canuckInLA^H^HOR - I really appreciate the time you spent writing all of that information. You're right, I'm open to many specialties in the computer graphics industry.
My pleasure.
Your mention of pipeline development is interesting; I'll research that further.
I should have mentioned, that the majority of pipeline development is now being done in Python. Both Maya and Houdini have embedded interpreters (I'm not familiar enough with XSI to know there, but I think it does, as well), though Houdini has the better integration. Both can also run PyQT apps (with a few tricks), which is getting used more, and more frequently on the UI side of things.
The story behind the MASSIVE engine and its (one) creator is near to my heart. I could see myself designing that, if I had coders to do the heavy lifting.
Not only is he one smart dude, but he's incredibly nice, too.
Understand the process from modeling through to compositing.
Can you provide a link to a good overview of computer graphics? That will help me evaluate the learning curve, then serve as a roadmap to learning the various elements.
Depending on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go...
Foley, van Dam is considered the bible, from a computer science perspective. That covers the basics of CG theory from an algorithms perspective. The computer geek in you might be interested in that, but unless you want to get into developing graphics software (game engines, renderers, etc), there's probably little need for it. It doesn't cover production at all, which is probably more important for you.
For production, I'm not sure of a good, comprehensive review, out there, if only because every studio is a bit different, and there are minor differences between VFX work, and full-CG animation. There is
The Digital Visual Effects Studio, but I haven't read it, so I can't say how good it is.
Oh, and I completely forgot about this one:
How to get a Job in Computer Animation. Also unreviewed by me, but the author is pretty well known.
Can you also recommend some resources to get me familiar with the industry? ie: podcasts, blogs, publications, professional organizations (SIGGRAPH), and most importantly, user groups - like Flickr for animation and graphics.
There is a tonne of stuff out there, most of which I totally ignore. I'm part of a private mailing list that's pretty active, which is where I get a lot of my interesting news from.
As for websites, in no particular order (and certainly in no particular importance, and even more certainly far from exhaustive):
I'm sure that once you start surfing through there, you'll find plenty of other good places to visit. No guarantee about the signal-to-noise of the forums on some of those places. It's certainly not like here.
Does this industry have a place for professionals who interface with people, design systems, brainstorm, support and teach? Those are some of my other skills (my current job is very broad), and I would be happier splitting my time between those and hunched over the keyboard.
Not a broad industry-wide place that I'm aware of, other than SIGGRAPH. The larger studios, such as Rhythm & Hues, have training departments. But if those are things that you like doing, and are good at, then
pipeline would definitely be attractive for you. (For what it's worth, that's a company, and position, where you'll be groomed, and if you want to apply, send me your CV -- I can send it directly to the people doing the hiring.)
A demo reel question - I assume I'll need to specialize in, at most, a few areas of the graphics industry. To develop a reel, would I work with a team to which I contribute my expertise? Then, when showing the reel, ask employers/clients to focus on my contribution?
Yes, or no. Depends on how much of a glutton for punishment, you are. You can work on a reel on your own, but you can also work with a team. When you have shots on your reel that a team worked on, you'll generally also provide a shot-breakdown that lists your contributions to the work. They'll know to focus on what you did, so it's not something you specifically have to ask them to do.
Cheers
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