going back to school?

[altbighead]

Ok here is my story.

I recently finished my one year 3d program and

start sending my demo reel to company .

The problem is that I got no replies from any of them so

I am getting the impression that my quality is not good enough .

I know that my demo reel is not the best around

but I put a lot of effort into it.

Ofcourse I can work at home to improve my reel but I am visa student so have to go back to my home country where there is no cg related market.

So my question is what should I do ?

go back to a school to get degree (like computer science , fine art)

or try to get a volunteer job at cg company?

I am kind of depressed wih my situtation and not sure what to do.going back to school is not really a problem but money is .

gahh and I l like houdini.

here is my demo reel link and pls critique it.

http://www.sai.mmcgi.net/DemoReel_Onlinver.wmv

[michael]

very tough question....

if continuing school is something you've thought of doing anyway then I'd say go for it...

I'm not sure how the immigration laws would affect you if you want to work in the US - I think it might be tricky to move from a student visa to a work visa...

[Marc]

heya

I don't think your reel is bad at all. Definitely shows a heavy modeling slant though, which may be hindering you if you're looking for a houdini job (most of those are FX related).

As for not hearing from companies... it's a tough thing really. I definitely think its a mixture of skill and good timing. Most of the larger companies are hesitant to hire somone straight out of college, but if you apply when people are desperate for staff, then your chances are increased greatly. I know DD hired a ton of people directly out of SCAD to work on Day After Tomorrow...

Which companies did you apply to? Perhaps it might be better for you to apply to a smaller company first, just to get experience (maybe a small post house..)

Cheers

Marc

[altbighead]

heya

Cheers

Marc

16810[/snapback]

Thanks for the reply .I applied to most of the companies around here in Toronto and Canada.I don't think I am qualify for US tho .. Mostly because I don't have a degree and exp.

Yeh .. , right now my reel is based on modeling but I am slowly learning houdini and try to learn and explore the effect area.

I am getting a impression that most of the companies don't bother looking at foriegn applicant who does not have any experiences.That why I am asking If degree is going to help my chance of getting a job.

arctor

As much as I would like to go back to school , money is not really on my side.coming from a country where you can eat 3 meals with a dollar, you can do the math .

I also think that working in a company gives you more exposure to real skills and production techniques where in school you might be learning something that not necessarily will be useful in real world.

hehe . anyways, I am not gonna give up my dream . It;s just that I get a lot of pressure and start worrying about my future.

So far I have two options.. either enroll in cheap community college and work on my demo reel until I get a job or give some time going back to school and get a degree.

Thanks .

[michael]

I didn't realize you were in TO...

let me see if I can knock on a few door for you...can't promise anything but...

[sibarrick]

Don't forget not every company that uses CG is a film or TV company. Look out for the small multimedia places too.

Also, do you have specialist recruitment agents for CG in the US? I know we do here in the UK. I've used them before to find people.

I learnt all my CG in the evening whilst doing a day job, and then went to college really to make contacts in the industry. I didn't really learn much new at college but worked on my reel and meet the right people.

Best of luck.

[TheUsualAlex]

I believe there was a recuiter named Pamela something in the US who is specializing in those kind of things. I can't quite recall her name tho.. I've heard of her name 6 or 7 years ago and she's still around to this day.

[lisux]

I learnt all my CG in the evening whilst doing a day job, and then went to college really to make contacts in the industry. I didn't really learn much new at college but worked on my reel and meet the right people.

Best of luck. 

16832[/snapback]

Hi Simon can you say at what college did you go?

Do you know any college that use Houdini in the vfx classes?

Thanks

[sibarrick]

I went to London Guildhall, all they had were some crappy pc's running 3d studio (pre 3d Max days) The library computers were more powerful

Taught me a lot about optimizing for rendering though.

I only know universities in the uk, the best one for contacts and Houdini is Bournemouth.

[lisux]

I went to London Guildhall, all they had were some crappy pc's running 3d studio (pre 3d Max days) The library computers were more powerful 

Taught me a lot about optimizing for rendering though.

I only know universities in the uk, the best one for contacts and Houdini is Bournemouth.

17887[/snapback]

Thanks Simon

[Marc]

Apparently Exeter offers Houdini too :

http://odforce.net/wiki/index.php/Schools_Using_Houdini

Be sure to add anymore if you find them .

M

[sibarrick]

I think Exeter is more of a graphics programming place AFAIK, so if you want to get really technical that might be a good choice. Bournemouth is more of an artistic course.

[Jim Su]

Your modelling shows some understanding of form, but your wireframes showing the topology might actually hurt you from getting hired. Pay attention to how the wires flow. You do a good job keeping the topology concentric around the mouth and eyes for your superhero, but not so good for the guy with the bad teeth.

It's nice to be able to pick contentric rows of points for rigging and UV unwrapping.

A good method I try to follow is think how you would approach that model using only b-spline patches. That's the way you should be modelling polygons.

One last thing, I noticed an illegal 5 sided polygon on the ass of your dog. That's a big no-no too.

Good luck!

Jim

[altbighead]

Your modelling shows some understanding of form, but your wireframes showing the topology might actually hurt you from getting hired. Pay attention to how the wires flow. You do a good job keeping the topology concentric around the mouth and eyes for your superhero, but not so good for the guy with the bad teeth.

It's nice to be able to pick contentric rows of points for rigging and UV unwrapping.

A good method I try to follow is think how you would approach that model using only b-spline patches. That's the way you should be modelling polygons.

One last thing, I noticed an illegal 5 sided polygon on the ass of your dog. That's a big no-no too.

Good luck!

Jim

18188[/snapback]

Thank you for your feedback.I totally agree with the topology part.

As I am progressing , I start to see alot of area that I can improve .

I am tracing new topology on most of my models to get the better edge flow as well as working on UV and texturing too.

[LPXO]

I think Exeter is more of a graphics programming place AFAIK, so if you want to get really technical that might be a good choice. Bournemouth is more of an artistic course.

18170[/snapback]

Bournemouth has three Masters animation courses, the MSc in Computer Animation covers OpenGL, Maya and C API, Renderman and Houdini and is a technical course.

The other two are the MA in Computer Animation which uses XSI predominiantly and the MA in Digital Effects which is the course where you get the most Houdini exposure.

[JohnnyBGoode]

Bournemouth has three Masters animation courses, the MSc in Computer Animation covers OpenGL, Maya and C API, Renderman and Houdini and is a technical course.

The other two are the MA in Computer Animation which uses XSI predominiantly and the MA in Digital Effects which is the course where you get the most Houdini exposure. 

18595[/snapback]

Agreed - LPXO is here on the MSc, im on the Digital Effect course.

We get an amazing amount of exposure to Houdini, and the guys who teach here really know their stuff.

I came here wanting to specialise in compositing but ive become a complete Houdini addict, so much so that im considering doing my masters project purely in Houdini and compositing in Halo rather than Shake.

I highly recommend Bournemouth - you do really feel a part of the Houdini community here, and we sometimes get invited to their talks in London.

However, the lecturers here dont aim to hold your hand through the course, they expect you to do a lot of independent research and R and D - Odforce is probably the best resource out there.