Why personal branding is important in 2020 (Allan McKay)

[@nickreynolds3919]

Been following you for years and love everything you post. I completely agree with the age. Being young in the industry always affected me more than the actual people around you. I personally felt I was judged a little at first with age, but by being humble and putting out good work always gets you the respect quickly. Looking forward to future videos on this topic. All best. -Nick

[@AllanMcKay]

Thanks so much Nicholas, we all have these invisible scripts in our head even though a lot of the time it's just us and it's not reality. But it's important to know we are in control of what we put out there and how we want to be conveyed. I appreciate all the kind words brother, thank you!

[@Roozy_Persepolis]

When I went to Art school at the age of 31, I felt like I am quite late to the party,however, I was able to compensate for getting late to the industry by all my experiences in different jobs I have had in the past and my social and communication skills mad me feel more comfortable. Age is a two sided sword, has ts benefits and downsides.

[@bkscribe]

Thanks for sharing this, Allan. I appreciate the vulnerability and insight tremendously. Definitely a good reminder that WE control our own story, whether positive OR negative. In the abyss of social media comments, it’s sometimes all too easy to forget that. It’s constant work checking in with yourself. At every salary review, the owner at my first full time animation job 20 years ago (where I stayed for 8 years) would always tell me that I worked too slowly and would then offer me a modest raise, thinking I should be grateful after receiving such a critique. Meanwhile, as the first animator they hired, I built their 3D department - juggling everything from AIT backups, to server / render farm maintenance, while still animating full time late into the evenings. Within 6 years, the company was acquired by one of the top ad agencies globally. I mention this because, in my case, I let THEM control the narrative and my story despite the reality that I was adding undeniable value to the company that they then directly profited from in being acquired. After my long overdue departure from that studio, I was frequently given props at other studios for my efficiency. Thanks again for sharing. Appreciate you.

[@jahirhussain2484]

I was really low for the past few days with the same invisible script running in my mind that i am not worthy and would i ever achieve great heights from the place i am right now.Whatever i tried doing i would leave it in middle-way because of no belief that anything good will happen in my life. And then u released this video at the right time,now i understood that no matter who you are and where you are,you can achieve if you are willing to put that extra effort and time in doing stuff even it doesn't come right at first.I will keep trying until i succeed and even if i dont , i would know that i tried. Your words boosted me up sir.Thank you.❤

[@Legendaryfiremedia]

Listen I truly appreciate your transparency! There's so many people that you may never meet, whose hearts you're touching and can relate. I've quit VFX training over and over and I keep coming back. Basically my friends and family hear me say Allan McKay quite a bit. I'm back on the grind!

[@AllanMcKay]

Thanks Carlton! That means a lot and I truly appreciate the comment! Keep grinding my friend!

[@FrancoCarlesimoArt]

Awesome Video Allan! nice to know a little more about you bro! Hope all is going ok and we have to catch up soon, just that work is been crazy latley . Cheers mate !

[@AllanMcKay]

Thanks so much man its so great to hear from you! I've been seeing all of the amazing work you've been posting - so inspiring!

[@allanzulu7329]

You are my inspiration 👍

[@AllanMcKay]

Thanks so much Allan that means a lot I'm grateful and humbled 🙏

[@matintorabi7051]

Hey Alen! Long-time follower first-time commenter! ;D I just wanted to say: Thanks a lot man for your efforts in making these amazing videos. many content creators on this platform just create technical stuff, but what you're doing here is extraordinary and exceptional. almost nobody else here bothers themselves to share these life-changing tips. hope to see you someday in person! Thanks again!

[@AllanMcKay]

Thanks Matin! That's so great to hear and thank you! Honestly the more time I spend helping people the more I realize showing people how to do the technical stuff is easy - anybody can follow a tutorial. But I know from my experience, plus the 200+ guests I've had on my Podcast, what really is going to make an impact in your success in your career has nothing to do with how well you can push a button. It's all the mindset, the strategy, the life skills and work you put into building relationships, building your brand, gaining visibility and giving value to others with your services that divides the successful people from everybody else. So that's why I started the Podcast and that's why I try to put as much focus into the things that matter. I still will make tutorials on various topics because it's fun but it's such a small part of what leads to getting the big success and big opportunities that we all want. So you nailed it - thanks for sharing and I'm really happy this has given you so much value - and hopefully we can have a beer and talk about it one day! Thank you Matin

[@dev5100]

You are amazing as a person Allan. Cheers!!

[@AllanMcKay]

Thanks so much Devashya

[@lenardsantiago4194]

I love listening to your videos

[@AllanMcKay]

Thank you Lendar! I'm honored

[@creatingvfx]

hey Allan, I am finally now in industry, before that I was just learn from you and other artist to create stuffs. I was loving to Share my knowledge and some self experience things that I figured out how to do it from scratch . But now here I am in industry My motivation my devotion to my personal interest in sharing and creating stuffs for you-tube is somewhere lost. I just started my series of tutorial before coming for job and now here I am what i was waiting for long time but again loosing something that I was fond of

[@adrianweder7086]

Thank you!

[@AllanMcKay]

You're welcome Adrian, thank you!

[@darrrrrina1363]

I am 29 and I dream to work as concept artist in New York. But sometimes it get hard to believe in my dreams, cause I think that I maybe too old to reach my them. But I will fight! Thank you, Alan!

[@NelluFly]

Allan, you're awesome as always! Thank you for your priceless sharing.

[@mugalasirogers4066]

Thinks you very much for sharing your life, as your fun am blessed that I subscribed your channel. We share some of the things in common. An being inspired by your story of growing up in such way that you made it . that means we can also make it. Thanks bro

[@AdityaKumar-in5kt]

You are inspiring everyone.. I'm learning so much from you. It helps me to make my own brand. Have patience, More focused. God bless you big brother.

[@AllanMcKay]

That's so great to hear Aditya! Keep going! 👊♥️

[@AdityaKumar-in5kt]

@@AllanMcKay 👊

[@vorpalwolfie]

Hey Allan! I'm an animation student, but I am having trouble figuring out how to start and land my first job. I would love it if you could talk about that in one of your next videos. Much love and respect for your work! - Kristina

[@irenasmitakova8758]

Amazing content Allan! :)

[@attitbashyal9726]

Thank you Professor for giving us valueable time and content . If you didn’t do it for us nobody would , our journey on fx could be hard without your FXTD mentorship & live action and all the deep dive KZbin vedios. Thank you Professor for not caring about views and subscribers and still giving us alot of valueable information. Professor your journey on vfx was so inspiring . No any excuse just gonna do it until my reality becomes my dreams. Thanks for everything.

[@AllanMcKay]

Thanks Attit! I appreciate the kind comment thank you very much! I would be lying if I said I didn't care about views and subs, of course I want the message in these videos to reach and hopefully help as many people as possible - but that's always the focus, to help others and give back. So I appreciate the kind words, thank you my friend and keep at it! No excuses, just hard work and kicking ass - you got this! 👊🙏

[@attitbashyal9726]

Thank you Professor for helping us .

[@phantom000x]

Great story Allan thank You very much for all Your inspiring and creative actions ! :) same 286 experience with emulator of cooprocesor just to run 3dstudio dos version :) You Doing amazing work sharing such a knowledge and inspiring young people.

[@AllanMcKay]

Thanks so much Tomasz! And that's so cool - yeah I was told it was a 386SX and even though it said 286 in the bios whenever I booted it up I was in denial until i installed Doom and it refused to load. That was the decider haha. Had to SplitF the files from 3.5" floppies to 5.4" floppies just to get across. I think that was a motivator for me though since I learned to change all the graphics in wolfenstein, and started to port all the graphics from Doom over to Wolf3D in Deluxe Paint, so in a way it helped me make do with what I had haha Thanks for sharing Tomasz!

[@ncarps]

I really want to learn I just can't decide what I want to learn. Might sound silly but I'm torn between 3d modelling, special FX, animation and what software to use. I want to learn it all but at the same time don't want to bite off more than I can chew. I'm probably using my indecisiveness as my excuse not to move forward. Any advice on this would be appreciated. 🙂 Either way, great talk and definitely made me think about certain things differently. Thanks man.

[@AllanMcKay]

I think in the beginning it's good to know what you might want to specialize in but just realize it's not set in stone. As you get more experience you'll gravitate towards certain areas. In the beginning just do what excited you it's good to know all aspects of 3D so you have a broader understanding of the whole process. But there are certainly a lot more modelers out there than FX for instance, so it's good to figure out different ways to stand out, as you grow. For now just have fun and focus on whatever keeps you up at night working late hours without ever checking the clock, that can be one thing or that can be everything. No need to put yourself in a certain bucket yet. Have fun and grow and later it will naturally come to you what you want to specialize in 👊

[@eliellgvs1]

First of all, thank you for sharing all your experience Allan, you are a great inspiration. Im working on my brand now, I've being working on advertisement industry as senior motion designer for years. But I would like to work with motion designer in the VFX industry. Im not sure about the motion design department in the VFX, but I think is a very specific thing to apply, for example, we can see a bunch of FX of HUD, interfaces, scifi layouts, or some title sequences for movies that looks like a "Cinema 4D Look" In that moment Im studying compositing, and some effects simulation, the basics like use reaflow and x-particles inside of C4D. But Im not sure if this is the right way to follow. Please Allan, what advice you could give to us about that transition from motion design from advertisement to VFX/Hollywood movies. Thanks in advanced, U are the best!

[@AllanMcKay]

Thanks so much Eliel! I would figure out what it is you want to specialize in first, whether it's more abstract motion graphics or something similar and find the studios you want to work at that do this type of work that are closest to you or best fit for you as the first place to work at. Focus on cutting a reel that mimics the type of work they do so that you align the best with their needs - and then as you get more experience start to move to the bigger film studios. Not sure if you are in commercials right now, but working at VFX studios that do a lot of commercial work is a great stepping stone. You'll get lots of experience and work on lots of different projects to beef up your reel

[@yezaken7537]

Allan is an angel no two ways about that ! Tell me who does this for free ..! Hey Allan Am rocking on Skillshare Thanks bro

[@AllanMcKay]

That's so great man! Keep it up!! 👊👊👊

[@bloyomind1on1]

Hi Allen :D i found about you earlier this year i think and perfect timing as i was finishing college! So i got the email a couple of mins ago just about finishing this video. Could i send you my questions/situation via email somehow? Also i want to thank you for everything you do and mad respect for all the effort you put in for artists everywhere and the industry as a whole! - Gery

[@AllanMcKay]

Thanks so much Gery! and yeah please go ahead - if you can use the subject "Branding" in the email just so I know to keep an eye out for it. Tanks Gery!

[@mahesh9905]

Hi sir I'm doing vfx course they are teaching Maya.. I want to be in fx department so which software is the industry standard to build my career

[@AllanMcKay]

Hi Mahesh I would look at the studios you want to work at and look at what software they use. Rather than "what is the standard" because there is no standard. But there will be a standard at those studios that you want to work at. So pick a studio that you would like to work at in the next 1-2 years (I say this because it's easy to say ILM but focus on what you think is realistic for next 1-2 years) and put focus in there to learn the tools they use. Hope that helps!

[@DavidConant]

Hello, Allan. What’s the best way to network if you are not in California and want to stay in your home town?

[@AllanMcKay]

Online! and offline Seriously - no matter where in the world you are you have access to 7 billion people online. And even right now you're networking. I now know who David Conant is because he reached out and made a connection just now. Your city has plenty of people, even if you think there's no work in your city for your specific industry, there is. And as a creative, everybody needs creative services.Just because there's no networking events in your city, doesn't mean you can't go and create your own. Even if to start out it's just you and a few industry friends, you can spread the word over time. But now is a perfect time to start connecting with others, and online you can jump on Facebook, linkedin, Instagram, KZbin! You name it. Reach out every day and make a connection with others and more importantly, follow up on those connections. Studios, artists you admire, everybody

[@Ali-xc8iu]

Inspiring story!

[@AllanMcKay]

Thanks so much Ali! 🙏

[@tristanmarquez1]

Sounds like we had the same up bringing. Very inspiring, thank you for sharing. Here's a questions, I have been looking in to changing industries but my portfolio is horrid and old. Where should I start?

[@AllanMcKay]

Hi Tristan, sometimes you gotta declare demo reel bankruptcy and start from scratch. Mostly because your reel probably doesn't reflect your ability and existence anymore. Even if you were to decide to do some late nights the next few weeks and just carve out 3 killer shots - tailor them to the type of client or company you want to work for so that are laser focused. And then you still have your old work you can bring up if there ever ask to see more but at least there's a dialogue happening at that point rather than them seeing your old work at face value you get to give it some context (that it's old) while you have the new work to initially grab their attention with. It's work but I honestly think if you put in a couple of weeks of spare time that's all it takes to carve out a new killer reel and keep it focused on attracting the ideal type of work you want to be doing so it speaks to the right audience

[@tristanmarquez1]

@@AllanMcKay Thank you!

[@greog1108]

Hi Allan. Thanks for your insights and efforts. I follow your posts and it´s always very clarifying to hear. I'm starting out in the industry and had my first job this year. I´m very satisfied that all the hard work over the years ended up paying off, but I know deep inside that, in the long run, I´ll want to make most of my income as a freelancer working from home or remotely. And keep all the traveling stuff as an optional thing more than something I need. I´d love to hear what you would do in my situation. Do you have any tips or ideas of how I can end up making that happen? How to start working in that direction? Thanks again! PD: I know you did a video about working from home, but I only took from it that it is possibe, some people do it, and that people who hire freelancers value that they can pay per job and not per hour. I missed more like the how, or just little baby steps that can be taken.

[@bengallagher3308]

Hey! I’m an up and coming Flame artist at a relatively small post house, without an in house CG artist. One of the things I feel is holding me back from being able to make the step to a larger post house, is my ability to compost CG models into live action shots and a lack of knowledge regarding the best possible workflows between 3D softwares and compositing tools, such as flame or nuke. Do you have any advice regarding this?

[@srnstudio7704]

Yes, if nobody know us don't know abut our work , so Personal Branding is important to us.

[@cyberman644]

Hello Sir i want to make a career shift at 33, i already learned Maya, C4D and After effects. What are my chances to land a job at such age with little experience ? Do i have to learn Nuke and 3DS Max ? Thanks for your time and effort.

[@AllanMcKay]

Hi Ahmed, it's never too late to change career - I think not changing career to the thing you're most passionate about is more painful. So if you think its something you want to do - 33 is nothing - I know plenty of people who've moved to VFX 15 years after that :) I think it's a matter of finding the studios you want to work at in the next 1-2 years and look at what software they use rather than trying to learn all the software out there. Pick the ones that will help you align the best to that studio and work on a reel and aim to get in there as your first stepping stone Good luck!

[@meanimates1717]

This has been on my mind for quite a while but never asked about it till now, so when u or any other artist asks about experience level does it mean the amount of time someone spent in the industry or does it mean the years of experience with 3D software and artistic skills

[@AllanMcKay]

Thats a good point - experience can be interpreted differently. Industry experience is important, but usually when I talk about experience it's more the experience you got during that time. So there's high quality experience, and low quality experience. In other words, you could have 5-10 years of experience just floating by going through the motions, not really focusing on growth. You'll have 10 years experience, but maybe never have learned any leadership skills, or pushed yourself to grow. I think experience is what makes us the best at what we do because we can make better decisions, anticipate problems before they come up, and think both big picture and small picture when the times call for it. So that's what I value and typically refer to when I talk about experience. In terms of industry experience vs software experience typically that's p to you - I would refer to how many years experience I have, because again that's where growth typically happens, where you're learning to work with others and understand the production process. I hope that helps Neet! Thank you!

[@meanimates1717]

@@AllanMcKayWell i get it now that growing with experience is important and im very thankful for ur reply but i think u may have mistaken my name for NEET . NEET is supposed to be useless and lazy peoples who basically does only the things they like to do in life.

[@ChristianDenyAlmeidaCosta]

Hi Allan, First of all I would like to congratulate you for sharing all this information with us. I am 43 years old i'm from Brazil and started very young at 16 working with airbrushing for architectural project presentations and then rapidly evolving to digital arts, 3d, CG etc. But at the age of 25, married to a daughter, I stagnated and did not evolve professionally, but, I continued studying, I actually settled down. I am currently studying again, zbrush mainly. I am a full time freelancer since 2012. My question is, what is the way forward to start from scratch after 40 years. Is there a place in industry to fit in and get professionally advanced so late?

[@lenardsantiago4194]

Can I ask you something, how old are you now? Just curious. I'm just 21, and I wanna be a VFX artist someday.

[@AllanMcKay]

I'm 39! Started wayyy too young in my career - 21 is a great age to start :)

[@IvanIceBergVFX]

Обожаю этого парня, жаль я нихрена не понимаю по английски :))

[@madlookzvfx]

Hey allan, I would like to get your professional mail id!!

[@AllanMcKay]

Thanks Madlookz my email address is [e-mail] If you are looking for my inner circle mailing list go to www.allanmckay.com/inside/ thanks again Allan

[@Bricecenturion974]

email list gang

[@AllanMcKay]

Just sent it out a couple of minutes ago to everyone int he inner circle! A lot of people have been asking for material specifically around building your brand. Hope you find it valuable. Enjoy! Thanks Brice

[@Bricecenturion974]

@@AllanMcKay ahah here I am ! Sure I was part of the people that needed this video ! Thank you and hope to see you one day in Montreal :)

[@AllanMcKay]

@@Bricecenturion974 Definitely! Hope to make it out once winter clears out - I visited Ubisoft in December one year - never again in that tiem of year. haha I will enjoy my 18c weather over west coast :) Thanks again Brice!

[@Bricecenturion974]

@@AllanMcKay ahah then see you in may next year xd