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Well, I have an opposite problem. I work in VFX (visual effects) industry, have dozens of credits on IMDB, but completely adore programming and solving variety
by rationably 10y ago
Well, I have an opposite problem. I work in VFX (visual effects) industry, have dozens of credits on IMDB, but completely adore programming and solving variety of problems that involve data processing and connecting various systems together. Unfortunately, it's too late.
- triplesec 10y agoWhat's too late? I'm certain you could work in other kinds of development
- xchaotic 10y agoI bet the OP can make loads more money in VFX than going back and doing some junior programming role, hence I'm with him.
- rationably 10y agoI would question the word "loads" ;] Sups are usually earning around 150-200 CAD p/y, seniors 100-130. I may be wrong with the numbers though.
- bosie 10y agowhat is "sups"?
- rationably 10y agoSupervisors. VFX/Dept. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_effects_supervisor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_effects_supervisor
- bosie 10y agoThanks
- triplesec 10y agoOver time with investment in self, the money would outstrip vfx, even if the first job only matched it. If you like development, do some projects!
- rationably 10y agoI can, but it does mean leaving the 10 years of career behind and starting from zero with no formal education in CS. clarification: I'm doing truly microscopic amount of development at work. And usually these are simple Python scripts.
- i336_ 10y agoWow, so the credits are really that thorough? That's awesome to hear. I also now have new respect for movies with really short credits - I'd wondered if there were any positions deemed "too irrelevant" and not included. I'm also particularly curious about the "no formal education in CS" bit - for various complicated reasons I haven't (yet?) completed basic HSC, and am wondering how to break into the industry in general. I'm not 100% sure where I want to start, but "simple Python scripts" sounds rather interesting. I assume there was a bit of being in the right place at the right time, but besides that, how did you get yourself noticed?
- CoryG89 10y agoI got a formal education and degree in software engineering over a long, hard fought four years, which still has me about $25K in debt. I got my job by getting noticed through my GitHub blog, to which I dedicated only about a half hour every other night for a month or so. One night I got an article at the top spot of HN's front page. I had a great job offer within hours from a dev at a company which I've always respected. Content on my blog was self taught, 99% of what I do at work is self taught. Formal CS education is still useful, but the ratio of cost/reward is terrible.
- rationably 10y agoFunny enough, sometimes our crew isn't included in full. In VFX? I dropped from the Uni, went to the local VFX shop and offered them to work for free during night shifts. It was during the crunch time, so essentially it was an offer they were unable to refuse :] After some years of low quality TV spots I got into feature film industry. That's what I still do.
- 10y ago
- Jtsummers 10y agoRegarding "too late": You work in a particular field, is it possible to take your knowledge of the "daily grind" to one of the development houses making tools you use? Is there some software that would be particularly useful that doesn't yet exist? Can you write plug-ins for existing tools (and sell them, a friend did that for audio processing software)? You have domain experience, you don't have to forfeit it if you make the switch to programming.
- rationably 10y agoOK, "too late" sounds maybe a bit too dramatic. Not really. Our software is essentially a set of quite advance image/data processing pipelines. Companies who produce it are looking for people with (very) advanced math/C skills as it's not as simple as "import cv2". Thanks for support though.