Getting started in a career in Visual Effects.
[For anyone considering visual effects career please check out this article:
VFX in Los Angeles – 100 hour weeks & homeless Puts things in perspective. Much has changed from when I wrote the original article]
The pros and cons as well as learning and applying for jobs.
1:39 The Upside
2:49 The Downside
7:30 Education
13:04 Self Education
14:33 Hands on
17:58 On the job training
18:32 Company Projects
19:49 Hiring practices
20:50 Applying for a job
23:21 Demo Reels
Transcript:
Today I'll be talking about Visual Effects Careers. This is primarily for those considering visual effects careers but there may be some items of value for those already in the business.
The big question
The first question is do you really want to do Visual Effects for a living.
Just because it sounds kind of cool isn't a good enough reason.
Fame and fortune – forget it, this is not the place for either of these.
If your main goal is to do something else such as direct or write I would not suggest starting in visual effects. It's no shortcut to other jobs in the industry, especially since you're exposure to the live action side of production will be minimal.
The upside:
If you enjoy creating visuals whether it's art or photography then visual effects can be a good fit.
Moving images can be very compelling and provide even more room for creativity.
It involves technology and problem solving with art so can be rewarding for those who have an interest in both of these areas and like a challenge.
There's a wide range of jobs from computer programming to art direction so your interest level can be quite diverse.
There's certainly a sense of accomplishment when you finish a shot and a project.
Your work is likely to be seen by millions of people whether it's a commercial or a feature film.
If it's a feature or TV show there's a record of your work in the form of a DVD that others can still see years later.
The work is usually a combination of individual and teamwork.
Each show and most shots have different challenges so you're not likely to be bored.
The money is good.
The downside:
Some people work 8 hours a day in this field but most work 10 to 12 hours a day. That's 50 to 60 hours for a 5-day week. The number of hours can go up toward the end of a project. If you're involved in live action shooting you'll be working 12-hour days. That's 50% more hours a day than a typical job.
Sometimes you have to work Saturdays and even some Sundays, especially toward the end of the project. I worked 90 days straight at 12 hours a day at the end of Star Trek The Motion Picture. I've also worked a few 24-hour days.
Luckily it's usually not quite that crazy in the digital age. [Update: It's actually now worse in the digital age than it was before. 24hr work days not as rare as they once were. Certainly 16-18hr days are on the rise.] Needless to say this can put a damper on social events such going to concerts or sporting events. If you're married it can be difficult on you and your family. If you're not married it can be difficult to have a social life
There are only a few locations where visual effects for features are done on a large scale. Los Angeles, San Francisco, London and New Zealand are the largest. There are other pockets of work throughout the world, especially if you work in TV or commercials. That means it's likely you'll need to relocate to one of these metropolitan areas with all their pros and cons. Some of the downsides include a higher cost of living and heavy traffic with longer commute times. 12-hour days combined with an hour travel to work and hour back gives you only 10 hours to sleep and spend time with your family.
In the future more work may be able to be outsourced so it may become possible to live elsewhere. Some matte painters are able to do this.
In the digital age you will probably spend the majority of your time sitting in front of a monitor working on very detailed issues.
Much of the work is ultimately freelance. You may get a staff job at an effects facility but a sizable number of people are hired on a project-by-project basis. . You may work long days at the end of a project and have no break to the next project or you could find yourself out of work for 6 months. How much you work at one facility will be dependent on how efficient management is on obtaining new projects and scheduling them.
You may have to switch to different companies to keep working. This is when it becomes problematic to be working in a location with only 1 or 2 effects companies. You'll need to make contacts and start developing a credit list to try to keep working. The higher level you go (such as an animation lead) the less number of jobs there are available. It's not unusual for a director of photography to be without work for 1 to 2 years. So keep that in mind when looking at wages. This also causes problems maintaining health insurance. ILM is one of the few places (maybe the only place?) that have some of their employees, including CG, in a union. One of the reasons for Hollywood unions is to allow for the freelance nature of this business.
The business of visual effects goes through cycles of feast or famine. You may get multiple job offers one week and at other times there may not be anything available for 6 or more months. Some facilities reduce to a skeleton staff just to keep the doors open when there's no work. Other times they'll be turning down work since they can't expand and handle it.
Even with the expanding need for content, the number of jobs available is less than the number of people trying to break in. This is probably better than filmmaking in general where hundreds of schools are now producing thousands of film school graduates for a very limited number of jobs.
Out sourcing- with the speed of the Internet it's becoming easier for companies to start outsourcing work to less expensive locations such as Asia. This happened with 2D animation and now the same process is occurring for 3D animation and lower level or entry-level visual effects jobs.
[Update 8/8/2010 - Be sure to check out the links on the right under the heading VFX INDUSTRY - STATE OF THE INDUSTRY. All of these are worth reading for those considering visual effects as a career. Today there is much more outsourcing and more work going outside the US due to tax incentives and other factors. How easily you can get a career in vfx will be very dependent on where you are located. If you're in Canada, England, India, China and a few other places you're likely to have an easier time than someone in the U.S. currently. See
Globalization and VFX for more info.]
[Here's another insight into the work place:
Letter to the Animation Guild]
[Update: 11/19/2011 Worth reading:
7 Reasons You Don't Want To Work in the Video Game Industry - There is some overlap of Visual Effects and Video Games and some people move between the two. Visual Effects isn't quite this bad but there are some sad similarities]
[Update 5/3/2012 I've posted
What happened? that explains some of the facts of life in the visual effects industry. Check the comments as well.]
[Update 11/19/2012
Lesson in perspective is a note from a creative person in advertising. Same issues. ]
[Update: Most areas have now reached a saturation point of visual effects artists. That means it's becoming more and more difficult to not only get a job in visual effects but to keep it long enough to make it a career. All this in contrast to what some school recruiters and web sites may want you to believe. It's important to understand what you're up against before you commit to a career in it and potentially spending a lot of time and money on specific education that may have limited usefulness outside visual effects and video games. Even though places like the UK are pushing for more students they too will become saturated shortly and the incentives there will not last forever.]
I've covered this not to scare you but to give you an idea of what the realities are. If you have a real desire for it, have some talent and are willing to work hard then you have a
reasonable chance possibility of succeeding.
Education
When I started there were few film schools and certainly no effects classes. While in high school I shot Super-8 and 16mm film, was a newspaper photographer for the local paper and was a theater projectionist. Since film schools at that time required you to be a junior before doing any film work I opted to go from high school directly into visual effects. I was fortunate to find work as Doug Trumbull's assistant and to work on
Close Encounters.
You don't have to have a college degree to work in this business and having a masters in film is not going to get you a job by itself. If you're planning to focus on the pure technical aspects such as computer programming a college degree will more likely be required. Many of the larger effects companies have Human Resource departments and they're the ones likely to put college requirements in job postings even though they're not required by the people who would actually be your boss.
Having said that there are certainly some advantages to going to college and getting a degree. If you have problems getting work in visual effects or wish to switch to a different line of work a college degree may be required for an alternate job. A good college should be exposing you to a wide range of ideas and experiences. I would suggest a college that has film and other liberal arts classes.
There are now a few specialized schools that offer visual effects and animation training. I don't have any direct experience with any of these.
The specific school is up to you but you might contact some of the effects houses and see if they have any preference. For a time a number of animators at ILM came from Sheridan College in Canada. Some effects companies send recruiters to specific schools but that's certainly not a guarantee. Be sure to check out information and opinions for the school as much as you can before you commit. If the school is near an effects company it may be possible to intern there or that someone may come to you school to speak.
[
Visual Effects School post]
While you're in a school (high school, college or tech school) take full advantage of it. You're unlikely to get the chance again once you graduate. Make friends and start networking with your fellow classmates. You never know who might call you at a later date with a job. Help out on a variety of film and video projects.
Don't limit yourself to only classes in your specific film area.
And please don't focus all your attention on one piece of software. There are no standard software packages that all companies use. A company may have their own in house software. It's important for you to understand the underlying principals and develop your eye. If you know the reasoning you can learn to use any software but if you only know how to push specific key commands then you're going to have a tough time. When ILM was doing
Casper they were hiring 2D animators and training them to use the software. It's much faster and easier teaching someone to use a tool than to develop the artistic skills and underlying concepts.
Take art classes to get a better understanding of color, composition and developing your visual sense. You don't have to be an expert artist but you do want to be able to communicate ideas with sketches and doodles.
Make sure you cross train yourself.
Animators should take TD and composting classes if they offer them. TD's and compositors should take animation classes.
Take editing, writing, sound and other film classes. You're part of the filmmaking team and it's good to understand these related disciplines.
If you want to be an animator take acting and dance classes.
If you want to be a TD or compositor take photography and cinematography classes to understand how the real world appears. There are a lot of people entering this area who don't understand such things as depth of field or image compression caused by telephoto lenses. Since you're trying to recreate a virtual photoreal world or to augment a real world on film it's vital to understand these factors. Learn to really look at shadow from different sources. See how lighting and bounce light affect the image. Observe atmospheric haze.
Explore Theater classes. Set lighting is good for TDs. Set building may be worthwhile for modelers.
Team up with others in your class. If someone is a great modeler and someone else is a great animator you could work together to make demo material.
If your school has guest speaks from the film industry go to see them.
Chances are you school has video and film cameras so you can shoot some tests or shorts on them. They may have some advanced computer or editing systems that you can take advantage of.
As a student you also have access to a lot of software and computer hardware at education pricing which can be 1/3 or ½ of the retail price. Take advantage of this to learn and work with these packages.
Take some art and film history classes to get a frame of reference.
Self-Education
There are a number of other sources of information to explore whether you're in school or already working and want to cross train.
If you have a software read the manual it comes with and do the tutorials.
Publishers have a large selection of books covering specific packages to general techniques. Some good, some not so good so you should review it in a bookstore if you can. Does it provide real information and examples? I've posted a few I recommend in the
effects corner store and I'll be adding to this. If you have any recommended books or other info you can post it on the effects corner website.
In addition to books on specific software packages there are plenty of DVD and even online learning available. Do an Internet search for material and reviews by users. Many feature films with effects have extras on their DVD's that you can rent or buy. Some provide more details than others. Some foreign films do a good job as well. The Japanese film
Avalon had some nice behind the scenes.
For magazines there's
similarities does a good job of covering visual effects.
Always take any of this information with a grain of salt. It's very easy to make even a process such as dirt removal sound very grandiose and new, especially in the world of sound bites.
Hands On
The fortunate thing about the current state of digital technology is that you can do it all at home reasonably easy. When I was in high school if I shot a stop motion animation test the film would have to be dropped off at the drug store and then I'd have to wait a week to see the results. 3 minutes of film without sound would cost $20. Today you can shoot an hour of MiniDV for $5. All visual effects had to be done in the camera when you're dealing with Super-8. Optical printing was not feasible for personal projects.
Yusei, a matte painter at ILM, learned how to machine to build his own Super-8 optical printer so he could do his own matte painting composites. So a MiniDV camera and even a simple home computer will provide a better starting point than previously available.
If you want to do compositing or matte painting get some hands on experience with Photoshop. If budget is an issue take a look at Gimp or other applications. Make sure to explore all the different composite modes, creating masks, blending and layering of images. If you have a digital still camera then go ahead and plan out a shot and shoot the pieces for it. Assemble it as a final still image. Does it look real? Does everything fit together as planned? Did you take into account the lighting of the background and foreground? By working on stills to start with you can focus on the actual final image and the process to create it.
Once you've done this a few times you now have a taste for some of the complexities involved in doing a real composite. You might have had to make some compromises or do a lot of hand paintwork to get it it finsihed. If you hand cut paths then you know how tricky this can be.
As Dave Stewart used to say "Now show me frame two." Dave was a motion control operator on
Close Encounters who unfortunately passed away a few years ago. The point being that when you add motion the difficulty suddenly increases since you have to make 24 perfect images for every second of film.
If you have access to a MiniDV camera shoot some test footage. Experiment. Pick up a piece of green poster board at a craft store if you want to try green screen tests. Some people are locked into doing nothing until they have the ultimate system with the perfect camera. Don't wait, start doing. These are tests for you.
If you have access to compositing or 3D software go ahead and put it to the full test. Don't worry about making a full short, just try different scenes.
A note here: Please don't pirate software. People have worked long and hard to create it. The more a program is pirated the less it will be developed. And I'm sure you'll want to be paid for your own work.
As mentioned if you're still in a school of some type you can get an educational discount. Most software is available in a demo form that you can try out. Some, like Maya, are available as a downloadable learning edition.
On the job training
If you're not in a major effects center you might see if there are any related companies or jobs around. Anything to do with film or video would be useful. Look at working at a tv station or small post production company if one exists where you live.
As mentioned look into internships with effects companies. Be warned that some are more paperwork than hands on. These days most companies have a web site that has contact info as well as internships and job information.
{Update 5/3/2012 Be aware that some companies that are not totally legal or ethical may have you doing productive work for no pay. If you're in college then some intern jobs offer credits in return for interning. However if this is displacing someone that's a problem. And it's even more of a problem if you're paing for schooling and working for free.
Internship issues.
Paying to work.]
[Update 8/12/2014
Do you legally qualify as an intern and what are your rights as an intern?]
Company projects
Here's an average scenario for an effects company.
There's no work. Then there's a possible job. That goes away. Suddenly they get a greenlit picture and need to start immediately. They bring on the key people and the art dept. Now each area will be hired on as needed, usually in limited time windows. Modelers are hired early on but animators, TDs and compositors are brought on when the edited shots are going to be turned over. The project may continue with the staffed crew and then if a major crunch happens toward the end they may farm out some of the work or bring on additional crew for a short time.
Depending on the company they may not even be reviewing resumes and reels during the down time.
Most big effects films come out in the summer or Christmas time and take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years in total. The summer is usually the slowest for getting projects started and hiring people.
Hiring practices
Employment in the visual effects industry goes something like this:
When a company has a project they will employee the people that already work there first. Next on the list will be people who have worked there but had been laid off or temporarily working elsewhere.
The next level recruited will be people from outside the company who are recommended (and have worked with) by someone on the current crew.
Next on the list will be people with credits and experience on feature films.
Last on the list will be the people with no experience.
Companies know that most people without hands on experience are going to need some additional hand holding and possibly training. Note that even those employees who have come from other places will need some training to learn the systems and possibly any specialized software used at the new company.
If two inexperienced people are up for the same job and are similar in other qualities, they will give the job to the person that knows their software (assuming it's not proprietary software)
Applying for a job
Check the company website to see what jobs are currently available and what their requirements are. If you don't quite match the qualifications or if your job isn't listed you can still submit an application just note this on the cover sheet. Large companies will have a human resource department or possibly a department manger that will do the initial review.
You can apply to multiple companies at the same time. You might as well start with the biggest ones rather than submitting only to small or obscure companies.
Keep track of when you sent it and who, if anyone, you spoke to. You can follow-up with them if you haven't heard in a few weeks. Some companies will have a ‘we'll call you if interested' policy since they receive so many applications.
Many companies recruit at SIGGRAPH and other conferences. SIGGRAPH is a computer graphic conference held once a year in a different city. There are also large animation conferences around the world. Check on the company web sites and see if they will be recruiting. They may require you to signup or submit your resume and reel before the show since they will have a limited time to interview people.
Recent Visitor Activity
[Update 5/3/2012 The
Visual Effects Society (VES) now has a yearly career fair that is held in major visual effects centers around the world. Be sure to check this out since it's specific to visual effects.]
Don't contact a supervisor or crewmember that you don't know. If they don't know you it's unlikely they'll make a recommendation. Also note that most of the crew is either 1. Not working 2. Shooting on location 3. Very busy so your submission may end sitting on a desk for months. Better to get it to the actual people doing the hiring.
The main things you will need to provide are a resume and a demo reel.
Your resume should be focused on any and all applicable work experience you've had. If you've worked on any productions be sure to list these credits. Be clear about what it is (student film, feature currently in production, etc) and what you did (compositing, PA, etc) Your work experience and credits are more important to these people so cover that first before your education. You want to make everything sound good but do not lie on your resume. This will bite you at some point in the future. If you say you know specific software and don't then they will find out even sooner.
[Update 5/3/2012
Please read about getting a
Deal memo with the company who is hiring you. You don't want to move across country or to another country only to find out it's not what you thought.]
Demo reels
If you're an experienced effects artist with a list of credits a demo reel probably isn't necessary but if you're inexperienced this can be more important than your resume. This demonstrates to them several things. The range of work you've done, the complexity of the shots you've worked on, and the quality of your work.
Hopefully you've been working on some great pieces while in school and working on your own.
There are no standards for reels so I'll just run through some of my own preferences.
Check the company web site to see if they have any specifics for demo reels. These days they're on DVDs and usually 3 to 5 minutes in length. Put only your best work on the reel. It's better to have 3 great minutes than 5 minutes padded with poor shots.
Be honest. Would these shots hold up in a feature film or TV commercial? If they aren't then your odds of getting hired are much lower since you'll be competing against people who do have polished work.
You don't need to create a short as your demo reel. If you've already done a short that has won a number of awards then you might consider including it or a snippet of it but don't bother writing and completed a full short just for the purposes of a visual effects demo reel. It may be a little bit more appropriate for animation but take a hard look at it.
When you create a short you're going to be spending a lot of time, money and effort on things unrelated to what you're applying for, which is visual effects. A short will end up being judged to some extent on how good the short is, how well the music works, etc. You're unlikely to show a range of different techniques or processes in one short and more likely to be showing a number non-effects scenes. If it's animation then you'll only be showing one style of animation.
Put that same amount of time and effort into different shots that show case your work.
Avoid using tutorials, no matter what their source. A tutorial just shows that you were able to complete something with the help of a teacher or book. When a company hires you they expect a professional who can figure out what steps are needed to do to finish the shot. You also want your work to stand out but if 30 other people from a class submit a demo with the same tutorial it doesn't make a good impression.
Try editing your shots to determine what shows off your work the best. You might want to show the finished shot and then the original image and then back to the finished shot. This is showing the before and after so it's clear what you changed or added. If it's a complex shot you could quickly show the build up of each element. Look at some of the behind the scene DVD's to get a sense for this. Don't spend the entire DVD breaking down one shot. The point here is to show the complexity and finished quality of a number of shots, not to teach them.
Include one to three seconds of black between sections. You can include a shot or two before and after if it is from a larger project and if it's relevant to the visual effects shot.
Don't turn on auto-run for the DVD and don't have motion menu that shows them the demo in a thumbnail. You want them to see it at full quality all at once.
Don't go fancy with the titles and transitions on the DVD. Keep it simple.
You don't need to run your name at the bottom of the DVD image. You don't have operators standing by and the potential employer doesn't have a limited time to call in. Just a simple start menu with your name and contact info is fine.
Include your name and contact info on the DVD case and the DVD insert as well as your resume.
If you have long segments consider putting chapter markers and or an index so they can jump ahead.
I suggest printing on 5 x7 paper for the DVD inside insert. List the shots that will be shown and list what you did on each. You want to be clear about what role was on each shot.
Sound track – Many people watching will turn off the sound but sound does play an important roll when viewing visuals. Keep it simple. Avoid things like electronic trance or heavy metal since that quickly becomes grating when watching dozens of demo reels. Likewise don't put them to sleep with very slow classical or new age music. Keep the music level down, especially if you have sound effects.
You can use a permanent marker to write your contact info on the DVD cover and the DVD itself. If you have the option you might consider printing the cover label to make it a bit cleaner. They sell DVD cover in matte and glossy finish for inkjets. The DVD can also be printed on if you have a printer that can do this. Watch out for stick on labels since they can cause problems playing the disk.
Don't bother doing a full mass produced disk. You probably have access to a computer than can burn DVDs. Check each one before sending it out and put it in a bubble pack for shipping. Don't use the paper filled padded envelops.
Don't get fancy with the final package. A hand carved wood case isn't going to mean anything if the content of the reel is poor.
Well that concludes this weeks Effects Corner podcast. There may be some delays with the next few podcasts with the holidays.
As always this podcast is copyright by Scott Squires 2005
Another reference: Demo reel notes from vfxhack
Making a Demo Reel that Doesn't suck
And Digital Tutors has a helpful page on making visual effects demo reels.
Making a Demo Digital Tutors Demo Reel help
Making Demo Reels for technical directors and riggers tips
Rigging Demo Reel tips
Additional Notes-
For printable DVD (Not required but certainly nice looking)
Epson R200 Printer
Epson R220 Printer
Epson R300 Printer
Epson R320 Printer
Latest which is relatively inexpensive and much improved DVD transport
Epson Artisan 50 Color Inkjet Printer (C11CA45201)
[Just a heads up for those with Mac 10.5 or newer. Epson seems to have a hard time updating their print drivers and their tech support is very poor so make sure whatever printer you select runs on your system and can print to DVDs]
Printable DVD's
Avoid Memorex since they have their name printed on them.
Ridek have the nicest printing surface.
Fuji is fine in a pinch (available from some local camera stores)
Discmakers Premium have the smoothest edges but aren't as opaque
Latest:
Taiyo Yuden WaterShield - 50 x DVD-R - 4.7 GB 16x - white - ink jet printable surface - spindle - storage media
Check the disc order. Since some of these come with no spindle order a cake box for the discs or you're likely to see them spill over your floor. Dirty discs aren't great for burning.
If you plan to print photos on the cover of your DVD case get Meritline Photo Gloss DVD case inserts. Avoid Memorex- printing quality and look is substandard for any photos.
Related posts:
Visual Effects Positions
Getting A Visual Effects Job
What to do when you're laid off
What makes a good visual effects artist?
Visual Effects union, Tk 2
Other site:
Why is the VFX business failing at its moment of greatest success?
Tom Cruise info on schools, companies and software for vfx
