What is CG? Computer graphics as art The only question is where to go to study.
A documentary about the unprofitability of CG graphics in cinema as a business. The company that drew Life of PI went bankrupt two weeks before they won an OSCAR for it. Over the past 10 years, 21 prominent effects studios in Hollywood have closed. Despite the fact that CG is traditionally an industry where people work day and night without days off (like video production, by the way) and without guarantees - almost everyone is hired individually for the duration of the project and constantly changes jobs, often leaving their families for months and years . Almost the entire American CG industry is dying due to the fact that tax breaks were made in Canada (as well as for gamers, by the way - that’s why Ubisoft does almost everything there). As a result, artists are constantly moving from country to country, where there are benefits and the industry is booming.
Overall, the film is about the fact that it's time to change the business model - CG artists are the same filmmakers as everyone else and should receive a percentage of the film's income or an hourly wage (like camera operators, etc.) because, Like any creative activity, it is difficult to calculate in advance. Most studios force contractors to work at a fixed price - they say, we pay you 10 million and let us fulfill all our whims. Well, then it started - the director changed his mind, they decided to reshoot the scene, redo it, throw it out altogether and replace it with another - CG people do this work for free. The studio bears the losses and cannot do anything about it.
In 2013, the film's characters did work in two films nominated for an OSCAR, Life of Pi won. Former employees gathered to demonstrate outside the ceremony. When from the stage the employees of the now closed studio tried to talk about the fact that the company that made this work had a problem, they were drowned out by music from “Jaws.” In addition, Ang Lee, when thanking everyone from the stage for their participation in the film, listed everyone except the CG artists, who in this case did 70% of the film.
As a result, the entire CG community was simply beside themselves. In protest, artists began to put green screens on their Facebook avatars and publish real stills from films without CG. Now the entire VFX industry is trying to develop a common policy for working with Hollywood. 
In principle, we at FXA are very, very familiar with all these problems, even though we are not talking about CG. Description of problems with customers and changes in plans - 100%.
On March 3, a massive demonstration of VFX artists against major studios will take place in Hollywood. At the same time, a lobby is being created to change legislation. In general, big companies are accused of pitting governments against each other, forcing them to fight among themselves by increasingly increasing benefits for films at the expense of taxpayers, while they themselves make money by setting box office records.
Visual effects and computer graphics have become an integral part of our lives. Today, anyone can explore the mysterious and magical world of post-production and become an expert in this field. The tips below will help you level up your VFX and CGI knowledge.
This is fairly obvious advice, but beginners very often ignore it. The habit of looking and analyzing should become part of the work process or training. After watching a film with cool visual effects, watch it again, but not as a viewer, but as a specialist. Try to find mistakes and problems, there are actually a lot of them. Analyze how the frame was created, how it was lit, and why it was done that way.
Copy
Try to repeat frames from your favorite films or videos. Of course, a cool team of artists worked on creating one cool shot. But I am sure that most of the shots can be recreated with a minimum budget. The task is to create something similar with a minimum budget and maximum quality. Remember, you are doing this in the interest of your professional development. As a result, these works will fit perfectly into the portfolio, and they can be published on behance.
Who am I?
When you watch Hollywood's acclaimed CGI blockbuster, remember that a team of professionals worked on every frame. Each team member did one highly specialized job. One group modeled while another lit the models, some painted the environments, some animated the characters, and some did the compositing, blurring the line between reality and the CG world. If everyone did everything, the result would be disastrous.
Therefore, it is important to decide what your soul is about. What are you willing to do for 10-12 hours a day without regretting a single second spent on work? You can choose several directions for yourself, but it is important to highlight the primary ones and, if possible, tighten up the rest.
Learn the Basics
Being a highly specialized expert is important, but you need to understand the entire process of creating a visual piece. If your job is to rig characters, then you need to understand and know how those characters were modeled, how best to light them, and how they will be composed with the footage. Basic knowledge in each of these areas will give you a huge boost to development.
Chat and meet experts
Go to CG and film related events. Of course, there are very few of them in the CIS, but when they happen, real visual effects sharks gather there.
It's never too late to learn or how to save a few years
A few years ago, it was believed that only a select few could become a VFX artist. In fact, that's how it was. Only the most diligent and persistent could find the valuable information they needed and spend hours studying programs through trial and error. Now everything is exactly the opposite. There is so much information that you could spend your entire life watching tutorials alone. But you won't get that far.
The only correct way is to learn from professionals. Only under the supervision of a master will a student conquer the heights of the CGI industry.
The only question is where to go to study?
There is only one answer - to the best masters of their craft. For example, take studio courses TerminalFX, just look at them portfolio to understand how cool the teachers work there.
The money spent on training will pay off tens, if not thousands of times. The field of computer graphics is only gaining momentum and specialists are always needed here.
The organizer does not occupy the placeDuration of training: 2.5 weeks (5 lectures // 4 practical assignments // 4 online reviews of students’ work by the course teacher)
The author of the course is Ivan Smirnov - art director, illustrator, concept artist, founder of the digital drawing school SMIRNOV SCHOOL, founder of the educational community for artists DIGITAL PAINTING CLASSES
Ivan's gallery:
Click to expand...
Video lessons from Ivan:
Youtube channel SMIRNOV SCHOOL:Hidden text. Available only to registered users.
Click to expand...
Youtube channel of Ivan Smirnov:Hidden text. Available only to registered users.
Click to expand...
The course on the Basics of CG Drawing will allow you to master the basic techniques and principles of drawing in Photoshop and will give you greater confidence in your own abilities. You will learn to work with volume, silhouettes, color and textures and develop your artistic perception to effectively solve real professional problems. Detailed lectures, interesting homework, individual analysis of work with a teacher and a lot of practice await you.
In addition, we have also created a course on the Basics for those artists who want to effectively undergo training in our long-term programs, such as the course “Character Concept Art”, “Environment Concept Art”, which will significantly affect the result: the quality of work and level of digestible material.
Course program “Basics of CG Drawing”:
Lecture 1: Basics
We learn to work in Photoshop and draw three-dimensional figures.
We study the main stages of working in Photoshop:
Learning to draw a three-dimensional figure.
Post-processing: learning how to make the perfect final picture.Lecture 2: We learn to come up with the design of objects and translate this design into a drawing.
Learning to draw an interesting subject:
Learn to come up with cool designs
Learning to work with perspective and form
Learning to make clean line artLecture 3: We study the principles of working with light, shadow and diffuse light and draw a 2D object with a 3D effect.
We learn to draw oclugene (shadow from diffuse light), light and shadow:
We study in detail the principles of building light.
We learn to build our own and falling shadows.
Drawing an object with a 3D effect.Lecture 4: It`s render time!
Learning to correctly compose color compositions
We study rendering of materials - we learn to draw various materials:
We will analyze approaches in which any artist can independently learn to draw any material: metal, glass, wood, stone, plastic, and others.Lecture 5: Bonus for survivors!
Let's change consciousness! How can I do the same thing, but much faster?
Render of the whole head:
Alternative rendering techniques.
Effective cheating and simplificationDuration of training: 2.5 weeks
What's included in the course:
5 detailed video lectures
4 practical tasks
4 online webinars (reviews of student work by the teacher)For classes you need:
computer, graphics tablet, internet, graphics editor Photoshop.Training scheme:
The course lasts 2.5 weeks. A total of 5 lectures, 4 homework assignments and 4 teacher reviews of students’ homework.Let me say right away that this article is not for beginners.
Despite the fact that now is the best time to make money even in our visual effects industry, many Internet users continue to complain about low salaries.
And we’re not even talking about beginner students, but rather strong specialists.
And so, I’ll start with the facts: the average salary in the offices of most IT companies in the millionaire cities of the CIS = $1300-$2000. This also applies to our CG industry (post-production, game development, animation).
Hired employees with at least 2 years of experience with an average workload and responsibility can count on it. Employees with higher responsibility, for example, supervisors, leads, generalists, can receive from 2k to 3.5k $/month. The highest salary for a CG specialist that I have heard and can confirm is $4,000 (Kyiv).
But the problem is that quite a lot of excellent specialists do not earn as much as they would like. A few reasons why this is so that I have noticed over my 12 year career:
1. Low social activity
Or in other words – lack of networking. To put it even simpler, they should know you. And preferably influential market participants.
It's no secret that the best jobs in good companies are obtained through connections. Please note that there is little work on thematic sites where the salary exceeds $3,000/month. They are simply not advertised. The fact is that in the social circles of smart specialists there are always 2-3 of the same or even better specialists (such as professional friendship). First of all, most directors turn to their employees - find me someone like you. And often they find it.
2. Rare job changes
“There is still no better company anywhere. Stress. Difficult." These are all typical excuses, because of which we spend half our lives in the place where we ended up by chance after college.
More than once in articles we have mentioned that in domestic cgi companies there is practically no career growth, no matter what they tell you at interviews. Yes, there are a few exceptions, but still, the growth of your salary within one company will rarely exceed 15-20% in dollar equivalent (usually it does not change at all for 5-7 years).
The easiest way is to resell yourself as a good specialist (if you are one) to other companies for higher salaries and positions. So without much difficulty you can get an increase in salary from 25 to 50%.
In the early stages of your career, I recommend changing jobs once a year or a year and a half. At a more mature stage - once every 2-3 years. Moreover, you yourself will understand this and reach such a schedule if continuous development is important for you, just as it is for me.
3. No skill to sell yourself
Go ahead. Tell me, how many times in your life have you been to interviews over the last 2-3 years? It's good if more than twice. And this must be done. Post your resume on all job search sites and wait for people to call/write to you. Next, answer calls and tell your new boss what a great specialist you are and why you should be paid above the market. And look for vacancies yourself. On the Internet, with friends. And go to interviews! Learn, in general, how to sell yourself.
5. Stagnation with prof. growth. Lack of ongoing continuing education
Think back to your last job change. How many tutorials did you review the month before and when moving to a new company? How many questions were asked to new employees? How many new techniques and tricks have you learned? This all happens 2-3 months before and during the first year of being in a new company. So what is next…
A rare change of place of work often leads to the fact that a person stops developing. To be more precise, it begins to degrade. After the second or third year of being in the company, the employee slowly begins to become covered with the “film of God,” primarily in his own eyes.
It’s clear that your professional growth and development as a person stops. And professional growth is one of your basic values. If you put everything else aside, you are paid a lot of money just because you are a good professional = you know how to quickly solve the company’s tasks and problems.
4. No need for money
Everything is simple here. Most of us earn exactly what we need to successfully stay awake in our comfort zone. Everything else is whining and “It would be nice to buy a yacht next week, but my bad boss won’t raise my salary.”
How to treat? Just expand your needs, the level of the norm. Fly to the seaside in the Dominican Republic, visit car dealerships for new cars. If you do this regularly, you will need money.
6. It's not yours
In order for everything above to work, so that you would like to grow as a pro in the field of CG and VFX, make sure that you have a passion for it. Nowadays on the Internet you can find many beginning game makers and buzzers. They were inspired by some project and, with sparkling eyes, are supposedly ready to play around day and night. But this fuse goes away after a week or two. For some, in a month or half a year.
Creating visual effects and 3D graphics is actually not a simple, tedious, routine task. These are not the easiest customers to “understand and forgive.” Therefore, make sure that the visual effects industry is what you really have a passion for. Only under this condition will it be easier for you to grow and develop, increase your level of skill every year, learn new tools and techniques and, as a result, increase your income every year by at least one and a half times.
Write your thoughts on this matter in the comments!
