Information about Career as a Graphics Programmer

I had posted these questions in the general discussion thread but i thought it'll b more relevant here...

For a while now I've been researching about the technical part of the CG industry and gotten an idea about it but am still unaware of certain things which I hope you guys will be able to clear for me. These are a few questions I'd like you'll to answer if you'll don't mind.

• Are there any kind or portfolio and other show reel requirements to search for a job after the course for the technical part and if so what will one need to do in the reel?
• What course should I be looking at and will there be any possibilities to enter the gaming field sometime?
• As a fresher how are the job opportunities for this particular techinical field?
• Does the company give any initial training after recruiting freshers or do they expect people to come prepared to work from day one?
• While studying in or after completing college will it be possible to attend an internship in companies like ILM, Pixar etc.?
• What is the average pay scale one can expect as a fresher techie?
• How is an average day in your life working at ILM,etc. kinda studios as a techie?
• Will one still have time to pursue CG art as a hobby?
• What are all the obstacles one should watch out for before venturing into the techinical field?
• Will this course M.S in Digital Imaging and Design at the New York University help?
• What core subjects in the curriculum do I need to look for before selecting a course?
• Should I look for an option to do a PhD after MS, as I heard that certain Universities allow students to combine such courses and complete it earlier than the required course duration, please correct me if I'm wrong?
• What exactly does a T.D need to do in a studio environment and how are they different from someone with R&D, also I guess there is an art T.D and a technical T.D? (T.D meaning Technical Director which I'm assuming it to be, I just heard of those positions on websites and forums, please correct me if I'm wrong).
• Finally in case I choose to do MS in Computer Science at Digipen will it help? Cause I like to be able to compatible between both the film and gaming industry or is that not possible?

Anyways I thought a lot and am finding it difficult to decide what to do, I've also started taking up foundation arts classes here at my home town and then may be apply for a Masters in CG and animation cause it's my passion and dream to be able to create and animate stuff for a living but I also love programming and understand it well and have a bachelors computer engineering degree already so I wasn't sure if I will be making the right choice and so I'm planning to know all about both sides of CG before taking any further steps as I figured once I enter the field to make a career outta the programming part I could still continue doing CG art as my hobby which I will never quit and be a programmer by day to make my living. This is a tough decision to make as this will be my only shot to study abroad and make a living out there.


Thanks a lot for your time

- Prahalad

A BIG THANX to BoostAbuse for answering these questions, they can be found on this thread

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthr...803#post4361803

please feel free to give me your own opinions also if needed....

thank u

-Prahalad

Prahaladmy main suggestion (having read all the replies on the other thread) is that you get as much work experience as you possibly can whilst you're studying. be open to taking anything you can get (paid or unpaid) and be aggressive about getting it.

i am also trying to move into the technical side of post-production, having spent the last couple of years working as a technical consultant for a major company. it is proving very very difficult to get a job - mainly because i have no experience int he industry. it seems ridiculous to me as i was doing very well at my previous company and had been fast-tracked through promotions etc. but i started applying in january and still don't have anything

i don't want to scare you but just want to emphasize how important it is to get some form of experience/references as soon as possible. right now i would be happy to take a position as a runner or render wrangler or even an unpaid work-shadowing position but am finding it close to impossible without the said experience

good luck in your own search

Holly

Thank you Holly for sharing your experience with me and giving me a heads up about the work experience needed. I'll surely keep this in mind once I get into a college abroad.

And good luck to you to

-Prahalad

Nice discussion, as I hope to get a job in this field as well (starting Uni in a few moths, so in some years at least).

A few question:
What kind of programs would be nice in you portfolio?
How much does you artistic skills count?



That means that you have a lot of knowledge already, is there really any need to go back to do more computing at school than and I dont think there is that much in difference between what you want to do, and have been doing. Or is it?

Hi H3ro, please check this thread u'll find more answers there.

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthr...803#post4361803



Yes i've already got a bachelors degree but i've not learnt any shader languages or any scripting at college, so yes for what sjubects i've learnt in my college in India I still don't qualify to be a techinical person unless i spent more time on my own teaching myself all those scripting and stuff. But i do have what it takes to understand the basic concepts of programming and understanding the use of various languages. Althoug I'm planning to do a Masters because i'll get a better understanding of it all and also the techie's are mostly in the R&D in major studios so masters usually help u more if u don't have previous experience.

Good luck with ur education.

-Prahalad

how about this for a test.....

create a scalar function that decreases as distance increases...now take the gradient of that function.....what is your answer?

how many cuts does it take to make the torus homeomorphic to the disc?

what transformation do we use most often to solve problems involving fluid dynamics?

what is the difference between white noise and pink noise?

what is a gradient lattice noise?

write a brick shader using two pulses and filter it.

what is the nyquist sampling rate?

what is the discrete Poisson pdf and use it to calculate a space that has a random distribution of 3 points per cubic unit?

If you can do those things then you should have a great start already.

Id spend less time dreaming and more time doing ..... just go with the flow of things careers never ever go to plan ...

............................


Guess i'd better start reconsidering all I know is C++ programming and understand concepts easily and have just started learning MEL.. apart from this all i can do is model and rendern things usin maya but i'm not anywhere near to as good as any of the people here.

Right now i've been hired for an Architectural visualization company as a modeler/renderer using maya guess i'll continue learning MEL, improve my drawing skills and see what happens.



Very true BOB I'd been doing that only all my life got into college to bcome an engineer put all my energy and intrests into it and bcame a good programer but some how every time i had an exam in probability and electrical papers i did pretty bad anyway's i always had a passion for CG and learn't all that i could in maya durin the free time i got during school... and didn't touch it for like the past 3 to 4yrs while's in college now after gettin my degree as an engineer i wasn't very welcome to the s/w field as here they recruited based on the marks that came on the paper which was bad for me whn it came to electrical papers neway's now i enden up gettin a job in this cool company as a modeler/renderer and am very happy to start workin in the CG field. it rocks..... guess after a couple of yrs i'll try goin abroad to hone my skill where ever necessary as i've got some education fund available for me but didn't know weather to learn to b a technical guy in the CG field or an artist.... hope i can b a technical artist it'd b cool but wonder if there's ever such a job...


Anyway's thanx u guy's for all the info u've given me... and 'tbaypaule' I see that probablity is pretty much necessary to bcome a TD... guess it's not for me man thanx for letting me know wht i'd be up against... wonder if i'll be able to make it thro if i had to learn to apply probability density function everyday of my life really cool but my brain isn't up for it man..

Thanx once again for all ur help guys...

Do you have any idea how many resume's ILM and Pixar receive from people with Computer Science degrees. It must be in the thousands per day.

I'm not saying it's a waste of time, but you really got to study what you enjoy. If that's your cake, then go eat it. But, don't complain that ILM won't call you for an interview because you're nothing special to them.

You got to stand out of the croud.

If you want to get into the 3D industry. Then you got to get into 3D! Learn the hell out of Maya. Master the SDK of 3D Studio Max. Explode with skill when scripting SoftImage XSI. You got to get into the tools they're using.

If you want to work in the gaming industry. Master the hell out of OpenGL and DirectX.

That's the ticket!

Thanx mustan9 for the heads up, actually i know what i'm up against to get into the CG industry it's tough and highly competative, it's the most exciting career and who wouldn't want to be in it...

I am working hard to learn as much as i can before gettin into college and am developing my artistic and techinical skills day by day, apart from the day's whn i've got to complete some projects from work ....

Anyway's thanx for the info guys...

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