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Is it sometimes harder to be a hobbyist than a professional ?


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Not being a pro I am clearly guessing here but I would have to assume that if a client sets out their requirements how the pro gets to the final result is really of no importance, what counts is the clients gets what they want , on time and at a price that suits both pro and client. It is all smoke and mirrors at the end of the day. Sinsy and Bugle.

In my world I take projects on as a challenge. I have an idea, or watch a movie and decide I want to recreate that in C4D. Take for example explosions. I could easily do a lot of stuff with stock footage as for example provided by Action Essentials and then just use TFD for the 3D hero shots. But to me that is cheating and defeats the point of the challenge I have set myself. I am often tempted to do so but then think to myself " What is the point..what would I gain from posting that video on youtube when all I have done is some comp work ?". Now if compositing was my main hobby that would be fine but in my world there is always my alter ego looking over my shoulder and tutting.." If you can't do it boy..don't fudge it"

I am under no illusion that good comp work is easy but I know I could make some amazing scenes based on Action Essential footage, post them on youtube and get the praise...but my alter Ego would be there..giving me the look and shaking ..my..head.  " CHEAT !! "

That said after I have done the scene and tutorial I am working on which is a specific TFD project I think I will broaden my scope and mix in many elements including compositing and using Action Essentials. In that way I am selling the generalized CGI tutorial as opposed to specifically teaching TFD. But I will always use C4D as my main core..simply because I just love the program even though it has me pulling my hair out much of the time and screaming at it ..I have tried LW and MAX and a bit of Maya and have never felt at ease with them. With C4D i can just build one up and spark it up and sit and doodle..it is so pleasing to work with until of course you start trying to make demands of it..with this babe is is definitely not a case of treat her mean and keep her keen !!

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As a professional it all depends.  They might say you have to work with this software or that and that is why you are forced to use Adobe or something else you normally wouldn't.  You also have time deadlines which makes you make it faster rater than better.  You push yourself to find ways to be faster and faster.  If it is ok with the client to use Action Essentials and it's faster that is the way to go.  If there is extra time maybe change out some explosions you didn't like so much with a better one that was 3D rendered yourself.  If using something like Quad Remesher does a good enough mesh for the render it can save a ton of time.  If the auto UV works that saves a ton of time.  Even when I work on some hobby project I find myself wanting to work as fast as possible, so I can get it done.  If I never get anything done because you work too slow than I feel like I'm not doing anything as an artist even if I'm leaning a lot.  Finishing a project 2x, both times as fast as I can finish them, seems to be more beneficial with learning and gratification than never finishing anything.

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It's an interesting question, as Fastbeen mentions, alot of depends on your client base or the studio your working at.

I often to listen to similar debates on a youtube channel called 'artcafe', hosted by Maciej Kuciara, a concept artist whom has worked on numerous hollywood productions.

 

His argument often talks about kit bashing (painting over photo reference) in concept art,  and wether or not that is cheating. (Not the main focus of his channel but often comes up in conversation with the guest artist).

 

He states that, as long as you have an understanding of the fundamentals, then it's not a problem.

If the client wants to see the chareacter from another viewpoint, you know enough about drawing to re-construct the character as requested.

He often talks of the 'old days' when kit bashing was frowned upon and seen as cheating, where-as today, with deadlines becomoing ever shorter, kitbashing is the norm. 

 

For me, working as a freelancer, I think that when comes down getting paid for the work you take on, then use whatever you can to keep the client happy.

I use personal projects to challenge myself and learn from, then I intergrate/adapt those skills when on a commercial job down the lne.

 

In my experience, the client's main concern is that it's done on time and on budget, and looks or excees what they envisioned.

 

 

 

 

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i don't think i know a single professional who wouldn't say 3D is also their hobby. so i think the general needs and approaches are not that different in the end.

the main difference i see is that the professional HAS to learn to be efficient, the pure hobbyist can afford to choose not to. of course that usually means if there's a shortcut available, you usually take it to be more efficient. but i think the same rule applies to hobbyists that are primarily creators, opposed to the hobbyists that are primarily gear-heads. with gear-heads i mean techies that never actually really create anything, who just love to play with the software. if your hobby is creating short films for instance, and all you want is to finish that thing, you don't care if it's done the good or the bad way, the most important thing is that it looks good and it gets out there. for them the needs and behaviours are pretty much identical to those of a professional.

 

i started out as a hobbyist, i wanted to get sh** done as badly as a hobbyist as i want to get sh** done as a professional.

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