I hadn't touched a computer (except for internet and photoshop) for almost 4 years, but i said sure, i could do whatever he wanted! So i immediately began trying to learn after effects. It was hard at first, and i called a friend in post production to give me a one-night walkthrough of the program. then i did the crappiest fx ever for my friends movie.

After that, the guy who supervised all that artwork on the book went back to work at this tiny little shop that did all the digital effects for the Austin Powers movies. Work at ADI was coming to and end (they lay everyone off between movies), and he asked me one day "you know after effects, right?" and i said "just a little bit". So i got hired there on "Goldmember". I learned reallt quick, and got really good and fast at after effects on that movie. There was only one guy doing 3d on that movie. near the end, they needed a few other little background 3d things, and i mentioned i could do 3d. So, I got some 3d stuff in there! All that pretty much cemented my position at that shop. I did something like 60 shots on that movie. So then I went back and forth for a couple years, creatures and make-up to digital stuff at the little shop. My last creature/make-up job was Aliens vs. Predators, which i left halfway through to go work on Starsky & Hutch. Then a friend I made during Austin Powers contacted me about working at Cafe FX on "Sin City". Sounded fun, but there were 2 drawbacks - i'd be living in a hotel for about 3 months, and i'd only be compositing. The big shops are VERY departmentalized. So i did it, it being a big shop and me wanting to network and all that. It was great experience, but living in a hotel was boring, and i was stressed for a while trying to grasp nodal compositing after years on AE. Cafe wanted me to stay, but i said no thanks. Went back to my usual antics at the little place. Then, an opportunity came to get on at Rhythm & Hues, where I am now. Again, I'm just compositing, but its a great place to work. Now I'm kinda bored with compositing and working on other peoples movies. This year I really kicked my own butt in gear on making my own things - 2 shorts this year so far!

I also still work evenings and weekends sometimes at the little shop (Pacific Vision Productions) because they can't seem to find any other good AE compositors/3d generalists. Sometimes its nice, sometimes its a pain. But i like the work there better. On "Tenacious D:Pick of Destiny", I "owned" over 100 shots - compositing, 3d , tracking, color correcting, whatever needed done. On "Garfield 2" at R&H, I did 12 shots, only compositing. The little place is much more fun and challenging.

so that's my story. sorry its so long, just wanted to be thorough in the hopes that some detail may help someone else. here's a list of what i've done, but it's not entirely complete.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0448332/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1239968/ (yes, I acted in this one. poorly, i might add.)

To me, the important parts of my path to where I am were volunteering to do effects when i didn't even know the program (it forced me to hurry up and learn!), and not turning down an opportunity when it arose. I also worked very hard to not burn any bridges when I'd leave places. I usually never left somewhere if I thought they wouldn't hire me back.

Strange industry, though. Once you're in, you're IN. Digital Domain called a couple weeks ago, had to say no. I think if ILM called, I'd say no. I think the only place I'd leave here to go in a heartbeat is Weta, and that's only if they're not working on a videogame movie. I just wanna work with Peter Jackson.

crap thats long.

Crazy, your really lucky though, California is filled with companies and studios in the industry, I live in Edmonton, the best thing we have is Bioware and Brokeback Mountain...

Wow hype I had no clue that you have worked on so much stuff thats extreamly impressive. makes me want to work even harder so I can get there one day bravo!

Well, now i work in a press office, on a scanner ev'ry morning until from 4,00am to around 9,00am. I would like to be a singer, but i got some problem to my vocal cords, so i spend my whole freetime on a pc... hoping one day I'd work in CG, now my life is a little messedup, up until now a failure

sorry.. a little of topic

Wow hype - that incredible! Well done! Yeah i definatly agree that networking is very importat within the industry. I was amazed by just one trip down to London to see my course, to see how many people i met that works in the industry, and not im kicking myslef for not getting their email add or whatever.

That is one impressive CV you've got man, Austin Powers and Sin City. Do big studios such as R&H use After Effects do they? I really must get my head around that program.

Im also very intrested in seeing Trancers 6 now, im gonna have a scout for on the web.

Good one man - thanks for letting us know, makes me want to work harder now/

hype that was such a great read fella.....no need to apologise at all!!

Thank you very much for lettin us know in detail about your experiences man

i really enjoy reading everyones. its always amazing how different everyone's experiences are, yet we all end up right here together in the same place.

PolecatIV - hang in there, you're not a failure until you've admitted defeat.

iest_rob - no, they don't use after effects here. i wish they did, i'd have been done with my work on this movie months ago! learn nodal compositing (shake or fusion) if you want a better idea of what they use here. but all the same techniques and tricks work in AE, it's just a matter of learning what the tools are called and how to arrange them. and don't watch Trancers 6. you'll be sorry!

Tyson - yeah, what's sending you to NZ? (closer to Cam, perhaps? )

it's amazing, all the schools there are now for all this. there weren't too many places 10 years ago. And congrats to all you guys doing stuff freelance, from home, or for no pay! its a great way to get experience! I can't even begin to mention how many crappy, horrible student films and side projects i've helped out on over the years just for the experience.

here's another interesting story...

when i first got out here and hadn't yet given up my idea of getting a CG job immediately, I went in to Threshold Entertainment in Santa Monica to drop off a resume. They brought me in back to meet with someone on the spot, and after talking for a little bit, some guy came out from the back. He looked at me and said "Do you know photoshop?" and I said "yes". He said "Do you want to come back here and take a look at this, see if you can help out?". I got all nervous cause I SO wasn't expecting that! I babbled some kind of denial, and he said something like "Do you know how to animate in photoshop?". And I stammered again, "Ah, no, not really...". then he left and i finished my interview. it was really wierd.

On that note, I would recommend whenever possible, to everyone, instead of sending in a demo reel and a resume, go there! hand your resume to someone in person and take a business card off the front desk. Ask to see the guy who hires people. Rarely will they let you without an appointment, but once in a while they might. and you only need it to happen once. even if you just leave your resume with the receptionist, you still got a look at the place. And chances are the receptionist will walk it back to the hiring person herself, rather than throwing it on the mail stack they no doubt get every day. much better than just being a random envelope that came in with the bills and junk mail.

wow hype thanks alot for the advice that will surely come in handy next year when I finish school in hopes to head out to the LA area to look for work. untill then building up my resume is my big task!!!

Well, I originally trained as a 2d cel animator and worked at Anim8 Studios here in New Zealand on a Disney Kids show called Dave the Barbarian. I then decided to move onto CGI as working in a game studio is my main goal. Im currently working under a freelance contract for a company in the US doing game animations but still looking for work hopefully in Tokyo. Hense the reason im also learning japanese at uni.

And the answer to all those that ask why tyson is coming to NZ is pretty much ME!!! what can I say

Hey Ali... I can tell you something to help. Try not to worry too much about it. Ok, now that is very easy for me to say... but if you read about everyones story here you can conclude that there is no ONE path to take.

It is also very easy to say 'if it is meant to happen then it will' but that is often the way you have to look at it. Yes... some of the decisions you make now can certainly affect your future. For example you could decide to drop your shipbuilding studies and devote yourself to computers. But even that will not guarantee you a future in CG. Or you could continue your studies, learn computers at home and maybe come acrross a great idea that uses both computers and ships (I'm sure they go hand in hand these days, everything from design, throughout construction, to navigation... the whole process will require Computing skills)

But at the end of the day, you can change things if you don't like them. I decided at the age of 28 to totally change my lifestyle and career. From a technician / hire manager (admin and organising type role) to Animator / TD. It's all possible!

I'd say weigh up the decisions you need to make now... and think about how they could affect things for the next couple of years or so, short to mid term. (from the sound of what you wrote I'm guessing that your decisions could change things at home with your family... And I know from friends that the family unit and parental respect is very important in your part of the world) Maybe think a little about long term goals and stuff - but don't worry too much about it for now.

Hope that helps

@David Nice one bud... I nearly did the same waaaay back... It's nice to know that it can be done

by the way, here is something for you :

http://holysoft.de/data/Mc.jpg

Is that mcdonalds?!?!?!


Thats the way mate!!!!!!!

mm, an octupple cheeseburger please sir

ok guys, here's a bit of an update on my current status:

a lot of things hav happened this week...ive bearly touched a computer, my website just went down (too many visits, over bandwidth lol) and I caught a cold... okay offtopic mode ends here

Ive been offered 3 freelance jobs: one is a full production in which I'll be working for 12 months (its such a big project that the guy seems to be taking the piss sometimes...he is just too ambicious) and the other is meant to be a short 30 second character animation piece to promote certain company. And the third one, from the same client as the second one, is about animating buttons and menu transitions for a cd rom interface. which again will promote the same company as the second job.

All three are gonna be paid jobs.

On top of all this Ill be starting university in 3 weeks time.....
For Univeristy, I've got 2 modules and the final year project....

Now, my question is........what the hell shall I do? I don't wanna get overloaded with work and then do really bad on all of em. I wanna do my best on everything.

Payment on the full production one sucks (the manager of the project admits this as well). But luckily i'm not in urgent need of income so I'll be taking the chance anyway to work on my skills. Plus apparently i'll get the chance to work with other freelance pros and a lead animator.

The second and third jobs come together since its about the promotion of the same company. And payment is good. But i've been thinking that the third job maybe is a bit "off" from what I really wanna be doing (has nothing to do with character animation basically), and by the time i do all this stuff i'l also be starting University....so basically my life will be a nightmare!

I know its all up to me at the end, it depends on whether ive got enough power and confidence and time to do so, and it depends most in how well organised i am with things and how good am i giving priorities.

I just wanted to share with everyone here and see what people think, whether im on a good position or whether i should just throw everything out of the window and concentrate on my personal work only, or maybe i should just work on everything because i'm still an amateur and I should NEVER think im privileged enough to be discarding jobs and just take as many as possible because it will be valuable experience.

Thanks for those who bother reading this lol[/list]

well first off dude i would say you have to take at least one of the jobs nomatter what!!!! but as of wich one i would probly say the character animation on since thats the stuff you want to be doing right and its a shorter job so youll have time for school once its over

i'm reluctant to choose one of them, cuz that really depends on you, and all the things you mentioned. but it's great to be in a position to even have choices, so congrats on that!

sound like the first to would be more interesting, and a better learning experience, and if money isn't really a question, then you have the enviable luxury of really choosing what you want to do. But don't forget about university. that, ultimately, is going to consume tons and tons of your time.

keep us posted!

It's neat to see what everyone has been through! This is a fun topic:D

For me, I went to college after high school. I was a real junkie/hippie wannabe in high school... the guy who can draw and all that jazz. Then my parents said to do something with myself and I didn't know what to do. Then I saw an add for an animation course in college, and I thought "I guess that sounds fun.." so I went for it.

Well, it was the best thing that could have happened to me back then. It helped me clean up when I realized I can't concentrate on animating if I'm buzzed, so I kicked the bad habits.

I worked hard there, and when I left, I went to Ottawa loooking for work. There, I found an internship at Amberwood studio for about 3 months. When the dept. I was working with all got layed off because the work was being sent over seas, I asked if I could make a few calles for jobs. I called Collideascope, the studio where I'm at now (from Amberwood ) and got the job!!

Here, I worked hard, (again) and worked my way to Animation Supervisor for 2 different series. And in total, I worked on 3 different shows @ 26 half hours each. What a ride it's been!

And finally, I just found out recently that I've got a new job in Burnaby BC, working on a feature animated 3D film!!! WOO HOOOOO!!!!!!! And I couldn't have done it without this forum. The challenges kept me going. Soooooooooo Thanks alot guys!!!

There's me.

I wish the best of luck to everyone!!!

Thanks alot guys! I'm still not in the mindset that I'm leaving since my start date's being pushed back every time I call for more info... but I guess that's the way of the buisness... So honestly in my mind, I'm not sure if I'm still going even if I know that I am... does that make sense?

welcome to the biz, bro! they're gonna do the same thing with your end date, as well!

Phew:D

Thanks man,.. I figurd that's what was going on