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This is a follow-on to my posts about my former employer Rhythm & Hues Studios filing for bankruptcy:
Rhythm & Hues winning VFX awards, going bankrupt
and shortly thereafter winning the visual effects Academy Award for Life of Pi:
An Academy Award, and a surprising development
For more background, here are a couple older blogs about my experiences working in visual effects and animation:
Milestone: 15 years in animation and visual effects
Visual effects: fluids and nightmares
I made those two most recent posts while in the heat of production on Percy Jackson, Sea of Monsters, which is now in theaters (and on which I received a screen credit.) My name, for the record, is Mark Wilkins.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ZzRqszp.jpg)
Lighting and effects artists on Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. Many of these artists are still out of work.
When Percy Jackson 2 finished up, two months after Rhythm & Hues's bankruptcy in February, I was sent away, as a permanent employee, on an indefinite "furlough," which meant that I was nominally on the rolls as an employee, but was not working and was not getting paid. Indefinite didn't last very long, however, as about a week later I got a call from my manager saying that I was being laid off. About two thirds of our core, nominally permanent team of lighting artists were laid off, leaving some, but not all, of the supervisor-level employees.
At the time that I left Rhythm, I had an interview pending for a job in Blizzard Entertainment's cinematics group as a development-oriented technical director. I won't say too much about that except that I had an extensive opportunity to interview but didn't receive an offer. My overall background was a pretty good match, but my last seven years of working in a visual role had left me somewhat out of practice as a software developer, and since that was a significant focus of what they wanted, and the market was suddenly flooded with lots of other great candidates, I wasn't the best match available.
Unfortunately, with that out of the way, I didn't really have any idea where I'd go from there, and after a couple months of poking around looking for other work, I was starting to get worried.
Then, around the start of July, an acquaintance tweeted a job listing for a "Pipeline Technical Director" at a company I'd never heard of. In the animation world, "pipeline" refers to the workflow and software tools that artists use to create their work, and pipeline TDs (or pipeline developers, as they're often called) are software and workflow specialists who work out those issues for the artistic staff. In the games business, you'll often see these people called "technical artists," but it means the same thing.
Thing is, I had worked as a pipeline developer from 1997 to about 2006 for Disney, PDI, and then Dreamworks Animation, the whole time pushing as hard as I could to move into a visual role, which I finally achieved by lighting some shots at Dreamworks and then moving into a lighting job at Rhythm & Hues. I'd always viewed the visual side as more essential to the work than tools development was. As a lighter, I was making the final product.
However, around the time early this year when Rhythm collapsed, Digital Domain (also in Los Angeles) collapsed, and Dreamworks Animation laid off a large chunk of their staff, I looked around and saw that dozens of my friends with strong lighting skills were out of work with no prospects, and those I knew with strong software skills were doing just fine, albeit working at smaller studios in many cases.
So, I elected to talk to this new company about pipeline work. As soon as I saw the tweet, I looked up the company on LinkedIn to see if I knew anyone who had wound up there. I quickly found that the head of the pipeline department had been a coworker on Over the Hedge at Dreamworks about ten years ago, so I dropped him an email.
Three days later, I interviewed, and four days after that I accepted a surprisingly generous offer. Since mid-July, I've been working as a pipeline developer for a low-profile company with a decent-sized animation studio in Los Angeles.
The work consists of equal parts tool development, mostly in Python, and working with artists to plan their workflows. Since for the bulk of my previous pipeline work I'd used Perl, a scripting language that's fallen out of favor because it's remarkably easy to produce code that's difficult to read or maintain, I've found Python a breath of fresh air, so straightforward as to enable me to be instantly productive. Also, in the role of someone supporting artists in their work, I'm finding having been on the other side of the fence to be very helpful in knowing how to approach sensitive conversations about workflow that impact their work lives, in some cases, far more than they impact mine.
In the long term, this position is ideal to develop the skills to find a place for myself in something outside animation entirely. We'll see how that goes.
Edit: I want to point out that hundreds of my former Rhythm and Hues colleagues are completely out of work, being in no position to rewrite their resume and jump on more available jobs in a different field. The reasons for this are many, and discussed in my earlier posts, but I'm trying to think good thoughts for them.
 
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All about making those connections and affiliations Mark, ha ha. Glad everything worked out in the end. I remember you telling us the company went bankrupt. Sad to see a lot of them still looking for work though. ;/
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Networking is #1 in this industry. I'm glad you found somewhere you could go. I'm new to the visual effects scene and working my way up, but I'm learning python right now for this reason exactly: Being more valuable in more ways.
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Glad you landed a job, congrats!
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On August 18 2013 17:43 -Kaiser- wrote:
Networking is #1 in this industry.
In what industry isn't that true?
Nice to see things worked out for you. Also recall the previous blog about the company going down and the reasoning you had for it.
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On August 18 2013 21:14 Yurie wrote:In what industry isn't that true? Nice to see things worked out for you. Also recall the previous blog about the company going down and the reasoning you had for it.
Networking is basically the same as the addage, 'It's not what you know, it's who you know' which is the truth in 90%+ situations. Every decent job I've held has been from a reference through a friend.
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Whoa I'm really happy for you and really sad for your former colleagues  man that's so depressing.
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Congratulations! Very happy you found a new job, and especially a preferable one!
On August 19 2013 13:52 MarlieChurphy wrote:Show nested quote +On August 18 2013 21:14 Yurie wrote:On August 18 2013 17:43 -Kaiser- wrote:
Networking is #1 in this industry. In what industry isn't that true? Nice to see things worked out for you. Also recall the previous blog about the company going down and the reasoning you had for it. Networking is basically the same as the addage, 'It's not what you know, it's who you know' which is the truth in 90%+ situations. Every decent job I've held has been from a reference through a friend.
While the second half of that adage is certainly true, I always like to think that the "who you know" part often exists specially because of "what you know", as the opportunities to meet new people and network tend to occur because of your education, reputation, and personality. Unless you're born into a family that already has those connections, but not everyone is that lucky.
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Digital domain failing, Rythm and Hues dying as they receive an award, Indias companies not paying their employees...
I can't remember how many companies bankupted, how many people got fired over the last few years.
I'd like to be a junior compositor but when I see the current state of the industry, I wonder why I'm not running away.
Being passionate comes with a little naivety.
I'm glad you got an opportunity, I guess there is still some light at least.
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On August 20 2013 02:26 renkin wrote:
I'd like to be a junior compositor but when I see the current state of the industry, I wonder why I'm not running away.
Being passionate comes with a little naivety.
It's always been rough for people just getting started. The big difference is that now it's rough for the people with years of experience, too.
If it's what you want to do, give it a shot. My best advice is just don't borrow lots of money to go to school for it, unless you're in computer science and can use those skills elsewhere as well.
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VFX industry needs a damn union. VFX carries so many movies that are terrible to decent profits but the VFX workers get nothing. Bust your balls for insane overtime, sketchy on getting credit and then in the end the studio gets paid way too little and goes under. I think there's a head of a movie studio(warner?) with a quote along the lines of "If i don´t make at least one VFX studio go bankrupt during a movie i'm not doing my job".
Take the Bayformers. Animations and models are just flawless, wonderfull - having done a fair amount of Maya in school my jaw dropped when i see the animations and models. But Michael Bay can't even be bothered to film a damn cleanplate i heard. It takes like a few minutes to shoot one and it saves hours upon hours of matte painting. VFX artists needs so much more cred and respect, but in the end it's like the games industry i guess - everyone is replaceable since there's so many people that wants to work or something. Damn shame really since VFX has most, if not all the talent in many many movies.
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Michael Bay can't even be bothered to film a damn cleanplate i heard. It takes like a few minutes to shoot one and it saves hours upon hours of matte painting.
That would explain why they re-used footage from Bad Boys 2 for Bayformers 3.
It would be nice to see an union with more regulations but I'm afraid directors will pick cheaper studios.
It's always been rough for people just getting started. The big difference is that now it's rough for the people with years of experience, too.
So we're basically screwed from the begining till the end 
I don't know if union or subsidies are the answer. I know vfx soldier is doing some work on this but apparently it's going to be of use in the US and not for us in Europe... Do you think you are near some kind of a solution ?
If it's what you want to do, give it a shot. My best advice is just don't borrow lots of money to go to school for it, unless you're in computer science and can use those skills elsewhere as well.
I'm already an editor training myself to comping. It's kind of hard to get a professional advice on your work but I the recruiters i've met told me they didn't cared about your education. That's a blessing considering how much some schools cost...
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VFX artists are at the bottom of the food chain, like most professions that are supposed to be "fun"...
I can only speak about arch viz artists but I'm sure this is happening all over the 3D industry.
There are so many issues within the industry: the continuous decline of salary's, the never ending supply of young people working for almost nothing, outsourcing and everything that comes with it, software's are getting easier and less demanding
And the general disrespect, most decision makers see it as a hindrance rather than an advantage.
And like with every profession its all about who you know not what you can do.
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On August 20 2013 06:48 Lysenko wrote:Show nested quote +On August 20 2013 02:26 renkin wrote:
I'd like to be a junior compositor but when I see the current state of the industry, I wonder why I'm not running away.
Being passionate comes with a little naivety. It's always been rough for people just getting started. The big difference is that now it's rough for the people with years of experience, too. If it's what you want to do, give it a shot. My best advice is just don't borrow lots of money to go to school for it, unless you're in computer science and can use those skills elsewhere as well.
That's what I did thinking there were jobs aplenty. Little did I know.
I would personally highly suggest reading up on some tutorials on how to do what you're looking to do on like youtube. That's a great way to start learning and decide if you want to do it and to take the time it needs to be good at before you take the plunge.
But that's just my opinion. I haven't worked in the industry, but if I had to do it again I wouldn't have gone to school for it so soon.
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On August 20 2013 11:01 Noobity wrote:
I would personally highly suggest reading up on some tutorials on how to do what you're looking to do on like youtube. That's a great way to start learning and decide if you want to do it and to take the time it needs to be good at before you take the plunge.
I'm actually a really big fan of digitaltutors.com. No association with them other than as a customer. You can learn a ton from their videos and it's a hell of a lot cheaper than paying one of those for-profit animation programs to do the same.
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Congrats! Linkedin is a great tool. Just looking up folks that went to your college in your company is a nice ice-breaker especially when they're higher up kek
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On August 20 2013 09:16 deo.deo wrote:
There are so many issues within the industry: the continuous decline of salary's, the never ending supply of young people working for almost nothing, outsourcing and everything that comes with it, software's are getting easier and less demanding
Salaries aren't declining, exactly, though they have lagged inflation for the last ten years. What has happened is that core staff have been reduced almost to nothing (meaning almost everyone's a project hire), benefits have been cut back, and work has hopped around the globe chasing subsidies.
To the comment above that VFXSoldier's push to make subsidy-chasing uneconomical for the studios would only benefit U.S. artists if successful, I don't agree. It would certainly even out some of the advantage that certain places like Quebec, British Columbia, and the U.K. have had because of the absurdly steep subsidies in those regions, but those regions would probably still do pretty well competing on cost vs. quality of work.
It's easy to assume that work would just move to South Asia on the basis of low pay rates there, but when you factor in training issues, cultural issues, time zone issues, infrastructure issues, and availability of experienced supervisory talent, it's certainly not a foregone conclusion that all the work will go there, and what I've seen is that some of their best talent find ways to move to Western countries in search of better pay anyway.
What these subsidies have done, and this is a worldwide impact, is reduce stability for everyone. Indian workers for some companies have undergone steep layoffs, as have U.K. and B.C. workers, because studios are chasing momentarily higher subsidies in Montreal. While what VFXSoldier is pursuing would be a unilateral U.S. government action, everyone in all the regions that are not currently (briefly) on top of the subsidy ladder would likely see better stability as a result. Cyclical peak employment might go down in some of those areas, but the worst-case would improve.
Oh, and as far as software getting less demanding, I don't see it at all. The most commonly used tools, Maya, 3D Studio Max, Nuke, Katana, Renderman, etc. etc. are pretty much the same difficulty to use now as they were ten years ago, and studios rely on extensive customization and development to make them usable on anything larger than a TV commercial. There's just as much scripting and tools development now as there was in 2000, and studios that start projects expecting that they can just use everything off-the-shelf quickly find that their processes scale very badly.
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On August 20 2013 12:05 Lysenko wrote:Show nested quote +On August 20 2013 09:16 deo.deo wrote:
There are so many issues within the industry: the continuous decline of salary's, the never ending supply of young people working for almost nothing, outsourcing and everything that comes with it, software's are getting easier and less demanding Salaries aren't declining, exactly, though they have lagged inflation for the last ten years. What has happened is that core staff have been reduced almost to nothing (meaning almost everyone's a project hire), benefits have been cut back, and work has hopped around the globe chasing subsidies. To the comment above that VFXSoldier's push to make subsidy-chasing uneconomical for the studios would only benefit U.S. artists if successful, I don't agree. It would certainly even out some of the advantage that certain places like Quebec, British Columbia, and the U.K. have had because of the absurdly steep subsidies in those regions, but those regions would probably still do pretty well competing on cost vs. quality of work. It's easy to assume that work would just move to South Asia on the basis of low pay rates there, but when you factor in training issues, cultural issues, time zone issues, infrastructure issues, and availability of experienced supervisory talent, it's certainly not a foregone conclusion that all the work will go there, and what I've seen is that some of their best talent find ways to move to Western countries in search of better pay anyway. What these subsidies have done, and this is a worldwide impact, is reduce stability for everyone. Indian workers for some companies have undergone steep layoffs, as have U.K. and B.C. workers, because studios are chasing momentarily higher subsidies in Montreal. While what VFXSoldier is pursuing would be a unilateral U.S. government action, everyone in all the regions that are not currently (briefly) on top of the subsidy ladder would likely see better stability as a result. Cyclical peak employment might go down in some of those areas, but the worst-case would improve. Oh, and as far as software getting less demanding, I don't see it at all. The most commonly used tools, Maya, 3D Studio Max, Nuke, Katana, Renderman, etc. etc. are pretty much the same difficulty to use now as they were ten years ago, and studios rely on extensive customization and development to make them usable on anything larger than a TV commercial. There's just as much scripting and tools development now as there was in 2000, and studios that start projects expecting that they can just use everything off-the-shelf quickly find that their processes scale very badly.
Well, glad to know that is the case in the VFX industry. All my points still stand for the ArchViz industry as I witness it.
Salary's are declining especially now that most firms like to have their staff in-house and start them off at Arch-1/junior salary's.
Outsourcing is huge, since Architects don't see beyond the initial price tag and just consider their own spend time as "free".. Most major arch viz studios still standing in the late 90's early 2000 are down to a fraction of their employee's. Most jobs get shipped to China for a much smaller cost (if you don't consider revisions...)
Software like 3dsMax/Vray are getting easier to use with build in lighting options and enormous material libraries.
Even simple camera moves are easier to animate and can be done by somewhat trained architects.
Also former drafting software like Revit, Sketchup and Rhino getting their own render options which makes 3dsMax obsolete in the future.
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Thanks for sharing your story and your thoughts, it really is fascinating, if depressing. I'm glad to hear things have worked out for you.
I have a friend who works a for a video editing shop (I do realize this is not the same as what you're doing) and he is always complaining about how disorganized the place is, how much time he wastes in file management, etc. Sounds like they need someone to do the kinds of things you do.
How well do you need to understand the creative side of things to work as a pipeline developer?
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On August 20 2013 12:22 deo.deo wrote:
Software like 3dsMax/Vray are getting easier to use with build in lighting options and enormous material libraries.
Even simple camera moves are easier to animate and can be done by somewhat trained architects.
Also former drafting software like Revit, Sketchup and Rhino getting their own render options which makes 3dsMax obsolete in the future.
The requirements for architectural visualization are much different than those in animation and visual effects, and I can see why one might be able to get by pretty well with off-the-shelf texture and material libraries, as well as why the economics of the business could be very different.
Interesting that the work is being brought in-house. To VFX workers that would be a huge benefit, because it would mean it would be a lot easier to get favorable changes through unionization (like the rest of the major film industry trades did before us.)
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EPT
