Im transitioning from vfx/animation to technical art, Im currently learning c++, and trying to learn opengl but while is very interesting its quite extense, there is just too much ground to cover. I think that maybe should focus first on be solid in python and good programming practices. I would like to ask what would be wise to master first, could someone summarize a list of problems a TA might face on a daily basis (real world excersices that maybe I could flex) just to picture a clear idea of what skills would be resourceful on a interview/demo reel (hire me scenario). What skillset do you think would stand out?
My first question would be are you currently working with a team of some kind?
If yes, then one of the best things you can do is asking them how you can help.
Watch how they work, and see what areas they’re fighting against or wasting time on.
If not, pick something that has always bugged you in vfx/animation land. Break down the problem and try to come up with some solutions to it. Bounce those solutions against other people working in vfx/animation.
Then I’d work on improving whatever skills would be needed to solve that problem. For most enhancements to existing DCC applications python will probably be the default language.
But don’t just work in a bubble, communicate and interact with others. A non-trivial portion of being a TA is communication related. Learning to communicate not just with your art team(s) but also the design and engineering teams.
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This is nice thank you, its make me realize some pitfalls I was falling into.
I can work with this, really appreciate it.
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The one sentence definition of TA is
Saw something bad, fixed it.
So a lot of what your early career is about is spotting things that are broken or too manual or artistically limiting and figuring out how to remove the roadblocks. The technical stuff tends to evolve as a side effect of solving those things.
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