[bluetraveller]

It was contended in the VRX forum that 2d compositors "CAN'T" do 3d animation that well and that 3d animators simply DON'T make the best compositors. This view was supported by a few industry professionals. I understand the basics of what both of these professionals do, however I cannot understand what strengths are needed in each profession that would make one so good at one thing and not so good in the other.

Is this contention valid? Both professions ask for people who have a fine art or film background. But apparently, that's where the commonality ends. Or is it???

This is very important to me. Does anyone know what kind of skill/aptitude/interest or even way of perceiving things etc. one needs to do well in each profession?

Thanks! I'd like to put this debate to rest!

[MadSamoan]

It makes sense. Although they start from the same foundation, they employ different skillsets that practically take a lifetime to master. One skillset utilizes your observation skills of controlling light to suggest form while the other utilizes your observation skills to control balance and motion. You have to devote your time to specialize in one or another or you're not going to be that good at either one and in the time it takes to master both, the medium will have evolved. I'm not saying it's impossible, there are rare exceptions, but there are very few jack-of-all trades, especially in this computer day-and-age. Even master painters have agreed that Michaelangelo was a much better sculptor than a painter...

[Anthony]

3d graphics hasn't been around long enough for anyone to spend his whole life doing it. Any kind of art is impossible to "master" since you can always improve. Besides, although you advance at a certain pace in one field, you can simultaneously advance in another. Michaelangelo was a better sculptor than painter-but he was a master painter just the same.

[jbirn]

There are tons of people who split their time between 2D and 3D, and focus on integrating the two. At a lot of film and visual effects studios, a large share of the TD's do their own compositing - that is, the same people who light and render the shots in 3D also composite them with the film in 2D. Often there are advantages to having the same person working on both processes.

However, you asked about animators, and most of these people aren't also working as animators. By the time you get to character animation, most people who are top-notch character animators have focused on that specifically, and wouldn't know (or care) when to use a sinc filter in their scaling.

-jeremy

[Loki]

I agree w/ jbirn ...

I'm sorry whoever came up with this statement is a little silly. Actually quite a few people do that. A lot of 3D artist composite, because quite often they render in different elements/layers (eg.: key/fill/ambient/interactive) and create the final image in a composite. Or whatever other reasons they do both.
Quite a few people do both, but a lot don't - but there's no rule that excludes one from doing both ...

And yes, animators are a little bit of an exception. But I've also seen people in action that can do EVERYTHING!

[Sumaleth]

They're just two different skills that anyone can master with practice, but in the professional world you usually find different people focusing on the different tasks. It lets you own at one thing instead of spreading your time thin.

Row.

[bluetraveller]

Thank you for your responses. Many thanks especially to Jeremy Bimm for his insight. I have just visited your website.

I am a father to the one who holds this account. My son wants to do this and that and this and that in the "digital fx/animation" field. How easy do you think it is to listen to all of this and cringe at the prospect that he may not know what he is talking about or for that matter - telling his father and mother. Who do you think helps with the bills?

No no. This is my attempt at discovering what this field is all about. Is this question SILLY??? I think what's silly are parents who don't take the time to figure out what's in their kids heads these days. As for this field, I"m still trying to figure it out.

Thanks for your help and clarification.

signed-
old man trying to bridge the gap

[Anthony]

My advice to your son would be to look at the process of creation as a whole. We design, we model, we animate, we texture, we light, we render, we composite, we paint. We write algorithms to control our animations. He should at least try to have something of an understanding of how he'll fit into the pipeline regardless of which aspect he wants to primarily focus on. If he wants to model, he ought to know how to model to make texturing and animating easier(really if you model you'll likely texture as well). If you're doing the animation and rendering the animations out, you'll want to know how the objects are constructed so that you can utilize that when animating. You'll also want to know how it'll be composited since that'll effect how you render. So gain a basic understanding, then specialize.

[jbirn]

For a student, the best advice is not to box yourself in too early, but to try to explore everything related to the field. The younger you are, the more it's a good idea to survey a range of opportunities - that's why high school students need to take art classes, history, math, etc. and aren't allowed to choose just one field to study.

Even in college and grad school, getting a film degree, I was still enjoying the idea that I could write a script, storyboard it, cast it, direct it, film it, add visual effects, record sound, edit the production, and arrange and promote a screening in front of an audience. Nobody does all of that at once on a big-budget feature, but it's great experience.

Please encourage your kid to practice what interests him, and if you want him to speak authoratively about the business get him a subscription to Cinefex magazine for his birthday, and encourage him to watch his favorite movies on DVD with the director's commentary track turned on.

-jeremy

[bluetraveller]

Thanks for the much needed advice. I"m the "son" my dad wrote about. I apologize on his behalf for his tone. I'm actually a history major who is preferring to go to animation school instead of law school. No cliche but dad is *very* jewish. Anyway, he's agreed to help with the finances so he's trying to understand why a young jewish man with all the 'potential' in the world wouldn't want to go to law school. If you're reading this dad....'it's okay. Everything will turn out".


Thanks for the added advice J. If I had to do it all over again, I guess I would have taken film studies instead.

-Josh