Hasta La Motion!

Feel you need to discuss this or see it get discussed ? Got solutions ? apprehensions ?
Well heave at it here.Get your buddies,colleagues,sups to chime in.

If at all this problem exists (or will in the future),and even if it’s more pertinent to Hollywood,we’re looking for solutions for that lil guy.

This ^could^ get hot so lilly prissy’s be warned…

i’ll bite.
Q: Do we have a situation ?

Looking from the outside(USA) i’m getting mixed signals.The pro’s seem to have their hands full and while they may acknowledge it’s tough to get those first few gigs, they’re not crying doom and gloom.

Q: If roto / paint gets outsourced (and lets assume it’s done satisfactorily) does that leave the junior holding the bag ?

Monologue:
A:If roto / paint is the bed-rock of compositing
and
B: it’s going to cost 1/6 to get it done(right) outside
Then yes, there could be a problem.
but can the comp profession still be called the same if magically Roto / Paint is not needed or made redundant by technology.If that happened(hypothetically) then where would the entry level start at ?
Are we so confident that Roto / Paint is not going to become a vestige any time in the future.
How many times this year have you written a Pen-n-ink letter to…anyone

Q:Got Solutions ?

Top-Down:
Mentorship
Get involved and bring up deserving kids through the ranks.
Expect Much-More from student reels and reject 90% of stuff that comes from institutes.Tell them(institutes) their output(via students) stinks.
I’ve made a habit of this and off course don’t get invited to their parties…
Raise the bar to entry and offer assistance.

Recommend each other(segue into from point above):
There’s a some big schools and a few big wigs heading their programs but only a handful of senior talent from the industry to mentor kids.

It’s time the money goes into your pocket.Between gigs or even over weekends offer to help get some aspiring junior’s game up.
We can help set up an exchange right here on vfx talk.
Not a charity thing by the way.
who’d not want some IN time getting critique on a shot or a specific approach from these guys(just top of my head) Aruna,Andreas,Gentle-fury,Void,Hugh,Deke… man that list can go northwards but the list of students is magnitudes more.

Bottom-Up:
Meet n greet
Hey you google eyed Hollywood enamored kid !
Did you ever-consider making a genuine attempt with meeting up with artist(s) before you finished your course / reel.

Too scared,too ignorant,too poor ? Which ?
If you can pay the big bucks to some institute why not save some money in the piggy-bank and get a real artist on the line help get your stiff ass into gear.
Here’s a hint pay 1/3 that amount to some of the guys here and i dont know what they wont tell you.
Just dont expect everything to come free or delivered to your doorstep.
And no, all the free pirated DVD’s in the world wont help you either(we know who you are).

Up the game:
Why are kids trying to aim for the least common denominator i.e roto / paint.
Just because you want to get your name in the cred list of a big feature and want the path of least resistance ? or is that the only way into Comp land…so far.
Well maybe that’s how it always happened and will last a couple of years but perhaps you should be aiming a bit higher and deciding to invest in this career a bit longer.
If the biggest grossing movies require vast amounts of eye candy surely there’s palce for a few more CGI guys (lighter’s,TD’s,etc) than just roto guys correct.Why not look at doing the harder grey matter stuff ?

Too poor ?
orrly, where you reading this from then.Ethiopia !
Again, you want to do this vfx thing so badly and don’t wan to get ripped off.Perfectly acceptable.but don’t keep playing that cash strapped poor lil kid card.That’s a allaby for the outsource guys.
(Yes i said it and we can go mano-a-mano here or elsewhere if you want to )
Try finding out what interests you and research what you want to learn. Hit up imdb.Get e-mails and start sending out requests to mentor you.Only don’t lie and say you don’t have the money,time,resources.

I’ve always asked my self this hypothetical question.
If i really really wanted to say for e.g have Dennis-Muren ( http://www.facebook.com/DennisMuren ) or Todd vaziri ( http://fxrant.blogspot.com/ ) mentor me what would i have to do ?
i’d save money up for a flight and go meet them(or serendipitously run into them) and drop as much cash at their feet as i could have saved and said…Mentor me…please ! i stay at the other end of the ^un-privileged^ world but i’m crazy enough to take that chance if i burned enough with the desire to hack this vfx thing.

That’s sounds like extreme kow-towing hyperbole but are you sure you cant work a deal directly with the 1000’s of talented artists around the globe.
Think about it.

I hope everybody that reads this contributes in a positive way.
Looking back i might have made some weak arguments,been incoherent at places and made some false (unintended) insinuations.But it’s a start.
There’s no doubt it’s a global market and it would seem politically impolite to admit wanting to hold on doing what you love doing, where you already are.
So help yourselves here and suggest changes 😉

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