ACM SIGGRAPH Education Committee - Career Materials (Archive)

SIGGRAPH Five-Minute Career Mentor

wobbe — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0000

John M. Fujii - SIGGRAPH 96 Conference Chair

Purpose

This document is a snapshot of experiences that I have shared with our SIGGRAPH community over the years. It can help orient new career seekers to the possibilities in the rapidly expanding fields of computer graphics applications and education.

The title comes from what I have touched upon in multiple "five-minute" conversations with SIGGRAPH attendees. They just got pieces, however. You get the whole thing (written down for you, no less). I essentially wrote the type of document I would have liked to find when I was starting out. Hopefully there's something useful for you here.

Disclaimer

The opinions I express here are my own and not those of my employer. Use of any of this advice is completely at your own risk. ACM SIGGRAPH, the author, and contributors can not be responsible for the reliability or use of any information contained in this or related documents.

Last update: 27 Apr 08

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Where do I start?
What kinds of jobs are out there?
What should I do about my résumé?
How do I demonstrate my talent to an employer?
What education do I need and where can I find it?
What skills and experience do I need?
What resources are out there for me?
Do you have any personal pearls of wisdom for me?

Where do I start?

I get this question a lot. I'm writing this document to help answer the many questions that come out of this one. As a mentor, I've met a variety of people asking this question:

Students charting their futures
Individuals making career / discipline changes
Enthusiasts / hobbyists considering it as a career
Entrepreneurs looking to create their own opportunities
Recruiters starting up new programs

And the list goes on. No matter where you start, I'll always ask:

Why are you doing this?
What are your goals?
What are your expectations?
What are all of your skills and talents?
What options are you willing to explore?
How far are you willing to take all of this?

Do some work. Be ready to answer those questions. The clearer you are with them, the better chances that you will have with your search. Spend some time researching where you are and what is available to you. Really think about these questions as you read this document. They are here to provide you a framework. The more time you spend at this, the better the results will be.

What kinds of jobs are out there?

There are a huge number of possibilities (including those that you might make for yourself because of your special talents). Here are a few off the top of my head:

Animation
- 3D productions: roles include data building, texture painting, animation, scanning / compositing, effects programming, matte painting, tool design, motion capture, shader design, lighting, system administration
- 2D productions: scanning / image cleanup, ink & paint, compositing, special effects
Design
- Graphic design - digital typography, separations (print), Internet layout and content creation
- Industrial design - tools development
Research / Development
- Research and Development (R&D) of digital technologies - tools, interfaces, hardware, software, algorithms, specialized solutions, system integration, quality assurance, learning products (documentation and support), product packaging and delivery
- Academic research in areas of graphics - algorithms, theory, application
Education
- Although education is listed twice here, this section pertains to actual education required about the technologies and concepts, not necessarily the use of them to further education, i.e, teaching the fundamentals of computer graphics. In all sectors (such as K-12, university, post-grad, or industry), there is a strong need for education about developments in computer graphics and interactive techniques. The development of technologies to further this education are also actively growing.
- Technical Writing is an important field of education about computer graphics. Good writers are invaluable in bridging new ideas to their audience. When well grounded in the technology and techniques, they are even more sought after.
Marketing
- Good product marketing comes with a formal understanding of a problem and its solution space. Marketing opportunities include direct sales, public relations (PR), outbound activities (customer awareness), trade show development, and retail.
Management
- Management comes in a variety of forms. It may oversee product development (R&D), it might regulate system administration, or it could direct focused programs for marketing. The key here is people experience coupled with practical knowledge of the problems at hand.
Application
- Entertainment
  - Content creation - involves many of the roles outlined in "animation" above; sometimes known as Digital Content Creation or DCC
  - Concept creation and delivery - mediums include motion pictures, CD-ROM, Internet, immersive experience (such as theme parks), video games (such as home arcade systems)
- Science
  - Visualization sciences include research disciplines such as physics, medicine, chemistry, astronomy, geology, meteorology - all of which use computer graphics and interactive techniques to further their quests
  - Other interesting fields actively using computer graphics technologies include natural conservation sciences, historical research sciences (reconstructions and visualizations of ancient structures), and statistical sciences
- Engineering
  - Many engineering opportunities exist that either develop technologies useful for other disciplines or are application users themselves. Some of them that come to mind are aerospace, chemical, electrical, industrial design, mechanical, mining, nuclear, and petroleum.
  - Computer engineers can include hardware architects, systems designers, software engineers (high-level = application design; middle-level = programmer library interfaces; low-level = systems software and device drivers)
- Communications
  - Expertise in computer graphics technologies coupled with other experience may lead to video broadcast industries, print media, or some sort of related visual arts
  - Performing arts roles such as directors, producers, choreographers, set designers, costumers, and music composers have all seen useful applications of computer graphics technologies in their disciplines
- Education
  - Education applications include formal institutions (K-12, university), industry (such as customer support or marketing), and broad cross-discipline applications where the technology is not the primary focus (but it is an active enabler).
- Business
  - Almost every discipline of business out there is employing the computer and its powerful potential for graphics to further the business function. In previous talks, I've categorized the application of computer graphics in most situations as being driven by F.E.A.R.:
    - F = Fast (interactive, responsive visualization important)
    - E = Easy (reduces repetitive labor, allows high-level focus)
    - A = Accurate (accuracy and reliability crucial, such as in medicine)
    - R = Real (simulation of natural phenomena critical to believability)
  - Most business functions in many industries today rely on computer graphics solutions that are usually driven by the above categorizations in some combination / compromise (for example, accuracy may give way to speed for fast interaction - like games)
  - Expertise in the technologies available today (and tomorrow) can help career definition in many other fields (for example, medical sciences)
- Design
  - Visual design employs many tools, including powerful computer graphics systems. Some forms of design currently leading this way include graphic design, industrial design (such as automotive styling), clothing / textile design, furniture, architectural design, and movie / theater set design.
  - Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) are a growing area of graphics that is underestimated. This field really helps to make an application effective to the user because it dictates the paradigm by which work is accomplished with a program.

Note that if you don't see something you think suits your goals, then consider creating your own opportunity. This might include consulting, writing books, giving lectures, or a raft of other possibilities that you can create by bridging your talents with other business angles.

What should I do about my résumé?

I've looked at literally hundreds of rÈsumÈs in my career so far. It is hard to generalize what I think they should look like to a given job prospect, but here is what I find useful to me, personally:

Name, address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail, web address (optional)
Simple statement of employment objective - one to two short sentences at most
Experience
- three to five short descriptions of past jobs including responsibilities and delivered results
- if you have a lot of experience, make sure that the ones you list showcase a different ability in each case - state that it is a highlight rather than a total summary
- list most recent experiences first
Skills
- list skills with programming languages (C, C++, HTML,...), applications (Photoshop, Alias | Wavefront,...), operating systems (UNIX, Windows NT)
- if you have design skills (such as writing application programs), list those, too, and what problems you actually solved
- don't be exhaustive, meaning don't list every last one that you know if it's a huge list, especially if you've only used them in passing and are not an expert in them - pick the most important ones
- when I read this list, I'm looking for your ability to use a particular package, but even more important, your diversity of skills and talents
- if you have published articles, don't forget to list the most important ones and where
- don't forget to list related skills - for example, if character animation is your bag, don't forget to list your acting and storytelling experience
- if you can afford the space, don't forget one or two things not related to computing such as hobbies that show other creative sides of yourself (some people get hired simply because they had something uniquely in common with the interviewer - go figure)
Education
- list your most recent educational experiences and degrees
- if you were employed, don't forget any significant training experiences you might have had as part of your personal development (this might include SIGGRAPH Courses)

Now, here are some formatting and process hints:

if at all possible, keep your rÈsumÈ down to one page, cleanly typed and comfortably spaced (note - if you've already had a long career, one page may be too little space, but you are trading off potential appearances of rÈsumÈ fraud, so take care)
make certain that you organize the page so that it can be easily scanned
always spell check your work (and have it proofed gramatically by a trusted advisor) - nothing speaks louder than a sloppy attention to these details
do not use any casual or informal tone in your writing
an indented hierarchy (with headings) helps reading your statement
don't feel you need to include everything you've ever done - if you have way more than will fit on a page, you may wish to say things like "experience highlights"
you only get one chance to make a first impression - be careful about dressing up your page with gimmicky graphics or other unnecessary verbiage - on the other hand, don't think that content can stand alone - presentation makes a difference, too. In short - reflect who you really are, just don't over do it
remember that your rÈsumÈ may actually be scanned electronically - simple, clean, and common typefonts help optical character recognition (OCR) programs to do an accurate job
if you are submitting rÈsumÈs electronically (or posting them to the Internet), think about the types of keywords that your record contains... it may be screened even before it reaches a human viewer

Important Note - if at all possible, investigate your target job opportunities and make certain that your rÈsumÈ reflects positive attributes about yourself that will make you attractive to the employer. Find out everything you can about the opportunity and make certain that your record reflects these matches in a memorable way. Don't be modest (but don't over embellish, either) - good interviewers will detect what is really you.

Important Note - the rise of search engines like Google and Yahoo means that you are more than you are on paper. Reviewers are not limited simply to what you "say" you are on paper - if they are interested, they may check up on you by simply typing your name into a search engine. Beware! - activities you may think are separate or are innocent may actually show up on the radar of those researching you. If you have websites, entries on YouTube, or any other outlets that may reflect differently upon you than on your rÈsumÈ, then it may be wise to reflect upon whether or not you mention/explain those elements before they are "discovered" by other means. Beauty pageant contestants aside who have suffered embarrassments from their previous "photo shoots", similar stories abound from online research of applications that left different and unfavorable impressions of short-list candidates.

Do your homework on the job you want. If you need to, tailor your rÈsumÈ exactly to that opening. It will make it easier for your prospective employer to see they really want you. It is not bad to have a few different types of rÈsumÈs to fit a particular interest. In fact, if you call the human resources department of your target company, you can find out things like what open positions there are, what they call them, who makes the hiring decisions, etc. Tailoring your rÈsumÈ gives you a better chance of having your record routed to the right people, standing out high above the generic "trawling" application.

How do I demonstrate my talent to an employer?

After you have completed your rÈsumÈ, your next step is how to demonstrate all of those fantastic skills you have acquired.

In the age of the Internet, if you are searching for a job remotely (not face-to-face), it might help to establish a personal home page with examples of your work as a digital portfolio.

Portfolios, whether or not they are electronic, should showcase your talents in a simple, effective manner. Organize your best work in a way that helps your audience realize the depth and breadth of your talent and experience.

Do not overwhelm your interviewer with too many examples of the same type of work unless you know they want to see it.

Here are some things I look for in a portfolio:

good quality imagery that ties back to key points in the rÈsumÈ - don't skimp on output quality (35mm slides, high-resolution color output [inkjet or dye-sublimation])
- these days, many people create CD-ROMs or DVDs for their imagery - if you do this, don't assume the type of platform that will be used to view it - Windows versus Mac OS X can be an issue if you go outside of a Adobe PDF or JPEG/PNG file set... animation files such as AVI, FLV, MOV, MPG4, etc., can be a problem in a pinch... hence why carrying a regular physical art portfolio with a good presentation still works really well for face-to-face meetings (whipping out your laptop or imposing on theirs only slows things down sometimes)
variety to the examples, especially those that show me the degree of mastery with a type of technique or tool (for example, images of complex 3D models you may have built or texture maps that you have painted)
showcase creativity - if there is something special about a problem you solved, include a very brief description with your image to help your audience appreciate it - why should they care?
make your portfolio easy to handle and access specific examples - if you have to spend time flipping through it to find things, you'll lose the patience of your audience
if your portfolio requires unusual playback (such as a tape player for music), don't forget to take that to the interview (if you are going to an animation interview, however, they will usually have a VHS video deck [or sometimes a computer, but don't count on it] there)
if you are sending someone your portfolio for consideration, send only copies, not originals, usually in a standard format such as 8.5" x 11" (or A4)

Many people seeking jobs at SIGGRAPH conferences are looking for employment in the computer animation field. A standard portfolio that you might include with your rÈsumÈ is a demo reel (or demo tape).

Many demo tapes submitted by hopeful candidates fail them because one or more attributes below happen:

tape is too long - should be no longer than 3 minutes (much less if possible)
tape lacks production quality - if you can't reproduce good examples of your work, seek professional help (poor quality audio can be distracting, for example)
tape is unfocused - better to use one or two longer pieces that are great than a montage of shorter pieces that are bad - remember, you want to showcase specific strengths
quality is better than quantity - make certain that your mastery of the concepts of animation and production show through in your pieces... not simply that you've done a lot of animation (there is a lot of bad animation out there)
content wins over image - today it is easy to get professional looking results with tools that people can get - there is no substitute, however, for having something good to say - clever stories in animations shine through more easily than weak ones hiding behind a lot of special effects (the motion picture industry is learning this the hard way)
tape doesn't reflect anything about the animator's strengths (as listed on their rÈsumÈ) - material appeared irrelevant to type of job being considered
tape has excessive amounts of leader - if it takes too long to get through your color bars, you've probably lost the sense of investment by your reviewers
tape is not unique - reflected only class assignments and when viewed next to other applicants from that school did not stand out as original

Here's a checklist of some things to consider:

Professionally produced NTSC VHS 1/2" video cassette is the standard acceptable format, especially for an informal interview (DVD's may also be permitted but sometimes more risky due to possible incompatibilities with the format you create - don't assume reviewers are going to want to wrestle with making your content play on their computers)
Label the cassette and container with name and contact address / phone
Label the cassette with index of contents with length in minutes:seconds (mention if colorbars / tone included)
If possible, put contact information on the video tape itself as a title slate - makes it easy to identify for reviewers
DO NOT send your only MASTER tape - send a DUPLICATE
Enclosing a return envelope with postage may make things easier although it is still no guarantee of return
Don't skimp on quality - send your best, but pick and choose where you send tapes if you don't have a lot of copies to distribute
If possible, ship in a good quality, durable container (professional tape stock comes in its own locking container)- avoid fiber packing envelopes since, if damaged, the fibers could get into your tape and damage their playback equipment - they may not look at your stuff at all then!
Material should be no more than 2 to 3 minutes long, with most recent work first
Don't use copywritten music or sounds on your work - obtain written permission (and acknowledge it on the tape) or create original sound / music for it
Make certain that you create some piece of original work beyond assignments being done by your peers (otherwise it may not be memorable when viewed along side tapes from your school)
If you are submitting work from a group project, credit the others and point out exactly what you did - otherwise you may be rejected for misrepresenting yourself, especially when the work shows up on other reels

Important note - when applying for a job really important to you, make certain that you make your materials easy to handle, well organized, and complete. Make certain that you provide your rÈsumÈ, portfolio, image samples, demo tape, etc., all in the same package and all marked (minimally) with your name and contact information (in case it gets separated). Anything that could cause a reviewer to hit a speedbump in reviewing your materials (such as separate envelopes, having to get online to view something, having to find a player for an uncommon tape format, etc.) could spell doom for your chances. Make it easy. Make it delightful. Be thoughtful.

What education do I need and where can I find it?

This section is devoted to educational resources that are available to you. Skills and experience sets are covered in the next section below.

Schools

If you can, I definitely recommend exploring advanced education opportunities before jumping directly into the career fray. The greatest advantages are improving your experience and skill sets, connecting with others who share your interests, building your confidence, strengthening your discipline, and gaining access to a variety of computer equipment better than the average home office can offer.

Undergraduate and graduate degrees better position you for many types of work out in the industry. Education is an investment in your career. Tehnical positions often require a minimum of a bachelor's degree.

A tip for job seekers - if you are targeting a particular employer, you might want to see if you can find / contact any members of its staff to find out where they were educated. If you know they will be represented at a SIGGRAPH conference, for example, you might:

stop by their booth and ask questions
see if the company has any postings in a career center
be on the lookout for their employees - read those badges!
don't forget to pick up a copy of the current Program and Buyer's Guide - it lists many contact addresses throughout its pages

In a grossly simplified view of the world, there are (at least) three major areas of computer graphics practice: application, creation, and education.

Application concerns the focus of skills through the use of tools to reach a result. This applied art is often realized in architecture, art / design, computer animation, visualization, and production.

Creation (as I am loosely defining it) primarily centers around the synthesis of ideas and tools. People who are interested in this aspect usually become developers of tools in disciplines such as engineering, computer science, mathematics, and industrial research and development.

Education formally grows knowledge in areas of creation and application through the focused teaching of technology and technique. There are a growing number of institutes, universities, colleges, and design centers that specialize in delivering this type of computer graphics related education around the world.

An excellent resource listing of educational programs around the world can be found at the ACM SIGGRAPH Education Committee's website:

http://education.siggraph.org/

Listed under SIGGRAPH Education Directory on that page, this Internet tool organizes many schools by program type, area of focus, geography, and keyword search.

Classes / Learning Products

Another source of focused education comes from courses taught specifically about a given application program. People interested in learning to use a program like Adobe Photoshop have many options available to them, such as:

manufacturer certified instruction programs (usually you can find leads to this at their websites or phone their customer service numbers for help)
tutorial books / video programs (fine booksellers usually stock instructional books on many programs and you can also use Web search engines to find related resources)
specialized university / community college classes (check your local listings or explore the resources at the education site listed above)
trade shows (trade shows and conferences in certain areas of interests offer tutorials for a broad range of applications)
user-group meetings (these are more specialized, but they put you in contact with power users of a given application - consult the website or customer service line to determine if one exists for your interests)
classified ads (if you are in a remote area, you might be able to find a classified ad in a local newspaper that will connect you with people and / or resources for private tutoring - probably the least reliable source of leads, but I've seen listings made just like piano lessons, so give it a try!)

What skills and experience do I need?

This is a tough question to answer. Different jobs require different skill bases. Here are some of my thoughts on the matter.

Disciplines

Before you even embark on the other things, make certain that you have a mastery in your chosen discipline. For example, animation has a huge history beyond the computer. Make certain that you have a solid foundation in traditional animation before considering a career in it. The same goes for design, engineering, education, marketing, science - anything. Some may argue this is not necessarily true, but for those cases, they are the edge and not the norm. Do everything you can to get a grounding in your chosen field.

Basics

Basic computer knowledge is a must. As tools of your trade, you should know as much about them as you can - the more the better. You should be able to do things like move around and find things in the file system, understand how to access and control connected options on the computer, and really know how various utilities work on specific data files.

If you can, work on a number of different types of computers to generalize your experience base. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of various systems gives you an edge to using the right tools to solve your problems. Specializing with a given system may make you a real master in that area, but your flexibility (and suitability) may be limited.

Learn the terminology that applies to your areas of interest. It will make you a better communicator with your colleagues. Most important, however, is not to just learn the buzz-words. Know what they mean and why. Remember, you are selling yourself as an expert to other experts. I can usually ascertain when someone is just putting on an act versus true expertise.

Specifics

Understanding one or more programming languages is always a plus. It acquaints you with the logic of the machine and it also allows you to craft small tools that you might need to perform your job. In terms of general languages, you might think about C or C++. If you thinking about a job where there is a lot of computing, then you should be Linux / UNIX aware with some experience in using shell scripts, Perl, and tools. (Scripts are often used to automate processes.) Most DCC production houses are employing some flavor of Linux in their pipelines. Sometimes database skills are a plus such as MySQL or PostgreSQL. Familiarity with development paradigms and the tradeoffs of Waterfall versus Agile development models can also be beneficial.

If you going into graphics programming, you should know not only fundamentals of graphics, but you should be familiar with graphics toolkit libraries such as OpenGL and window libraries like X or WindowsNT. Many vendors give you choices, so you should explore what the native offerings are on a given platform used by the employer of your choice. If you're interested in the Internet phenomenon, then experience with HTML, Java, Flash, etc. seem to be a must.

If you are going into engineering or other industrial concerns, a good grounding in structured system design, computational theory, algorithms, and data structures will be key to your success. The more advanced experience you have, the greater chance you have of finding optimal solutions for problems given to you.

In general, no matter what career you seek, how you design solutions is of highest importance. In the examples above I've mentioned programming languages and tools. It is not just how you say something (programming) but what you say (design) that counts. Be a good designer of solutions.

Solid grounding in 2D and 3D graphics principles is also a major plus, especially when considering careers like animation. You should know principles like 3D viewing methods, how rendering simulations work, and what types of data representations there are for images, objects, and materials. In the 2D realm, you should know about image processing, user interfaces, and things like digital design and typography.

Application packages to know are always a big question I've gotten. "Which ones do I need to know?" Again, that's a tough question. I usually try to encourage people to learn the tools that they have the most interest in using and the ones they will have the most access to right now. Often times that means what ever they can afford on their home computers or what a school laboratory might offer.

Make certain that you are really learning the concepts behind a tool, more than just expertise in how the tool presents it to you. (I've seen students madly looking around for a certain type of button on a new application when the function they wanted was labeled as something else. If you know what you want, then you just have to find it under the new paradigm you are using.)

Projects / Scenarios

Here are some ideas to help you gain practical experience and have something to show for it when you're done:

Write an Application Program - People who are interested in programming often write something like a ray-tracing renderer. In fact, if you take a university level course on computer graphics, you will often do something like this as an assignment. Programming something like this gives you greater knowledge about the workings of a renderer and it helps to practice your organization of large software systems.
Apprentice / Intern - This is probably harder to do and more rare, but if you can, try to hook up with opportunities to work on projects that will exercise your skills. By talking with people, you may be able to network your way into an opportunity that's helpful to your growth. Caution - If you get into a situation where you might be doing work (like animation) for someone, make certain before you begin that you will be able to keep a copy for your portfolio. I have heard tales of woe where people did work essentially for free and then didn't have anything to show for it. Be clear what you want to get out of an experience before you start it! Another note - It's not bad to intern for something that is not a perfect fit. You can pick up invaluable skills with some jobs that pay huge dividends later. For example, I've heard of interns working in sales offices configuring machines for clients. This means they learned more about system administration than graphics, which was useful even if it didn't fit their original goals. Valuable lessons anyway!
Master a Technique - Some people like to specialize in a type of technique (such as texture painting). You might like to set out a goal for yourself to really learn all you can about a specific area. This might include reading journal articles, contacting researchers, writing tools, and practicing your technique on a lot of little projects of your own imagination. If you pick a variety of techniques, you will have quite an effective selling point for certain types of jobs.
Make a Movie - Do an animation that tells a story that you want to tell, not what you think others want to see. Some of the best ones I've seen from student animations are ones derived from personal experiences, family stories, cultural myths, or other interesting vignettes. If you're not good with stories, try animating a simple procedure (like how to bake a pie). Don't get too ambitious on your first try. Above all, have fun.
Build a Model - Create a 3D representation of something you want to see. If you have enough skills, you might try building a simple house or building from an architect's drawings. Remember, you don't need every detail down to the nails and electrical outlets to get a good walk through model.
Create a Web Portfolio - Organize your digital work into something you might make available on the Internet along with your rÈsumÈ. It is a helpful thing for people to be able to screen your work from a distance. Note, however, that if you are worried about protecting the copyrights of your images, you probably should not post them. Caution - don't forget to send a paper copy of everything you think is important as a portfolio sample for openings for which you are applying. Screening committees may pass over your submission because they don't have time to run to a computer and look over your site. When applying for a serious job - send them a CARE package with everything!

The important thing about these projects are that most of them are driven by your own interests. Creativity is the name of the game in the graphics industry, so sharpening yours is always a good thing.

A story from my past - I've programmed everything from databases to animation systems to huge utilities libraries. Most of the projects came from either problems other artists were trying to solve or opportunities to try out algorithms to solve a business need. Along the way I got to really practice and apply the theory that I had learned in applications of some substance. Above all, I got practice, practice, practice in programming, problem solving, application design, optimization, etc. Every time I had a chance to help others solve problems, I saw it as a chance to grow myself as well with experience.

Miscellaneous Details

A few miscellaneous details for entertainment content creation (like animation). Although I am not endorsing specific packages, here are some of the many I've seen on rÈsumÈs that show where people are learning their principles from:

Adobe Photoshop - image processing package
Autodesk AutoCAD - 2D / 3D computer aided design / drafting package
Autodesk 3D Studio MAX - 3D animation environment
Alias | Wavefront products - 3D modeling / animation software
Avid products - film / video / special effects editing systems
Electric Image products - 3D animation and rendering systems
Pixar RenderMan - 3D animation systems and languages
Softimage - 3D animation and rendering systems
Gimp - open source image processing package
Blender- open source 3D creation system

What resources are out there for me?

There are numerous resources out there for you to explore. In fact, there's probably too many of them to search, especially when trying to get a handle on your future directions.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of interesting resources to consider in your journey. Please note that these are randomly selected references and do not constitute an endorsement.

Internet

Resources on the Web:

http://www.siggraph.org

ACM SIGGRAPH - professional organization for the arts and sciences of computer graphics and interactive techniques
http://education.siggraph.org/

ACM SIGGRAPH Education Committee's site on computer graphics educational institutions around the world (follow Directory link in first menu)
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/~parent/book/preface.html

Richard Parent's online book about computer animation - technical notes on algorithms from his classes
http://mambo.ucsc.edu/links.html

UCSC Perceptual Science Laboratory's jump station to most major sites of research on computer graphics around the world (caution - graphics intensive page)

You can find more by going to Internet search engines like Google (http://www.Google.com/) and look up references on computer graphics, animation, computer visualization, etc., to find more relevant sites.

Books

Here are a few standard references on general theory and practice. Most can be ordered through your local booksellers or from Internet vendors such as Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

Foley, James D., Andries van Dam, Steven K. Feiner, John F. Hughes, Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice, 2d ed., Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Massachusetts, 1990, ISBN 0-201-12110-7

http://www.aw.com/cseng

Definitive technical reference text on the principles of 2D and 3D graphics, starting at raster graphics primitives and working up through rendering, modeling, and animation concepts. 1174 pages, including bibliography, index, and color plates.

Glassner, Andrew S., ed., An Introduction to Ray Tracing, Academic Press Inc., San Diego, 1989, ISBN 0-12-286160-4.

http://www.apnet.com

A fine, technical overview on the principles and implementation of the rendering technique known as ray tracing. World famous contributors cover topics such as algorithms, physics, sampling, implementation, and an excellent biography. 327 pages, including bibliography, index, glossary, and color plates.

Kerlow, Isaac Victor and Judson Rosebush, Computer Graphics for Designers and Artists, Second Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1996, ISBN 0-471-28808-X.

http://catalog.wiley.com

An introduction of computer graphics principles and practice as related to the design processes of graphic designers and artists. Liberal illustrations and patiently clear descriptions cover terminology in easy to understand chapters. 306 pages, including bibliography, index, and color plates.

Masson, Terrence., CG 101: A Computer Graphics Industry Reference, New Riders, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1999, ISBN 0-7357-0046-X

http://www.peachpit.com/

A new reference guilde detailing numerous elements of the computer graphics industry including various job descriptions, demo reel guidelines, a timeline for computer graphics milestones, current and past CG company profiles, and many stories from the industry. 500 pages, including references, glossaries, index, and many plates (black and white, color).

Rogers, David F., Procedural Elements for Computer Graphics, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1985, ISBN 0-07-053534-5

http://mcgraw-hill.inforonics.com

Excellent basic technical text for college level introductory course on computer graphics. Covers basic raster graphics through brief descriptions of rendering algorithms. Even as an older text, it still covers basic implementation algorithms in thorough detail. 443 pages, including references, exercises, index, and color plates.

Watt, Alan and Mark Watt, Advanced Animation and Rendering Techniques: Theory and Practice, ACM Press, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Massachusetts, 1992, ISBN 0-201-54412-1

http://www.aw.com/cseng

Review of state of the art techniques in rendering and animation aimed at advanced students, professionals, and implementors. Techniques and theory covered in sufficient detail to enable implementation, including sample code from case studies. 455 pages, including bibliography, index, and color plates.

Numerous texts exist for specific application programs available for personal computers. Popular applications, such as Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk 3D Studio Max, have books by experienced professionals who sometimes include diskettes or CD-ROMs with electronic images and exercises. Be careful to note which version of a book you are purchasing if the program is available for both Windows and Apple Macintosh computers.

For animators, a must is:

Thomas, Frank and Ollie Johnston, Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. Abbeville Press, New York, 1981, ISBN 0-89659-232-4 (deluxe version 0-89659-233-2)

The definitive coffee table volume on the magic of animation, Disney style. This is a must because it helps you to really begin to think about the appearances, rhythms, and gestures we have come to expect of character animation. Recommended even if you are not considering animation as a career. 575 pages, including index and color plates.

Journals / Periodicals

Animation Magazine - http://www.animationmagazine.net - monthly magazine covering the whole industry of animation - from classical to computer and beyond.
Computer Graphics World - http://www.cgw.com - monthly magazine dedicated to reporting the latest in 3D graphics - CAD, Animation, Visualization, Virtual Reality, and Multimedia. The PennWell Publishing Company - http://www.pennwell.com - also publishes Digital Magic, Electronic Publishing, and Computer Artist.
Digital Imaging - email: mpn@designlink.com - bimonthly magazine that focuses on the industry of digital imaging and production.
IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (CG&A) - http://computer.org/cga - bimonthly technical journal covering the spectrum of theory and practice in computer graphics - thought-provoking columns by mega-luminaries Jim Blinn and Andrew Glassner each issue.
WIRED - http://www.wired.com - hip monthly magazine that spans the whole galaxy of the digital revolution - cover articles get right to the point with industry movers and shakers like George Lucas and Steve Jobs.

A number of specialty journals and magazines exist for sub-specialties in the field. Check in with people you meet to see what they read.

Conferences / Trade Shows

SIGGRAPH - an annual, international conference that attracts anywhere between 25 - 50,000 graphics practitioners to a week of presentations, discussions, festivals, trade exhibitions, and experiences. For career seekers, it is the Mecca to see, meet, and mingle with the industry's finest - special services like career centers and job fairs take place for registered attendees. Check out: http://www.siggraph.org
Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) - a popular conference focused on the video and computer entertainment market. Developers, content creators, distributors, vendors, etc. all converge to wheel and deal in the market that generated some $6.3 billion (1998) in the United States alone. Check out: http://www.e3expo.com
National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) - an annual conference and tradeshow for the radio and television industries as sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters. Computer graphics as a technology and medium is making its way into this group. Check out: http://www.nab.org
COMDEX - mega-mega-event of the computer and electronics industry. If you've done Comdex in the Fall, then you've been to Las Vegas where it takes over vast regions of the city and the mind. Comdex has other incarnations throughout the year, all designed to be the launching points for the year's newest products. Check out: http://www.comdex.com

Admittedly, these references are North America centric.

Europeans can check out the activities of Eurographics (http://www.eg.org) and Imagina (http://www.ina.fr/Imagina).

Members of the Pacific rim can check out the likes of the Digital Content Association of Japan (DCAJ) (http://www.dcaj.org/outline/english/index.html) formally known as NICOGRAPH.

Special Interest Groups

There are many special interest groups out there for computer graphics. The ones I've participated in the most have to do with the Professional Chapters of ACM SIGGRAPH. These groups, organized throughout the world, serve to bring computer graphics professionals together to network and further their interest in the state of the art.

Check out this website for a chapter near you: http://www.siggraph.org/chapters/

Personal Pearls of Wisdom

Here are some personal opinions I've formed over the years. There is no formula for success, although I think common sense (whatever that is) is a thread throughout these points.

Working with computers is not for everyone. They test your patience, your attention to details, your values, and your sense of fun. They are a tool that can simultaneously do many wonderful and cruel things to your life. Your spirit can drain away with these digital vampires, although I contend that it's not so much the machine as it is the personality type in front of it. It's easy to get totally immersed in the task. Sometimes the results are exhilarating. Other times they're downright depressing. Be ready for the roller coaster and some really hard work.

Remember, you define the reward from the machine. Not the other way around.

Okay, you've been warned. I like to check with people that I talk to so that they're not surprised later by the hard work ahead. It's not fatal for most of us, but it sometimes can have some tricky lessons buried in the journey.

If you're still with me, here's what I think:

Be excellent at what you do - whatever you do, do it really well. Expand all of your strengths. Also, one of the biggest aces in the hole is to have a large number of differing strengths to draw upon - versatility. Personally, I call this being a multi-disciplined** individual. Characteristics of some of the most talented people I know is that they have a wide variety of interests that keep them going. Usually these unrelated interests form a complementary and balanced foundation for creative work. Mathematicians are often great musicians. Great animators have a good sense of rhythm and movement (like dance and acting). I come from both an art and science background. Every unique talent and experience you have can be applied in some of the most interesting situations. Don't specialize too early. Don't ignore your hobbies, for example, as areas of interest to develop. The bottom line is to invest in many places - it can pay off later in many ways!

**Mutli-discipline - to me this means having good knowledge and mastery in more than one discipline. However, take care how you represent yourself. Don't assume that if you have dabbled in an art or science that you can pass yourself as an expert if you are not. People have washed out of jobs, for example, because they mis-matched their skill / experience levels with what was actually required.

Network with people - engage people as much as you can, especially at events like SIGGRAPH conferences. All of these people have great dreams, ideas, projects, and other contacts that might really benefit from what you have to offer. After all, you're looking for jobs where you can make a difference (and pay the light bill, but that's not nearly as fun). You would be amazed at how even the smallest scraps of information can make a huge difference in your careers. Keep your eyes and ears open. If you are sincere when approaching people, you will make some amazing connections. In this business, people skills are a must.

Be honest - know your own limits. If you oversell yourself, you can easily burn yourself out and damage your reputation. If you are in a production situation, it doesn't help to say yes all the time when you really know it should be no. When you interview, it's important to sell yourself, but really skilled interviews can tell when you're lying. Don't think you can easily catch onto everything you'll need. Bluffing can only lead to a crash and burn situation. Also, you need to be honest with yourself as much as you have to with others. Be clear about what you want and how you're going to get it.

Be realistic - know what you want to do and have at least one backup plan. If something doesn't pan out, figure out how much you are going to keep trying to get it. That's why having all of those other backup talents is important. Not only can it help keep the lights on and food on the table, but it can save your sanity. Competitive tendencies are amplified by computers, I think, so you're going to meet some egos wherever you go. Don't forget to pack a parachute. You'll be happy you did.

Be committed - know what your passions are for computer graphics and live them deeply. Many people I run into don't even know what really gets them going in life. The ones I've met who know what these passions are for themselves are highly successful and balanced individuals. Since computer graphics demands such a huge amount of focus, attention, patience, etc., I've come to realize that only the most hearty and most committed really do well here. If you love what you do, the rest will eventually come.

Exercise your creativity - just like all other aspects of your health, you have to get out there and run your creativity around the track once in a while. If you don't, it just wastes away like muscle. Part of keeping fit creatively is tied to your passion about what you're doing. In computer graphics, people go to SIGGRAPH conferences to touch base with the common passions we share and to re-energize themselves for the coming year. Now, doctors will tell you that you should exercise more than once a year to make any difference in your health, so you should continue to take care of yourself so that you and your future employer are successful for many years to come. Figure out how you can keep your creativity up and you will always be a sought after resource.

Never stop growing - along with keeping your creativity fresh is the notion that you will never know everything there is to know for your work. Keeping yourself engaged, especially in those diverse, unrelated areas of your life will keep you really going in your work life. Don't be afraid to try things or see things you've not done before in your life. As rich as our SIGGRAPH community is, for example, some of its greatest advancements have come from outside thinking, because these people solved problems with solutions that weren't constrained by inside thinking rules. In other words, I think we will only advance as far as those who are doing the advancement are willing to grow and take risks. As I am constantly reminded by my parents - "nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Acknowledgements

I'd like to thank my SIGGRAPH reviewers for their help and contributions to this document:

Aliza Corson - Los Angeles SIGGRAPH Professional Chapter Chair
Mk Haley - SIGGRAPH 2008 Conference Director of Encounters
Scott Senften - SIGGRAPH 2002 Emerging Technologies Chair

I'd also like to thank the many friends and people I've met along the way who helped me in the SIGGRAPH world. Some of this work is a gift from them, too.

Good luck to you in your future career!

Samurai John 8^)

ACM SIGGRAPH Career Handbook

wobbe — Wed, 11 Jul 2001 04:00:00 +0000

The Career Handbook was published in 1991, and contains some dated material (e.g., much of the company information is probably out of date). However, we would like to make other material in this Handbook available to you. Thus, Stephan Keith has graciously converted the Handbook to a .pdf file and this can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader.

PDF (1.7 MB)

CGI Training for the Entertainment Film Industry

wobbe — Sun, 01 Feb 1998 05:00:00 +0000

As the digital film industry matures, the education needed to become part of it also evolves and shifts. We must therefore rethink how we educate future digital entertainment workers.

Jacquelyn Ford Morie
Blue Sky|VIFX

Copyright © 1998 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Reprinted from IEEE COMPUTER GRAPHICS AND APPLICATIONS 0272-1716/98/$10.00 © 1998 IEEE
Vol. 18, No. 1: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1998, pp. 30-37

This material is posted here with permission of the IEEE. Internal or personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution must be obtained from the IEEE by sending a blank email message to pubs-permissions@ieee.org.

By choosing to view this document, you agree to all provisions of the copyright laws protecting it.

Download as PDF (134 kb)

Contact Morie at Blue Sky|VIFX, 5333 McConnell Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90066, e-mail jacki [at] bluesky-vifx [dot] com.

Consider a snapshot from 1996: A bright young woman has just earned a degree from a prestigious art college, majoring in computer animation (a program her school started four years ago). She is looking for her first job. An excellent student artist, top in her class, she does not know how to program. She is being courted by all the major West Coast studios and has retained an attorney to get her the best possible deal (among other things, a starting salary in the $60,000 range).

Cut back to 1990, just six years earlier: A recent graduate is trying to find a job. He studied computer graphics as an art student and created some respectable short animations. He took a class in general programming but not graphics programming. He is not even looking at the big companies in Hollywood because they seek only experienced people. Instead, he sends out resumes to and visits small "boutique" production companies in the Southeast or Midwest--any place that will let him get a foot in the door.

Cut back further, to 1986: A student has just graduated with a Master's degree in computer science. He has always been interested in art, but never thought of it as a way to make a living. He did his graduate project work in NSF-funded simulation techniques. He attends Siggraph 1986 in Dallas, resume in hand. He lands a job programming for a newly formed small production company, hoping to make it big doing computer-generated imagery (CGI) for the film industry.

Finally, cut back to 1975: A talented, creative computer science student wants to explore computer graphics' animation potential. His thesis, funded by the DOD, describes a way to render images on the computer with something called a "z-buffer." His school approaches a large animation company about an exchange program that brings a student to the company to learn the industry and a company animator to the school to learn new technology. The company's animation division isn't interested in computer animation and the exchange does not work out. The graduate student--Ed Catmull--goes on to found a premier computer animation company.

A BIT OF HISTORY

The above scenarios illustrate actual examples of people trying to get computer graphics jobs in the entertainment industry. You may recognize yourself among them, depending on when you started in computer graphics. Barely three decades old, the computer graphics field has been through enormous changes. Possibilities and experimentation have evolved into commonly used and widely accepted tools to create effects, images, and characters for films. The education needed to succeed in the digital entertainment industry has also changed. The early emphasis on technical skills, especially computer science, has broadened to include a strong focus on art and animation skills. The reasons for this necessitate looking at the industry and education over the last twenty or so years.

While this article primarily addresses the entertainment film industry, that industry offered few digital production jobs before 1992. We must therefore consider the role that television commercials (and those ubiquitous "flying logos") played in the development and adoption of digital technology in the film industry. In addition to theatrical motion pictures, the fast-growing digital film industry now produces a wide variety of film-based entertainment, from ride simulators to large-format special-venue theaters such as OmniMax and Imax.

Industry: 1975

In 1975, computer graphics had been around little more than a decade. Because the field was so new, it did take a rocket scientist to do the work required for computer graphics. Few basic tools existed, and computer graphics specialists invented the tools they needed from the technical and mathematical ground up. Only those who could write the code could tell the machine what to do artistically.

Hollywood knew little about this fledgling area. The biggest advances involved 2D graphics, and in the 1970s the few movies that employed CGI used either on-screen graphics (simulating what would be seen on a computer terminal or screen readout in a spaceship, for example) or 2D computer imagery. By 1975 CGI had been used in only two major films. In 1973, Westworld featured scenes that showed audiences the world viewed by the eye circuitry of a synthetic human (played by a very real Yul Brenner) in a future Western theme park. This effect was achieved with 2D computer graphics tools mostly derived from image processing techniques. The 1974 sequel to Westworld, Futureworld, used 3D CGI.

Using 3D CGI extensively in films remained a dream. Few in the movie industry believed in CGI, but academic researchers around the country sought to create viable tools. Because no one knew what could be done with CGI, it was considered extremely risky, and also very expensive. Making a film was already an expensive endeavor; using budding CGI technology could significantly increase the overall cost, even if it did manage to get done on time and not delay the film's release date.

In the meantime, television embraced the fledgling computer graphics industry. CGI examples tended to be quite short because the technology was highly technical and tedious, with long rendering times needed to get good-looking images. Short formats, however, worked well for TV with its 30-second commercials and program openers. Also, rendering for broadcast required considerably less resolution than film--about one-tenth the number of pixels per frame--and therefore less time as well.

Then as now, commercials had to grab the audience's attention before they launched the sales pitch. Computer graphics offered a new, glitzy way to do just that, and the advertising industry had the money to spend on it. The digital film industry owes a great deal to advertising's need for something new to captivate audiences. Companies doing primarily TV commercial work proliferated in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

These companies had relatively few artists on staff, however. They needed technically versed workers to write new code and manipulate technology into doing things it hadn't done before. The commercials' artistic design generally came from the CGI company's contracting agency--usually a prestigious ad agency that could afford CGI's high price. Most companies thus had one or, more likely, no artists on staff. Among the few exceptions, Triple-I (Information International, Inc.) had three: Richard Taylor, Art Durinski, and John Whitney, Jr.

Industry: 1986

By 1986, thanks to all the work done for commercials, digital technology had made inroads in the film industry--but the work force hadn't changed much. The chances were still high that whatever was needed for a particular shot had never been done and required new code. This called for programmers, not artists. If a company did hire an artist, it was typically as an art director, working alongside the programmers to help them understand and translate an artistic vision into code. Few people could claim to be both scientists and artists at this time (although some schools were starting to train well-rounded people who would play pivotal roles in the digital film industry's future).

During this decade, the quality of images generated by CGI rose substantially. In addition, people who worked on traditional effects (optical and physical) began working in the digital realm. As CGI infiltrated the film community, commercial CGI creators also learned more about the way films were made.

Looking back, 1981 was a milestone year for digital film, with 3D computer graphics in two major films. In Michael Crichton's film Looker, Susan Dey's character needed to obtain physical perfection as embodied by a computer program's ideal 3D representation of her. Based on their work for Futureworld, Triple-I won the task of creating this 3D figure. Though not a box office success, Looker showed the new medium's potential.

Also released in 1981 (and also not a box office success), Tron used 3D computer graphics extensively in both concept and actuality. Although traditional optical effects created the characters' look, the film used the most CGI to date--it took four major CGI companies to achieve it all. The light cycles were done by Magi, the solar sailor ship by Triple-I, the Tron title logo and wireframe world by Robert Abel and Associates, and the bit character and Tron opener by Digital Effects.

The next landmark was The Last Starfighter (1985). Digital Productions created an astounding 27 minutes of CGI for this film. Unfortunately, the film's success did not translate into success for the company; Digital Productions closed in 1986.

Besides generating original imagery, CGI began to make inroads into another traditional effects mainstay, optical compositing, or the layering of foreground and background elements within a single scene using analog film equipment called optical printers. Digital compositing had its start in the early 1980s. It had been tried early on in the movie Flash Gordon at an optical printing house run by Frank Vander Veers. Both the early Digital Scene Simulation system and the Pixar Image Processing Computer (developed in 1982 by the Lucasfilm Computer Division) further developed the technology for digital compositing, and slowly the idea took hold in Hollywood. Digital compositing offered many benefits, chief among them a simplified production pipeline that did not involve shooting, processing, and aligning many layers of filmstock.

In the late 1980s, illusion--once the domain of highly skilled artists creating matte paintings or constructing miniatures, and skilled film industry specialists putting the elements together with optical printers--became the domain of physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists, and electrical engineers. About two-thirds of the key people in the digital effects industry in the 1980s came from these disciplines.

Unfortunately, the decade that saw the meteoric rise of so many CGI companies also witnessed their demise. Within a fairly short period of time, four of the largest CGI houses--Abel, Cranston/Csuri Productions, Omnibus, and Digital Productions--closed their doors. Their high overhead and the rapid pace of innovation made it impossible for them to survive. (Digital Productions' Cray computer reportedly cost $250,000 per month in upkeep.) The entertainment industry was not willing to pay exorbitant capitalization expenses or research and development costs. Work moved to smaller companies that could operate on more traditional budgets.²

Despite its successes, producers and directors still did not trust CGI. A Siggraph 88 panel, "The Reality of Computer Graphics in the Motion Picture Industry," considered various directions CGI might take. Several participants urged exploring it more for its storyboarding capabilities than its potential for generating original images.

In preparation for this panel, Richard Hollander, owner of a company that produced on-screen visuals and video displays for the movie industry, informally surveyed movie people in person and by phone on the state of the industry. The good news was that everyone knew what CGI was. The bad news was they repeatedly commented on the great expense and that CGI had a unique look appropriate for a limited range of film styles. The industry decision-makers did not see beyond CGI's existing uses, and many remembered the high cost and box office failures of movies that relied too heavily on CGI.³

Alex Singer, a veteran Hollywood director and currently a director on Star Trek Voyager, has followed technology's progress and potential for some time. In a phone conversation, he remarked about this period in Hollywood:

Everybody was learning. The artists and programmers were learning how to create things that had never been seen before. The producers and directors were learning that this new thing was out there, even if they didn't trust it at all. Even the audiences were learning--much like Citizen Kane was not a commercial success when it came out (for 10 years) because the audience was not sophisticated enough to know what it was looking at. Tron was a failure, not only because of a bad story, but in a contributory way because the audience was not tuned into the subject matter.

We could call the 1980s the startup decade for CGI in film. It enhanced such commercial successes as Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (the death star hologram), Star Trek: Wrath of Khan (the Genesis effect), and Young Sherlock Holmes (the stained-glass man). The Abyss typified the decade's end, offering a prime example of a major director (James Cameron) taking a chance, but not too big a chance. Had the CGI effects for the pseudopod water face scene not worked out, it would not have affected the movie's schedule or success. The fact that it did work convinced Cameron that this tool, if used well, could deliver.

Industry: 1990

The early 1990s saw major growth for CGI in films. The Abyss' success convinced Cameron that he could successfully undertake a new film that relied heavily on digital effects and, in fact, could not be made without them. The 1992 film Terminator 2 proved to be not only a box office smash but also the turning point that convinced the film industry that CGI was indeed a reliable tool.

In his keynote address to the 1991 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers tutorial "Issues in Advanced Motion Imaging," James Cameron talked about CGI achieving respectability after many years of "hard work." He also discussed his experiences with The Abyss and Terminator 2. What surprised him about The Abyss was that each company vying for the job proposed very different techniques to create the effect. Happy with the work Industrial Light and Magic did, Cameron described himself as "intoxicated" with the technology's possibilities, prompting him to take the big step with Terminator 2. But he also said this about the practitioners of the digital arts:

You (digital) effects guys know too much. You're getting like doctors--too much knowledge and not enough bedside manner.⁴

CGI made significant inroads in film as awareness and demand grew. Many films in the early 1990s used large amounts of CGI technology, including Batman Returns, Alien 3, Jurassic Park, The Lawnmower Man, Death Becomes Her, Toys, In the Line of Fire, The Mask, and Forrest Gump. Companies specializing in CGI were finally in demand and had to find more talent to keep up with the new and hectic pace. And, just maybe, they were starting to develop some bedside manners.

Industry: 1996

By 1996 CGI, by most accounts, had come of age. Moving beyond just usefulness, CGI had become an essential film industry tool for simulating dangerous or costly effects and for the final digital compositing of all separate elements.

Besides effects and compositing, CGI's role in entertainment also grew with the resurgence of the animated feature film. While some companies tried early on to make animation cheaper to produce with CGI, innovations by Disney's Feature Animation Division in the 1980s and 1990s enabled CGI to enrich the look of animation in ways not necessarily cheaper, but better. One involved achieving an unlimited number of layers in the digital multiplaning technique (prohibitively expensive in its traditional form and limited by the buildup of density of the numerous cel layers when stacked). Another involved replicating single character elements, essentially animated once, into flocks, herds, and crowds. Animated features' new popularity may stem in part from the new richness computer graphics techniques bring to animation.

In 1995, an entirely computer-animated feature film, Toy Story, marked a major digital milestone. Created jointly by Pixar and Walt Disney Feature Animation, this film's success took many by surprise. For many years the Pixar group had been creating cutting-edge short computer films such as Tin Toy and Luxo, Jr. Later they delved into commercial work, focusing on character animation. The Pixar team, widely acknowledged as the world's best CGI character animators, seemed well suited to step up to a feature-length film. Toy Story's success motivated more than one Hollywood company to start developing in-house CGI animated features.

This growth, and the entertainment industry's confidence in mature CGI, spurred intense demand for talent to fill the growing ranks of CGI companies between 1994 and 1996. Top students were often pulled from schools before they completed their education; others were hired immediately upon graduation. Companies searched the world to find the talent they needed. In fact, the only area that grew as fast during these years was the human resource departments tasked with all the recruiting and hiring.

But it has been quite difficult to find the talent the industry needs, even though in sheer numbers more students are looking for work than there are jobs. While hundreds of schools now offer CGI programs or courses, a disparity exists between a graduating student's knowledge and what employers desire. We can further explore some of the many reasons for this disparity by examining what was going on in the academic world in the same years we examined for industry.

Academia: 1975

In the 1970s, few schools offered formal study in computer graphics for the entertainment industry. Those that did typically offered a course or two in their computer science or electrical engineering departments, usually at a graduate level. Few art departments had funding or equipment for computer graphics classes. Graduate students lucky enough to find funding for computer graphics research often worked on Department of Defense computer simulation projects, the primary application for this new field. The other major source of funding in the 1970s was the National Science Foundation. Both groups funded pure research projects and typically let students select the topic and direction they wished to pursue. Since computer graphics was such a young field, it provided many challenging problems for student researchers.

The rare entertainment company wanting to use some form of CGI did not hire off the street; it looked to the schools engaged in CGI research. Among the most prominent in the 1970s were the New York Institute of Technology (paint and 2D animation systems), Ohio State University (animation), the University of Utah (real-time graphics, 3D modeling and viewing, human animation, and frame buffers), and Cornell University (color and rendering). The entertainment industry sometimes collaborated with students and researchers to address key industry problems. An example of such collaboration was the rendering program Utah researcher Frank Crow wrote for Triple-I.

In the 1970s, then, the CGI "jobs" in the entertainment industry existed mainly under the academic umbrella. Most decision makers in entertainment saw CGI as "interesting stuff, but not for us right now." Few other than students and researchers were willing to risk their reputations creating a whole new technology whose destiny they could not foresee.

Academia: 1986

By the mid-1980s, several schools had started fusion programs aimed at teaching basic artistic and technical concepts. Sheridan College in Ontario, Canada, had developed a successful computer animation program. The University of Illinois at Chicago's Electronic Visualization MFA program, started in 1980, balanced technical and artistic training in a joint effort between engineering, computer science, and art and design departments. Ohio State University's computer graphics program offered perhaps the best example of how to prepare students for the entertainment world. In conjunction with Cranston/Csuri Productions (C/CP), this art education program provided ideal training for many current entertainment industry leaders. Why did it work so well? The answer lies in a balanced combination of art, education, computer science, and production experience.

Students in the Ohio State program were mostly art education majors working in the Computer Graphics Research Group (CGRG), which had been active for more than a decade. This group included computer science, art, and education majors, all expected to understand how to program and use the custom-written software constantly being revised by group members. Most thesis work focused on ways to teach computer graphics. Not surprisingly, many of today's best computer graphics educators are graduates of this program.

C/CP, a full-fledged CGI production company cofounded by Ohio State professor Charles Csuri, offered students hands-on learning in a production environment. This complemented classwork by allowing them to apply CGI concepts to real-world problems. It also gave them invaluable experience working with directors, budgets, and schedules to develop production skills demanded by the industry but seldom if ever taught in school.

Besides attending OSU or another key "fusion" school, two basic options existed for someone wanting to go into CGI. Many took the "learn it on your own" path--begging for computer time after hours in production facilities or taking any entry-level position just to be near the technology and learn. Others majored in either art or computer science, to the exclusion of the other, hoping to get a foot in the door with the basic degree and pick up other skills on the job. Computer science remained the best option, since most companies still needed workers adept at handling unfriendly and constantly changing production software.

By the mid-1980s, many educators agreed on the need for interdisciplinary studies in computer graphics. At Siggraph 84, more than 200 people attended a two-day course, "Interdisciplinary Issues in Art and Design." Vibeke Sorensen, a long-time computer graphics teacher and one of the course organizers, listed 31 schools "leading the way" in CGI in 1984, making no distinction between CS and art schools. This made sense in light of the session's goal to find ways to merge the art and science of computer graphics into one harmonious course of study.

This course resurfaced at Siggraph 87 as a one-day Educators' Workshop on "Teaching Computer Graphics: An Interdisciplinary Approach." For teachers trying to establish or improve their computer graphics programs, this course represented the best of CG education. It featured detailed descriptions of programs and courses, syllabi and sample curricula, and lists of resources such as books, magazines, and journals. It included articles like "Why Artists Should Learn to Program" by University of Oregon art professor Craig Hickman and information on where graduates were getting work--many at Hollywood's main entertainment companies.

The Siggraph Education Committee emerged in the 1980s as well. Siggraph's mission has always been to educate, but many practitioners found themselves going into teaching with few resources. To bring computer graphics educators in all disciplines together and share ideas and resources, Siggraph members Steve Cunningham and Judy Brown (themselves teachers) founded the Education Committee. This committee has documented schools providing computer graphics training for the past 13 years. A 1989 Siggraph Computer Graphics special issue on careers in computer graphics⁵ listed 145 schools teaching computer concepts and systems (most in computer science departments) and 154 teaching computer graphics in arts, architecture, design, or communications programs. This doubled the number of schools listed in a 1984 committee study.

This special issue also included job profiles, two of the 13 in entertainment: technical director and director of special projects for a CGI house. This fairly represented the percentage of entertainment jobs within CG in 1989 (other listings ranged from independent consultant to aerospace scientist to system software professional). This detailed information proved invaluable not only to students seeking work but also to teachers, and helped spark the creation of even more new academic computer graphics programs.

Academia: 1990

By the 1990s, hundreds of schools had some sort of computer graphics program, many targeting entertainment as their students' professional destination. Students especially were drawn to this glamorous new area, having seen exciting CGI effects in popular films. Studios began to provide limited, highly competitive internships almost certain to lead to permanent jobs for students with the appropriate talent and personality. While most film industry jobs still advertised for people with three to five years of experience, any student determined and talented enough could hope to end up with a job somewhere in the industry eventually. Most entry-level jobs, however, were at small boutique production companies around the country where students could gain the experience needed for Hollywood.

In the early 1990s, many technical and vocational schools focused on bringing students up to speed quickly. Spurred by students' demands to get into this industry fast, and their willingness to pay, these schools provided programs ranging from six months to two years. High tuition permitted these places to offer newer equipment and industry-level software that many colleges could not. However, they also emphasized training on specific commercial software. Studios buried in work sought students who had logged many hours on an up-to-date system. Some companies advertised for jobs such as "Wavefront Operator"--many postings listed specific hardware or software--and students took classes to become just that. If studios couldn't get what they really wanted, they could at least hire someone who knew the software.

In this atmosphere, university teachers had difficulty convincing students to spend additional years learning subjects that did not seem pertinent. Often, students settled for a university over a trade school only because of the cost difference. Fueling students' impatience was what I call the "software vendor trap"; as a panelist at the Siggraph 97 Education Panel put it, "If you get an outfit, you can be a cowboy too" (after a humorous Smothers Brothers song). Some students felt that knowing one software package made them ready for work, without understanding that they possessed only a small part of the knowledge and skills required. A student in my program at Ringling School of Art and Design was convinced by a software salesman (from a company no longer in business) to take his next year's tuition and buy their system--it was all he needed to start his own business. The student did so but was back at the school's door within the year, having learned the hard way that he did not have the training he needed.

Academia: 1996

By 1996, anyone with talent and some software skills could get hired somewhere, with exceptionally talented graduates often the target of bidding wars. Some companies, recognizing the schools that consistently turned out well-trained students, started recruiting them well before graduation, sometimes hiring students who still had two years to finish. Some students thus started looking for work as soon as they had something on their demo reels. Many, reading about animators' incredible salaries, hired attorneys to negotiate the best deal, even seeking signing bonuses.

All this has prompted even more schools to jump on the bandwagon in the last two years and start programs focusing on computer graphics for entertainment. In California, hit hard by the lack of talent to fuel the industry's rapid expansion, nearly a dozen new programs have sprung up this past year alone. The State of California encourages schools and studios trying to generate workers for the industry by initiating discussions, meetings, and funding programs.

TODAY

The picture has changed dramatically over just the last year. Studios have reached the expansion targets they set in the last few years. The hiring has, with few exceptions, slowed to a trickle; companies are laying off workers and even closing their doors. Graduating students are amazed to find no jobs when they go looking. While a studio may still hire a graduate whose work shows real star quality, this often comes at the expense of someone hired in the last several years who is not making the grade (remember those kids who only knew one software package?). We are seeing a shakedown in the industry both in the quality of digital artists a studio wants to keep and in the number of CGI facilities able to stay in business.

Where does this put us in terms of the education needed to work in this ever-changing but essentially mature industry? We must examine current job categories and requisite skills, how studios work with entry-level artists, and how education and industry can better prepare the next generation of digital film workers.

Types of jobs available

CGI jobs in the late 1990s tend toward increasing specialization, with many different job titles. These jobs do still require some cross-over, however, and students would benefit from a thorough understanding of the whole production process. A survey of job titles and categories from major studios' recent recruiting brochures yields the following examples:

technical directors for motion, modeling, and lighting
effects and character animators
digital artists such as 3D texture painters, concept artists, compositors, and rotoscope, matte, and inferno artists
software developers for 2D and 3D production tools and software to maintain studio infrastructure
systems workers including networking specialists and system administrators
entry-level positions such as I/O positions, scanning, data wranglers, and output

As an example, let's consider what today's ideal entry-level digital artist--say, an animator--would look like. He or she would possess a range of skills and qualities; I've listed the most important, distilled from studio recruitment brochures, personal experience, and industry publications. Desired artistic skills include

a solid foundation of art training
excellent draftsman/illustration skills
intuitive understanding of movement and emotional nuances
understanding of animation principles

Desired technical skills include

demonstrable experience with major software packages (preferably more than one)
good working knowledge of Unix
thorough grounding in CGI concepts
ability to write scripts
mathematical skills and ability to write mathematical expressions

Underlying these technical and artistic skills are social and success skills critical for all jobs in the digital film industry's team-based production structure, such as

excellent written and verbal communication skills
teamwork
ability to take direction and criticism
understanding of the production process and how this job fits within it
keen critical thinking and aesthetic skills
flexibility, adaptability, and a desire to learn and grow

The rise of studio training programs

It would be great if graduating students actually matched the description above, but few do. Not only do the studios recognize this, students themselves often find out as soon as they start interviewing.

An article written by two recent graduates for the Siggraph Educators' Newsletter in 1992 ("What Do You Do When You Are Done?"), discussed the lack of standardization among CGI programs. They stated, "This lack of standardization makes many graduates feel that everything they never had is all they need." Traditionally, studio training for new hires occurred on the job. New employees were typically given a basic orientation and then, if they were lucky, put under the tutelage of a more experienced worker. Far more often, new hires had to find things out on their own, befriending a sympathetic colleague (or two or three) who could guide them through the company's working procedures. However, as the ratio of new to seasoned people increased, this system could not absorb the new workers as fast as needed.

ILM's Barry Armour explains one main reason companies had to start in-house training, even for experienced people: "The variation in work environment from company to company means that there is no such thing as a new employee who doesn't need a good deal of training or a lot of time to familiarize themselves with the tools to be productive."⁶ He suggests a one- to six-month ramp-up period is fairly common.

However, long ramp-up times have their own problems. A company must keep a new employee around long enough to recoup their sizable investment. This has impacted the traditional film model of studios hiring freelancers when work is heavy and laying them off when it slowsCGI people are brought in to stay, for the most part. Beyond the differences in production software and procedures, most companies have discovered that new hires (and even some experienced ones) just do not know all they should. Because senior people often must explain basic concepts to team members, most CGI companies have instituted substantial internal training programs to bring people up to speed.

Disney, one of the first to develop such in-house training, started an animation internship in the 1980s. In this program, about as long as a typical semester, Disney trained young art students in traditional animation. There was no guarantee of a job at the end, but top interns might be offered entry-level openings. In 1994, when Disney realized it must find a way to hire good computer animators and technical directors, it hired me to create an intensive three-month training program. This program differed from the traditional internship in that the trainees, as they were called, were actually under contractthe demand for good students was high. Also, in addition to learning computer techniques, trainees undertook a traditional animation regimen including weekly life drawing classes. Each trainee had a CGI mentor who was an established artist in the trainee's discipline. One or two traditional animation mentors were also assigned to the group, as very few schools provided traditional animation training in their computer programs.

Other studios have followed suit, setting up entry-level training programs. These not only teach software and specific production techniques but also provide regular or specially scheduled "enrichment" classes such as life drawing, acting and movement classes, sculpture classes, and lectures or workshops.

Lectures and special classes help address what I see as a lack of related competencies needed to fully understand CGI and its role in the film industry. These include basic computer graphics concepts, from modeling methods to rendering techniques; few people come in with the whole CGI picture. Other competencies include knowledge of film, lighting, and color concepts, and of the physics and math behind effects and natural phenomena. For example, a technical director writing Renderman shaders needs to comprehend the artistry of lighting, that is, how lights work within a scene to achieve the desired effect, and how to specify colors in a precise yet aesthetically pleasing way.

Getting that first job

Not everyone can get into the limited access studio training programs. But most young hopefuls seeking a job still do not have all the skills they need. What can they do?

Commercial training facilities might provide part of the answer. Once established to help production artists gain and update skills, these companies now must choose whether to become "finishing schools" for graduating students who need more information to be hirable. Many are establishing concept-based classes in response to studios' concerns about the lack of basic conceptual knowledge. Students may not recognize that they need this and pay money for it until they have spent some time unsuccessfully searching for jobs.

Some students can, and should, go on to graduate school; many more students are hired out of graduate programs than undergraduates. Young artists can also look at successful undergraduate programs, see what classes they might not have had, and try to enroll in them. In addition, especially in California, some universities offer digital film-specific extension classes. Professional society memberships are extremely important and provide valuable knowledge and resources often not available in formal academic programs. Finally, industry hopefuls must realize that they may need to start at the bottom, much like the kids who took work as janitors in the 1980s.

FOR THE FUTURE

Of course, in the long run, academic programs need to produce better trained students. This requires more committed cooperation between academia and industrysome schools have consistently produced better trained individuals because of successful relationships with industry.

Part of this relationship has involved curricular advice. Not all schools can pick up the phone and have a major studio answer all their questions, but they do need advice on relevant curricula. Available resources include trainers at production houses and training facilities, many of whom started out as educators in the academic world. In 1996, these trainers, managers, and directors of training formed a loose organization, the Alliance of Digital Effects Production Trainers (ADEPT), that meets regularly to share ideas, problems, and resources. This group plans to serve as an information clearing house and help with curricula, lectures, or student placement--it can help match students with internships and serve as teachers' primary contact within industry. ADEPT will also work on educational issues within governmental agencies, working with the Siggraph Education Committee through its new Entertainment Liaison representative (me).

For educational programs to improve, the digital film companies must become more involved with and supportive of them. In addition to providing more internships for students, they could also provide several faculty sabbaticals per year. Few teachers have had working experience in a production company, and a sabbatical at a studio could make them more informed and better educators.

Industry could also sponsor more collaborative research and dialog with graduate schools. There are really two types of "entertainment" talent essential for today's industry, and only one ends up directly in Hollywood. The other does the applied research at academic labs around the world, thus creating the industry's new tools. Increased dialog will mutually benefit both groups.

Interdisciplinary: More than a word

The digital film industry needs more fusion artists--those who combine artistic and technical skills in equal amounts. The 1980s to the 1990s saw a shift from hiring programmers to hiring artists in an attempt to bring more artistry to digital effects. But this did not solve all the problems. Even with constant software advances, artists find they are called upon to create scripts or write expressions, use unfriendly in-house software tools, or rely on a technical director to do things for them. Programmers, on the other hand, find they need to really understand the art behind what they are coding.

But today's educational systems will never produce enough fusion artists unless interdisciplinary becomes more than a word. The separated disciplines cannot viably train students for real-world expectations. Fewer than a dozen truly interdisciplinary programs currently train for the entertainment market. Most mentioned earlier still produce good graduates, and some interesting new ones, such as the BS program at Concordia University in Montreal, requires equal credits in computer science and art classes.⁷

The introduction of the interrelationships among disciplines needs to start in the early grades and continue through high school and on into higher education. Many groups, including Siggraph, have been attacking this problem for some years now with limited success. A key factor in bringing about this change may be to stop "preaching to the choir" (the students and teachers) and start working on the administrators, principals, college presidents, and governments, where the decisions and funding come from. Fundamental shifts such as this could achieve success more quickly with this top-level support. The digital film industry's economic importance can be the motivating rationale for these decision-makers to become involved.

But part of this change also involves how we teach. Teachers must be mentors. They need to recognize that they cannot do it all or know it all--the rapid advances in technology preclude this. A new kind of partnering between students and teachers will provide a better model for future training, not only in entertainment but in many industries. Teachers should also teach students basic, unchanging concepts. And because students will be doing it all their lives, teachers must help students learn how to continually learn, and enjoy doing it. A love of learning is the greatest gift a teacher can provide.

We also need to make sure students understand the cyclic nature of the film industry and businesses in general. We need to instill in students that a craft will take a long time to master--that learning software alone, or just what they need for today, is never enough. We need to encourage breadth, love of learning, and problem-solving and critical thinking skills--all the things that a liberal arts education should do. And finally, we need to encourage students to permit themselves the time to travel down those unfamiliar paths that just may lead to that next significant breakthrough--personal, technical, or artistic.

References

1. R. Rivlin, The Algorithmic Image: Graphic Visions of the Computer Age, Microsoft Press, Redmond, Wash., 1986, p. 78.
2. Future Visions: New Technologies of the Screen, P. Hayward and T. Wollen, eds., British Film Institute, London, 1993, p. 37.
3. "The Reality of Computer Graphics in the Motion Picture Industry," Siggraph 88 Panels Proc., ACM Press, New York, 1988, p. 6.
4. James Cameron, "Technology and Magic," Cinefex, No. 51, pp. 5-7.
5. Computer Graphics: Special Issue on Careers in Computer Graphics, Vol. 23, No. 1, Feb. 1989.
6. B. Armour, "A Different Kind of Artist," Computer Graphics, Vol. 31, No. 1, Feb. 1997, pp. 23-25.
7. G.P. Garvey, "Retrofitting Fine Art and Design Education in the Age of Computer Technology," Computer Graphics (Proc. Siggraph 97), Vol. 31, No. 3, Aug. 1997, pp. 29-32.

Jacquelyn Ford Morie is manager of training and development at Blue Sky|VIFX. She developed comprehensive technology training programs at Walt Disney Feature Animation and served as advisor to Disney's recruitment schools and initial reviewer for all job applicant reels. She created a computer animation program at the University of Central Florida in Orlando and helped start the computer animation program at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. She has worked with the Siggraph Education Committee since 1988 and is a founding member of the Alliance of Digital Effects Production Trainers (ADEPT). She holds an MS in computer science and an MFA from the University of Florida.

Educator and Industry Resources

The following publications provide useful information on how to build a career in the digital entertainment industry.

Bay Area Multimedia Partnership and Reagan and Associates, A Labor Market Analysis of the Digital Media Industry: Opportunities in Multimedia, sponsored by the North Valley (NOVA) Private Industry Council, SkillsNet, Los Angeles, Apr. 1997.

Alliance for Motion Picture and Television Producers and the PMR Group, Inc., Making Digits Dance: Visual Effects and Animation Careers in the Entertainment Industry, sponsored by the City of Los Angeles Private Industry Council, SkillsNet, Los Angeles, Mar. 1997.

National Research Council, Modeling and Simulation: Linking Entertainment and Defense, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1997.

Useful materials and information for educators, committee-sponsored projects, and links to other educational-related sites can be found at Siggraph's Education Committee Web site at http://www.siggraph.org under "Education."

The SkillsNet Ultimate Entertainment and New Media Guide Web site presents information about the digital entertainment industry, including industry needs and educational programs. Go to http://www.skillsnet.net .

The Demo Reel from Hell

wobbe — Thu, 01 Jan 1998 05:00:00 +0000

This is an example reel put together by a visual effects supervisor who works in the digital film industry in Los Angeles. He has reviewed thousands of reels over the years and has put this reel together as an example of what students should not do on their reels if they hope to get a job in this industry. These examples are based on what is often seen in the reels of aspiring applicants. If you see yours in here, you may want to take heed.

Mpeg (37 Mbytes)

ACM SIGGRAPH Education Committee - Career Materials (Archive)

SIGGRAPH Five-Minute Career Mentor

John M. Fujii - SIGGRAPH 96 Conference Chair

Purpose

Disclaimer

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Where do I start?

What kinds of jobs are out there?

What should I do about my résumé?

How do I demonstrate my talent to an employer?

What education do I need and where can I find it?

What skills and experience do I need?

What resources are out there for me?

Personal Pearls of Wisdom

Acknowledgements

Tags:

ACM SIGGRAPH Career Handbook

Tags:

CGI Training for the Entertainment Film Industry

As the digital film industry matures, the education needed to become part of it also evolves and shifts. We must therefore rethink how we educate future digital entertainment workers.

Jacquelyn Ford Morie
Blue Sky|VIFX

Copyright © 1998 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Reprinted from IEEE COMPUTER GRAPHICS AND APPLICATIONS 0272-1716/98/$10.00 © 1998 IEEE
Vol. 18, No. 1: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1998, pp. 30-37

By choosing to view this document, you agree to all provisions of the copyright laws protecting it.

Download as PDF (134 kb)

A BIT OF HISTORY

TODAY

FOR THE FUTURE

References

Educator and Industry Resources

Tags:

The Demo Reel from Hell

Tags:

ACM SIGGRAPH Education Committee - Career Materials (Archive)

SIGGRAPH Five-Minute Career Mentor

John M. Fujii - SIGGRAPH 96 Conference Chair

Purpose

Disclaimer

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Where do I start?

What kinds of jobs are out there?

What should I do about my résumé?

How do I demonstrate my talent to an employer?

What education do I need and where can I find it?

What skills and experience do I need?

What resources are out there for me?

Personal Pearls of Wisdom

Acknowledgements

Tags:

ACM SIGGRAPH Career Handbook

Tags:

CGI Training for the Entertainment Film Industry

As the digital film industry matures, the education needed to become part of it also evolves and shifts. We must therefore rethink how we educate future digital entertainment workers.

Jacquelyn Ford Morie Blue Sky|VIFX

Copyright © 1998 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Reprinted from IEEE COMPUTER GRAPHICS AND APPLICATIONS 0272-1716/98/$10.00 © 1998 IEEE Vol. 18, No. 1: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1998, pp. 30-37

By choosing to view this document, you agree to all provisions of the copyright laws protecting it.

Download as PDF (134 kb)

A BIT OF HISTORY

TODAY

FOR THE FUTURE

References

Educator and Industry Resources

Tags:

The Demo Reel from Hell

Tags:

Jacquelyn Ford Morie
Blue Sky|VIFX

Reprinted from IEEE COMPUTER GRAPHICS AND APPLICATIONS 0272-1716/98/$10.00 © 1998 IEEE
Vol. 18, No. 1: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1998, pp. 30-37