Artist research

As I said in the last post the styles companies are looking for are not very diverse, (photo-realistic/Genshin anime/Disney-looking cartoon). I followed a few non-mainstream style 3D artists on instagram and asked them about career advice, none of them has replied yet unfortunately.

Artists:

Portfolio

It is important to understand the industry standard before preparing your portfolio, I did some research on animator forums and here are some examples I found that is capable to get you an entry level 3D animator job. Some of them are students works from CG courses, I did feel the peer pressure just by looking at them but I know schools have different strength and I should not compare myself to others.

A few tips I gathered:

-No need to do everything yourself, free assets online totally fine, also ok to ask/pay people to do your model&rig, showing your animating skill is the most important

-Nice to have some diversity in your showreel, can’t go wrong with a quadruped movement, biped movement, lip sync (maybe 2 using two different style of character), and two things/ creatures interacting

– No walk cycles, bouncing balls or any other beginner exercises ( same for 2D)

-Show your storytelling skill, put characters in interesting scenarios, (eg. basic walk cycle absolute no, but walk cycle of a character being kicked out of a club by a angry security fine)

-Fancy VFX/physics not necessary

-Tailor your content to different companies,

VFX – realistic / hard hitting mechanics and creatures

Feature – dialogue and pantomime

Cinematic – Close calls, chase scenes, and action shots

Games – cycles, attacks, deaths for characters and creatures

-In short rules for 2D reel apply to 3d as well

-Keep an eye on student works from famous 3d unis, Goblins, Sheridan, VIA etc.

Other options: 3D artist residencies

Good way to escape from reality and just take a break to develop your personal style, but I think it actually require higher quality of work to get one, will keep looking into it.