|
I am particularly unsure of where I would/should go to school. Right now I have an extreme interest in getting into the film post production/video game industry. Originally I was going to take some general ed credits and then transfer them over to SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design in Georgia) but then I decided that it might just be too big of a hassle to do all of that and get out of schooling before I turn 30. Right now I'm 20 and I plan on going to a school, not exactly sure which one, but later next August or something. Right now I'm located south of Boston, approximately 45 minutes and I would just like some suggestions on good options for schooling for the subject that I'd like to persue. One of the things that attracted me to SCAD was their massive budget and how they spend alot of their money on progressing their courses like Visual FX, with mocap areas, student facilities, etc. Right now I'm considering Massachusetts College of Art ( http://www.massart.edu ) but I haven't really gotten to talk to anybody that goes there. And I'm not sure if they exactly have what I'm looking for in coursework (a combination of film and 3D elements) Anyways, sorry to rant. I'm just very eager to hear some suggestions or recommendations. Right now I'm working on my portfolio located at http://www.curtisbinder.com Thanks for the awesome thread, look forward to hearing from your next posts.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 24, 2007 03:32
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 20:57 |
|
ZergCow posted:I have sent out over 50 resumes and a handfull of portfolios and have yet to hear back from anyone in any way shape or form. I want to get into game design as either a concept artist or some sort of artist in game design. my fall back is web design. any suggestions on good websites for finding jobs? Any sugestions on how to get the game companies to read my resume? If you're only sending out a handful of portfolios you might want to increase that to the number of resumes you're sending out. Also, if you could upload your portfolio onto a site or something for us to critique that would be helpful to you as well.
|
|
|
#
¿
Aug 3, 2007 23:24
|
|
Georg LeBoui posted:I was wondering if I could get some career advice. Definition of freelancer: Also, freelancer. a person who works as a writer, designer, performer, or the like, selling work or services by the hour, day, job, etc., rather than working on a regular salary basis for one employer. So basically you'll be working full time hours, you'll just be paid by the hour, day, job, etc. I'm sure they'll choose how many hours you get paid/work and other variables depending on the workload. I'd say go for it, it's always a great idea to get as many design referrals on your portfolio/resume as possible. After all it's a pretty difficult field to get into nowadays. If they like you enough ask if they could hire you full on, I'm sure they can make up a salary for you...or just keep you being paid hourly.
|
|
|
#
¿
Nov 14, 2007 23:45
|
|
Deep Hurting posted:Okay, well, I'm already graduated and I need a job. How am I supposed to get professional experience if nobody will hire me because I don't have professional experience? How do I do this in a way that won't have me living with my parents or in a cardboard box for the rest of my life? If I just depend on freelancing right now, I'll be lucky if I can get an entry-level position before I'm 30, at the rate things are going. Sounds like you're not trying hard enough. Just because you're an award-winning illustrator and you have swell typographic skills doesn't mean that the jobs will just come to you. Also, 90% of the jobs that say professional experience required are usually optional. Get a kickass portfolio up and start sending that out to a bunch of places, even if it's not your dream job it's a foot in the door. They won't care if you don't have professional experience if you have an amazing portfolio. Edit: Taking a look at your site it's nice and all, but it feels more like a flash game than it does a professional portfolio. For the love of god stay away from Flash. ceebee fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Jan 3, 2008 |
|
|
#
¿
Jan 3, 2008 19:13
|
|
Erotic Crab posted:My current dilemma: See if they will take you back upon graduation and then decide. If you already have a great job, why do you need to go back to grad school?
|
|
|
#
¿
Apr 8, 2008 19:03
|
|
Ecojiro Desu posted:I graduated from a University in subjects unrelated to design (Composition, Environmental Studies), and am entirely self-taught. None-the-less, I'm applying for Graphic Design jobs. Should I mention a year at an Art Institute, where I didn't earn a degree, in my resume? I dropped out because I wanted to pursue other things, though it sparked me creatively. I'd probably be more impressed that you were self-taught and had a good portfolio then "creatively inspired" by some crappy chain art school that you dropped out of after only a year.
|
|
|
#
¿
Apr 9, 2008 03:00
|
|
Moist von Lipwig posted:^^^ What up Sheridan Buddy If you have a Staples anywhere near you they usually have a print center. I've printed posters up to 16x20"
|
|
|
#
¿
May 15, 2008 22:50
|
|
Hatter106 posted:When it comes to getting a professional job in the CG industry, does it come down to talent or training? Do you need to take those $25,000 courses at places like SCAD to get the high-profile jobs? Or can you figure out enough on your own by messing with those programs? I've seen the results of a community college two-year Maya & Max course, and they weren't very impressive... either the students just weren't talented, or you need to shill out the big bucks for top-notch education. If you're looking to work for ILM, Weta, Rhythm & Hues, etc you're going to have to work your rear end off if you plan on doing it cheaply or free. This means picking up as many books, buying as many instructional DVDs, and spending hundreds upon hundreds of hours fiddling with the software. College may be expensive, but not only will it give you one of the best methods in learning 3D, but it will let you network and mingle with other people going/in the same field. Whether it's professors, students, alumni, whatever. Networking is the best way to get a job in the industry, sans that you're going to have to work your rear end off. The reason why people at SCAD pay $25,000/year (more actually, I'm going there this fall) is because there are quite a few professors there who actually know what they're doing, and can educate students quicker and more efficiently. Also, SCAD spends their ridiculous tuition on a ton of high quality equipment for you to utilize. You should check if the school you're attending has job fairs, or if they try to get the big name CG companies out to look at the student work and possibly get internships/entry level jobs. Go out right now and get Maya or 3DS, there are educational learning versions you can use I believe for both. The best way to get started is to just mess around, do online tutorials, watch video tutorials, etc. Good luck.
|
|
|
#
¿
Jun 14, 2008 17:26
|
|
|
There's such thing as a good online Master's program? I'm surprised any online program is even good. If you're serious about becoming a Graphic Designer don't you think you should dedicate more than just some lovely online courses to progressing your skills?
|
|
|
#
¿
Jul 7, 2008 02:51
|
|
Xansabar posted:The thing is, I am very confident in my work and my website, and I feel good about my resume, but holy hell am I shaky about my cover letters. I have no idea what format to follow, how casual to make it, what to say (etc. etc. etc.). Any tips, absolute rules, or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Let us see your work/website. If your work is good enough they'd probably overlook a misshapen cover letter. Zonko_T.M. posted:Heyo, goons. I've got a question of a different tack- Looks like the story is based around "Captain Flinn" or the boy with side characters of the dinosaur pirates. If you base it totally around pirate dinosaurs I do not see why this would be similar. It would only be infringement if you copied the story word for word. For example, how many books do you see based around the headless horseman? There's a ton. You don't hear people suing each other over them. ceebee fucked around with this message at 04:19 on Jul 17, 2008 |
|
|
#
¿
Jul 17, 2008 04:12
|
|
sirbeefalot posted:I feel that my portfolio could be a big help starting out, but there just isn't enough to it. I don't even have a website for it. What can I do to fill it in a little more? You hit the spot if you're looking for any kind of ID jobs. With any type of creative job what matters more is your portfolio rather than your resume. Come up with unique/creative designs and maybe do 3D model prototypes of them or something. You probably should've moved to LA after you landed a job. Also, get working on a website. ceebee fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Aug 4, 2008 |
|
|
#
¿
Aug 4, 2008 18:02
|
|
|
I may need some life changing suggestions about my current situation. Basically, I'm at SCAD in Savannah, GA and I'm not too happy with the area. I'm paying $33k~/year to attend here just for foundations, liberal classes, and later visual effects classes (what I wanted in the first place). I understand that foundations are worth it and how it'll assist my career path and everything but I'm second guessing whether SCAD is worth the money or not. I'm thinking of applying to MassArt and RISD to see if RISD gives me a scholarship. Not only are those two schools closer, but chances are they may actually be cheaper than this loving school. SCAD is basically a big loving ghetto with sugar coated areas for students and tourists. Otherwise it seems like a great school...but I just don't know. I'm undecided whether I'd ever actually be happy here or not. It's also really slow compared to where I'm used to (10-15 minutes south of Boston) Any help or suggestions definitely appreciated. My career goal is to either be a modeler or effects artist, and secondary a concept artist. Eventually open up my own studio with my own team of artists, or just find an already open studio that I'm amazingly happy at. ceebee fucked around with this message at 03:13 on Oct 22, 2008 |
|
|
#
¿
Oct 22, 2008 03:11
|
|
Hungry Ghost posted:But here's the thing: I'm paying about the same (more or less) at MCAD as I would be at, say, SCAD. SCAD is considerably more well known than MCAD in the industry, so I'm a little worried that I might be wasting my money staying here when I could switch to a more prestigious art school. Don't go to SCAD. I got punched in the eye riding my bike back to the dorms my first week there. And a few weeks later 4 black kids decided to steal a car, run a redlight, and totally gently caress my car up. It's a great school, but for the pricetag and the neighborhood you have to put up with it's not worth it. Unless you get some godly amount of scholarship money I would not recommend it.
|
|
|
#
¿
Dec 16, 2008 06:44
|
|
brad industry posted:Downtown Savannah is like any other urban area. Yes there is crime, but unless you do stupid things (walk around alone drunk, join a gang, try to buy drugs on the street, etc.) you most likely will not have any problems. There are places to stay away from but it's pretty obvious. Savannah is a cool city to live in and not worse than most places, so don't let stories of Did you even read my post? I got punched in the face riding my BIKE down a MAIN ROAD for no reason other than me being white/looking like an art student. You have to be loving retarded or a recluse to even think that Savannah is better than your every day urban area. Savannah is a lovely city. Sure the weather is nice, but it smells like papermill and poo poo every 2-3 days. There's such a large division between locals and students that they take any chance they can get to gently caress us "invaders" over. I've lived nearby Boston for the past 18 years of my life, and never have I once seen any nearby "urban" areas as lovely as Savannah as far as aggressive locals go. If you've got rich parents who can treat you to a loft on broughton st. and buy you poo poo like hummers and vespas then sure go right loving ahead and blow your parents money. If you're looking for the best living situation combined with education then go to a more populated city area that's NOT in the South. If you don't have rich parents feel free to put up with SCAD's horrid student transportation, and get used to having your first few semesters of classes spread out into every corner of the lovely city. ceebee fucked around with this message at 04:14 on Dec 18, 2008 |
|
|
#
¿
Dec 18, 2008 04:12
|
|
OMG CRIME
brad industry posted:Why do I get the feeling that "looking like an art student" means you were riding around with a furry tail and ears or something? I didn't even really need to click through to your website to see the poorly done anime to confirm! Ah forgive me and my horrifically furry anime site. I'd try photography but unfortunately 99% of the skill in it is how much you're willing to spend on a camera and fix the pictures up in Photoshop (don't even try to make excuses). Maybe you should go outside more, since you don't seem to get that Savannah is in fact a big ghetto with sugar coated areas for tourists and students. Don't get me wrong SCAD has great potential, but it's in such a lovely area the negatives outweigh the positives. Not to mention the administration is full of idiots, and those idiots are handling all your money.
|
|
|
#
¿
Dec 18, 2008 21:42
|
|
Hamelin posted:Maybe I should add I live in Michigan. http://english.unc.edu/undergrad/careers.html Googled for a list of English degree career choices and got this for reference. Pick one or two and specialize. The only way you're going to get a job is to be good at a specific field of English. If all else fails you could always teach English in a foreign country until you figure out what you want to do with your life.
|
|
|
#
¿
Dec 19, 2008 02:11
|
|
Jabe posted:why does everyone ignore me on these forums ? There's not enough work on there. Keep building it up. The only way you'll know if it's good enough for entry level jobs is to submit it with your resume and cover letter and see if you get a job or a reply.
|
|
|
#
¿
Dec 26, 2008 04:38
|
|
LKL posted:I know this has probably been asked a lot but what are some good art schools for visual effects? I'm currently at GSU (they have no program even similar to VFX) and I intended on transferring to SCAD because i know they are top notch in this field but the tuition is just too drat high. What are some other good options? Ugh the area is just not worth the pricetag. I just got back from spending a horrible semester at SCAD and now I'm back in Massachusetts. I'd recommend VFS if you're seriously looking to get into the VSFX field. They spit out amazing portfolios and demo reels and I hear their students get picked up at SIGGRAPH all the time.
|
|
|
#
¿
Feb 12, 2009 10:30
|
|
Vandorin posted:I think this is the right thread for my questions, I really like drawing, and have gone from drawing horrible comics to learning proper anatomy and making drastic improvements in my art. Now is the time when I've got to choose a major for college, and was thinking about studying graphic art, and eventually becoming a graphic artist/illustrator. My first question is, how did you guys know you wanted to draw for a living? And if I choose to pursue this career, should I choose a minor to fall back on,so that if I get out of school and can't find a job with art, I can find one with my minor? If you want a chance at an actual salaried job that isn't freelance I'd recommend going into graphic design and advertisement. Illustration really isn't profitable at all unless you're ridiculously good at it, and dedicate a whole lot of time to improving it. Now that the economy is kind of lovely I'd probably keep art as a minor and major in something that might be a little more financially stable. Graphic artists and illustrators are quite overpopulated now.
|
|
|
#
¿
Jun 29, 2009 03:36
|
|
BizarroGIR posted:I'm currently studying Graphic Design and would like to try to get an internship in Web Design. I'm not really sure if the hiring procedure for interns is different than a real job. For my portfolio, should I just have web design or would it be useful to have print design as well? Also, if or when I do get an interview, should I bring a printed portfolio or is the web portfolio enough? You probably won't get an interview until you show them your web design online, via your webpage. So work on that first, then you can spread it around to local studios for internships. If you're thinking of walking into the nearest print shop or design firm to inquire about a position, then have a portfolio printed out of all your work, in a binder, and make it look professional. A business card and such wouldn't hurt either, that way they could go on your website to check out things in detail. Keep your portfolio diverse, have a good amount of quality web designs (functional too, maybe?), and a good amount of print work, that way you keep yourself open to whatever internships or jobs are available to you locally.
|
|
|
#
¿
Jun 29, 2009 17:17
|
|
|
Might as well send both. You'll either get one or none. Well, or both depending on how well you do at an internship.
|
|
|
#
¿
Aug 11, 2009 17:34
|
|
CherryBomb posted:I ended up working with the administrative side of my school a lot and took more of a liking to being an office jockey. My resume is full of teaching/administrative work, but I'm worried that there might be some kind of BFA stigma when applying for non-creative jobs. This is the thing. Usually if you're doing art you should be willing to eat sleep and breathe art. I'm in the opposite position as you, and I used to work office/desk/customer related job constantly while only being able to have art as a hobby. These days I'm ready to really settle down and get my portfolio going good enough to where I can land an entertainment industry job. From there work my rear end off because unlike office jobs you actually have something to show for you work, besides some bonus or a pat on the back from your boss. But honestly, if you don't want to work to make a name for yourself, or do a lot of work to prove you're a good animator then you probably don't deserve to be in the field. You really do have to love art and dedicate yourself to it. I guess you should look into going back to school because you probably won't be able to land that many teaching/admin jobs without at least a BFA.
|
|
|
#
¿
Aug 15, 2009 22:05
|
|
JediTalentAgent posted:I'm thinking about signing up for some online computer art classes/programs. Right now, it comes down to: Is there a reason you can't attend a school in person? Almost everybody I know who has taken online courses hasn't really put them to good use or have gotten hired after taking them. You'd be better off buying the Gnomon/Digital Tutors/Lynda DVDs and learning from that, and from there start working on a portfolio if you're serious about getting into the field. Honestly the best education you're going to get is either self-taught, on a job, or in person at a school. A good CG community like polycount, gameartisans, or cgsociety is perfect inspiration and compliments a good education really well. I'm at Gnomon School right now in the 2 year program and I've got nothing bad to say about it so far. I've met some amazing people/connections and in just my first term was taught by people who are still in the industry. ceebee fucked around with this message at 14:29 on Dec 7, 2009 |
|
|
#
¿
Dec 7, 2009 14:24
|
|
|
I feel like it's a necessity when it comes to CG. Instructors who are around students all day every day aren't going to be keeping themselves up to date as far as the current trends and techniques goes. Whereas almost every week instructors share breakdowns, tips, new programs/plugins, quick tricks, and all kinds of other extremely useful things here. They learn that stuff at their job during the daytime, where instructors who are there every day have to go out of their way to teach new techniques. Granted, any good school should crack down on any instructor that is slacking, but when I was attending SCAD it didn't seem very common. And it doesn't necessarily mean the pay is horrible. A good amount of the instructors here are working at the newly opened Gnomon Studio working on the next Shane Acker film and a few freelance projects. They also come from Sony, ILM, Disney, etc where I'm sure they get paid plenty. Don't get me wrong though, the majority of CG programs (Gnomon included) are going to be a waste of time unless you really dedicate yourself and almost all of your free time to coming out of it with a good portfolio that isn't full of class assignments.
|
|
|
#
¿
Dec 8, 2009 00:41
|
|
FERN GULLY FAN posted:This may be a stupid question, but is there any difference, in terms of quality, between SCAD and SCAD-Atlanta? I just got accepted to SCAD-Atlanta for visual effects and it seemed that my acceptance was too easy. Unless you're getting $15k/year in scholarships SCAD is a huge debt to take on. I went to SCAD in Savannah for a semester before I realized that I couldn't afford it, and the VFX program wasn't exactly worth it. I left there and started attending Gnomon School in Hollywood and I have to say it was a much better decision to take. If I did it again I'd pick between Gnomon and VFS (I couldn't get loans for VFS, but I'm glad I didn't because Gnomon is much better than expected). Unlike SCAD the majority of instructors at Gnomon are still actively working in VFX or video games. And since the program isn't 4 years long it's much faster paced. SCAD has amazing labs for sure, but the instructors are iffy. ceebee fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Mar 13, 2010 |
|
|
#
¿
Mar 13, 2010 00:10
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 20:57 |
|
|
It sounds like you're spending too much time worrying about what school/what major and not worrying about what will get you a job. "My most passionate interests lie in concept design/3D modeling/animating... lots of digital animation stuff." If you really want to do digital art in regards to concept design/3D modeling/animating then you should just start teaching yourself. There's countless video tutorials and online classes that you could take that are pretty drat good. Otherwise you're just wasting your money if you don't actually want to do graphic design and you continue with your current education.
|
|
|
#
¿
Jul 18, 2010 20:14
|
|