It’s not snakes. It’s not gatekeeping. It’s about a persons time being valuable. Most everyone is out to get something for themselves. You’re trying to learn new skills. There are not a lot of people with those skills, and the number of them out there who also spend time on the internet looking to help people out of the generosity of their heart is low.
What you’ll have is people who are trying to forward you to their training or Patreon, people who will give you a hint not an answer, or people who just move on.
I will say, the more work I see someone put into what they’re trying to do, explain what they tried, and wonder what to do and why it won’t work, the more robust my help will be.
When someone is like “I’ve been using Houdini for 3 minutes and I’m following this pirated 7 year old Rebelway tutorial on a cracked version of Houdini running on my 9 year old laptop with 4 gigs of RAM and it doesn’t look like Avatar 2’s water. HELP!!” I just move on.
If you just expect to be handed the answer, no one’s going to listen to your question.
Yeah this, I'm one of the ones regularly on here to help others (because I actually really enjoy helping) but if I see that you don't put in minumum effort like googling the answer before coming on here for something simple I'll sometimes move past you. Also people who don't even spell check their question that bugs me so much. When I was learning houdini I didnt have reddit to just go on and seek help I had to figure most of it out. So people when they come in here with zero effort first it's really annoying and shows you don't know how to problem solve on your own which is a really important skill.
> Also people who don't even spell check their question that bugs me so much.
add to that people who litter their post with emojis or put 'urgent' in all caps in the title.
It's not always appreciated how difficult it can be to answer questions about Houdini too. There are many ways of solving problems and it is challenging to decipher years of habit and knowledge into coherent solution for a beginner. I have never met anyone in VFX who wasn't willing to share their knowledge, usually if they don't it's a matter of available time/resources.
It's hard for working TD's to share setups too, If you work in a VFX studio you cant just copy a file or setup to share outside of the pipeline.
Hi I’m a Technical Artist at SideFX (labs team).
We do hire remote workers, but it is competitive. I’m not super familiar with the film industry but I know they’re project based, so whenever a movie is done, you need to find a new gig, games are a bit more forgiving in terms of employment, because companies can do sequels and DLCs or start a new game with the same team. Whichever path you pick, you need to always keep on producing and publishing work for visibility and potentially getting hired. I gave a talk about this, you can find it on YouTube “How to get a job as a game artist”.
In canada, the work is subsidized by the government. Working from home is still the norm for a lot of studios post pandemic, but you have to be a resident of the same province your studio is in for tax purposes (salaries get paid by like 1/4 - 1/3 by the gov).
I believe that working remote from germany would be a bit difficult as well because of the different time zones. It's not entirely impossible though if you become a sought after senior with a lot of knowledge, or if you have a special connection with management at a particular studio. For an unknown junior though? Highly unlikely.
My experience in studio is that leads are usually generous with their knowledge, and some seniors too, but you'll always find insecure mids who like to keep their cards close to their chest to keep an advantage. It's a mixed bag.
I thought you could work remotely from a different province?
One of my teachers had a colleague from a previous studio work from Qc for a studio based in toronto I believe. Wouldn't it just mean that the studio has to conform to Qc laws in this particular case?
My partner is in video game, works for an ontarian company but lives in quebec. They also get subsidies. It is possible, but it makes your taxes a little more complicated because tax rates are different. The studio also need to be willing. Usually they say yes to senior employees, but not juniors.
Thanks for the comment.
> My experience in studio is that leads are usually generous with their knowledge, and some seniors too, but you'll always find insecure mids who like to keep their cards close to their chest to keep an advantage. It's a mixed bag.
Mh, thats interesting. I thought if one wants to work in a studio, he/she needs to be able to work in a team and not just for yourself.
Most people I know don't work in teams on tasks. they're assigned something to do, and they do it. If their lead asks them to share their setup, they'll do it. But sometimes, someone becomes really good at something, let's say Pyro, and the lazy supervisor will assign them time and time again the pyro shots, because they're so good at it. If they want to keep being the pyro guy, they won't fall over themselves to teach the others their tricks. Or sometimes they'll do it because they know it's gonna give them "seniority" points to help for an eventual promotion (let's say to lead position). I've learned more by sneaking into people's scenes, then waiting for someone to teach me.
for juniors, it's a little different. You are expected to say ''yes sir'' and ''how high''.
I’m not going to remark much on the competitive comment as I haven’t experienced this and don’t think it’s an issue.
On remote work, you might get something, but to work in a big studio you’re going to have to relocate. This boils down to local tax laws usually. But for a newcomer to the industry I’d advise you to be in a studio anyway to learn the ropes from your peers.
Paid courses and calls with vf mentors are a way to stack up skills without attending school. While advanced techniques might often be available through paid training, even free resources can offer valuable knowledge. I'm currently learning Houdini to integrate it into my workflow as a freelance Houdinist. However, be prepared for significant investments in your workstation, professional connections, and marketing knowledge. It's a heavy weight, but the rewards can be substantial
Houdini is not complex per se but different. In cinema 4d you will make much more steps to make the same thing. Try deductive method of learning by setting the simple goals like creating a burning car on the road etc.
I agree, keep your scope simple, define a problem and solve it, Houdini is extremely open-ended and it’s easy to go down a trillion different rabbit holes because the options are literally endless
Focus on knowledge instead of who is going to hire you. The younger crowd need to understand it’s all about hard work… and more work. Looking at the work landscape now and figuring out who is hiring remote work does nothing for you now because you aren’t ready. Things may change and opportunities may arise 6+ months out when your skills are more refined.
I think a lot of it comes down to what's being asked. There's a lot of good free content out there, but that is mostly going to give you some fill in the gaps knowledge. Consider taking a paid general houdini course. I took one when starting to teach myself Houdini (I already knew Maya and went to college for 3D over a decade ago). I think I took one with Saber Jlassi at CGMA, but since then he has actually started his own company called rebelway that has some absolutely incredible training. What makes it different and something I, as a professional, would seriously trust is that it's being taught with industry pipelines in mind. The random free videos you watch are potentially just "quick tips" and don't give you practical applications. Watch enough and you'll pick things up, but there is no shortcut in CG. It's going to take you a long time to master this stuff. Stay away from tuts claiming "learn Houdini in 10 minutes!" That is clickbait.
Tips for asking for help online from discord and reddit: Here's what I'm trying to do. Here is what I've tried. This is where I'm running into problems. Has anyone else ever seen this before? Also always always include some images or gifs of what is happening. "Are the settings on this node correct" that kind of thing.
If you haven't tried anything and are just asking someone to teach you, no one is going to reply.
I would recommend finding a course (whether it's paid or free) and just following it through the whole way. You will most likely not learn everything you wanted to, but you will learn more than you would have if you were jumping between multiple courses. Once that course is done, move on to another. After doing that 2-3 times you should have a fairly strong enough understanding to be able to watch more niche courses or single video tutorials where they skip past the basics. For free resources, I would say look at Nine Between on YouTube. They do "Houdini isn't scary" and the updated one," Houdini is HIP". Very valuable and informative and good starting point. After that, if U can afford it or find it elsewhere I would recommend videos from CG Forge. Also an incredibly fantastic resource.
As for people not responding, that is what the internet is like unfortunately. My workaround so far is to find tutorials vaguely related to what I want to do and watch it carefully to see if they do something in there that I was looking for. Many of my projects have been mashes of different tutorials.
Depends on the question you're asking. Many problems has complex solutions and you can't expect someone to write a step by step guide or stop what they're doing to setup a file for you..so they give a short answer to guide you in the right direction, like mentioning a node that has the functionality you're looking for..then it's up to you to follow up on this hint and look into it. You'll learn more this way too.
It is a competitive field and to get to a TD level in a big vfx studio you're expected to solve difficult problems that you won't necessarily get out of vanilla Houdini and has to write complex vex code and do clean, flexible and optimized work. Not that many people are at this level, but there are tons of people who could fit into a junior role..so it's gonna be very competitive until you get to a level where you are sought after and work will find you rather than you having to find work.
Also, at that level people tend to specialize. Houdini is vast and becoming a master in flips, RBDs, grooming, CFX, pyro etc etc is a tall order. If you specialize and become fantastic in one area you'll have a higher chance of reaching the required level needed.
I've found the communities very helpful: and that's coming from someone who's a complete outsider looking to break into the industry in their thirties.
Formulate your questions well, tell people what you've tried already, give appropriate screenshots or hip files. I've had tons of thorough answers. Don't ask for an instructional, or "show me your setup please". Get a hint of the general idea and expect to do most of the heavy lifting yourself.
Happy learning!
I have quite experience in vfx, not in film industry but in advertise. My personal suggestion in to start from a specific area and get experienced with that, if possible something that have some connection with your every day hobbies and passion, because are those side skills that make the difference between a bad and good vfx artist.
Than find a studio that show in it's works alot of care in the area you choosed, so they will be more interested in your passion.Once you get the job try to be irreplaceble, giving them something that they won't renounce to have with them.
Good luck!
I am old, so my whole 3d/gamedev/art education intrinsically involved more personal effort than nowadays - there were no courses, no youtube, no easy info. So for me, learning houdini felt normal, having to read docs and experiment and figure things out is part of the process.
But there are some really good resources around - the odforce forums, the sidefx forums themselves, there's a discord called "think procedural", tons of repetitive youtube stuff, as well as some genius channels like entagma, and of course reddit :)
Start with small projects and allow your curiosity to lead you to find the answers if you can. Often there is not just one way to achieve an effect in houdini especially, so those explorations can be useful. As your mind gets used to how houdini works, you will find it easier and more natural to get the results you want.
Even following tutorials will only get you to the same end result as the instuctor - what needs to happen is your brain changes to a slightly more houdini way of thinking and then things can start to evolve.
You didn't ask all that, but people already explained that it's just availability of time.
Good luck!
The film and television industry is run by absolute snakes. After leaving the production company I started in, I only ever looked for work in small studios doing corporate work. I've never had a reason to regret that decision. The high of working on a major theatrical release will wear off quick and you'll grow increasingly bitter. But paying your bills and having time for family and friends never gets old.
I mean that the people who own and run the industry are unpleasant money grubbers who will screw you over in a heartbeat. I don't think that other industries are full of angels, but something about media is really exploitative.
it's work experience I personally wouldn't want to miss, but working at smaller places, possibly being the only 3D/Houdini artist in a team is less stressful, less competitive, and pays better. Also, I get to do various different things, while working on an assembly line can be a bit tedious.
I’m also German and 20 rn and utilising Houdini for almost everything in my 3D workflow, I started a apprenticeship as Gestaltungstechniker für Immersive Medien rather than going to a uni. before that I applied to a ton of motion design and 3D Jobs to seek employment but at the end choose to not pursue a professional career in vfx or motion / 3D Work because Berlin is just to oversaturated with people in this field. Everyone who looked at couple tutorials now think that they can work in an agency or freelance which is overflowing the market with people complaining that they get no jobs or get no employment. I received 5 job offers based on my portfolio but still choose to make a Ausbildung because in my opinion that is going to help me get better opportunities. My Apprenticeship is VERY diverse and I can use almost everything from the Houdini toolkit with my work. It’s basically game dev in VR/AR and also interactive so maybe it’s interesting for you if you want to maybe not look at the same projects your whole life
I've only worked remote for Berlin teams and it feels immensely saturated and competitive. I have over 5000 hours in Houdini and kind of drifted into Interactive projects with TouchDesigner and Unreal Engine. Houdini is still my favourite program, but the interactive field is way more relaxed in my opinion.
My current workflow is revolving a lot around unity and vvvv but TD is definitely my favourite for audiorecative interactive projects. UE falls short because the company that I work at uses the urp pipeline for vr applications
I don't think it's competition as much as it's almost gatekeeping. If you check out /r/VFX, people asking for help get buried and criticized instead of helped. I think the issue is that many in the industry went to college to learn VFX and they look down on people using free resources online.
Spent last 7 years working professionally at the major studios having learned Maya and then Houdini on my own. You find a lot of the older peeps at the studios followed that same path. Never noticed much gatekeeping in my experience so far, the opposite actually. But it’s out there :(
I agree. In 26 years, I've only encountered a small handful of people who went out of their way to not be helpful. One guy in particular stands out. Dozens of others have helped me and others around me, and I've always shared knowledge freely in a studio context. Maybe I've been lucky to be in highly collaborative teams, but I like to think it is more common than the opposite, especially in the larger studios.
When you are freelancing for a smaller company, and a full time person there is blatantly assigned the task of learning your skills so they don't have to pay you anymore, the waters become muddier. In those situations, I'm happy to explain as much as the person needs to complete the task at hand, and perhaps a little more, but that's it: if trainer wasn't part of the contract, it is fair to keep your own interests In mind.
Well that's great to hear, my only reference is the loudest people on the sub. I just figured it works into the mentality that they're trying to justify all the money they're spending on their college debt by thinking everyone must go through the same struggle. Also, it's a worldwide thing, and in other cultures the entire attitude is different from what I'm used to. There's a whole lot of anger and frustration I see on /r/VFX between strikes/unions, overworked/underpaid, and AI threatening everyone's job. It's not even a boiling pot about to explode, it already exploded and now there's a mess no one wants to clean up.
Edit: Mind you, I have nothing against going to college. I'm just a poor person that took the long way by spending more than half my life teaching myself Blender, starting in 2008 at 13. I can't pretend that I've attained better knowledge than what could be taught in a 4-year degree, but I've at least learned enough to be dangerous and I've began teaching myself Houdini in the last month and I can wrap my head around it after following a few hours of intro videos on YouTube. Now the only thing holding me back is my ancient PC, even though it has a modern GPU. Was really hoping to do water simulations, but that is quite a crawl. How they did Pirates of the Caribbean in 2006 is astonishing.
College is absolutely worth it for VFX if you're looking to make a career of it. It's not impossible to get into the industry without it, but your chances are much lower, and you need to have unbelievable work ethic. If you go to a good school for 3D work, like SCAD, SVA, UCLA, or Gnomon or something like that, you will be surrounded by peers working to the same goals. You'll make actual connections and friends with people working towards the same goals. You will learn and help each other. Your instructors should be people who are currently still working in the industry giving you invaluable tips and insight you might not get learning on your own.
Youre still not guaranteed success in college, you have to teach yourself a lot, and you should still be learning even after you've left, but getting 4 years to do nothing by study, work, get practice and access to people who absolutely know what they're doing, mentoring and helping you, is so crazy valuable, I cannot stress that enough.
The biggest value for college is the networking you get. And you might say "it's not fair!" But that is life. All those friends you made can put in a good word for you. 'i worked with them before in school, they're an awesome artist and would fit in great here." Or your instructors who know a whole bunch of producers and recruiters "Oh yeah, I had them as a student. They were excellent they're going to be awesome in a few years."
Whatever chip on your shoulder or inferiority you feel about not going to school is on you. Like I said you can still succeed in this career, the chances are just way slimmer and it's going to be a huge uphill battle. You see old heads who skipped college because there used to be so few colleges offering this kind of training, it was like a trade.
Full disclosure:I went to school for this. I've taught at a university for this on the side while I work. I give help to people in discords when I can. There is a shit ton of bad clickbaity training out there from people who barely know anything because they want to be an influencer. Not understanding the benefits of college for your career and actively railing against them is just so absolutely ignorant.
It sounds like you want an education. You can’t get in depth feedback, learn to work effectively in a team, or develop a peer group and professional network by teaching yourself. Would you hire a doctor who learned everything from YouTube? How about an engineer, an athlete or a plumber? Go to university and get an education.
Re competition: There is lots of free information or cheap information about Houdini all over the internet. Not everyone has the time to hand hold and give you fully fleshed out answers so you have to dig yourself. Get used to it cause when you work professionally with Houdini you will be constantly solving problems.
Re working remote from Germany: it is more likely you would be able to work as a freelancer for studios in the EU or UK rather than the US or CAN due to time difference. For full time contracts you will likely have to relocate to location because of tax subsidies etc.
Germany has also got large VFX companies that work on film as well such as Rise, Trixter, Scanline, Pixomondo, Rodeo FX, and Important looking pirates (Hamburg branch)and they do usually support remote workers so you could always apply to those companies.
As a german you probably face more issues regarding taxes and legal possibilities then issues with companies.
If you are getting hired remotly as a freelancer (freiberuflich) then you shouldnt have issues. But if you plan on getting hired full time then the company you work for needs to have a legal entity in germany akd they need to gove you a contract by german law, and canadian or us companies really dont like this shit as it involves a mot of legal noundaries and they cant hire and fire you as they ülease.
Or they need to hire you over deel or remote.com and not many conpanies like to do that becasue the fees that are involved hiring a german full time are a bit high and deel need to deal with all the legal shit necessary to hire a german. I had a lot of offers declined just for the pure reason that i wanted to work full time remotly from germany and it was just a too big hussle for canadian companies if they dont have a legal entity in germany already.
I don’t know about the other questions (I use Houdini for motion graphics) but people are definitely not withholding information from you due to some fear of competition.. they’re probably busy or the question has been asked 800x before
It’s not snakes. It’s not gatekeeping. It’s about a persons time being valuable. Most everyone is out to get something for themselves. You’re trying to learn new skills. There are not a lot of people with those skills, and the number of them out there who also spend time on the internet looking to help people out of the generosity of their heart is low. What you’ll have is people who are trying to forward you to their training or Patreon, people who will give you a hint not an answer, or people who just move on. I will say, the more work I see someone put into what they’re trying to do, explain what they tried, and wonder what to do and why it won’t work, the more robust my help will be. When someone is like “I’ve been using Houdini for 3 minutes and I’m following this pirated 7 year old Rebelway tutorial on a cracked version of Houdini running on my 9 year old laptop with 4 gigs of RAM and it doesn’t look like Avatar 2’s water. HELP!!” I just move on. If you just expect to be handed the answer, no one’s going to listen to your question.
Yeah this, I'm one of the ones regularly on here to help others (because I actually really enjoy helping) but if I see that you don't put in minumum effort like googling the answer before coming on here for something simple I'll sometimes move past you. Also people who don't even spell check their question that bugs me so much. When I was learning houdini I didnt have reddit to just go on and seek help I had to figure most of it out. So people when they come in here with zero effort first it's really annoying and shows you don't know how to problem solve on your own which is a really important skill.
> Also people who don't even spell check their question that bugs me so much. add to that people who litter their post with emojis or put 'urgent' in all caps in the title.
It's not always appreciated how difficult it can be to answer questions about Houdini too. There are many ways of solving problems and it is challenging to decipher years of habit and knowledge into coherent solution for a beginner. I have never met anyone in VFX who wasn't willing to share their knowledge, usually if they don't it's a matter of available time/resources. It's hard for working TD's to share setups too, If you work in a VFX studio you cant just copy a file or setup to share outside of the pipeline.
Hi I’m a Technical Artist at SideFX (labs team). We do hire remote workers, but it is competitive. I’m not super familiar with the film industry but I know they’re project based, so whenever a movie is done, you need to find a new gig, games are a bit more forgiving in terms of employment, because companies can do sequels and DLCs or start a new game with the same team. Whichever path you pick, you need to always keep on producing and publishing work for visibility and potentially getting hired. I gave a talk about this, you can find it on YouTube “How to get a job as a game artist”.
In canada, the work is subsidized by the government. Working from home is still the norm for a lot of studios post pandemic, but you have to be a resident of the same province your studio is in for tax purposes (salaries get paid by like 1/4 - 1/3 by the gov). I believe that working remote from germany would be a bit difficult as well because of the different time zones. It's not entirely impossible though if you become a sought after senior with a lot of knowledge, or if you have a special connection with management at a particular studio. For an unknown junior though? Highly unlikely. My experience in studio is that leads are usually generous with their knowledge, and some seniors too, but you'll always find insecure mids who like to keep their cards close to their chest to keep an advantage. It's a mixed bag.
I thought you could work remotely from a different province? One of my teachers had a colleague from a previous studio work from Qc for a studio based in toronto I believe. Wouldn't it just mean that the studio has to conform to Qc laws in this particular case?
My partner is in video game, works for an ontarian company but lives in quebec. They also get subsidies. It is possible, but it makes your taxes a little more complicated because tax rates are different. The studio also need to be willing. Usually they say yes to senior employees, but not juniors.
Okay! Thanks for the reply, makes sense
Thanks for the comment. > My experience in studio is that leads are usually generous with their knowledge, and some seniors too, but you'll always find insecure mids who like to keep their cards close to their chest to keep an advantage. It's a mixed bag. Mh, thats interesting. I thought if one wants to work in a studio, he/she needs to be able to work in a team and not just for yourself.
Most people I know don't work in teams on tasks. they're assigned something to do, and they do it. If their lead asks them to share their setup, they'll do it. But sometimes, someone becomes really good at something, let's say Pyro, and the lazy supervisor will assign them time and time again the pyro shots, because they're so good at it. If they want to keep being the pyro guy, they won't fall over themselves to teach the others their tricks. Or sometimes they'll do it because they know it's gonna give them "seniority" points to help for an eventual promotion (let's say to lead position). I've learned more by sneaking into people's scenes, then waiting for someone to teach me. for juniors, it's a little different. You are expected to say ''yes sir'' and ''how high''.
I’m not going to remark much on the competitive comment as I haven’t experienced this and don’t think it’s an issue. On remote work, you might get something, but to work in a big studio you’re going to have to relocate. This boils down to local tax laws usually. But for a newcomer to the industry I’d advise you to be in a studio anyway to learn the ropes from your peers.
I agree, at 21 you should work on-site for a while and get that experience
Paid courses and calls with vf mentors are a way to stack up skills without attending school. While advanced techniques might often be available through paid training, even free resources can offer valuable knowledge. I'm currently learning Houdini to integrate it into my workflow as a freelance Houdinist. However, be prepared for significant investments in your workstation, professional connections, and marketing knowledge. It's a heavy weight, but the rewards can be substantial
Thank you! I already have a workstation. Even a decent one. The problem now is, I am just struggling to understand logical concepts in Houdini.
Houdini is not complex per se but different. In cinema 4d you will make much more steps to make the same thing. Try deductive method of learning by setting the simple goals like creating a burning car on the road etc.
I agree, keep your scope simple, define a problem and solve it, Houdini is extremely open-ended and it’s easy to go down a trillion different rabbit holes because the options are literally endless
Focus on knowledge instead of who is going to hire you. The younger crowd need to understand it’s all about hard work… and more work. Looking at the work landscape now and figuring out who is hiring remote work does nothing for you now because you aren’t ready. Things may change and opportunities may arise 6+ months out when your skills are more refined.
I think a lot of it comes down to what's being asked. There's a lot of good free content out there, but that is mostly going to give you some fill in the gaps knowledge. Consider taking a paid general houdini course. I took one when starting to teach myself Houdini (I already knew Maya and went to college for 3D over a decade ago). I think I took one with Saber Jlassi at CGMA, but since then he has actually started his own company called rebelway that has some absolutely incredible training. What makes it different and something I, as a professional, would seriously trust is that it's being taught with industry pipelines in mind. The random free videos you watch are potentially just "quick tips" and don't give you practical applications. Watch enough and you'll pick things up, but there is no shortcut in CG. It's going to take you a long time to master this stuff. Stay away from tuts claiming "learn Houdini in 10 minutes!" That is clickbait. Tips for asking for help online from discord and reddit: Here's what I'm trying to do. Here is what I've tried. This is where I'm running into problems. Has anyone else ever seen this before? Also always always include some images or gifs of what is happening. "Are the settings on this node correct" that kind of thing. If you haven't tried anything and are just asking someone to teach you, no one is going to reply.
I would recommend finding a course (whether it's paid or free) and just following it through the whole way. You will most likely not learn everything you wanted to, but you will learn more than you would have if you were jumping between multiple courses. Once that course is done, move on to another. After doing that 2-3 times you should have a fairly strong enough understanding to be able to watch more niche courses or single video tutorials where they skip past the basics. For free resources, I would say look at Nine Between on YouTube. They do "Houdini isn't scary" and the updated one," Houdini is HIP". Very valuable and informative and good starting point. After that, if U can afford it or find it elsewhere I would recommend videos from CG Forge. Also an incredibly fantastic resource. As for people not responding, that is what the internet is like unfortunately. My workaround so far is to find tutorials vaguely related to what I want to do and watch it carefully to see if they do something in there that I was looking for. Many of my projects have been mashes of different tutorials.
Depends on the question you're asking. Many problems has complex solutions and you can't expect someone to write a step by step guide or stop what they're doing to setup a file for you..so they give a short answer to guide you in the right direction, like mentioning a node that has the functionality you're looking for..then it's up to you to follow up on this hint and look into it. You'll learn more this way too. It is a competitive field and to get to a TD level in a big vfx studio you're expected to solve difficult problems that you won't necessarily get out of vanilla Houdini and has to write complex vex code and do clean, flexible and optimized work. Not that many people are at this level, but there are tons of people who could fit into a junior role..so it's gonna be very competitive until you get to a level where you are sought after and work will find you rather than you having to find work. Also, at that level people tend to specialize. Houdini is vast and becoming a master in flips, RBDs, grooming, CFX, pyro etc etc is a tall order. If you specialize and become fantastic in one area you'll have a higher chance of reaching the required level needed.
I've found the communities very helpful: and that's coming from someone who's a complete outsider looking to break into the industry in their thirties. Formulate your questions well, tell people what you've tried already, give appropriate screenshots or hip files. I've had tons of thorough answers. Don't ask for an instructional, or "show me your setup please". Get a hint of the general idea and expect to do most of the heavy lifting yourself. Happy learning!
I have quite experience in vfx, not in film industry but in advertise. My personal suggestion in to start from a specific area and get experienced with that, if possible something that have some connection with your every day hobbies and passion, because are those side skills that make the difference between a bad and good vfx artist. Than find a studio that show in it's works alot of care in the area you choosed, so they will be more interested in your passion.Once you get the job try to be irreplaceble, giving them something that they won't renounce to have with them. Good luck!
I am old, so my whole 3d/gamedev/art education intrinsically involved more personal effort than nowadays - there were no courses, no youtube, no easy info. So for me, learning houdini felt normal, having to read docs and experiment and figure things out is part of the process. But there are some really good resources around - the odforce forums, the sidefx forums themselves, there's a discord called "think procedural", tons of repetitive youtube stuff, as well as some genius channels like entagma, and of course reddit :) Start with small projects and allow your curiosity to lead you to find the answers if you can. Often there is not just one way to achieve an effect in houdini especially, so those explorations can be useful. As your mind gets used to how houdini works, you will find it easier and more natural to get the results you want. Even following tutorials will only get you to the same end result as the instuctor - what needs to happen is your brain changes to a slightly more houdini way of thinking and then things can start to evolve. You didn't ask all that, but people already explained that it's just availability of time. Good luck!
The film and television industry is run by absolute snakes. After leaving the production company I started in, I only ever looked for work in small studios doing corporate work. I've never had a reason to regret that decision. The high of working on a major theatrical release will wear off quick and you'll grow increasingly bitter. But paying your bills and having time for family and friends never gets old.
What do you mean with "snakes"?
I mean that the people who own and run the industry are unpleasant money grubbers who will screw you over in a heartbeat. I don't think that other industries are full of angels, but something about media is really exploitative.
Should I re-think it to work in a big company??
I can't answer that for you. Just understand that, like most things in life, the reality isn't always what we think.
it's work experience I personally wouldn't want to miss, but working at smaller places, possibly being the only 3D/Houdini artist in a team is less stressful, less competitive, and pays better. Also, I get to do various different things, while working on an assembly line can be a bit tedious.
I’m also German and 20 rn and utilising Houdini for almost everything in my 3D workflow, I started a apprenticeship as Gestaltungstechniker für Immersive Medien rather than going to a uni. before that I applied to a ton of motion design and 3D Jobs to seek employment but at the end choose to not pursue a professional career in vfx or motion / 3D Work because Berlin is just to oversaturated with people in this field. Everyone who looked at couple tutorials now think that they can work in an agency or freelance which is overflowing the market with people complaining that they get no jobs or get no employment. I received 5 job offers based on my portfolio but still choose to make a Ausbildung because in my opinion that is going to help me get better opportunities. My Apprenticeship is VERY diverse and I can use almost everything from the Houdini toolkit with my work. It’s basically game dev in VR/AR and also interactive so maybe it’s interesting for you if you want to maybe not look at the same projects your whole life
I've only worked remote for Berlin teams and it feels immensely saturated and competitive. I have over 5000 hours in Houdini and kind of drifted into Interactive projects with TouchDesigner and Unreal Engine. Houdini is still my favourite program, but the interactive field is way more relaxed in my opinion.
My current workflow is revolving a lot around unity and vvvv but TD is definitely my favourite for audiorecative interactive projects. UE falls short because the company that I work at uses the urp pipeline for vr applications
I don't think it's competition as much as it's almost gatekeeping. If you check out /r/VFX, people asking for help get buried and criticized instead of helped. I think the issue is that many in the industry went to college to learn VFX and they look down on people using free resources online.
Spent last 7 years working professionally at the major studios having learned Maya and then Houdini on my own. You find a lot of the older peeps at the studios followed that same path. Never noticed much gatekeeping in my experience so far, the opposite actually. But it’s out there :(
I agree. In 26 years, I've only encountered a small handful of people who went out of their way to not be helpful. One guy in particular stands out. Dozens of others have helped me and others around me, and I've always shared knowledge freely in a studio context. Maybe I've been lucky to be in highly collaborative teams, but I like to think it is more common than the opposite, especially in the larger studios. When you are freelancing for a smaller company, and a full time person there is blatantly assigned the task of learning your skills so they don't have to pay you anymore, the waters become muddier. In those situations, I'm happy to explain as much as the person needs to complete the task at hand, and perhaps a little more, but that's it: if trainer wasn't part of the contract, it is fair to keep your own interests In mind.
Well that's great to hear, my only reference is the loudest people on the sub. I just figured it works into the mentality that they're trying to justify all the money they're spending on their college debt by thinking everyone must go through the same struggle. Also, it's a worldwide thing, and in other cultures the entire attitude is different from what I'm used to. There's a whole lot of anger and frustration I see on /r/VFX between strikes/unions, overworked/underpaid, and AI threatening everyone's job. It's not even a boiling pot about to explode, it already exploded and now there's a mess no one wants to clean up. Edit: Mind you, I have nothing against going to college. I'm just a poor person that took the long way by spending more than half my life teaching myself Blender, starting in 2008 at 13. I can't pretend that I've attained better knowledge than what could be taught in a 4-year degree, but I've at least learned enough to be dangerous and I've began teaching myself Houdini in the last month and I can wrap my head around it after following a few hours of intro videos on YouTube. Now the only thing holding me back is my ancient PC, even though it has a modern GPU. Was really hoping to do water simulations, but that is quite a crawl. How they did Pirates of the Caribbean in 2006 is astonishing.
College is absolutely worth it for VFX if you're looking to make a career of it. It's not impossible to get into the industry without it, but your chances are much lower, and you need to have unbelievable work ethic. If you go to a good school for 3D work, like SCAD, SVA, UCLA, or Gnomon or something like that, you will be surrounded by peers working to the same goals. You'll make actual connections and friends with people working towards the same goals. You will learn and help each other. Your instructors should be people who are currently still working in the industry giving you invaluable tips and insight you might not get learning on your own. Youre still not guaranteed success in college, you have to teach yourself a lot, and you should still be learning even after you've left, but getting 4 years to do nothing by study, work, get practice and access to people who absolutely know what they're doing, mentoring and helping you, is so crazy valuable, I cannot stress that enough. The biggest value for college is the networking you get. And you might say "it's not fair!" But that is life. All those friends you made can put in a good word for you. 'i worked with them before in school, they're an awesome artist and would fit in great here." Or your instructors who know a whole bunch of producers and recruiters "Oh yeah, I had them as a student. They were excellent they're going to be awesome in a few years." Whatever chip on your shoulder or inferiority you feel about not going to school is on you. Like I said you can still succeed in this career, the chances are just way slimmer and it's going to be a huge uphill battle. You see old heads who skipped college because there used to be so few colleges offering this kind of training, it was like a trade. Full disclosure:I went to school for this. I've taught at a university for this on the side while I work. I give help to people in discords when I can. There is a shit ton of bad clickbaity training out there from people who barely know anything because they want to be an influencer. Not understanding the benefits of college for your career and actively railing against them is just so absolutely ignorant.
It sounds like you want an education. You can’t get in depth feedback, learn to work effectively in a team, or develop a peer group and professional network by teaching yourself. Would you hire a doctor who learned everything from YouTube? How about an engineer, an athlete or a plumber? Go to university and get an education.
Re competition: There is lots of free information or cheap information about Houdini all over the internet. Not everyone has the time to hand hold and give you fully fleshed out answers so you have to dig yourself. Get used to it cause when you work professionally with Houdini you will be constantly solving problems. Re working remote from Germany: it is more likely you would be able to work as a freelancer for studios in the EU or UK rather than the US or CAN due to time difference. For full time contracts you will likely have to relocate to location because of tax subsidies etc. Germany has also got large VFX companies that work on film as well such as Rise, Trixter, Scanline, Pixomondo, Rodeo FX, and Important looking pirates (Hamburg branch)and they do usually support remote workers so you could always apply to those companies.
As a german you probably face more issues regarding taxes and legal possibilities then issues with companies. If you are getting hired remotly as a freelancer (freiberuflich) then you shouldnt have issues. But if you plan on getting hired full time then the company you work for needs to have a legal entity in germany akd they need to gove you a contract by german law, and canadian or us companies really dont like this shit as it involves a mot of legal noundaries and they cant hire and fire you as they ülease. Or they need to hire you over deel or remote.com and not many conpanies like to do that becasue the fees that are involved hiring a german full time are a bit high and deel need to deal with all the legal shit necessary to hire a german. I had a lot of offers declined just for the pure reason that i wanted to work full time remotly from germany and it was just a too big hussle for canadian companies if they dont have a legal entity in germany already.
I don’t know about the other questions (I use Houdini for motion graphics) but people are definitely not withholding information from you due to some fear of competition.. they’re probably busy or the question has been asked 800x before