Career Interview For 3DAllusions members!

[Leon]

Hey,

I am doing a career research paper on 3D graphics and animation for school. I have to interview somone in the field, my teacher gave us a list of preset questions..
everyones input is welcome, the more the better.

thanx,
Leon

What is your job title?

Where did you attend school?

For how long?

what did you major/minor in?

How did you decide to go into this profession?

What courses would you recommend taking?

What other types of jobs have you done?

How do they affect who you are today?

What did you learn from them?

Did you choose another career before this one?

What is the percent of placement in your field after college.

What occupations could this job/major/minor lead too?

Do you enjoy your job?

Are there many jobs available in your field?

Describe a typical work day?

What is your work environment like?

What is the salary range of your job? Starting Salary? Hourly?

What are the advantages/benefits/good points of yhour job?

Do you find your job stressfull?

How many hours a week do you put in? Overtime?

What are your usual hours?

Do you have time for your family and recreation?

What are the criteria for someone being hired for this occupation?

What skills and personality traits would one need to get hired for this job and be successful?

What do you see as the future for this job? Positive/negative changes?

[TheAllusionist]

Leon, as time becomes available we can try to help answer your questions. How is school going?

[pradipta]

Interesting thread... i will try to answer your question when time permits...

[pBarrelas]

I'm really too damn busy right now but as sson as time permits, i'll answer these questions for you!!

[Leon]

thanx guys,

school is going good, ive been doing a lot of 3ds tuts on my free time...

[WDA]

Leon,

Man 'WTF' I move to Dallas and all the Wisconsites start showing up on the internet at my favorite forums....

I'll answers questions.....if you say where your hangin' in Wisconsin. I came from Waukesha.

WDA

[Leon]

haha WDA cool,
i live in Janesville, 40 min south of madison...city blows...going to college in whitewater, 3D graphics and animation, then moving to Washington State...
i used to live in Dallas Fort Worth when i was like 3yrs old...where are u?

[WDA]

Carrollton is where I'm hangin out,,,working in North Dallas.

Didn't realize whitewater had started a graphics and animation program. Very cool. LOL Yea Janesville was never really what I would call exciting, however compared to Sheboygan (ever been there?) it'd be the place to be, ROTFL

>What is your job title?
That guy that sits there, points to my workstation. Small studio and I'm like right below the main 3D guy. Other titles....Web Person, Max guy, the workstations are more descriptively named. LOL It's a very collaborative environment and titles just don't work well.

>Where did you attend school? For how long? what did you major/minor in?
UW Milwuakee, 4 years, Architecture/FineArts

>How did you decide to go into this profession?
Didn't decide....it crept up on me then consumed me.

>What courses would you recommend taking?
Fine Arts, Fine Arts, Fine Arts and more Fine Arts. Architecture is good for ArchViz...but honestly I got more from the Fine Arts classses for this filed than Architecture and 20 years of Construction/Construction management/Design Build

>What other types of jobs have you done? How do they affect who you are today? What did you learn from them? Did you choose another career before this one?

Lawn Care-Menards-Carpenter Contractor-Lead remodeling carpenter-Production Manager-FF/EMT

Learned how to work-productivity-about gettin' 'er done. Communication with clients, co workers, dealing with things "as they are" and work from there.

Another career before....answering me tinks would be stating the obvious LOL


>Do you enjoy your job?
hell ya...I don't waste my time on things I don't enjoy

>Are there many jobs available in your field?
Can't just go to the employement section and snag a job. The numbers are growing though and the locations where the jobs exist are increasing

>Describe a typical work day?
Sit down, drop my stuff, make coffee (I drink the most soooo), get to work, stop to get a monkey off my back, get back to work...lather rinse repeat until lunch time-then just ad eat to feeding the monkey, lather rinse repeat until the director sits down and we go over where the works stands, make adjustments...lather rinse repeat.

>What is your work environment like?
Way laid back with deadlines that are just as NOT Laid back

>What is the salary range of your job? Starting Salary? Hourly?
30-40k Salary

>What are the advantages/benefits/good points of yhour job?
Intense creative and technical challenges. Generally surrounded by awesome people where ever I have worked

>Do you find your job stressfull?
Yea at 3:00am Saturday mornings putting poeple entoruage into a scene is like trying to drive a car on the freeway at that time of day with a full bag on and the the state troopers are everywhere, LOL Other than that realtively low stress. Freelance work can be a bit more stressful becasue usally the whole show is rifing on your shoulders...but 3:30 in the morning is still 3:30 in the morning.

>How many hours a week do you put in? Overtime?
40-70+ The above 50 hours is rare for the studio I'm working at, 50-60 was fairly typical freelanceing

What are your usual hours?
extended banker's hours 9:30 to 6:30, beat the Dallas traffic

Do you have time for your family and recreation?
What I'm suppose to have a life? Don't be telling me that now ??????? You do occassionally need to be very resourceful to create personal time. But hey most people in these are occupations are creative people LOL

>What are the criteria for someone being hired for this occupation?
Skill set, but more importantly attitude. You have to ask questions, you have to be patient, you have to be willing to be there working at the end of crunch time. 11:59:59 and the deadline is midnight.

>What skills and personality traits would one need to get hired for this job and be successful?
See previous answer

>What do you see as the future for this job? Positive/negative changes?
All good unless pay increases/possibilites become stagnant. There is great potential for growth as an artist, position within the studio and exposure to a wide range of CG-VFX-Cinema-TV production.

[Leon]

thanks, you have no idea how much this will help out with my research paper. ya ive been to Sheboygan, i know what you mean.

whitewater just started a Multi Media Digital Arts major last year...i hope its good...
http://www.uww.edu/factsheets/run//factsheet.php?id=72

thanks again.

[TheAllusionist]

Sorry if this isn't as witty as WDA's, but I am pressed for time. In addition, my career doesn't really pertain to what you are looking for, but it might give you an idea of what path to steer clear of! LOL

Are there many jobs available in your field?
A: I think international outsourcing will be a real problem for freelancers, but for in house employed archvis professionals, I think the market is growing in spite of the competitive market internationally.

Describe a typical work day?
A: (repeat and rinse! LOL) Get up answer any 3DA e-mails, etc., go to work answer e-mails and put out fires. Rest of the day consist of Construction Administration, Construction documents, overseeing work by others. Lunch time, taking care of 3DA stuff, continuing on after lunch with what I was working on, sometimes some design work. Get home around 7:00 PM, take care of 3DA stuff and then building up motivation to try to do something productive in CG. Sometimes travel is necessary, so travel and jobsite visits.

What is your work environment like?
A: Day job is actually a good work environment, laid back if you get what is necessary done, that is kind of hard at times, so weekends are sometimes involved. State of the Art equipment and software and social interaction. 3DA related work involves me huddled in front of the computer (three actually) trying to crank out what needs to be done all by my lonesome! LOL

What is the salary range of your job? Starting Salary? Hourly?
A: Freelance is only part time, so no solid figures there. Web site has potential of making good money if I was business minded, architecture is treating me well as far as the day job goes.

What are the advantages/benefits/good points of your job?
A: 3DA work is making come to life what I envision, creative outlet while meeting new people. Satisfaction in what I am achieving.

Do you find your job stressfull?
A: Consciously no, but tightening in my chest, grinding my teeth at night and loss of hair lead me to believe that it is

How many hours a week do you put in? Overtime?
A: Average, day job 50 hrs a week, 3DA 30 hrs a week, with times of more and some of less, depending on mood and motivation.

What are your usual hours?
A: Day job with commute, 7-7, 3DA, whatever I can put in and still keep my sanity.

Do you have time for your family and recreation?
A: Currently I am working at creating something and do not take much time for that sort of thing. Instead, I make my day job a social event and go out every once in a while, but mostly taking care of business and trying to establish something long term that will allow me to be completely self reliant.

What are the criteria for someone being hired for this occupation?
A: Freelancers, contract workers, adventure seekers……….. For archvis, I see a lot of people who don’t know construction, codes, etc. and it really shows in the detailing of their work, I think whatever field you are going into, basic knowledge of the fundamentals is important as well as technical skill and comfort with technology. If you want to do animation, then study traditional animation. Any 3D computer graphics artist should be knowledgeable in lighting, photography, scene design, even sequential art. Most importantly a drive and desire to work in the field.

What skills and personality traits would one need to get hired for this job and be successful?
A: detail driven, drive and determination, honesty, loyalty, thick skin, problem solving skills, artistic talent and continuing education for a field that technology is changing day to day.

What do you see as the future for this job? Positive/negative changes?
A: Loung chair and topical island…………… Sorry, I dozed off for a minute. Control of my own destiny. My answers so far may seem bleak and desolate so far, but I am creating something and have many things in the works to take control of my life, socially, economically and for future stability. 3DA was a vision, and I really enjoy it taking off, just happens that it is taking off when my architectural career is taking off and the two demand most of my time, if one or the other wasn’t going where I wanted it, I would drop one or the other. The main thing is to find your niche and do what you enjoy doing and that your interest involve.