Monday, July 7, 2008

What’s the Role of the Animator? Is It Beneficial to Explore Different Disciplines?

At any medium-large studio (including games, TV, or feature films), an animator is hired to animate. Not to create textures or model characters or light scenes. Most bigger studios recognize that these are all skills that take decades to truly master, and that the true path to beautiful imagery onscreen is to fill the studio with expert specialists.

In other words, most studios aren't too hung up on finding people who "know a little about a lot of different disciplines." Most features and games studios are looking for an artist who "knows a LOT about ONE discipline."

It's the pairing up of these experts that results in the truly memorable work you'd see in any blockbuster film or A-list game.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with dabbling in all the different disciplines available to you as a CG artist, but we generally recommend that once you've found which discipline you are the most interested in - be it animation or modeling or lighting or rigging or textures or whatever - once you've found your "true calling," your best bet is to put the rest of that stuff aside and focus as much time as humanly possible on becoming a true expert in whatever that chosen field is.

Many people will say that this will limit your job opportunities, and guess what?

They're right. It will.

But I guess it boils down to you deciding what kind of job you are looking for, and what kind of career you are going to attempt. There is nothing wrong at all in deciding to be a generalist, and continue to learn about all aspects of this stuff called Computer Graphics. There are many jobs, especially junior-level jobs at smaller-to-medium-sized studios, where generalists are specifically sought out and encouraged.

However, I can't tell you how rare it is for a generalist to get a job as an animator at a major feature studio or large game studio. Almost every professional animator at that level has decided to focus at least MOST of their time on animation, even if they also enjoy other disciplines deep down...

Before I end that thought, though, it's really important to point out that if you are new to the industry, getting a junior job as a generalist can be one of THE best ways to break into this business.
Getting your foot in the door of a studio and getting *any* kind of professional experience is invaluable, and will help you make connections, learn the ropes, meet people to learn from, and look great on your resume.

If you aren't getting to spend most of your time at work actually animating and growing as an animator, then my advice is to work hard, do a great job, and then go home and animate your brains out and practice as much as you possibly can in your spare time. Read animation books, get involved in online animation communities, meet up with some animation student friends and watch some animated films frame-by-frame and talk about what you see...

Getting a job where you aren't doing *exactly* what you hope to be doing doesn't mean that you have to stop striving towards your dreams of working as an animator! It's more than common for animators to have to work their way up, and slowly climb that ladder until they finally get their dream job.

It's very rare for that to happen overnight, so don't automatically turn your nose up at jobs that aren't exactly what you hoped for... Just don't let that job stop you from continuing to move forward!


- Shawn :)

20 comments:

John said...

Wow, well said. I went down a path like that in my career, starting with a generalist background and concentrating on animation later on. Doing all the lighting and modeling and other stuff is fun, but it made me realize that what I really love to do is animate. This is a great blog, keep up the good work!

frank said...

Thanks for the inspirational words.

The generalist approach has its appeal for an animation student.

It's good to know and appreciate what the rest of the team do.

The apprenticeship as a generalist wouldn't be a bad thing in that sense as it increases an animator's ability to communicate.

I know a retired German architect. He undertook compulsory 'journeyman' training in the 1950s. He worked as a buider's labourer, carpenter, tiler, bricklayer... before he entered his profession. Now he's retired, he looks back and advises he would never have been as good an architect, if he didn't understand how the other parts worked.

I agree with keep striving for that character animation job but learning about the wider craft may be the rocket booster that gets you there. Just by a different path.

Hey, I'm only a student. What do I know? Niente.

Brecht Debaene said...

great stuff shawn!

I recently ran into that exact situation. I've been working as a generalist for 3 years now in a small commercial company. I did all rigging/character modeling and animation. So animating was really only a part of my job.

Recently I accepted a new job offer at a larger studio to animate on a feature film. So at my new job i'll only be animating! and finally have the time to really concentrate on the art form :)

Francisco Javier Loredo said...

Hello Shawn! :)

It's great when a person reads something and immediately is able to relate to it. Thats why I love stopping by this blog almost every day and read your posts.

I'm currently in an internship here in Miami at a TV station but in the Film and VFX department. They liked my work and specially what I animated for class 1 and 2 at AM, so they gave me the opportunity to join them and help them out.

There was moments when other artist were working on the modeling, texturing or rigging the characters and there was no animation on that moment for me to animate. So thanks to my knowledge in Maya and Zbrush, I was able to keep my self busy modeling and sculpting until the RIGS were ready for me to animate. And let me tell you I couldn't wait to get my hands and those rigs and start animating. I also planned my animation doing sketches and with video reference, so when the rigs were ready I was ready to start animating. I was modeling, but always keeping my self learning more and more of what I really want to do that is Animation. :)

Sorry for the long post! :) Wanted to share my short anecdote. hehe

Thanks again Shawn!

-Javier Loredo

Unknown said...

While I agree that it helps to know a little about a lot. I have a firm belief that the moment you become extraordinarily skilled at one thing, the other atrophies, so if your models look too good your animation cannot be exceptional. There are not just enough hours in a day to be perfect at all aspect of the craft, so i see sepcialisation as the only path to take. Its a bit like being a doctor first you are general practioner the you specialise to a brain surgeon, you can't do that and still master plastic surgery....well except you are immortal and you have the time

Mariana Levischi De Luca said...

Although I always think it's important to have knowledge of the hole process, I agree that it's a market tendecy to look for specialists in just one discipline. The first time I applied to a studio the CEO told me: you don't need to do everything; you need to do just one thing, very well!

Sooi Leon Li-Aun said...

Hi Shawn,

I understand that specialization is probably the best approach towards perfecting our craft in a particular skill.

However, am I also right to say that studios are looking out for animators who are well-rounded artists? I recall watching an interview [A Human Story of Computer Animation, 2005] where Andrew Stanton advised aspiring animators to learn everything - from sculpture to drawing to theater, etc. The rationale is that we should be able to draw ideas from the "source" -> life (and the old masters).

While a generalist approach could refer to learning all the disciplines in CG (rigging, modeling, texturing), I think that a generalist approach could also refer to a broad-based understanding of elements of art (composition, forms, lines, colors, etc.)

Do you think it is beneficial to explore different disciplines of art (not merely CG) in general?

Thanks,

Leon

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