3 ms·

this is very cool. what are some of the names of the jobs that are programming based (as opposed to 3d artist based)? I am also very curious about what the br

by awongh 10y ago

this is very cool. what are some of the names of the jobs that are programming based (as opposed to 3d artist based)? I am also very curious about what the breakdown is between people who write the pipeline code and those who write the stuff being put into and out of these pipelines- is the difference very big? (i.e. how deep in the stack does each role go?) And what kinds of experience do they look for, and how would you say a regular old web dev programmer would go about getting that experience?

wdfx 10y ago
Vfx companies need web devs too! I'm a lead for a team which delivers web based tools for vfx production management. Quite a few bits of our apps and back ends have to integrate with pipeline tools and asset management systems, so there is an interesting cross over. Also for that reason we have python services and web stacks.
- wdfx 10y ago
  That is to say, you could join a vfx company using your existing web dev skills and once you are familiarized with the vfx environment and pipeline, transfer onto a pipeline team.
robbs 10y ago
Hi awongh, Have a look at the jobs boards for VFX companies. For example: https://www.wetafx.co.nz/jobs https://www.wetafx.co.nz/jobs Web development is very much needed!
dagmx 10y ago
> what are some of the names of the jobs that are programming based (as opposed to 3d artist based)? We have a lot. A few of the top of my head: * Render developer. It's less artist focused and more about the math and optimizations. * Web infrastructure developer (we use oracle dbs, django, various RPC services etc) * Computer Vision A good example is Disney who do research in various fields: https://www.disneyresearch.com/publications/ https://www.disneyresearch.com/publications/ > I am also very curious about what the breakdown is between people who write the pipeline code and those who write the stuff being put into and out of these pipelines- is the difference very big? This depends on the studio a lot. At our studio, there's a wide variety of people. We never expect an artist (Animator, lighter, etc) to be able to program. They just need to know how to hit a button to open a publish UI and then hit publish in there. But for the programmers we don't expect them to have an artistic background. They often just need to know how to develop. That said the best people are the ones who can do both. Artists who understand the technical aspect often work faster, and developers who understand the artistic side often make better tools because they understand the mindset > And what kinds of experience do they look for, and how would you say a regular old web dev programmer would go about getting that experience? The experience really depends on the role to be honest. If you're a web developer, studios often have dedicated web development teams for both backend and frontend web development who really don't need experience in the film industry. The kinds of projects include: * Our production tracking software is all web based. A similar project is: https://www.shotgunsoftware.com/ https://www.shotgunsoftware.com/ * Our payroll systems are all web based * Similarly all our media management also has dedicated servers to fascilitate creation and acquisition of media. There's always room to move departments too and many people have as well once they get more hands on in the studio.
Keyframe 10y ago
Technical director is one too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_director#Film_.26_Games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_director#Film_.26_Ga... I was a TD for a number of years before going moving into creative full time. It was a great path and a learning experience which gave me an edge later on. TD is a great position if you're both into programming and art, because it blends the two. Some of the best TDs I've seen and had pleasure to work with could be described as demo coders with significant resources behind them!
ilpoldo 10y ago
Outside being a web developer in a vfx/feature animation studio (IMS developer) there are programming-centric roles where experience with python, http APIs and dbs/orms comes in handy. Roles like Assistant Technical Director (ATD), Pipeline Technical Director (Pipeline TD) and Pipeline Developer require familiarity with the applications used by 3d/2d artists (Maya, Nuke and Houdini to name a few) and their APIs to deliver the kind of functionality presented in the article. Almost all those applications have a python interpreter that they use to expose their scripting api, and have a C++ SDKs as well. Most of them use Qt (and PyQt/Pyside) as the ui framework, which is the core skill for roles like UI Developer. We are hiring across all of those roles: http://www.dneg.com/jobs/ http://www.dneg.com/jobs/
- awongh 10y ago
  it's interesting that there are seemingly so many different kinds of jobs in the field that happen to involve python. is the level of proficiency / familiarity with maya the same as an artist position? (i.e. how crucial is it that you are very familiar with all of it's functionality, not just the APIs) how does the pay compare to a python job at an internet company? how common is it to have someone move from a role like assistant technical director (or something more senior) to R&D programmer type position?
  - ilpoldo 10y ago
    In my experience a clear understanding of how the applications work and how are used by artists is very important, so being able to complete simple tasks with them-independently of the quality of the results-is pretty important. Pay should be comparable. Companies are generally pretty supportive of their employees moving between positions internally. Demand for new developers and workload heavily affect the timing of internal moves.

by awongh 10y ago

wdfx 10y ago

Vfx companies need web devs too! I'm a lead for a team which delivers web based tools for vfx production management. Quite a few bits of our apps and back ends have to integrate with pipeline tools and asset management systems, so there is an interesting cross over. Also for that reason we have python services and web stacks.

wdfx 10y ago
That is to say, you could join a vfx company using your existing web dev skills and once you are familiarized with the vfx environment and pipeline, transfer onto a pipeline team.

robbs 10y ago

Hi awongh, Have a look at the jobs boards for VFX companies. For example: https://www.wetafx.co.nz/jobs https://www.wetafx.co.nz/jobs Web development is very much needed!

dagmx 10y ago

> what are some of the names of the jobs that are programming based (as opposed to 3d artist based)? We have a lot. A few of the top of my head: * Render developer. It's less artist focused and more about the math and optimizations. * Web infrastructure developer (we use oracle dbs, django, various RPC services etc) * Computer Vision A good example is Disney who do research in various fields: https://www.disneyresearch.com/publications/ https://www.disneyresearch.com/publications/ > I am also very curious about what the breakdown is between people who write the pipeline code and those who write the stuff being put into and out of these pipelines- is the difference very big? This depends on the studio a lot. At our studio, there's a wide variety of people. We never expect an artist (Animator, lighter, etc) to be able to program. They just need to know how to hit a button to open a publish UI and then hit publish in there. But for the programmers we don't expect them to have an artistic background. They often just need to know how to develop. That said the best people are the ones who can do both. Artists who understand the technical aspect often work faster, and developers who understand the artistic side often make better tools because they understand the mindset > And what kinds of experience do they look for, and how would you say a regular old web dev programmer would go about getting that experience? The experience really depends on the role to be honest. If you're a web developer, studios often have dedicated web development teams for both backend and frontend web development who really don't need experience in the film industry. The kinds of projects include: * Our production tracking software is all web based. A similar project is: https://www.shotgunsoftware.com/ https://www.shotgunsoftware.com/ * Our payroll systems are all web based * Similarly all our media management also has dedicated servers to fascilitate creation and acquisition of media. There's always room to move departments too and many people have as well once they get more hands on in the studio.

Keyframe 10y ago

Technical director is one too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_director#Film_.26_Games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_director#Film_.26_Ga... I was a TD for a number of years before going moving into creative full time. It was a great path and a learning experience which gave me an edge later on. TD is a great position if you're both into programming and art, because it blends the two. Some of the best TDs I've seen and had pleasure to work with could be described as demo coders with significant resources behind them!

ilpoldo 10y ago

Outside being a web developer in a vfx/feature animation studio (IMS developer) there are programming-centric roles where experience with python, http APIs and dbs/orms comes in handy. Roles like Assistant Technical Director (ATD), Pipeline Technical Director (Pipeline TD) and Pipeline Developer require familiarity with the applications used by 3d/2d artists (Maya, Nuke and Houdini to name a few) and their APIs to deliver the kind of functionality presented in the article. Almost all those applications have a python interpreter that they use to expose their scripting api, and have a C++ SDKs as well. Most of them use Qt (and PyQt/Pyside) as the ui framework, which is the core skill for roles like UI Developer. We are hiring across all of those roles: http://www.dneg.com/jobs/ http://www.dneg.com/jobs/

awongh 10y ago
it's interesting that there are seemingly so many different kinds of jobs in the field that happen to involve python. is the level of proficiency / familiarity with maya the same as an artist position? (i.e. how crucial is it that you are very familiar with all of it's functionality, not just the APIs) how does the pay compare to a python job at an internet company? how common is it to have someone move from a role like assistant technical director (or something more senior) to R&D programmer type position?
- ilpoldo 10y ago
  In my experience a clear understanding of how the applications work and how are used by artists is very important, so being able to complete simple tasks with them-independently of the quality of the results-is pretty important. Pay should be comparable. Companies are generally pretty supportive of their employees moving between positions internally. Demand for new developers and workload heavily affect the timing of internal moves.