The value of transferable skills in the VFX industry

In the VFX industry you require a set of skills that are useful in a variety of different ways


some of these include:

Respond Well to Criticism – criticism comes in many ways such as from the customer or from a team leader, and so you may need to change it in accordance to their liking.

Presentation Skills – it will be critical for ideas to be shown, whether to another Worker, your boss or to the client to show off your best work or even to get the funding for the project, You need to be able to explain yourself concisely and clearly so everyone can understand.

Knowledge of Cultural References – VFX is about making photo-realistic characters or images. These need to be believable so that it feels like they are within that world that you created.

Observation Skills – being able to mimic VFX or an animation is key to making a great scene. So we need to be able to observe movement and then apply that to the shot to make things seem as real as possible.

Planning – being able to plan ahead is great, in case you come into any problems, you will have a plan to try and over come them.

Drawing Skills – drawing isn’t essential, but it is a great way to get your ideas across to others
be proactive and self motivated, always learning – no matter where you work, you will always learn something new, whether it be a new piece of software, or a new way to tackle a problem!

be confident – ask questions – asking questions is essential to over coming problems, this will help you learn how to do it later, and it may also help you to help someone else in the future.

know the language – within any sector, they use a certain type of “language” to help clearly communicate between each other and companies.

awareness of cinematography – you will need to be aware of key terms, how certain things are produced and be able to analyse shots.

maths – trigonometry, matrices, vectors, applied mechanics, algebra, scripting, physics – maths is always going to be a big part of games and animation, whether it is keyframing, physics, blast radius's or other things, maths isn’t essential to an artist, but you will need to have an appreciation for this section, just like how a programmer doesn’t necessarily need to be able to draw, but needs to have an appreciation.

Working to a Brief – in the industry, you need to get the shot right for your client, not for your own ideas, so you must be able to change things based on what your client wants.

ICT - this is essential to be able to navigate within computers, applications, files and understand how to use shortcuts.

film theory – Film theory is always helpful, in case you can apply it to a shot later on, and how narrative and structures work.

knowledge of vfx history – VFX has come a long way, be looking into the history, you may be able to learn from the past and apply it to new shots.

Meet Deadlines – deadline are a huge part of the VFX industry, if you miss the deadline, the game or movie may not get published or released, meaning people may not get paid.

Thinking About the Bigger Picture– VFX is about the pipeline and not just one shot, so you must be able to think about all the processes and not just focus everything on one bit of pipe.

knowledge of editing – editing is a big part of the shot, this can be removing boom mics, cables, or other things that shouldn't be visible within the scene.Although your career choice may not require editing, it is good to know the basics.

Creativity and Efficiency – you must be able to think creatively to solve issues within design and be efficient while doing so.

style and vision – each sector may require to work to a certain style. Whether is being photo-realistic, cartoony or just another style, you must be able to work with different ideas to produce the next movie or game.

Teamwork – teamwork is vital within all the sectors above, as you all work together to make one thing, whether its a film or a game.

understand optics – optics is how the eyes work. By being able to know how your eyes work, VFX can be used to trick the viewer into believing something is there, or to make them look to a certain area of the screen.

be innovative. – although vfx and games have been around for a long time, everyone is still learning. These skills and ideas are being improved everyday and may lead to new ideas in the future.

Specialist Skills- be a generalist with specialist skills. Be able to work in other groups and cover a range of abilities, but be able to be a specialist in one sector.