Getting in to the gaming industry - animation edition

Reznik

I'm sure I'm the first person to make one of these threads

This is a multi part question, I suppose. Here's the background:

Currently I'm in the Multimedia Production program at Confederation College. It's a three year program and I'm starting the second semester of first year tomorrow. The facilities are great- 2 mac labs of about 40 macs each with boot camp (we tend to use all the adobe CS3 programs on the mac side, and 3DS Max 9 on the windows side), the teachers are really cool, all in all it's been a great time so far. Also, this year we just got a Vicon Motion Capture setup that I'm itching to get into, but I don't think we get to use it till second year (though I'm going to try to get at it sooner than that). In third year (second semester I think?) we also get a work placement, so I am obviously going to try to get a placement at one of the studios in Canada.

Here is an example of one of my assignments for 3D Design I (create an outdoor environment), though the picture quality is pretty bad. The lighting looks a lot better in Max:



I want to get in to character animation, and I want to work with motion capture. After seeing all the featurettes from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune about all the mo-cap and attention to detail in the animation, I've just been really itching to get in to all that.

So part one of the question: Do you guys think I would need a bit more education after this program? Would coming out of a multimedia program (not specifically animation) with some of that mo-cap knowledge be enough for most studios, or should I consider taking another course that focuses just on animation? I know the big factor in me actually getting a job will be talent and work ethic (so I will have to re-evaluate near the end of the course and see how good I actually am), but I'm not sure if some places are really strict about credentials or what.

Part two of the question: I want to get ahead of the game. In our 3D class, I don't think we start animating anything until second year, as right now we're just doing modeling. What are some good resources I can look at as far as rigging and animating go? Also, I have Blender at home and 3DS Max 9 at school. How compatible are the two programs? If I learn some stuff in Blender will I be able to apply it equally to 3DS Max?

Also I would appreciate any general tips regarding modeling, mo-cap, 3D or getting into the industry, if you have them.

Thanks guys.

Bryse Eayo

I have to say, you're 100% on the right track. I think there's only one more thing to add: Networking. knowing the right people can be the difference. Talk to your teachers, see who they know, get some emails. People in the careers you're looking at really like talking about their jobs. They're geeks like you and I. And the more friends in high places you have, the better off you are.

It seems you're set in third year with the job placement. If you want to push forward early, start making animation shorts, or small games with some programmer buddies. Submit them to animation fests or even the IGF, build a portfolio so you show that you're just not doing this cause you think you're the next Miyomoto or Molyneux.

Other then that, I'm pretty behind on the latest animation edge, so I can't help you much there. But good luck. You're doing better then 99% of the other people looking to get into the industry.