Blender as a Job Requirement

Posted on by

jobs.jpgIf you are a CG professional looking for a job, it is not that usual to see Blender in the requirements list. But maybe things are going to change…

In a quick search for ‘Blender’ on a job listing website, there is (at the time of writing this article) 2 entries that includes it on their requirements list.

Maybe with Big Buck Bunny release, there is a good chance of Blender starting to get more and more into mainstream CG pipelines. Take a look at the repercussion of the trailer release on an application agnostic forum like CGTalk. To quote a user on that thread, who is one of the forum admins:

Do you guys hear that loud crackling sound,
That is the sound of change.

Of course, we would ask that you treat the listing professionally and only apply for the job if you’ve got what they’re looking for. Let’s not make them regret putting “Blender” in the job description, right? ;)

Be Sociable, Share!

    Twitter



    Please support us

    • artisanicview

      I cant wait to make some more serious work with Blender. Once Blender will be adopted by studios, only the sky is the limit.

    • Fokki

      Why the hell are people always saying shit like “Done with blender??? My jaw is on the floor..”. Why are they so %”%€#”€% ignorant? did they really think that blender was just a toy, and that we the users are just little kids playing around? Stuff like that really pisses me off!

      Sorry for being so mad, but that’s how i feel. And I don’t think I’m the only one…

    • Moonman

      The most common comment I read on that topic is that artists used to using other platforms have trouble with the steep learning curve w.r.t. the interface. Pity…I love the interface!!

    • http://www.virgiliovasconcelos.com Virgilio

      Hey, guys… =)

      Let’s try to stay positive about it, right? If people are surprised by how good Blender got over the years, this is good for us who use it, don’t you think?

      If Blender is “the crackling sound” of change, we are on the avant garde of this. So, don’t be mad. Instead, be happy for being in a such privileged position.

      Cheers

    • ToastBusters

      Anyone saying that the learning curve is too steep needs to get over themselves. Coming from Maya, I learned Blender in a day. To be fair, I had a good teacher, but it’s really just a matter of learning the hotkeys (I control Maya with hotkeys almost exclusively, so that was not foreign to me), and learning what everything in Blender is called versus the Maya equivalent.

      I would be less than honest to suggest that there is nothing from Maya that I miss. The animation system in Maya is more robust, I would like to see a muscle system (it could be a while before Handydan finishes his), and even the new particle system in Blender is a bit primitive compared to what I’ve used in the past. But these are all workflow features, and are probably not too far off; with the addition of the new fur system Blender really is capable of all the stuff that professionals need.

    • eric

      I just wanted to say that i love this, i recently picked up blender (really recently, yesterday) and within 30 minutes I was making stuff that blew me away, I’m not a good artist, ive never done any kind of 3d work at all, I have tried to learn before but i eventually gave up in frustration, I was surprised at how fast I learned blender. Mind you, I’m still learning and I would assume i have quite a ways to go, but ever since i touched blender i cant put it down.

      Its really good that companies are starting to be more open minded about requirements, it seems like just a year ago that the minimum requirements for some kind of computer graphics job were that you were an expert in maya or 3dsmax.

    • vidrazor

      While I think the new animation will certainly bring blender further up on the radar screen, I think blender foundation will have to do one more project in order for blender to really start to be noticed (professionally). That, in my view, is the creation of a live-action film integrating photo-realistic blender renderings with live footage.

      The more natural the scenes, the better. In other words, no sci-fi or fantasy crap. Instead, create real-world scenes using blender to create the kind of stuff typically done in filmaking like scene extensions, “real-world” special effects like car crashes and the use of digital doubles in dangerous scenes, etc.

      This will require, among other things, an improvement blender’s virtual camera to allow blender better integration with matchmove software (if not outright build effective matchmoving capability into blender). Someone wrote a very good script a while back that brings blenders camera closer to this reality, but it needs to be refined and totally integrated into blender. This would go a long way to convince professionals that blender is a viable tool in their production toolkit.

      Make a film like this, and you’ll see a lot more job requirements demanding a background in blender.

    • http://www.renderfun.com RenderFun

      I have been introducing Blender, GIMP, and Inkscape to my current animation studio that I am working with. Most if not all artist were amazed at the tools I showed them, especially Blender. Many Artist used it regularly once they figured out the interface and how to customized it to what they are used to (we are primarily Maya). The concept of someone willing to give out something so fantastic for free is totally inconceivable, especially in Asia. At least at the place where I work, just showing my colleagues at work of what blender is capable of already made them drool. Right now, the Modeling team is using it regularly to model, sculpt, and Unwrapping UV while the effects team are using it as a replacement for RealFlow.

      Like what ToastBusters said, there are things Maya is still better at performing. So things that Maya does best, the artists still uses Maya for it.

    • amoose136

      While I’m a long way from trying to get a job, by the time I need to get one it will be handy to know blender. (If I decide to be an artist)
      @eric
      Congrats, you just caught the 3d bug. Don’t give up. Go to the wiki, #IRC channel, and blenderartists.org forum for help.

    • colezero

      The big advantage within Blender is that it is OpenSOurce, of course, but its an interesting fact for companys. They were able to customize Blender.
      Film Studios mostly using a special customized version of Maya, for example, but for a great price. So if the production of a CG Movie gets cheaper, because the software itself gets cheaperm the movie itself is also getting cheaper for us to buy.
      And Blender gets more help from experts.
      I mean Blender has more features than fluids, cloth, hair and so on.
      But physics-simulation is not the importend point in a 3D Modeling Tool.
      It is customizing and the modeling ability itself.
      The python integration is awesome to create your own scripts.

    • http://inkweaver-review.blogspot.com NathanKP

      I hope that Blender becomes a job requirement. Blender is definitely worthy, both as a teaching tool and an expert industry tool.

      NathanKP – The Ink Weaver Collection – Book Review Blog

    • http://www.hyperbol.com Vek

      Greetings. I work for a small indie studio that released a game last year and I can confirm that blender is taking off (albeit slowly) in terms of companies needing it.

      We’d definitely need someone who does blender, when we next hire, but the reason we wouldn’t put it down as a requirement is because we believe that any already-competent 3d artist could learn blender pretty fast. Putting down Blender as a requirement would narrow our candidate choices down far too much. We’d probably put “Blender 3d experience a plus” but not a solid requirement.

    • tedi

      cool.

      I’ve been out-of-the-loop for a year and a half.
      When I re-learn Blender and all that was added in the meantime, all jobs and studios will want blender knowledge.

      I tell you, I’m gonna be HOT ! I’ll make owners cook coffee for me.
      (that at least be true if I start my own …)

      O.K. in my studio Blender will be a job requirement. Promiss ;)

    • http://yorik.orgfree.com Yorik

      I also think something is coming, something like the “small people era”, where yourself, as a person, knowing cheap tools that you can modify yourself to your needs, will be more valuable on the market than a big firm with heavy software… Just a dream for now, but who knows?

    • tedi

      “small people era”

      I’m small. But not _that_ small. How did you know BTW:?

    • http://www.hamsterking.com JoOngle

      There have been 2 ads over here in Denmark too where “Blender” was an requirement, so yes…winds of change indeed.

      I use Blender at work as a “VITAL” tool for product-visualization too, so it’s sort of “required” at our place too ;)

      Bet there’s lots of places that use Blender in silence… since there are no required “endorsements” or any “ad plans” like the commercial counterparts have. They usually pick someone who’ve done something great with “their software” – give them a deal they can’t refuse (usually price-deals on software & purks) …and they can use them in their ads. The reason you don’t see this in Blender is because there is literally no need for that kind of marketing with Blender…

      …you use it as YOU wish – for basically whatever purpose you wish as long as it is in accordance with the GPL license of course.

    • RC

      I was forward a job listing here in Southern California that required Blender experience. I got the job. It’s just a four month production for a dome theater project, but it pays the rent.

    • http://gustavthemushroom.deviantart.com GustavTheMushroom

      ”
      But the UI work required to make those features count is never done.

      Blender has a hard core of fanboys that will never accept that the present UI feels wrong to most 3D artists.

      And I’ve lost patience with Blender because of those fanboys.

      Very nice work on the trailer.

      But anyone who dowloads 2.45 and expects to see amazing workflow that matches the technical features advertised will not find it.

      Its been that way with every Blender release.
      ”
      LOL.

      *sighs*

      Seems like they’ll never understand us… lol.

    • hessiess

      blender dues have an amazing workflow, everything else iv used feels slow and inifishent to me.

    • James PFP

      I’ve been putting Blender on my resume for ages – for all the good it’s done me, it doesn’t hurt to talk about it either.

    • http://darsam.spaces.live.com DramaKing

      Perhaps the release of Apricot will also go ter attention.a long way and perhaps draw grea

    • llonden

      What was also interesting was the XNA experience listed

    • Intellegent Troll

      ..AHAHAhAHAHAHAHAHA

      Blender as a Mainstream program? Keep dreaming. This is -the worst- 3D program I have ever had the misfortune of trying to use. You guys want to get real jobs, Learn softimage XSI, or 3DS Max. What takes several hours in Blender to make, takes a few minutes in either of these..

      Oh whatdo I care, this post will be deleted anyway.

    • tony zambrotto

      For an intellegent troll you are not very intellegent.