Careers related to Animation and such..

[Ryan Dognaux]

Hello all. I was wondering what careers actually use the programs CAD, Inventor, 3d Studio Max, etc. in the work environment?? What would I have to do to oh say be an Animator of some kind, just a thought since there really isn't much light shed on job opportunities pertaining to these programs. Thanks!

[MBiddy]

I've heard it's really hard to get into the animation industry. Pixar and ILM and the like require massive skills. The auto industry probably has some CAD 2D and 3D work.

[Sunny Thaper]

Based on my experiences, you do need a good amount of talent for broadcast production (film and video) but what they are reallly looking for is still the artist. I have seen them pick a guy who models funny looking characters over the guy that can make Final Fantasy 2 in his bedroom. The game modeling industry is an entirely different beast. It is WAY easy to get into solely because low-polygon modeling is not hard and they need people to do very menial things like texturing a box or creating something simple. Game industry is where to go if you want to get a job in the field mainly to learn more about Max.

[Jim]

The use of animation in industry continues to gain ground. Many companies want animations of proposed machines and/or devices to show customers in early stages of design review. Often, a project is paid in stages and this helps facilitate that process. CAD / Solid Modeling pseudo-animation can only get "so far".

True animation can bring textures and lifelike appearances to something that "engineering based systems" cannot (not as effectively anyway). Not all of the people in a design review or part of a "pitch" from a company are engineers. We take for granted the ability to "see" things in 3-D or to know what something will "really" look like when we look at a DWG or rendering.

OK, OK, not as exciting as Hollywood or Gaming, but a valuable part of the engineering process nonetheless.

[Tyler Olds]

Well since I just attended a seminar clinic on animation, I got some good experance. (oh and thank you to Katie Reynolds for pointing this thread out to me).

Believe it or not there're thousands of job offerings offered right now for digital animators (I just recently found out that WI has a ton of jobs open). If you really want to find out about jobs, contact your local autodesk vendor (I think every state has one) and I am sure that person can help you out.

The video game industry is most likely most in demand, however a lot of those job are temporary for liek 9 months or until you get the game done.

As for cad there are countless numbers of jobs offered in a amazing amount of differant fields.

[Koko Ed]

Most graphic artist jobs are freelance (i.e. temporary) and once the job is done you go off to find the next job. I have a friend who does graphic design and he can go for months without a bite and he's pretty talented. It's a tough, competitive industry.

[Ryan Dognaux]

Sounds interesting... I like the video game industry kinda idea.. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for all the info. ppl

[Jay5780]

I'm a professional graphic artist and work in the broadcast television field (local tv news). I don't know any 3d apps, but I do a lot of PhotoShop and After Effects work. All I can tell you if you want to get into this part of this field is to know those two the most. Knowledge of a 3d app is a plus, but many television stations can't afford to buy the app and all the goodies to go with it. A station I used to work for does use Lightwave.

If 3d modeling is your thing check into some broadcast design compaines. I have dealt with a few and all of them did do 3d work for graphic packages for local and national news shows as well as networks graphics and dvd stuff. Check out this site and see what you could do.

[Sunny Thaper]

Originally posted by Jay5780
I'm a professional graphic artist and work in the broadcast television field (local tv news). I don't know any 3d apps, but I do a lot of PhotoShop and After Effects work. All I can tell you if you want to get into this part of this field is to know those two the most. Knowledge of a 3d app is a plus, but many television stations can't afford to buy the app and all the goodies to go with it. A station I used to work for does use Lightwave.

If 3d modeling is your thing check into some broadcast design compaines. I have dealt with a few and all of them did do 3d work for graphic packages for local and national news shows as well as networks graphics and dvd stuff. Check out this site and see what you could do.

After Effects is by far the most used program out of any of the ones discussed and the reason being that while most companies focus on a specific niche, such as pure game animation, pure photoshop image editing, etc, they all share the need for post production. After Effects would most certainly land you a job easily and most likely it won't be a temp position.