How can one get career in 3D work?

I am 24, going 25, and currently unemployed. I live in India, and I started learning blender this year in the month of march. I graduated in 2014 and was initially preparing for MBA exam. But I love 3D modeling and animation so I changed my track. So far, I have no idea how to proceed in this field. In India, it is rare to find someone who is learning any animation or 3D work. I should get admission in a 3D school like Maya academy, but people have told me that they just loot you with your money and basically you can learn more by yourself than those institutions. This is what people have been telling me about. I don’t want to waste my time as it had already been 3 years. And I have no clue if I am progressing well or not. You can look at some of my work.

Can anyone guide me how to proceed in this field? Please note that I am in India and I am not rich.

Hello,

This question came often here, you can look at other posts, they are filled with good advice. You can also look at this thread where some people speak about how they started their carrier : https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?435582-How-I-was-able-to-get-a-career-using-Blender-as-a-novice

Where can we see your work ?

Keep up improving your skills until it works, showing your work is important too.

Thanks :slight_smile:

Here:

Nice , the forest is especially great !

I think from now you need to decide if you prefer being a generalist or a specialist.
If you want to be specialized in modeling/texturing you need to provide more advanced stuff ,
If you like to be a generalist , then we want to see from you a bit of different things, showing that you can handle different technical situations, like a bit of rigging , particles ect…

Your work is nice and clean , but it doesn’t show a profile yet, we can see that you like 3D but not what you’ve spend most time studying or like to do best.
Your work needs to show that.

Then you can compile all your best work in a nice showreel and start showing it to many people and sending it to companies.
Here is an example of a very good showreel, you don’t need to get to that level to find some job, but it show the points I was talking : https://vimeo.com/90280028

Anyway , you’re on the right path , keep on improving !

This is not a well paid career. Trust me… there are more profitable careers out there.

You are still young… doing it as a sideline is OK… but as a main career… not profitable.

Speaking from experience.

Here are a few things that I would suggest … to anyone, anywhere … “pick a profession, any​ profession …”

(1) “Do what you love. The money will follow.” :slight_smile: Every parent means only the best for their children (and every child should very-soberly remember that "they have many-decades more ‘real-world experience’ racked up!), but parents often wind up getting it wrong. (Listen to them anyway …)

(2) “Bloom where(ever) you are planted.” The in-boxes of every major studio are flooded with hundreds, if not thousands, of resumes every day which come from people who have no imagination. You have no need to sail across the ocean and to subject yourself to “non-immigrant (US) visa hell.” These days, “someone, right there in your home town or city,” needs to find someone with the very skills (and, temperament, and professionalism) that you(!) have. But, it’s your job to find that person, not the other way around. (“Yes, you’re going to have to learn how to be a salesman.”)

If you show yourself to be a disciplined, faithful, trustworthy craftsman, who will treat his employer’s needs as his own, then you will never be short of work … and, “word will get around.” Employers seek out “people like that,” because they are so very hard to find!

Someday, someone, right there in India, will ask someone (who is a highly-trusted associate or peer of the individual who is asking …) at a dinner party, “who do you recommend?” And they will recommend you.

And then, one day, someone will step up to you and ask, “Who do you recommend?”

“Those who are faithful with little, will be faithful with much.”

Thanks. I will concentrate more on the modeling from now on.

You mean, every other artists is doing it as a side job? never knew that @_@

Anyway, finding a correct balance between a job that gives you enough time to do other 3D work is very hard to find especially when you are just a graduate and in India :frowning:

Thanks for the suggestions. :slight_smile: I am disciplined, faithful, trustworthy. Cannot comment on the craftsmanship. I haven’t explored much in the 3D work :slight_smile:

I think it’s different depending on the countries, but you can’t base an industry on part-time jobs . So no, there are people working fully in CG field.
But starting to work may be difficult, it as take me 4/5 years before getting a job CG related, some other people are luckier , some struggle more.

Maybe you should try to talk to people working in india so they know better what to expect there , like :

Companies gets lots of email so they may not answer, you can try to find and contact people working there.

or maybe in an indian blender community.

I’m living in France, it’s a small country , but as people working with blender are hard to find, if someone talented pop’s in in a community it get quicky spot on and contacted when there are need for a job.

I think this is generally bad advice, usually given by people who “suffer” from survivorship bias.

Instead, do what pays well. The love will follow. Or maybe love won’t follow, but at least you’ll get paid.

I don’t live in India, so instead of listening to me or any of the other forum bozos, you should probably listen to people from India. Then again, maybe people from India have it all wrong, too. Anyways…

Instead of trying to find some job in your country that probably sucks or doesn’t exist, you should look into selling your services into other more wealthy countries, like many of your compatriots are already doing on platforms like Upwork, freelancer.com or even fiverr. Read up on these platforms first and make sure to follow their rules. Your main advantage is that you speak English and that you can offer services much more cheaply than e.g. Westerners. See what people are looking for on these platforms, build a portfolio accordingly and bid on jobs. Also look for work (and contacts!) on forums such as this one. Start right away and keep going.

Don’t go to school to get a degree in anything CG related. No client cares about that. Your schools probably suck anyway. Only your portfolio matters. As far as the price-conscious clients go, I think your skills are already sufficient to get started. Don’t wait too long with starting the business side of things and prepare to be rejected a lot - that’s just the way it goes, don’t take it personally, there’s a lot of fish in the pond.

No offsense, but what do you know about the options that this guy from India has? You’re from Singapore, a highly developed country with very high living expenses. You could probably pay his rent for the month for the price of a single lunch.

In university, there is a very specific and limited scope in knowledge and time available to learn all these things. A degree is helpful to prepare a person for employment, but after that there will still exist lots of missing knowledge that will need to be covered. So you might find a decade-old used books for very low prices, once you read them you can extract pieces of techniques and knowledge that might help you.

Don’t ‘trust’ this advice Usernew. 3D can be a well paid job! Like most careers, there are many ways to make a living. Not all artists have what it takes and end up not doing so well, but others, who work hard at it, often do better than okay at it.

I know a LOT of people who have made a successful career form working in 3D. I have worked as a 3D artist since 1988 and never looked back.

It’s important to try hard if it’s what you love. You are off to a good start, keep practicing and you’ll get there.

Best of luck,
Glenn.

I’m also from India and seeking same career and same time working another job

LOL… looks like i have caused some reactions here.

I do 3D as a main career. But Blender contributed only to a small fraction of my earning.

My point is… you have to be an expert in one area that is in good demand.

It is all about supply and demand. Even if you are very good and talented, if there is no demand, your talent will not be sort after.

And also bear in mind, that 3D is highly accessible to many nowadays. It is not like back in the 90s, highend 3D are only accessible on SGI workstations. This have somewhat created stiff competitions…

No offense, all these talks about following your passion, IMO, are just half truths.
You will need the right condition to be successful.

Well, of course you know all those people that were successful, because you never get to know those that didn’t make it. That’s survivorship bias!

Also, you got in way early and you’re from a first world country.

That’s why the price advantage is so important. It doesn’t necessarily matter how good the work is, what matters is that there are clients that are looking to pay so little that no person from a first world country could afford to do the work.

Even in that price segment the competition might be fierce, but he’s already got the skill so why not give it a shot? I doubt there are opportunities in India where competition isn’t tough.

No offense, all these talks about following your passion, IMO, are just half truths.

It’s not even a half-truth, it’s plain wishful thinking. What if you’re really passionate about public urination? That’s not gonna lead you to profit. The odds of becoming a successful artist are very low. However, if you’re fine with modeling (for example) drainage pipes, you can make a few bucks. Nobody’s gonna be passionate about that, but it’s still CG work.

I know a guy who spend weeks making different types of floor moulding for a Sims game.

Yeah, but those are his beautiful, pristine floor moldings that he is so passionate about. Not those hideous floor moldings that others want him to make.

“Do what you love. The money will follow.”

Second part of this can be argued about, which is why first part is important. Without enjoyment it’s tough field to operate in as you might often be underpaid, have difficult clients and tough deadlines. If you get fulfillment in what you do, then it helps keep you going and evolving. Just look at some of the great artists on artstation. They usually specialize in a sub-field most enjoyable for them. It is that passion that has made them thrive in their area of interest.

Regarding work in India. You know it’s actually a great county for that. You guys got bollywood with some cool vfx studios. If i recall correctly you produce more moves than hollywood. There are many outsourcing studios (e.g for games and not only). If you’re willing to move to places like Bangalore, Mumbai then no problem. Additionally your tax system is not too punishing and living expenses are low so you can be highly competitive freelancing online.

I would recommend researching what positions, job offers are available for you and then concentrate effort in meeting the criteria for these positions. For example if it’s game studio then do some game art and present it as such. If you’re animator - animation reel. Arch viz, vfx, whatever it is start doing your homework. That’s what every school is about - end product is presentable portfolio or reel. Potential employer needs to be demonstrated that you can be thrown in a production pipeline. Random renders of random objects will not convey that.

In short - either be serious, devoted, passionate… or stay away. Consider pursuing more sought after positions (e.g web ui/ux/design always in demand (artistic example)). It must also be said that you are doing very good for the duration that you have been involved.