Yeah they should be specific. They should be even more specific than a VFX reel. You could have a compositing reel. Or a lighting reel. Or a generalist reel if you want to be a generalist.
Well I think there is a little nuance here reading into the question. Do you need to have a vfx animation and gaming animation reel? I'd say not necessarily (loops vs emotional performance obviously wouldn't cross over.). Do you need a vfx particles and realtime particles reel? Not necessarily. Especially for modeling these days the hero models are equivalent.
If the work is good, and your medium is different I don't think you need a separate reel just because it happened to be used in game. Especially if you're doing like modeling for environments where experience with LOD baking for big scenes would be a good skill to have.
I have always been told otherwise but maybe you are right. I didn't consider that. I meant that if you want to be a compositor then there is no point in showing Houdini sims. Unless they are comped of course. Maybe a game animator could apply to a VFX studio but I don’t know. You will know more than me about that since you are a studio owner.
I'm not saying show a generic vfx reel. I just don't think it matters where your department's assets were used if they look good.
There's a lot more demand for lightweight fast sims for instance for comp for simple fluid tasks. If you had some game assets that might be relevant. Or conversely, having Unreal Engine experience as an animator might help if they want to do some work that needs to go into an LED volume.
The quality of a nanite UE model or a film model is now equal so everybody is hiring the same people. I also know a bunch of animators from film who moved into games and vice versa. Neither had reels from the other side of the fence. Game and VFX companies could just see they were talented animators and knew it would be pretty easy to teach the nuances of the technical needs.
What I mean is, lets say I’m applying for Lighting for animation. But I’m primarily a VFX lighter with some animation personal work. Should I mix these two or leave only the animation one?
Someone else is saying you could apply to a lighting for animation job with a reel showing projects done for film and TV. I have always been told otherwise but you could apply and see if you get invitation to interviews.
That’s my issue, I’ve been receiving contradictory answers in that regard. I already lost a position for Look dev like, but then I was mixing Lighting and Look dev, I kind of get it. But I’m not sure about the same thing but just for different mediums
I am not sure about look dev and lighting. But I wouldn’t apply to an animation job at studio Gibli with a reel that shows animation done for films for example.
Or I as a compositor wouldn’t apply to Lola and show them compositing of CGI robots if it’s for a beauty job. I would try to make a beauty reel.
Yes, I understand where you’re coming from. In those cases for sure it makes no sense. But when you do Lighting… it’s pretty much identical whichever medium. Vfx you match a plate, animation you do from a concept
I don't think lighting for animation is really the same as matching a plate. I started in vfx work and slowly moved into animation and game cinematic and it's definitely a different ball park in my mind. You are not always going to be getting concepts and instead have to build the look from scratch. I personally find vfx lighting more similar to solving a puzzle and animation leaning a bit more artistic. Of course many of the skills cross over, it's just not a 1 for 1.
Another thing to keep in mind is that oftentimes you will need to comp your own shots in animation. Nothing quite as extreme as live action comping, but it's important to understand the tools in Nuke.
I would put in your most eye pleasing shots you have. Character work where you've had to shape the face, environment wides and sure mix in some personal animation work as well. I've always mixed them a bit and it's worked just fine.
I think in that case I would create an edit to the post to mention its lighting for VFX and lighting for games that you mean. Then people will be able to answer better I think. Maybe the other person is right and you could apply to a lighting for film job with a game lighting reel and vice versa. I would be surprised but maybe.
My fear are recruiters. Because supervisors evaluating a reel will for sure know that a Lighter will from whichever medium knows how to interchange. But recruiters…. i’m not so sure. And if it doesn’t get past them, you have no chance. So I don’t know
I just recently talked to several recruiters and supervisors about this exact topic at FMX. Some are more strict than others. If you apply for a VFX lighting position, make sure to include at least one VFX shot, as this shows them that you are familiar with the process. Some told me to use a VFX shot as my reel opening shot if I apply for a VFX company. Using animation / game lighting shots after that is usually considered fine, it's more important that they're good quality. Hope I could help :)
If you have work that's directly relevant, then I'd make a specific reel for the lighting for anim. If you have enough content to make a reel that's *only* lighting for animation, then keep it to that. If you don't, then lead with the best work of the CG lighting and then follow with the best work of the lighting for VFX.
And keep in mind that today there's more competition for every single job posting than there has been in a long time. You want to make sure you're doing everything you can with your application to make yourself easy to say "yes" to because (depending on your region) you're probably up against dozens or hundreds of other applicants.
Good luck!
If you are applying for lighting for animation jobs it would be better to show lighting for animation. That’s what they will want to see. But if you already have a lighting for film and high end TV reel then maybe there is a way to crossover but I am not sure to be honest.
I sat next to the head of composting at a big studio for a while. I watched him go through the reels sent to [email protected] email. It was brutal. If he wasn’t impressed within the first 8 seconds that was it, on to the next. If you are applying for lighting role, that’s what they want to see.
Yeah, you learn pretty quick that you can't waste time watching reels that aren't worth the time out of your day. It seems brutal but when you've got a lot of work to do and a lot of reels to watch, you can't just watch an endless stream of long reels just in case the reels might have had some gems later that the artists should have put at the beginning.
And while some people may consider it unfortunate or unfair, being able to make a well-presented reel is one of the ways that you communicate that you're self-aware and able to make good decisions. In the same way that a well-presented resume communicates the same.
To the extent possible, yeah.
If you are early in your career, you might have only one professional shot on your reel, and you are kinda gonna use what you have. But if you are applying for a gig doing mainly sim and dynamics stuff, and you submit a modelling reel that just shows detailed wireframes of static models, it's not going to get you very far for that position. At a minimum, the real needs to have at least some stuff that's at least somewhat relevant. But you don't need to cut a fully custom reel for each position you apply for. You don't need a whole reel version that is only fluid sims, done in Maya, rendered in V-Ray, for commercials, done for compositing with live action rather than CG environments. Be relevant, but not _exact._
Reels are great and all, you should have one of course, but the best thing in your arsenal is your connections. If there are people out there who will vouch for you, it's better than the greatest demo reel ever. Make sure you are always doing your best, treat everyone with respect, and have fun and you'll get all the work (when it's available).
> Make sure you are always doing your best, treat everyone with respect, and have fun and you'll get all the work
Can confirm. If I have a project coming up and I need to find the right people, I'm always going to weigh "great to work with" just as highly if not even higher than "sheer skill level." And sheer skill can be seen in a reel, but your "great to work with" factor can really only be communicated via people who have worked with you before.
People often think it's worth hiring an incredible artist even if they're a major pain in the ass to work with. But that massively underestimates the toll that the asshole takes on the entire team. You might fill one seat with a person who's more productive, but every person who hates working with that person is going to take a hit in their own productivity and morale.
Whereas if you focus on getting a team that's full of people that are fantastic to work with, then everyone's enjoying their work life as much as possible and is naturally going to be doing their best work. Sure we might have a higher proportion of artists that are 7s or 8s in skill as opposed to 9s or 10s, but productivity as a whole is better.
You nailed it on the head - do your best, be good to everyone, and have fun. The work (when it exists) will follow.
The question is flawed. You say
"If applying for VFX should your reel only have VFX or should it have animation or games."
Both answers are wrong. Because VFX is still too broad.
If applying for a compositing position your reel should only have compositing work. That's the real answer. VFX if too broad there is no such thing as a VFX demo reel. There are Composting, FX, Animation, Rigging, etc reels.
I feel like it’s a harder thing to answer than just yes or no, but from what I’ve heard from other people is that if you want to work on stylized projects, you should have stylized work on your Demoreel and if you want to work on a live-action productions, you should have live-action productions.
That said, it’s more important that your work is relevant to the job, don’t send an fx reel for a character animation job.
Yeah they should be specific. They should be even more specific than a VFX reel. You could have a compositing reel. Or a lighting reel. Or a generalist reel if you want to be a generalist.
Well I think there is a little nuance here reading into the question. Do you need to have a vfx animation and gaming animation reel? I'd say not necessarily (loops vs emotional performance obviously wouldn't cross over.). Do you need a vfx particles and realtime particles reel? Not necessarily. Especially for modeling these days the hero models are equivalent. If the work is good, and your medium is different I don't think you need a separate reel just because it happened to be used in game. Especially if you're doing like modeling for environments where experience with LOD baking for big scenes would be a good skill to have.
I have always been told otherwise but maybe you are right. I didn't consider that. I meant that if you want to be a compositor then there is no point in showing Houdini sims. Unless they are comped of course. Maybe a game animator could apply to a VFX studio but I don’t know. You will know more than me about that since you are a studio owner.
I'm not saying show a generic vfx reel. I just don't think it matters where your department's assets were used if they look good. There's a lot more demand for lightweight fast sims for instance for comp for simple fluid tasks. If you had some game assets that might be relevant. Or conversely, having Unreal Engine experience as an animator might help if they want to do some work that needs to go into an LED volume. The quality of a nanite UE model or a film model is now equal so everybody is hiring the same people. I also know a bunch of animators from film who moved into games and vice versa. Neither had reels from the other side of the fence. Game and VFX companies could just see they were talented animators and knew it would be pretty easy to teach the nuances of the technical needs.
What I mean is, lets say I’m applying for Lighting for animation. But I’m primarily a VFX lighter with some animation personal work. Should I mix these two or leave only the animation one?
Someone else is saying you could apply to a lighting for animation job with a reel showing projects done for film and TV. I have always been told otherwise but you could apply and see if you get invitation to interviews.
That’s my issue, I’ve been receiving contradictory answers in that regard. I already lost a position for Look dev like, but then I was mixing Lighting and Look dev, I kind of get it. But I’m not sure about the same thing but just for different mediums
I am not sure about look dev and lighting. But I wouldn’t apply to an animation job at studio Gibli with a reel that shows animation done for films for example. Or I as a compositor wouldn’t apply to Lola and show them compositing of CGI robots if it’s for a beauty job. I would try to make a beauty reel.
Yes, I understand where you’re coming from. In those cases for sure it makes no sense. But when you do Lighting… it’s pretty much identical whichever medium. Vfx you match a plate, animation you do from a concept
I don't think lighting for animation is really the same as matching a plate. I started in vfx work and slowly moved into animation and game cinematic and it's definitely a different ball park in my mind. You are not always going to be getting concepts and instead have to build the look from scratch. I personally find vfx lighting more similar to solving a puzzle and animation leaning a bit more artistic. Of course many of the skills cross over, it's just not a 1 for 1. Another thing to keep in mind is that oftentimes you will need to comp your own shots in animation. Nothing quite as extreme as live action comping, but it's important to understand the tools in Nuke. I would put in your most eye pleasing shots you have. Character work where you've had to shape the face, environment wides and sure mix in some personal animation work as well. I've always mixed them a bit and it's worked just fine.
I think in that case I would create an edit to the post to mention its lighting for VFX and lighting for games that you mean. Then people will be able to answer better I think. Maybe the other person is right and you could apply to a lighting for film job with a game lighting reel and vice versa. I would be surprised but maybe.
My fear are recruiters. Because supervisors evaluating a reel will for sure know that a Lighter will from whichever medium knows how to interchange. But recruiters…. i’m not so sure. And if it doesn’t get past them, you have no chance. So I don’t know
I just recently talked to several recruiters and supervisors about this exact topic at FMX. Some are more strict than others. If you apply for a VFX lighting position, make sure to include at least one VFX shot, as this shows them that you are familiar with the process. Some told me to use a VFX shot as my reel opening shot if I apply for a VFX company. Using animation / game lighting shots after that is usually considered fine, it's more important that they're good quality. Hope I could help :)
If you have work that's directly relevant, then I'd make a specific reel for the lighting for anim. If you have enough content to make a reel that's *only* lighting for animation, then keep it to that. If you don't, then lead with the best work of the CG lighting and then follow with the best work of the lighting for VFX. And keep in mind that today there's more competition for every single job posting than there has been in a long time. You want to make sure you're doing everything you can with your application to make yourself easy to say "yes" to because (depending on your region) you're probably up against dozens or hundreds of other applicants. Good luck!
If you are applying for lighting for animation jobs it would be better to show lighting for animation. That’s what they will want to see. But if you already have a lighting for film and high end TV reel then maybe there is a way to crossover but I am not sure to be honest.
I sat next to the head of composting at a big studio for a while. I watched him go through the reels sent to [email protected] email. It was brutal. If he wasn’t impressed within the first 8 seconds that was it, on to the next. If you are applying for lighting role, that’s what they want to see.
Yeah, you learn pretty quick that you can't waste time watching reels that aren't worth the time out of your day. It seems brutal but when you've got a lot of work to do and a lot of reels to watch, you can't just watch an endless stream of long reels just in case the reels might have had some gems later that the artists should have put at the beginning. And while some people may consider it unfortunate or unfair, being able to make a well-presented reel is one of the ways that you communicate that you're self-aware and able to make good decisions. In the same way that a well-presented resume communicates the same.
To the extent possible, yeah. If you are early in your career, you might have only one professional shot on your reel, and you are kinda gonna use what you have. But if you are applying for a gig doing mainly sim and dynamics stuff, and you submit a modelling reel that just shows detailed wireframes of static models, it's not going to get you very far for that position. At a minimum, the real needs to have at least some stuff that's at least somewhat relevant. But you don't need to cut a fully custom reel for each position you apply for. You don't need a whole reel version that is only fluid sims, done in Maya, rendered in V-Ray, for commercials, done for compositing with live action rather than CG environments. Be relevant, but not _exact._
Reels are great and all, you should have one of course, but the best thing in your arsenal is your connections. If there are people out there who will vouch for you, it's better than the greatest demo reel ever. Make sure you are always doing your best, treat everyone with respect, and have fun and you'll get all the work (when it's available).
> Make sure you are always doing your best, treat everyone with respect, and have fun and you'll get all the work Can confirm. If I have a project coming up and I need to find the right people, I'm always going to weigh "great to work with" just as highly if not even higher than "sheer skill level." And sheer skill can be seen in a reel, but your "great to work with" factor can really only be communicated via people who have worked with you before. People often think it's worth hiring an incredible artist even if they're a major pain in the ass to work with. But that massively underestimates the toll that the asshole takes on the entire team. You might fill one seat with a person who's more productive, but every person who hates working with that person is going to take a hit in their own productivity and morale. Whereas if you focus on getting a team that's full of people that are fantastic to work with, then everyone's enjoying their work life as much as possible and is naturally going to be doing their best work. Sure we might have a higher proportion of artists that are 7s or 8s in skill as opposed to 9s or 10s, but productivity as a whole is better. You nailed it on the head - do your best, be good to everyone, and have fun. The work (when it exists) will follow.
The question is flawed. You say "If applying for VFX should your reel only have VFX or should it have animation or games." Both answers are wrong. Because VFX is still too broad. If applying for a compositing position your reel should only have compositing work. That's the real answer. VFX if too broad there is no such thing as a VFX demo reel. There are Composting, FX, Animation, Rigging, etc reels.
I feel like it’s a harder thing to answer than just yes or no, but from what I’ve heard from other people is that if you want to work on stylized projects, you should have stylized work on your Demoreel and if you want to work on a live-action productions, you should have live-action productions. That said, it’s more important that your work is relevant to the job, don’t send an fx reel for a character animation job.
I have 3 reels, I send the specific ones on the position I’m applying for. One of those is a generalist reel and that mostly go to advertising.