Learning autodesk maya?

Question

how good would i have to get in Autodesk Maya 3D program to land a job using the software with a reputable company such as dreamworks or Pixar? ive been using it for about a month and i modeled and acuratly lit my room and i made a BMW 7 Series thats really really good. i dont know how to animate yet but i should be pretty profeciant in it by like the next 2 months. i spend about 4 hours a day learning and using maya.

Answer 1

Dreamworks and Pixar are the best in the industry and can therefore afford to choose the best of the best. So the answer is: very. However, you should know that being technically good at Maya is not necessarily going to help you.

Pixar (and I think also Dreamworks) don't use Maya - they have their own in-house software. So they wouldn't be interested in how proficient you were in the program, only in your artistic skills and animation ability. To land a job as an animator anywhere, you have to submit a showreel with your application, and to be considered by Pixar you'd have to produce a simply spectacular one demonstrating what a fantastic animator you are for them to consider you. No matter how long it takes for you to master the technicalities of Maya, the actual work and study that would have to go into such a showreel will take a long time, so I would advise patience.

You see, to be a good animator you have to study animation - and becoming a good animator takes a LOT longer than a couple of months. It takes years. You begin with the basic animation principles and then slowly go into more detail - personality in walk cycles, facial expressions, as well as the almost unlimited technical concepts applied to rigging/skinning a character for animation, etc. There is an enormous amount to learn. I would strongly recommend that you do a college degree, or at the very least a year-long course, in computer animation. While Pixar state that a degree isn't necessary to land a job with them - trust me, you need either that or years of animation experience, as first-class training and portfolio are the best weapons you can have to break into the industry. If you don't want to go to college, I would recommend lowering your sights to videogames companies or smaller animation studios, and applying to the big animation houses when you have built up the kind of experience and impressive portfolio you need.

The good news is that animation is really good fun and a great industry to be in, and you don't have to be working for one of those companies to enjoy it. :) Good luck.

Answer 2

Pixar and Dreamworks do use Maya.. However, they also use an aray of other softwares as well.

How good do you have to be to get a job there? Extremely. I know people that work at both. These are people that have been in the industry for years, have 10+ years production experience etc etc.

Is it possible for you to get a job there on what I know of you above... maybe.. but honestly... from my experience, if you only been using maya for a few months, your not even close to knowing the software like you should. (you may think you do, but do you really know proper techniques, workflows, troubleshooting, etc)

Honestly. Keep at it. When you think your ready, send your demo reel into there and you never know... though, I would advise trying to aim at the smaller production houses first to get the experience you need. Once you get the experience, then you will stand a much much better chance!

Good luck.