Before I buy Softimage, I need to know those of you that got hired using Blender, and what studio you work at.
I really like Blender, and I know how to use it, but I also know… or at least think I know… that using Blender will make it harder to get a job in a studio, no matter how professional the work.
well, here’s a little story of mine, im 17 years old, and in my school was a contest to do a mascot for the institution. So i made a character corn-like, but i havent ink on my printer, to show them it, so i went to a cyber coffe and when i printed it, the owner ask me if i done it, after i said yes, he proposed me a new character, that he needed, and of course i accept, he paid me i think like $15 dollars for the quickie model… so i would say: Yes to your post it wasnt a studio, but…anyway a job is a job…
I won’t vote as I’ve never got a job because of Blender. I have, however, found many uses for Blender in several job’s that I’ve been in!
I’ve never worked in a studio, but some time ago I got a single-project job using Blender that lasted about a month. The ease of getting a job using blender is entirely dependent on what you want to do. If you want to work for a big animation studio, I’m certain that you’re out of luck… unless you wish to start such a studio yourself. At present, you’re much more likely to be able to use Blender in job where you will be the only person working in the 3d medium. Don’t fret too much though, if you do good work in Blender, I think you could get a big company to pay to have you trained in the use of whatever software they prefer.
Good luck.
I’ve got jobs from a big italian publisher just because they saw my 3d works on my site (and, of course, all of them are made in Blender).
It very much depends where you wish to integrate…
To enter the cg/vfx industry, you should really master some of the tools in the pipeline of the established studios you are targeting as a freelancer.
Since most pro teams have dedicated positions working on specific aspects (modellers, riggers, texture artists, animators, …) with art and technical directors supervising the work, they tend to hire the best artists they can find to fill their licensed “seats”.
A Lightwave generalist who has never heard of mentalray before is of little value in a studio with 30 softimage seats + 200 MR nodes renderfarm : they want someone to get the best out of their expensive setup !
On the other hand, there is a lot of flexibility to be found at smaller creative studios, where generalist profiles who can get the job done whatever tools they use are very much appreciated by the boss !
Know where your talent shines and then put up that stunning demoreel showing that you are bringing a great value without adding much troubles…
I’ve a job making 3D images for an Architectural atelier, for almost an year, now!
Start last week making my first architectural video and already have another video to be made for another guy!
My advice is, prepare your best portfolium and go personaly with it and speak to the guys!
Good luck!
I’m a freelance graphic designer, and i’ve gotten quite a few jobs where I used blender to get the work done. So far its just small stuff like converting a logo into 3D, product visualization, or other still render projects. I really have no desire to do big animation projects though, since 99% of my blender work is purely game design.(hence I really I dont have a ton of non-realtime animation experience, and im not a huge fan of that kind of work anyways.) But I’ve made upwards of $400+ on a few 3D projects…
I think your aiming for a fixed job with an animation studio though…in that case, I would atleast learn how to use some other “standard” tools…it wouldnt hurt right? You would have much more of a chance of getting hired im sure.
I’m (now) an independent producer, producing a series of corporate videos for a national investment firm. The videos will advertise their services, train their reps, record what is said at presentations for compliance review/audit, and help retain their customers by communicating outward on a high-quality consistent basis. I do concept, script, direct, edit, audio scrub, music, and post-pro (soup to nuts). I use Blender mostly to texture planes with the video clips and logos and text objects as bullets, all shadeless, and for green-screen removal to alpha actors and speakers over a background, and animate all of that stuff fading in and out and moving around.
I use Celtx for scripting the clips and all the production details, and we have a DV camera for local shoots and outsource to a studio for the good stuff, although we will probably be doing more shooting in house. I use Gimp for photoshopping the backgrounds. We use a streaming media outsourcer to stream the videos when clicked on our web site. I’m paid by the hour, work at home but mostly on-site, and make about US$1.50 per minute for this gig.
it’s depend by the job.
As freelance, i think there’s no problem to get a job: you decide (more or less) what tools use… but in a big studio (like game’s development) it’s hard (not impossible, i think) to find one that use blender in its pipeline.
For sure, it’s easier to find a job if you know other 3d programs too (maya, xsi, 3dsmax…) instead know only Blender.
my 2 cents .
I think it depends on the job you want and where you want to work. Like other people have said, I would say that if you’re working as freelance graphic designer or illustrator/artist where you have your own clients it probably doesn’t matter what tools you use as the client only cares about the end product.
Personally, I think hiring animators solely based on software knowledge is foolish. The same goes for designers or modelers. It’s a lot easier to teach someone how to use Blender, or Maya or Max than it is to teach them animation. I used to work as an art director at a publishing company and when artists were interviewed there we looked at ability first and software knowledge second, but we preferred candidates who had both - strong ability and diverse knowledge of software. Someone who wasn’t familiar with the software packages we used would have had to have a killer portfolio to get hired, simply because the time and effort required to train them would have to be justified.
I would think it’s extremely difficult to find work in most studios without knowing the software package they work with. Exceptions might be some of the big animation studios like Pixar that use their own/software (Pixar runs a school for animators who get hired) BUT those studios want you to have serious traditional animation and art skills before they will hire you.
I work at a video editor, but nowadays, editors do all kinds of post-production, not just cutting. So I started off just doing a little bit of graphics for various projects, but it was really successful, so I’m doing more and more Blender graphics at work all the time. It’s primarily not an animation studio, so I tend to work alone on Blender. There are other guys there who use Lightwave who are impressed with what I’m doing and may switch eventually.
Also, everything in the demo reel that got me the job was made with open-source software, btw. Blender, Cinelerra, Ardour, Gimp, etc.
I use Blender on the job, mainly for 3D objects used in flash delivered internet ads.
Do you mean per minute of animation or per minute of work? Because if that’s per minute of animation, I’d consider that not worth doing. A lot of work can go into a minute of animation…
What mostly is needed when getting a job is skill. If your good at what you do most won’t care what program you use as long as it integrates with what they use well, which blender can do.
Now since the main thing is your actual skill just make sure your familiar with the software being used, you don’t have to buy anything at all. Just download the free student versions to learn what you need because more then likely if you get a job in a studio that needs a certain program they’ll provide the program for you to use on the job.
Most freelance work you could use a stone and bird crap for all I care to do the work as long as they get the product they need.
So all I’m saying is there’s no need to buy the software to get a job in a studio(it doesn’t hurt), but just as long as your familiar with the software they use more then likely it’s cool.
Of course there may be odd occasions where this isn’t the case, but in my experience this is how it’s been so far.
Ok, I think I get it now. Thankyou all for being honest. I got what I wanted out of this thread so far, and I think I can conclude that: Blender, while powerful, is not industry standard, and therefore not something to use to get a job in a studio.
It is however great for freelance. I have done a freelance job with Blender, and I use it in the lab at school where I work part time.
I just needed to be sure.
Howitzer,
I work as a graphic artist as a freelance second job, aside from what I do at my day job.
I am a student of Blender, but I read a lot of magazine articles in 3D Magazine and different articles in Photoshop Magazine, describing the processes used proffesionally in the various fields. I have to encourage you to find ways that your Blender techniques will apply to the other software, because all the stuff I’ve been reading use the same concepts, just different terminology and feature/gui set ups to get the same thing. Yes, a lot is different, but the bulk of it is the same. Do the research into the software that the possible employers you seek use, and try out the Learing Editions of those softwares. If you’re stubborn enough to understand Blender, then you’ll be able to knoock down the other software just fine. Doesn’t hurt to dabble in the various softwares, actually makes you a better candidate.
Where I am, I am the only 3d artist,period. I am hoping that will change, as the opportunity to educate youths in my church about Blender will make it possible to have others locally to talk to - my wife is REALLY tred of me trying to describe what I am trying to achieve, hehehe.:o
With the changes to Blender that are in the works, we have a very powerful tool to work with, and to reiterate, it’s all about what you do with it, not what it can do.
Craigo
Woot! I got hired by doing a lame visualization with Blender!
Boo, I now have some decent skill working with Blender but I only get to do it officially one or two times a year 
The place I work is really too small to support a full time 3d guy, but I sure would like to do more of what I was hired for :rolleyes:
Firstly , i thought I was going in wrong direction enhancing my skills in blender and regret and thought I should have been learning MAX or Maya.
But I made few good models - all sorts - architectural, character, bots, and made a portfolio and applied for contract jobs showing it.
people really appreciated the work, and they are concerned with the model rather than the software . the usually take .obj or .3ds format.
Before you spring for a full, unrestricted copy of XSI, consider that if you do that, then you’ll still only know XSI and Blender. Two is better than one, but it doesn’t cover all the bases.
I’d suggest you look at some actual job postings, like here:
http://www.cgchannel.com/job/seeker/listjob.jsp
And you’ll see that most of the ads for digital artists and animators (you’re not going to get a “senior” position right off the bat regardless) are worded in a way that’s pretty flexible with regards to software. They are looking for skilled modelers or animators, and say things like “experience in Lightwave and Maya a plus”. Employers also know that they aren’t always going to find all their ideal criteria in one person. A very skilled Blender user is going to be more attractive in many cases than a mediocre Maya user.
So, what I’d recommend, personally, is to download as many learning editions of software as you can (most good packages have a learning or demo version available) and learn how to do all the basics in all of them. Get comfortable enough with the others that you can say something like “basic proficiency in Maya, 3DSMax, Lightwave, and XSI” on your resume. That’s what those learning editions are for, after all. Employers wouldn’t expect an entry-level applicant to have Maya experience that goes beyond the learning editions anyway. Then use Blender for your serious portfolio work, since you don’t have to hassle with feature limitations or watermarks.