I graduated one year ago from New York master program. It is almost impossible to find a 3Djob in New York. It is better the west coast?
I have 4 year experience modeling and animation. Rent it is expensive in CA and salary 40000-50000 year.

Thanks

Somewhere that pays you in Euros or Pounds :-)

Weeelll, we do have Hollywood here in CA.  If you are looking for something in film.

Of recent it has really become spread out.  Much of it has gone overseas to save on labor costs.

California used to be the hotspot but not all Hollywood effects houses are based in California.  There are of course some big names here such as ILM, Pixar, EA… but those jobs have lots of applicants. 

Canada seems to be doing quite well with game houses in Toronto and Montreal. 

But I have talked to people doing 3D in just about every part of the world and every state in the US except perhaps Alaska. I have several friends working in Floridia and some in South Carolina.  And yes, I even know a few in NYC.  If you have a good demo reel and resume, it shouldn’t be hard to find work in any major city.  Also keep in mind artist often work from home once they are established.  Get a good demo reel together and have it in a standard format on the web and be sure to be able to burn it to a DVD so that it plays on a regular DVD player and not just a computer. 

Regards,
Darv

Darvin Atkeson
Forum Assistant

http://LiquidMoonlight.com
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I wish that it is true, but I don’t see too much work around here. I have a DVD, a web reel and a print portfolio, but everybody wants a five year experience. I applied around 300 places in one year, most all the places offer freelance and wants a five year experience guy.  3D it is very unstable in NY, especially modeling and Animation. If you have 4 years experience like me you get a lot of non pay internship.
I hold an MFA, I have 4 years experience. I waste my money; nobody cares if you have any degree.
I wish I know more AE, because in NY everybody wants After Effects.
Thank you for your response

According to 3D World there are tax-havens for 3D-related companies, and states like New Mexico, Illinois, Massachusetts, Connecticut - for the US - are places which offers tax-cuts to companies. MT and CT are in your neck of the woods, right? But some companies are not very eager to move, due to the proximity of clients, so I don’t think they’ll move far from New York. Eg, Blue Sky is leaving New York and are moving to Connecticut (if what they say in Edition 102 of 3D World is to trust).

For Canada the choices are British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. For reference, see Edition 102 of 3D World page 018-019. It really is hard to point which direction is the best, but since there are many many clients in New York, I’d settle in the surrounding area and contact as many 3D-graphics companies as possible. Only if I don’t get any, I’d then relocated to LA and search the area there. But before I’d move, I’d make sure the companies know I exist and are willing to have an interview.

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If you join ACM-SIGGRAPH, you will get a weekly “jobs available” email. True, many are specialized, such as searches for people with 5 years scripting-for-feature-film experience, but there are many listings. For example, Vancouver seems to have more opportunities than I would expect from its size.
Try to stay optimistic. The down side is there are a lot of people who want to work in animation, but unless you have your heart set on feature work, you should be able to find something before long.
Another suggestion would be to have an industry person critique your reel; you may have great work, but essentially “unsaleable” samples. The adage from advertising photography is “if the art director wants someone to shoot red apples, don’t show them green apples in your portfolio.”

best of luck,
-jeff

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I appreciate all the answer; I applied almost for every single company in NY recently. I have 3 answer and one job proposal. It is hard to do 3D nowadays but I’m still on track.
thank you