Ideal Reel - Technical Animator (Games)

Professional
#1

Hey everyone! I will soon be trying to land my first Tech Art job this year, and I’m wondering what pieces would be key to a Technical Animator’s reel?

I’ve been working on my Thesis and staring at this facial rig for about a month now, and DYING for a second project to switch between.

Right now my reel has:
(Max) Blend Shape facial rig
(Max) Stretchy Bones/Overlapping animation demo
(Maya) Joint Only facial rig
(Maya) Quadruped
all followed by some animation i’ve done for games.

Is there anything in particular employers look for in a well rounded Demo Reel that could be added to the mix?

Thanks! And I hope this thread can give good advice to anyone working on a Reel right now :smiley:

#2

I would say maybe some scripting in there would be nice to show. I’ve had friends get hired as TAs on just some basic MEL UIs for selecting stuff.

Maybe learn a little python because I can see that being very useful for numerous things,and I see it foten as something required of Junior positions here

#3

I’d say the thing I look most for in reels is stuff that I don’t know that tutorials exist for. Way to often I see reels that just include the standard stuff - and I can’t tell the difference between a) someone who just clicked as a tutorial without understanding exactly why and how they did it; and b) a full-fledged expert.

As such, I value odd stuff (f.ex. once there was a guy a few years ago who had rigged a really nice chameleon tail which curled up and a lot of other nice stuff) that makes me thing “ok; this person solved this problem by themselves; by analyzing the problem and done something smart and suiting”.

I’m not saying “remove the vanilla stuff” - I’m just saying that I wouldn’t be interested if there was JUST vanilla stuff.

#4

Yes I second what Oskar said.

There are a few other demo reel threads here on the forum that have a lot of good advice.

We have some advice on our Rigging Dojo facebook page that might help you out also.
https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=285973108087908

Brad

#5

this is awesome stuff! thanks everyone.

I would say maybe some scripting in there would be nice to show. I’ve had friends get hired as TAs on just some basic MEL UIs for selecting stuff.

I actually have a scripting section in my portfolio, but it’s not a part of the reel.

I’ll start looking for my next “odd” project to do. Also, that Rigging Dojo link is gold - thanks a ton!

#6

Something I’ve heard in discussions a few times relating to how people like to see a rig presented:

if you can, don’t just grab controls and shake it around. Instead, if you know an animator that would want to use your rig for a portfolio piece, show what an animator can do with your rig.

Also, if you want to get into tech animation, look into solutions for auto-generating rigs. I don’t know much on the games side that involves hand-creation of rigs. Those skills are definitely needed to know how to build an auto-generated rig, but most games require so many rigs that it is impractical to have them built from scratch for every character/rigged asset.

As an added bonus, even if you’re doing a small number of rigs right now, you’ll be doing more later, and having the knowledge/tools to auto generate rigs will allow you to iterate on what you’re creating much faster.

#7

Absolutely include them! But just like any part of your portfolio, use a little discretion on what is worth including. Also, consider for a minute the people you will be competing with for jobs. It is very possible they have a similar reel to the one you described and potentially more industry experience. Not to mention, like Tyler said, custom auto-rigging tools. I for instance have rigging friends who graduated this past winter that do.

Do demonstrate your core competency at rigging, but I would also encourage you to pick up a scripting project that separates you from the pack. Something that the companies you apply for could really use, hopefully making hiring you a no-brainer. On a personal note, I just got a job as an artist, but my tech reel likely helped me stand out. Look at Tyler’s site as well, those are some fantastic tools that would make an employer think twice about hiring anyone else.

Of course there is no one right way, you could always keep it focused on having an incredibly solid foundation. Just keep in mind the talent pool keeps growing, might not hurt to explore additional ways to give yourself a leg up.

#8

ooops I should probably take down the ‘currently seeking employment.’ And thanks :slight_smile:

#9

Good catch, I didn’t notice it. You’re welcome. :slight_smile: Speaking of which, has Autodesk given you a Node ID yet for your Xnormal bake tool?

#10

hah not yet. I might try to get ahold of one through my job, but it was a royal pain in the ass all summer.