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Presenting And Marketing Your Skills

Here we present useful information for students finding a job in the computer graphics, animation, video games, film, and visual effects industries.  Really, this isn't specific to only students, since professionals will generally have the same type of content to show prospective employers.

A Package For Marketing Your Skills

In order to present and market their work, students in this industry need to understand every concept necessary to create a complete package, and then need to actually create the package itself, and duplicate it as necessary.  The following list is a "best case scenario" package.  You should be aware that having everything here isn't always necessary. Use your own judgement to determine how much of this is required. A package should include:

  • Demo Reels:  (Read the Media Delivery Page to learn more about understanding and producing Digital Video)
    • Master Demo Reel
      • Unlikely to be given distributed directly, but used to generate all other formats
      • Should be lossless video. Here are some specs:
        • Resolution either  1280x720  or  1920x1080  (1920 is better but students may not have the computing power avaiable to them to create this.)
        • Pixel aspect ratio: 1   (Square pixels)
        • Image aspect ratio:  16/9  or 1.7777777777
        • Frame rate:  24 frames per second exactly.  (Not 23.976 or something else.  Exactly 24.)
        • Fields: Progressive, no fields
        • Color depth:  At very least, 8 bits per channel.  More bits per channel may be preferrable for superior quality, but are not necessary.
        • Lossless video codec options
          • For an extensive list, see the Lossless section on this page:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_codecs
          • Suggested formats...
            • Quicktime container format with PNG video codec and Apple lossless audio codec.  This is great for working with Adobe premiere.  FFMPEG will also support this format, so it is a good choice for most situations.  It is however larger than some alternatives.
            • Matroska container format with FFV1 video codec and FLAC audio codec.  This currently results in the smallest file size for lossless work, but can require a lot of technical knowledge to work with.  Thus it is often best for archival purposes.  (backups etc)  The format works well with open source editing and encoding tools. (kdenlive,  ffmpeg,  winff, etc...)
    • DVD demo reel
      • Frame rate: 23.976
      • Resolution: 720x480
      • Image Aspect Ratio: 16:9 or 1.7777777
      • Pixel Aspect Ratio:  1.21212121
      • Fields: None (or No Fields  or Progressive)
      • Video codec:  Mpeg2 video
      • Video bitrate: 8 megabits per second
      • Audio codec:  PCM or dolby digital
      • Audio bitrate: 1 megabit per second
      • video and audio bitrates combined together equal around 9 megabits per second
      • Include resume and any other information you wish to have as files in the DVD rom section of the disc.
      • Provide good quality webm and h264-mp4 format video in the DVD rom section of the disc.  This way, even full HD video can be viewed from the DVD when it is loaded in computers. (See point below about downloadable reels.)
      • Optionally, include portable versions of vlc, or something else to play back disc contents.
      • Standard DVD case
      • Printed DVD cover with clearly visible contact information and good quality artwork.
    • Downloadable Demo Reels
      • In it's largest form, this is a high quality full resolution version of the demo reel.  You may also provide ones with lower settings.
      • Resolution:
        • Ideally, provide 4 resolution versions...
        • 1920x1080
        • 1280x720
        • 854x480
        • 640x360
        • (If you are only going to make one size, and have to choose a size, pick 1280x720.  Most people will be able to view that size comfortably.)
      • Format:
        • Ideally, provide two formats of each resolution...
        • Webm format  -  VP8 codec with Vorbis audio codec in a webm container format.
        • Mp4-H264 format  -  H264 video with with AAC audio codec in a mp4 container format.
      • Bitrate:  Each version should use whatever bitrate is necessary to give good quality in the video, where artifacting is not noticeable without close inspection.
      • Pixel aspect: 1       (Square pixels)
      • Image aspect ratio: 16/9  or  1.7777
      • Fields: None (or No Fields  or Progressive)
      • Webm - VP8 codec with Vorbis audio codec in a webm container format.
      • Mp4-h264 - H264 video with with AAC audio codec in a mp4 container format.
    • Web based demo reel for playback directly in website
      • Pixel aspect: 1       (Square pixels)
      • Image aspect ratio: 16/9  or  1.7777
      • Fields: None (or No Fields  or Progressive)
      • Resolution that makes sense for online playback.  640x360 and 854x480 are good options.  (Note that since resolutions are whole numbers and can't have decimal places, the image aspect will be slightly off for 854x480 resolution video.   This is OK.  Its less than a 1 pixel difference.)
      • Bitrate that make sense for online playback.  (This changes depending on what kind of bandwidth you want to target.  Best option is to create several versions at different bandwidth/bitrate settings.) A suggested bitrate is  1  megabit per second for video with a resolution of. 640x360.
      • Webm - VP8 codec with Vorbis audio codec in a webm container format.
      • Mp4-h264 - H264 video with with AAC audio codec in a mp4 container format.
      • Web based demo reels at much higher quality, intended to be downloaded
  • Physical portfolio of drawing on paper etc.
    • Not always important, but useful in some situations.  Some employers still like seeing this.
  • Website, which should provide:
    • Use your own name, not a company name. (See note below after this bulleted list.)
    • Html/CSS/Javascript based website designed to conform to web standards and not require flash.
    • A gallery where high quality images can be viewed and downloaded.
    • A page where video can be viewed in page, including options to use either html5 or flash player based playback.
    • A Page/link that the user can use to download the demo reel in various formats.
    • An artistic design that is not overly complicated.
    • Resumes on the website.   See point about resumes below.  (In short, show it directly on the website as html, and provide it as a PDF as well.)
  • Resume, in all formats shown below:
    • Hardcopy
    • PDF version Included on the DVD in the DVD Rom section.
    • Shown directly on the website as html
    • Provided as a PDF on the website for viewing/download
    • Optionally provide other formats  *.odt,*.doc, *.docx
    • Remember, the PDF is important because people might not be able to open other formats. PDF is a well documented format with a published specification that anyone is free to read and write.
  • Cover Letter  (Hardcopy and PDF)
    • Often you will email or upload the Cover letter and the resume to your prospective employer. Sometimes, you will simply type the contents of your cover letter into an email, and send that.
  • Business card
    • Include your website, phone number and email.  Physical/street address not necessary.
    • Use your own name, not a company name.
    • Recommended specifications for business cards (USA/Canadian) are:
      Final size of actual content should be 3.5 inches wide by 2 inches tall.
      Include additional "bleed" area around the intended business card, so that when cutting, parts aren't missed.
      Final size including bleed should be: 3.75 inches wide by 2.25 inches tall. CMYK color mode is recommeded. DPI should be at least 300. For printing (or delivery to the printing company), you should flatten the image and save it in lossless Tiff format. You can download this example.

In general, if you are looking for work at a company. Don't use your own company name or anything else that isn't the name you normally go by.  If you want to do freelance work as your own company, have seperate business cards for that.  When you are looking to be hired as an employee, use branding and business cards that refer to you as a person, not as a company or studio.

Facts To Remember About Your Packge/Application

Your demo reel, resume, etc, will most likely be viewed online.  Most employers now prefer to keep lists of prospective employee's websites, rather than keeping physical demo reels on hand. Clearly mark everything with your name and contact information.  Any mailed packages.  Any disc case, the dics themselves, etc.  Sometimes an employer may only have your disc, or diss case on hand, and not feel like actually putting it back into the player again. Proof read things carefully.  Get other people to help you proofread.  (I will help you proofread if you need.  Ask for help using the Teaching3D question form.)  It will make you look careless if you have typo's and spelling mistakes in a job application package. If you include a cover letter, make sure it is custom tailored to the specific company you are applying at, and preferably find out the name of the human resources person, and address it to that person.  Never send a generic cover letter, or as it is often referred to as, a "Why Bother?" cover letter.

What A Demo Reel Should Contain

This section is quite incomplete. We hope more information will be added to it in the near future.  There are all kinds of useful guidelines to help you determine what content to include in a demo reel and how it should be presented. For now, we recommend you search online for more information. First, remember that the best form of your demo reel could vary a lot  depending on the type of job you are looking for. A video editor's demo reel should look substantially different from a 3D character animator's demo reel, which should look substantially different from a storyboard artists demo reel.  Tailor your demo reel to the job you are looking for. Clearly indicate your name and provide contact information at the begining of the demo reel. Clearly indicate and give credit for any work you did not do.  Make note of any models you used that you did not create, or any rigging or animation that was done for you. Give credit to the person that did the work. (For example, many times, an animator will use a model created by another modeler. As another example, a character modeler might have their model rigged and posed by a Rigger of Technical Director. Be sure to clearly indicate this, and provide the names of those who did such work.  If you include work from a group project, provide a written breakdown of what work you performed. For DVD format demo reels, do not include a lot of complicated menus. It is OK for the DVD to simply play the video with no menu. In fact, many employers perfer that. Your demo reel will most likely be watched online.  Most employers now prefer to keep lists of prospective employees websites, rather than keeping physical demo reels on hand. Show only your best work.  It is better to show less work than to show low quality work. Show a variaty of work, done in several styles, in order to prove that you are adaptable and flexible. You will mostly likely want your demo reel to specialize in a certain area.  For example, a character modeling reel, a rigging reel, or a character animation reel.  You may wish to keep a seperate reel that show your skills as a generalist as well.  (Some studios like to see that applicants have a lot of generalized skills, but some studios want applicants to be very specialized.  Find out what kind of studio you are applying at and give them a reel that meets their needs.  If in doubt, specialize.) Animators, include all of the following to show versatility:

  • Cycles
  • Acting
  • Dialog
  • Action
  • Interactions between multiple characters
  • Examples of storytelling, such as a short film, a even a sequence of animations cut together.  Just be sure to have something that doesn't exist in isolation and proves you have good storytelling skills.

Modelers, include all of the following to show versatility:

  • Realistic and stylized work.  Show photo real styles, comic book/edgy styles, and cartoon styles.
  • Show a great understanding of anatomy/construction, regardless of what the models are.
  • Show both highly optimized, real time game engine ready work, as well as ultra high detail, best art quality possible, film level work. If possible, show the same character (or environment/prop) created both ways.
  • Show the good construction of your models
  • Demonstrate that your models work well for texturing and rigging.  Ideally, your models should be well textured. Various poses can be shown to prove your model deforms well. Only show full animation of your model if you can animate it well, or have a good animator who can do that for you.
  • Show 1 likeness of a famous person (or for environment artists, a famous place or thing).  Try to find someone/something that hasn't already been modeled a bunch of times, and who you can't find 3d models of when searching online.  If you can really nail the likeness, it demonstrates an excellent understanding of form. If and other reviewers of your work don't feel the likeness is strong, do not include it on your reel.  A poor likeness will only hurt you.
  • As a modeler, it is recommended to show at least 3 pieces.
  • Briefly show wireframes and unwrapped textures.

Preparing For A Job Interview

Students should make preparations in order to perform well during job interviews.

  • Practice doing mock interviews so that they are comfortable with the process.
  • Think of answers common interview questions.
  • Make as many contacts as possible in the industry
    • Go to industry events
    • Join industry related groups
    • Socialize and interact with peers in the industry as much as possible.
  • Read book about the job interview process, and apply concepts learned.
  • Read books about the job search process, and apply concepts learned.

Job Hunting

We have a google document with more information on job hunting as well.  It will eventually be integrated with this site.  For now, if you are interested, please see the following: http://docs.google.com/View?id=df24hk66_93g98ww6dq