I’m a current junior in high School and iv deciced to get a major in CGI animation and modeling. My plan is to.go to the arts institute for many reasons is this a good choice for me? Any and all advice is welcomed
show works.
Iv only made two complete renders but iv been looking up a lot of info on CGI and animation and studying from the videos ill post the two screenshots when I get a chance here soon thanks for the interest in helping me man
i’m not trying to discourage u or anything, but i think u should know both the ups and downs of the industry before making a decision.
u might find this helpful
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=2&t=372592&page=1&pp=15
What do you say to a guy with a major in modeling and animation? … Can i have fries and a large pepsi.
only kidding, well sort of…
Do your research before starting your degree. Research the job market in your country/area and contact potential employers and ask them what they look for education wise and degree type and content.
There are a lot of micky mouse degrees out there with colleges desperate to fill bums on seats.
The problem is with media type degrees if you can’t get a job in the industry your degree is worthless, and that is a real possibility with the current job market with far more candidates than jobs. Its a major issue in the UK with thousands of graduates not finding jobs in the industry.
You want a good job? Learn to code.
That. Nobody cares how many diplomas you have if you can’t do the actual work.
I agree with all of you. I have plans for side job that will be in sync with my career. Im more worried about getting to pixar or bungie like companies. I know the industry isn’t to big in the U.S but theres enough jobs to go for with CGI.
My work is on this site ill try to post it here. Anything will help thanks everyone
I don’t want to come across as overly harsh here, but you’ve got a very long way to go before making it to a CGI house, especially one of that calibre. They’re able to choose almost any artist they wish, from the very best that the industry has to offer. These are people with, in many cases, more than 10/15 years experience in their fields, and those with less are incredibly talented in their own regards.
If you want to make it into your chosen profession with a qualification, you’ll have to develop an exceptional portfolio along with securing a place at one of the top graphic arts colleges. Just be prepared to work very hard for a long time, across lots of media in order to promote your talents as an artist.
You’ll primarily need to make a good portefolio. You need that especially for intake exams for any serious cgi course at all.
This also means traditional drawing. There’s nothing unbeneficial of having drawn-from-life images in any art-portefolio, and it certainly help you in your 3d career as it develops you observation skills, and thus you ability to find the one thing that turns a decent piece into a great piece.
Thats my main focus- traditional and CGI portfolio. Starting it now and carrying it through college
for those that asked for work here is one of them and one more im currently working on
the one i need help with
renaissanceman, I’m currently getting a degree in CGI in Russia. I began playing around with 3D and 2D graphical programs long before entering university, so I’ve already got some portfolio (tons of my early works, however, aren’t even worth showing). 
I haven’t been working in the CG industry yet, although I participated in some non-paid fan projects and contests.
Still looking for a chance to get into the CG industry, while currently working as a web-developer (well, my university course meanwhile turned out to be much more diverse than just CG, spanning from CAD to programming).
Good luck to you with your studies and work!
PS: About your render with the barrel - shouldn’t the barrel walls be much… thinner? Or maybe I just haven’t seen barrels with planks positioned like that.
You have to learn, more then you imagine.
That’s what I’m hthng for, a college course to teach me every aspect of CGI from programing to animations. My goal in life is to master the 21st century art styles and forms to create art enjoyable by everyone
Oh and Idk about the barrel scene, the textures for the pillars didn’t come out right and the planes inverted because of some modifiers
It doesn’t exist.
Teach yourself what you want to know, and use the degree to fill in some gaps and get connections with people in the industry. If you expect a school to feed all of this to you, you’re in for a big disappointment. While probably spending a large amount of money along the way.
I’d agree with J_the_Ninja here.
Somehow over the centuries universities have transformed: From places where privileged people would determine which of the elemental humours where responsible for a given disease, to places where less priviliged people can get a degree in absolutely anything.
Most universities/colleges get away with teaching absolutely crappy courses on popular topics (like media or CG). The more popular, the easier the sell. In terms of learning or practice, they’re unlikely to offer you anything that cannot be obtained by yourself, on your own.
Now, assuming you want a degree because you believe it will help you getting a job: It doesn’t really matter much to employers what degree you have, as long as you have one. Want to be a CG artist? Get a fine art degree, instead of those newfangled (potentially useless) degrees nobody even wants to bother finding out about. You need to be able a demonstrate CG skills anyway, a degree in Advanced Cybermasturbatronics on its own won’t help.
Tell me about your motivation and why you want to do this. Do you want to become an artist got works sold by galleries or work in a big company creating art in production or post-production?
My opinion, personally, is that aiming for an already existing job in the industry (either cgi or games) is not the best goal.
I think that for now (and in the foreseeable future) if you want to make a job out of doing cgi (because it’s something you’re passionate about and not just a pay check) the best route is to literally go out and make it for yourself. Start up something, try the indie route, work on personal projects on the side. No matter what, if you want to get into the industry you’ll need to create portfolio. You would be making this on your own time and without pay, and if you want to get hired it will likely be a while before you produce enough work at a high enough level (if something is even available).
The jobs are disappearing by the day and the industry is new enough that the people who made it in won’t be retiring any time soon. You won’t find jobs for new people, they all want people who already have work experience, and they do fine by recycling the cream of the crop. You can try to make yourself cream, but given the time and effort it takes to do that, you’d have already made it a long way on your own.
This is not to be negative so much as my own perspective on things. Rather than being bleak I see it as justification to pursue your own thing. Doing so is becoming more realistic by the day (better tools, workflows, information, funding strategies, etc).
As far as school goes, personally, I’m not so sure I’d recommend going for cgi (if you’re going to go). You can get all the most up-to-date information online (degrees for cgi and related fields tend to be of questionable quality anyway), and loans could become a major handicap if you eventually decide to do your own thing. Once you know the tools, at the end of the day your ability to produce work is dependent on your ability to crack down and create that work. You get better by keeping at it.
believe in yourself, continuously imagine yourself creating better things, and keep on keepin’ on.
I agree with all three of you. First I don’t plan on just entering the industry comin sense says that. I hope for an inturnship to show my art. I want to go to the arts institute to learn the programs and tricks,then make it my own. My passion is to spread the fine arts in any and all ways. I want to major in all the fin e arts (hence renaissanceman) in real life spectrum ill probably be doing advertising or along those lines. My dream is to work in the game or movie industry. Sorry if I missed anything.