quinniusmaximus Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Anyone have or know of some good examples of "hire" quality demo reels? Especially for an FX artist or junior/mid level fx TD @quinniusmaximus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nibbler Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 here is the site with reels: http://reel-exchange.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pclaes Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 All of these guys have impressive showreels (some of my favourite fx artists) you might want to take a look at (they are quite senior though) : Daniel P. Ferreira Miguel A. Salek Allan McKay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quinniusmaximus Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 Those are all pretty heavy hitters..... and you're no slouch yourself... I bought the 3dbuzz dvd's you did- good stuff I'm obviously going to only try and put my best foot forward, but I was curious what level of work in a reel gets makes you a candidate to hire on? All of these guys have impressive showreels (some of my favourite fx artists) you might want to take a look at (they are quite senior though) : Daniel P. Ferreira Miguel A. Salek Allan McKay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegro Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 I was curious what level of work in a reel gets makes you a candidate to hire on? Depends where and when you apply and for what role. If you're concerned about the quality of your reel the only thing you can do is try to improve it. Do projects at home in your spare time if you must. In the meantime, send out your applications and hope for the best. Better to send something out there and hear nothing back than to not send anything at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quinniusmaximus Posted January 28, 2010 Author Share Posted January 28, 2010 Well said Allegro... The day job (smoke/mograph artist) which I can't complain about keeps me quite busy. At home is the only opportunity that I have at the moment. Really looking forward to the day when I can speak conversational houdini. Ideally would love to have something to show come siggraph time. cheers. Depends where and when you apply and for what role. If you're concerned about the quality of your reel the only thing you can do is try to improve it. Do projects at home in your spare time if you must. In the meantime, send out your applications and hope for the best. Better to send something out there and hear nothing back than to not send anything at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pclaes Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 I often hear the same story from other people that want to become full time houdini fx tds. There seems to be a "pain" barrier that you need to overcome. It's like rolling a big stone uphill. At some point you reach a top and you're over the edge and most things just "click". You are over the edge and from then on things seem to become "easier" in your mind - this does not mean things are actually easier, probably quite the opposite, but you have trained your mind to think in a different way and also to learn in a different way. You are less scared of exploring areas of houdini/3d that you have never touched before, you learn things in a more in-depth way. The other thing is (time) commitment. Since you are already in a position close to the 3d side of things you probably have an advantage (and a disadvantage) over others. If you decide from the very beginning you want to do fx, you can focus on just that and nothing else. If you already have a job, that will absorb a lot of your time and focus. The good thing about already having your job is that you bring solutions from the motion graphics way of working along with you into your 3d houdini way of working - no knowledge is truly lost. I also know a few people that want to get into houdini, but they do not fully commit to it. Which means they end up floating somewhere between - which is generally not a good place to be (unless you work in commercials and you need to be more of a generalist.). But most of the time a studio will just want to fit you into "an effects td" or "a lighting td" or "a shader writer"... the reality is that often houdini artists often cover more than one area - because effects can sometimes be more "procedural modeling" or links in with lighting or shaderwriting. Still the person hiring needs to fit you in, so you need to excel at effects (which to them is explosions, water, dust, sand, rigid/soft body dynamics) - so you need to have some of that stuff in your reel. Personally I still invest time into houdini after work hours because I'm learning or building other systems with it - not every day as you get tired when under a lot of pressure, but at least a couple of evenings a week. But you need that discipline and time management, that is what I find the hardest. Managing work, gf, other learning & reading and relaxing - a good day to me consists of a bit of all of these. Regarding hiring: sometimes seniors are required, sometimes more juniors that will run shots and use the tools that the seniors built - this really depends a lot on timing, networking, your eagerness to start working and perhaps stagnate financially as you switch from being a senior in motion graphics to being a junior/mid in fx. If you know that what you love to do is effects, that invest the time, make a plan (one or more hours of houdini every day?) and try to stick to it. Short pretty projects (6 to 10 seconds) is better than one epic story piece to get hired. Breakdowns... can go in, but keep them short - perhaps better to do in a separate reel. When you come in for interview you can bring that along.. or put it on your site. Your online footprint is another thing to perhaps consider... type your name in google see if your site/demoreel comes up. If you are looking for a job, post it here and contact jenny at sidefx, be part of the houdini mailing list - every month somebody somewhere is looking for more houdini artists. Become part of vimeo/youtube/linkedin/(facebook -> non-professional, but I've helped some people get a job through it and I've recommended people personally through it too... more contracts are often "signed" in the pub between friends then in the office). Never ever send your stuff in a rapidshare link or something similar... not even for scene files, better to link them with a few attachements zipped up. Good luck with it and when your reel is finished, post it and I'm sure you will get some feedback. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msalek Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 (edited) peter claes is the real favorite i believe.. Edited February 28, 2010 by msalek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrice Posted March 1, 2010 Share Posted March 1, 2010 Managing work, gf, other learning & reading and relaxing - What's gf? Oh the new nvidia card? Man I really need to get one of those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbowden Posted March 1, 2010 Share Posted March 1, 2010 I must say that was well said Peter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macha Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 (edited) The other problem is that it's hard to find companies using Houdini. Especially where I live, all I get is blank stares and "Hoo Hoo? Hoodihoo?! Hodino? Sofuto?! Eeeeeeeh" Those reels are very nice. Argh. Edited March 5, 2010 by Macha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Netvudu Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 then again you have access to some of the finest kendo dojos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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