i have to choose

surf

surf

Veteran
I have just done my final exams, and I have to choose a university, where I can continue my studies. I would like to know, if I learn "software designing or planing"-it is a kind of buliding the software department I will be able to get a job in the CG world... like maya AE and other cool things.
 
not really... unless you consider programming to be 'cool'.

The middle ground is technical direction, which still requires
more art than tech in most cases. I spent 5 years as a TD.

Its getting easier for artists to use the tools off the shelf.
Expect that trend to continue.
 
pretty much... its the art that ensures longterm employability.

Its an industry tru-ism that a TD's job is to engineer themselves
out of work. You're there to build tools, techniques and processes
so that the 'artists' can work and not need to rely on you :)
 
ok, and are there any schools, where people can learn this?
and what have you learned?

(there are 4 threads in this department:
1 creating mathematical modells for informatical systems
2 creating complex software systems
3-->?: software user (specialized for softwares, like information systems, or multimedia applications)
4 teacher
)
 
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on a 'university' level, there are very few. Here in the US and in canada
a lot of visual effects artists come from SCAD in Georgia, RIT in New York,
Ringling in Florida, Art Center in Pasadena, California, Sheridan in Canada
and a few others that have sprung up. These are mainly art schools.

Below these are some university programs and below that are trade schools
that only teach specific 3d/video/film like Full Sail, VFS in Canada and
Columbia in illinois.

I know there are a few european programs that I'm not that familar with.

I'm self taught with a background in on-set, live action film production and
schooling.
 
I have already edited my last post too.
and what are the requirements, to be a professional?

(I mean CG or any visual effects)
 
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good reel, skills to do the quality of the work on the reel while under pressure,
potential to do even better work with more resources, work well and communicate
well with others and some SERIOUSLY good networking connections in the
industry.. be that the television graphics, industrial video, game or movie
segments of the industry.
 
No one cares about the educational qualificaitons... they
look at reel and work experience. The question is how
you get the skills and learn the techniques to create a
quality reel... that is where schooling can come in.
 
ok. so now I see, I won't be able to learn this in a school.
so what would you be? an air traffic controller, or a programmer... so later or during learning one of these, I can learn vis.effects too. (anyway, I can handle now AE and maya pretty well...I mean I have been reading books, and I am not a starter)
is it better to be a programmer-because it is closer to computers and CG, or is it better to get paid as an ATC? what do you recommend? I cannot decide

here is some of my recent works (2006)

http://www.smart.atw.hu/ (the intro)
and
http://www.smart.atw.hu/dolgok/leja...&filmhelyload=narancs.swf&filmhelycim=Narancs
(it was shot with a one CCD handycam)
 
Goto school for business, marketing/advertising or graphic arts (traditional).
Take 'elective' classes in 3d, photoshop, etc. Work on the reel and video
on the side.

OR, go to a full fledged film school. You've got a great one that produced
two of the best cinematographers on the planet and and an up-an-coming
digital program. The Adademy in Budapest and the Digital Film Academy.

Its a question of self-confidence in taking the risk to really follow through
on things. When you graduate, you've got a volume of work thats happening
in Prague and smaller vfx houses springing up all over. The EU even simplifies
your ability to work :)
 
unfortunately I have missed this opportunity. I have had to choose the universities where I want to learn for a few months. Now I can only change the order of these universities. I have been thinking to choose the Digital Film Academy, but there is an additional entrance examination of arts, but I am specialized to maths, so I have decided not to try it.
now I am thinking, whether I could get a job as a software engineer at a vfx house, so there I would learn more artist skills. but I do not want to be an artist. I want to create these high-end technologies, and methods. is this possible?

(I have some other 3D works too from 2006, if you are curious)
 
Go and be a programmer then, if you wish to program. I'm not sure where, but programming is used heavily in the effects/post industry and you can make a good living.
 
You can go it, but to be painfully honest, the vfx community seems to get its
developers from some very specific places. There are universities that have
graphics programming, virtual reality, games design and scientific visualization
departments that are sort of the recruiting ground for the guys that work
at the VFX houses.

Next level down are the software developers and their crews of codes, support
staff and sales people. These folks tend to hire a bit more widely. Working
for one of the 3d/2d software companies is a way into the industry. I've worked
with a lot of ex-adobe, ex-avid, ex-discreet folks over the years.

Its highly competitive though... in some ways even more so as you're competing
with the folks that didn't make the first tier.

No matter what you do, just be forewarned that professional vfx is an EXTREMELY small world and most of the apps are now owned by a small pool of companies and
even more apps/companies simply dont exist anymore. In compositing packages
alone... i easily know how to use a half-dozen apps that are simply gone. .. the
companies disbanded and the developers on to other things.
 
thank you very much! this has helped me a lot. that is what I am searching for! I have one question yet. could you tell me an average salary range?
 
In LA, working fulltime as a software tech at a vfx house, you're looking at
something 50,000-$100,000/year, with most guys falling in the middle to
low end of that range.
 
well, I do not know the average salary in the US, but in Hungary the $50,000/year is several times higher then the average (I think the average is about $10,000-15,000/year)
now I say, I would give a try, but I am not sure yet. At the other university a professor said, that for anybody, who finished there, was offered 4-5 jobs. so it more secure.
 
finally I have managed to decide. it is IT engineer (everything in IT, even robotica), at a 3rd university in Budapest. (BME) and there I can learn multimdedia thread in the IT engineering section. it is kind of thing from the mpeg...to...everything.
 
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