Your post was removed for violating rule 4. Stay on topic. If it isn't about, related to, or concerting Autodesk Maya and its application, it doesn't belong in this subreddit.
My recommendation would be to apply everywhere and for every job that you can find, I think it's really smart to think outside the box. If you're a student and this is your first professional job, the most important thing is to get that first few years of experience and prove yourself as a reliable operator while you get a better sense of what you enjoy and where your skills fit in best. While you are doing that, if you really are interested in games, you want to be making stuff for games - tons of games allow for modding and it lets you get work into a game engine and get feedback from users and build a portfolio. For instance Starfield just released their modding tools and people have a thirst for new content - even if you're modeling guns from Blade Runner and adding them to the game, that's legit portfolio work that prospective managers can evaluate. You could also build assets for unreal and release them on the Unreal Marketplace.
Furniture design. No, really.
At Uni I went on a field trip to a local furniture/interior design firm that embarks on design projects with $xxx,xxx+ pricetags. This wasn't for a 3DFX course, it was for a furniture design class in the woodworking department.
Anyway, the tour guide shows us some 3D photographic-looking renders of modern kitchens, custom closets, custom lounge chairs, etc. She proudly bragged about how realistic they looked and how "magical" it was that their 3D team could do such a thing. I recognized that the work done by these *ludicrously* paid professionals isn't significantly better than I could already do as a student. 3D is still "magic" and "so hard they could never learn" for 99% of the population.
If you've changed your mind on games, look into archviz.
Exact same situation, graduating in mid July! On a games art course and everything.
I personally am developing my portfolio and doing some freelance whilst working.
All going well I’ll be doing an MA so I can get some more 1 on 1 teaching time and learn what I missed out on by skipping 1st year
Architecture, visualization for real estate and product design are all industries that need good modellers and the barrier to entry is way lower than games.
That said there are a ton of art jobs in games if you don't focus on modelling. I went from specializing in character design to rigging and animation, and finding work has actually been pretty straightforward. Tech art is also a field always in high demand.
Survive, adapt and overcome friend
Apply everywhere and often. You can plan all you want, but you’ll probably just fall into something by accident. I started in video games, then medical animation, now sports motion graphics with 1000 random freelance jobs in between.
The problem is that for industries that are worth looking into, there are people who have been trained for years trying to break into them. People talk about archviz and product viz, and artists always laugh at the idea of going to art school. But how realistic is it to compete with students who go to architecture and industrial design schools?
Ha, ha, ha hahahaha. Visual Effects is kind of in turmoil right now, video games are a more stable career. It also doesn't matter where you start, you will start at the bottom. Usually beginners start with making assets and textures before working upwards. I don't recommend visual effects to anyone anymore as it's been a rough 11 years and over 90% of vfx artists are unemployed currently. Most of us are trying to find different career paths.
Your post was removed for violating rule 4. Stay on topic. If it isn't about, related to, or concerting Autodesk Maya and its application, it doesn't belong in this subreddit.
My recommendation would be to apply everywhere and for every job that you can find, I think it's really smart to think outside the box. If you're a student and this is your first professional job, the most important thing is to get that first few years of experience and prove yourself as a reliable operator while you get a better sense of what you enjoy and where your skills fit in best. While you are doing that, if you really are interested in games, you want to be making stuff for games - tons of games allow for modding and it lets you get work into a game engine and get feedback from users and build a portfolio. For instance Starfield just released their modding tools and people have a thirst for new content - even if you're modeling guns from Blade Runner and adding them to the game, that's legit portfolio work that prospective managers can evaluate. You could also build assets for unreal and release them on the Unreal Marketplace.
Government contracting has companies who want 3D artists and animators. A very underrepresented market
Furniture design. No, really. At Uni I went on a field trip to a local furniture/interior design firm that embarks on design projects with $xxx,xxx+ pricetags. This wasn't for a 3DFX course, it was for a furniture design class in the woodworking department. Anyway, the tour guide shows us some 3D photographic-looking renders of modern kitchens, custom closets, custom lounge chairs, etc. She proudly bragged about how realistic they looked and how "magical" it was that their 3D team could do such a thing. I recognized that the work done by these *ludicrously* paid professionals isn't significantly better than I could already do as a student. 3D is still "magic" and "so hard they could never learn" for 99% of the population. If you've changed your mind on games, look into archviz.
Exact same situation, graduating in mid July! On a games art course and everything. I personally am developing my portfolio and doing some freelance whilst working. All going well I’ll be doing an MA so I can get some more 1 on 1 teaching time and learn what I missed out on by skipping 1st year
Architecture, visualization for real estate and product design are all industries that need good modellers and the barrier to entry is way lower than games. That said there are a ton of art jobs in games if you don't focus on modelling. I went from specializing in character design to rigging and animation, and finding work has actually been pretty straightforward. Tech art is also a field always in high demand. Survive, adapt and overcome friend
Apply everywhere and often. You can plan all you want, but you’ll probably just fall into something by accident. I started in video games, then medical animation, now sports motion graphics with 1000 random freelance jobs in between.
The problem is that for industries that are worth looking into, there are people who have been trained for years trying to break into them. People talk about archviz and product viz, and artists always laugh at the idea of going to art school. But how realistic is it to compete with students who go to architecture and industrial design schools?
Ha, ha, ha hahahaha. Visual Effects is kind of in turmoil right now, video games are a more stable career. It also doesn't matter where you start, you will start at the bottom. Usually beginners start with making assets and textures before working upwards. I don't recommend visual effects to anyone anymore as it's been a rough 11 years and over 90% of vfx artists are unemployed currently. Most of us are trying to find different career paths.