It's All About Portfolio !

Animation industry is cool, innovative, interesting and creative. Many students and individuals want to pursue career in this field. 3D animation jobs are so highly sought after these days.

In such a competitive environment, an artist has to excel in skills and promoting themselves. Networking plays the vital role to get a job. You will need to widen your professional network. More people you are connected with, more chances will be there to get a boost  to your career in this industry.

In many instances where the bigger studios are concerned, submitting show reels might not be sufficient to grab the HR’s attention. If you participate in events like software launches or exhibitions, chances are you can get to know a lot of studio executives. By getting to know somebody directly and having a name to contact, you might get your demo reel viewed much faster. And if your reel is any good, chances are much better that you will get hired, especially if the studio is in a hiring mode.

Your portfolio is the only way to showcase your talent, knowledge and skills. It has to be unique. You can take inspirations or references before you start with your portfolio.

 REFER PORTFOLIOS BUT DO NOT COPY THE CONTENT!

Animation is used in many industries, and you may be able to get started in an industry other than the one you initially had your heart set on. If you can’t find a job with an animation studio, then you can consider working with a web design company, a game design company, an architectural firm, a media company, an advertising company or even a product design company. Many such companies require a 3D artist, and you can build up an animation portfolio and the much coveted ‘experience’ there.

Here is a good Example of Portfolio.

To make an effective Portfolio you can refer following guidelines :

Topic/Area of specialization

Before starting to work on your portfolio, you must opt  the area of specialization. There are lots of department in animation studio where you can apply for different positions i.e. Modeling & Texturing Artist, Rigging Artist, Layout Artist, Character Animator, Lighting & Compositing Artist and many more.

Duration

The length of your reel should not be over 2 minutes. Ideally it would be under a minute, unless you are a veteran animator. Beginner can have a portfolio of 2 Minutes only if the content is worth watching. Studios are looking for 'unique content'. 

Content

I will not exaggerate this: The reel should ONLY include awesome work. A 30 seconds reel with amazing animation is much proffered over  2 minute of a mediocre work. 

'Quality is more important than Quantity'.

Content should be original. Come up with creative ideas and concepts. Do not follow the same old fashioned portfolios which demonstrates simple character turn-around, walk cycle and run cycle etc. If you display such content, the HR will close the video in first few seconds itself.

Keep it simple yet creative. Do not include your class assignments, practice work as a content of your portfolio. One must prepare a new content for portfolio. Take time till a month or two but come up with the best.

Sequence

Put your best work first. It takes people a few seconds to decide if they want to keep watching your reel. Make sure you have things that grab their attention.

Music/Sound

Be careful with the choice of music. A quite un-intrusive music in the background is ok. Music should not distract or annoy the viewer. If you have a bad taste in music or have any doubts, then just turn off the music completely.

Presentation

Give every piece the time it deserves. Don’t edit to music or get too creative, this isn’t a motion graphics reel. In an animation reel you want to present each shot separately (sometimes with a title card before each shot) to let the viewer understand what they’re watching without confusing them. Number the shots on the reel, and write about each shot in the the description of the video (example: 7 – bouncing ball: animated the left ball)

Using Social Platform

Days are gone when artists used to send their portfolios through CD/DVD. Use of social websites is wide and most of the industry people are on social platforms. 

After completing the portfolio, you can upload it on Youtube and Vimeo. You can share the link with studio while applying for any post. 

I hope this will help you to plan a better workflow ! I will conclude with one sentence which is mentioned in Richard William's 'Animator Survival Kit' - KISS : Keep it Simple Stupid !! :D