If you get good in maya, Where do you work?
 

A lot of the work i'm seeing here is great. But, besides the satisfaction of creating spectacular scenes, what motivates you to get good at this and keep doing this? Do you do this for a living? When your good like that do people pay you to do this work? i mean...does everyone here work at Pixar or ILM or something like that? Getting that good had to take a good deal of time.. Hope I'm not being too nosey or anything but it doesnt seem like anyone asked that question before. :banana:

people who are good tend to go work for the big boys, i mean really really really good, big boys being ILM, digital domain, pixar but they dnt use maya

every big boys use MAYA!!!!!!!

maybe they do use maya, but its definitely not their main software :)

The board has given me the title senior member, but I'd really prefer "senior newbie member" :) .

I'll write something here, because I feel like taking a break from the modeling.

Making plastic-models of airplanes has always been a hobby of mine, but I never got to go pro with painting and airbrushing, now that's something to fiddle about at the age of 70. I'm not going to listen to geriatric music and such, that I am sure of.

I study architecture, although I'm having a looong break from my studies. I love to model with cardboard and such at school.

After toying with maya for half a year now, I'm now familliar with many of the modeling functions. But that does not include subdivision tools and animation tools.

I still have, pretty much, no clue to texturing or animation. But I'm getting a hang on nurbs modeling.

I started to use maya in the hope of making cool rendering of my architecture-projects at shool.

I , I, I... I have also tried FormZ and ArchiCad, but Maya is far more pleasurable to model with, imho.

So the projects of mine here at simplymaya is just for fun.

My drawback is that I'm not that fond of simply playing around with modeling. Only a fascinating project gives me the "go go" for making something.

I wish I had a virtual maya teatcher, kinda like that medic-guy in star trek voyager.

I will always be a mediocre model-artist, but Im happy with it!!! :)

But at least I can fiddle with details and such. Fiddle with details long enough and it will start to look "good".

hey undseth, im sure you can change ur title to senior newbie member if you really wanted to :D
but yeah, maya does take a very long time to get comfy with, all you have to do is just keep pushing, and you'll get there :)

Maya customers include: CNN, Disney, Dreamworks SKG, Electronic Arts, Industrial Light & Magic, Nintendo, Pixar, Sega, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Square Co.]

Maya played a role in three of the 2002 Academy Award winning films: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Shrekand For The Birds.

Maya was used to create over half of the top twenty best-selling holiday PlaysStation® 2 titles in December 2001.

Alias|Wavefront software has been used in almost every film nominated by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in the category best visual effectsfor the past five years.

So i think we can safely say Maya's not a bad choice for breaking into a career in 3d with one of the larger companies :)

As for myself im just a programmer and not exactly what you would call the worlds best Maya user :) some of our mods work in the 3D industry 9 - 5 of course, its not the easiest programme to learn but well worth the effort, lol but then again im a bit bias so....

dave you seem to know what your talking about when it comes to things related to maya
my question is yes people work for the "big boys" but how would you get a job there send them a cd of your stuff ?

Now this is the question!!

Just ask people like mikey how hard this is!

Its kinda like every guy who gets the oportunity...there is a massive amount of luck involved, kinda like if you send in demo tunes to a record company! they receive a massive amount every day so most go in the bin.

My advice to you is to try and find a name...any name in any 3d company... dont set your sights to high at first..go for a smaller company where you stand a chance..

once you have a name, send him or her personal letters / demo reels etc.. once you are already "in the industry" you have a much better chance to climb the ladder

you might be suprised! also post your WIP`s and work around the net as much as possible ...

you never know who is looking! and most of all... good luck

Dave: If you are a programmer, you should get into mel......make scripts and plug-ins for us :)

pretty please

Poor old dave is kept far to busy from me :D

hehe

Yep iv looked into mel script programming its one of the things i want to do more of after the board move :)

Don't forget computer games. Lucasarts is one of the main companies that uses Maya, and Maya is used for most of the XBOX games.

Most of the "big boys" want people who've been working already for 3 or 4+ years or have 1 or 2 published game titles or completed films. So, it can be difficult. I've been consistently looking for stable work for over a year now. I've managed to get the occasional contract work, but haven't had much luck at a studio position. And while I wouldn't necessarily call myself the best, I'm definitely not bad.

Just gotta keep trying. The majority of people who get back to me are not hiring, but they say they like my work and will contact me when they are hiring... I guess it's just a matter of finding the right company with the right need at the right time... :P

Amen.

hey david what do you program in ?

test please ignor

actually, most film companies use several different 3d packages that all do the same thing on the same project.

that includes maya, softimage, and houdini. they all have their strengths and weaknesses, and a group of people who really know what they're doing don't stick with one package exclusively...they use whatever is best for the task.

i like maya overall, but maybe that's because i haven't really tried the others. here's what some of the "big boys" use at the office (off the shelf programs) in a typical production:

1. maya for animation
2. softimage for modeling
3. houdini for particles
4. inferno for compositing

sometimes, if a project is really huge (like shrek) the R&D team will actually come up with their own 3d package...it takes years and tons of money, but i guess if you really want something done right, you'll do it yourself. i know pixar uses maya for the most part, but they also use in-house software like marionette. places like ILM have full development staff to come up with custom plugins and such...hey afterall, they're the guys that made photoshop.

personally i'm more biased towards maya and the friggin hot model that they used in their ad campaign.

3ds max is mostly used for games, because it's not as complex as maya and more people are familiar with it (it's much older). lightwave is mostly for the television crowd, because things need to get done really fast. maya is gaining on both industries very quickly though...people are finding that it has a better workflow and gives better results...oh, and don't forget the massive slash in price! that was probably the biggest factor keeping people away from maya.

i would actually say maya for modelling and softimage for animation as SI has many more powerful tools to do the job, like a better NLA editor :)

Particles
 

And don't forget the supreme particle systems integrated in maya...take a look at Mission to Mars....Maya Particles, Software-Rendered with Renderman.....and some of the best Dymanic-Systems available in commercial programs as well...

b u l l e t

Its a good job we are going to do a simplyxsi.com site then hey nem?

And redirect it here? :D

To mtmckinley post, I hear the same replys, we like your stuff very much but there are no postions at the moment. We will keep you on file if anything comes up.
Fustrating, but I keep on pushing the demo out=). The big break im sure will come soon enough for everyone.

and mikey.... where do you work??? or is there anyone who works for those "big boys" in this forum???

and wait... pixar does not use maya???? what do they use then??

Pixar does use Maya, however many other tools, proprietary, and off the shelf are used to get the job done:)

BTW, I use Maya everyday for work, but I don't work for a "Bog-Boy" yet.

I've been in the biz for more than 7 years, and my reel is not done yet:)

All it takes is time and patience.

You'll get there:)

and practise :)

I don't work for big boys, I work for one studio on makeing a video game as leader animator. So I hope I will become a big boy one day..
Who say that maya is not good for modeling, I use it and I think it's perfect tool!!!

I agree, and I´ll risk saying this one more time (after all the times I´ve saided already). "It´s not the tool but the artist that makes the difference"

never said it wasn't good...it's just that a lot of major studios prefer softimage's modeling package. i like maya's just fine.

Nem was right.... many of the big studios (ILM, DD and framestore are three that i know for sure) maya is generally used more for modelling and SI/XSI for animation, but thats partly because so many studios have theyre pipeline set up with proprietry conversion software from PA/maya<->SI. with the recent price drops and general recession i guess maya will become more popular as an one stop solution for the smaller houses.

yeah, its also because a lot of companys used SI3D b4 maya was out, so they cant really afford to change to another piece of software and have everyone learn a totally different program

the softimage interface reminds me a lot of lightwave on the left, maya on the top and also the channel box looking thing.

studios don't care what software you know because everything's changing at a ridiculous pace. they don't want button-pushers. they'd rather have people that understand the concepts behind everything so that they can quickly and easily (translation: inexpensive) learn anything the company chooses to use.

that being said, i think maya is the best overall 3d package for creating characters for film and video games. you learn maya and understand what you're actually doing and you've got a really solid base to work from. graphics program user interfaces change so much and so fast that by the time you've got your buttons in memory, there they go and switch everything around (prime example, transition from maya 3 to maya 4).

and yeah, i suppose they're now using maya for modeling and softimage xsi for animation...18 months ago it was the other way around because maya's modeling tools have undergone major changes and the relatively new softimage xsi has better animation controls than softimage 3d. for character animation setup and practice though, maya is still considered the best. maya's trax editor really isn't that far behind and its other controls are considered better than xsi's.

Let's face it to get a job in 3D you have to have a lot of talent and luck since there are very few places available and a lot of good people fighting for them.

I went to the DAW lecture the other week and attended the conference on 'How to get ahead in the Animation, Effects and Games Industry'. There was one of the honcho's from EA, Dreamworks and others all telling you what they look for but it seems that it is generally very tight to get into at the moment.

They said don't get any big ideas about becoming a character animator just try and get in. If they are looking for lighting people then go for that, if the are looking for textures go for that. Once there you can then talk with other professionals and LEARN from them. They also said that there is a shortage of techincal directors and generalists come in handy too.

Personally I like films like Shrek, Antz, Toy Story, Monster Inc etc. that stuff really appeals to me being something of a cartoonist so I concertrate on that sort of stuff but I wouldn't turn my nose up at anything!

The other thing about the conference was that I felt old... I am 38 most of the people around me were students. I started dabbling in 3d three years ago I wish I had started earlier. But the woman from Dreamworks said 'No, your not too old! We hired a chap who started 3d in his late forties because he was good'. Now if that doesn't encourage older members then I don't know what would.

Anyway, I satisfy myself with the thought that although I might never get into the profession, at least I can produce work that is of the same standard and that most importantly gets people laughing and admiration - I just need to get noticed and have lots of luck. So keep your toungues out!

yeah, landing a job isnt really about how old you are, and i dont think people would hire you if you know how to use a program either, to get a job, you need to understand the basics (art, movement etc) on a very advanced level, then use a program to take your ideas into 3d

exactly...the guy at pixar that did the fat caterpillar guy in a bug's life wasn't even 20 years old

Damn, I wish I had made the right decision about my future when I was under 20 yrs. I have a daytime job which is the field I studied (I'm an automation technician) but nowadays I'm not sure about if it is what I really want to do... :(

Even the sharpest head wears down when scrubbing it against the roof of opportunites (umm...say, what? ;)).

Hmm, that means I´ve gotten into this thing right at time. Hope I do get a chance at it though. :)

I am 24 years old, I what I understand you have to study when ever you have time because kids this days learn new stuff better and they grow up with computers...
I don't like the kids who lear some effects and they think that they know to animate....The good animator is the one who know the basic of everything, colors, human anatomy,cameras movment,materials,how light function in real life, to know physics, and so on and on.....................................To become a good animator you have to forgot on everything else, girls, life......and study as much as can, not just the books for the specific program,but books for painting, human structure, for example.....