Aidan,
Thanks for the suggestions, they do make good sense. I'm not really
sure what the attitude around here (Marshall Michigan) is, but I do know
that the 8000 or so people who make up the "official population" (inside
city limits) are very adverse to change. I like to joke that Marshall
is technology proof. But there is really not much big business here
either or people who would pay for pre vis, so I'd be looking for
clients other than local ones; which is the case for my programming as
well. What I need to do is move, but the real-estate here is almost
impossible right now as well, so I'm just trying to make the best of it
my situation.
As for wiz-bang stuff, I'm not sure I could do any right now at my level
of proficiency.
I think the arc vis stuff could be cool, and Bernie is certainly "the
man" in that department. Maybe he could send me a simple file that a
client would typically provide and I could see what I could do with it?
What do you think Bernie, got anything laying around that I could cut my
teeth on (just for practice of course, nothing legit.) I find I do best
by jumping in and trying something rather than talking about it too much.
Matthew
Aidan O Driscoll wrote:
Hi Matthew,
A recurring thing going through your mails is "I am technically and
mechanically minded though". To me this suggests something similar to
what Bernie is involved in - Architectural Previz. Not too much
organics in that area [ as in character stuff ] . I notice an upsurge
in this over here in Ireland due to the massive building boom going on
for the last few years. Massive tax breaks on apartment construction
and rental etc. I find most of the pre viz stuff is done in England
for the Irish market for example, so a niche in my case straight away.
3D in Ireland is very conservative. To most it is "Mechanical Drawing"
on a computer. Autocad and Cad is what most people will trip off their
lips. The concept of 3D / CG movies and creative 3D is - well - not
taken seriously. This because you are dealing with a conservative
business environment here.
The most creative aspect then is pre viz for new building projects. At
least one can use a bit of creativity with texturing etc. AND the
conservative business model can see some use in this area of 3D.
Not alone would I restrict it to pre viz stills, but also walk
throughs. I have one of these walk throughs on CD by a company in
Dublin for a property here in Cork for example. [ too big to upload +
copyright ].
From above a big consideration to get into the 3D business OR any
business is the demographic makeup, size and attitude. For most
businesses here, conservatism rules the roost. Trying to sell them all
bells and whistles CG is useless. They cannot see the potential. It
sounds like a waste of money. So either arc pre viz OR product pre viz
is as close to something they can see makes sense. Why not also - web
3d. www.realviz.com are following this route with a new app on the
market called VTour. Once this app is up a few versions it could be
interesting for Auctioneer animated pre viz of new properties or any
property.
I hope you see where I am coming from. Its all fine to be great at the
technicalities of 3D and being able to do whiz bang stuff, but down in
the trenches its got to make sense and have purpose for the
perspective client. The previz area is one of these "purpose" areas of
CG that makes sense, so maybe you could look at this area in your neck
of the woods. Also what is business attitude like in your area?
Conservative? OR Yip we will give that a go type thing? Or is nepotism
[ who you know ] and insular viewpoints [ inward looking and local ]
the order of the day? These things will restrict or open out
perspective biz areas in CG.
I have no doubt Bernie is your man for a further comment here and to
expand on requirements, he is on the ground with this type of stuff.
[ PS bernie, now you know why my interest is in that LWCad toolset :) ]
Cheers
Aidan
At 06:11 19/07/2006, you wrote:
Wow, that's a lot of time doing graphics! I certainly don't have a
degree in anything (I a self learner), and only 12 years of hobby
experience with Realsoft. I technically and mechanically minded
though, and understand spacial relationships really well, so I think
I'd do okay with non-organic kinds of models and such.
I wonder if computer graphics are suffering the same attitude that
programming gets, i.e. they are considered more a commodity and
should be able to be created by any 18-year old with a cracked copy
of Max (as Bernie pointed out), and bought for next to nothing? I
wonder where I might find a niche?
Oh, and I'll definitely wear my spacesuit! :-)
Matthew
Neil Cooke wrote:
Beware ... it's one thing to have fun with 3D graphics and it's quite
another thing to require it to pay your mortgage. Usually it's not
all that
much fun until you've put more than a few years in the sweat shops
and have
gained a bit of seniority. You're probably best advised to simply
scale back
your other job so that you can have more time for fun.
In my case, an Honours Degree in Fine Arts, ten years in agencies
and twenty
years freelance ... and I'm only now beginning to scale back the
non-fun
parts of graphics in favour of the fun (but not paying) parts.
However, if your fun turns into a decent skill level, you'll know it
and
you'll know if you can take on strange requests from friends and who
knows
where things lead.
Don't bother with the starving artist thing, it's been done before
and seems
to end the fun sooner than need be. Maybe just to tend towards a
certain
direction at any chance, have fun, stay healthy, don't wander about
outside
the ship without your spacesuit on, things like that ...
Neil Cooke
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew Hagerty" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Realsoft Mailing List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 3:30 PM
Subject: OT: graphics for a living?
I would really like to try and do a career change and get into
computer
graphics instead of database programming and such. Any advice from
those of you who make a living with your work would be greatly
appreciated. How does one go about cutting their teeth and earning a
living? Also, what do you think of sites like this?
http://www.ifreelance.com/Freelance-Jobs/3D-Graphic-Design-Freelance-Jobs/
Thanks,
Matthew
