The transition from student to professional can be difficult for some. Especially in terms of attitude, what works as a student often does not carry over to the working world.
Personal drive is vital when you are in education. You need to push yourself to learn and experiment in the classroom and to acquire a real enduring passion for the world of animation. Probably you will have your favourite tools, be it Flash, Illustrator or InDesign as well as your own preferred ways of doing things. This process of finding yourself and picking up personal preferences and an arsenal of tricks is an important one.
However, once you step into your first job you will then need to work out how to be only one among many superheroes, most of whom may have better superpowers and will probably tell you how to use yours. For those struggling to find a way to fit in the animation world we compiled 5 ethical tips.
Here are some important ethics that can help you on your way.
1.One team, one dream
You have to leave your own dreams and aspirations at the door when you step into your first project. It is someone else’s dream you are following now and what that person says goes. In fact, the reality is that even that person, be he your supervisor on the project or even the director of the whole project, still has someone telling them what to do. Until you work your way up to be the producer, director or boss, then you better get used to doing what other people tell you to.
2.Change is the name of the game
Animators change stuff. That is what they do. That is what they always are going to have to do. No matter how good you think your work is, someone will tell you that you’ve got to make some tweaks. He may even have to tell you to start from scratch. It might look right to you, but a lot of other people have to see it your way as well.
3.Play off the same song sheet
Part of the reason why you may have to alter your work is that it does not fit in with the way the rest of the project is being done. Collaboration is essential to achieve consistency and in this game consistency does not just pertain to you, but the whole team. The team needs to look like they are acting as one. So, if you are doing something one way and the rest of the team is doing it another, it’s just not happening. If you have some nifty trick or way of doing something which someone in your team wants to know about, then guess what? You tell them.
4.There really aren’t too many chiefs
Even those at the bottom have got to pipe up and give their two pence worth. Just make sure you a not giving a grand’s worth to begin with. There are so many recipes going into every meal, that you need to make sure that if there is a problem with the one you are working on, then the others know about it. Sharing is caring, because in this industry if one part is wrong then the whole dish will taste funny.
5.Never mind about your piece of the pie, just care about the whole darned pie
Credit is shared in animation. Animators rarely get singled out for individual praise or credit. See the following:
Pythagoras Animation
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Your crew gets bigged up and you get bigged up with it. If the team doesn’t make a big splash, you don’t make a big splash. So, whatever you can do to help your colleagues out, you do it, because at the end of the day if you don’t, you will lose too.
Community Author Bio:
Allie Cooper is a young upcoming writer, a certified gamer known for weaving in her indelible wit into tech and game reviews, and writes about O2, tech companies, from UK and internet start-ups to bigger businesses.
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Ruan Smit started Pixelsmithstudios with the vision of creating a new design orientated environment of sharing, learning and expertise development amongst local Animators,Illustrators,Game Developers and VFX artists in South Africa.