Animations Your demo reel needs to get you hired

[@RustyAnimator]

You can download your free Demo Reel Cheat Sheet here: rustyanimator.com/demo-reel-cheat-sheet/

[@stephAnima]

thanks for both the video and the cheat sheet!

[@dannymorales787]

Bro this is *Quality Content* wow!!! I honestly wish this was something Professors would of told us in class about what he needed to have in our Reels. No disrespect to my Professor but this is something I would of taken to heart and kept a note of. I had to figure this out on my own after I graduated and went to my first CTN Expo. Someone who worked in the industry was straight up serious with me and told me the exact same thing you've explained in this video. "Which studio am I aiming for to get hired"

[@RustyAnimator]

Thank you Danny. Really appreciate the high praise. I too had to figure this out on my own and its a topic I believe more animators should be told in depth about up front. Happy to hear you got direct feedback on it at CTN

[@keshavkourav]

I believe its the best video on demo-reel related confusions.

[@RustyAnimator]

Thank you Keshav

[@RustyAnimator]

⚡️Question - What did this clear up most for you about making a good demo reel? 👇LMK in the comments below.

[@salilarts6983]

The last line where you said, "because it doesn't matter " filled me with joy . Thank you for this insight.

[@Cheugreum]

Very flattered to see one of my shot (from shadow of war @15:00) next to shots from people I've so much admiration for

[@RustyAnimator]

Very happy to share it Cheugreum! I thought it was a great example and I love Shadow Of Wars animations. You can tell you guys went the extra mile to create quality shots.

[@Leonardoriveraanimation]

Great video and very helpful! Creating a demo reel to get hired has always felt like a daunting task and your advice is very helpful

[@RustyAnimator]

Awesome! This is exactly how I hoped you'd feel.

[@ErkFX]

Thank you for the tips! I really appreciate it! Now to really decide what kind of studio I would like to work for someday! I’m only 1 year into animating, but I really enjoy doing action shots!

[@RustyAnimator]

Keep in mind you can pick 1 path - 1 dream studio and change it at any time. You don't have to stay married to it. Better to go a direction that you think might work - get your first gig then see how you feel. Avoid analysis paralysis.

[@2010Renu]

Thank you! This will be really helpful. It is great to hear experience won't matter if reel is solid enough.

[@RustyAnimator]

Renuka Govind You are very welcome! When I Discovered that it was a huge relief for me as well.

[@nidhishah3135]

This amazing. Thank you for putting it out there. There are alot of people who talk about making reel and try to advice but just end up confusing. This is so very specific to understand. Real treasure.

[@RustyAnimator]

Thank you for saying this. I really appreciate it. And I'm so thrilled that your getting the clarity around reels that you were looking for.

[@bricengorai363]

Thanks rusty, always looking forward to your helpful videos.

[@RustyAnimator]

really appreciate hearing that. Thank you. And you are very welcome!

[@NoeliaEncarnacion]

This was really helpful thanks Rusty

[@RustyAnimator]

Happy to help!

[@Mahdi-Sharifi-vfx]

this was gold. thank you

[@GhOsTWOLF217]

Just want to say I'm super grateful to stumble upon your YT channel. Hi, I'm a recent Graduate (Class of 2018) and looking to redo my portfolio. I'm pretty much stuck in that cycle of coming up with new animations, while aslo starting some, but then falling short due to hickups in maya or issues with the rig. I love the Cinematic Animations that are in Movies, and Cut scenes in games, while also loving game animation. I started with a Tier 5 Animation for Demo Reel that involves a Singing piece but soon realized that Its alot to do. After watching your videos, i think I need to start from the begging and work my way back up since it's been a while since I've been animating like I was in school. I'm here to say that I will be starting the standing up animation and work my way through each tiers. I diverted my attention to my current job and fun tasks and have been lazy with working on my animations. Well today it stops. I want to say Thank you for re sparking my reasoning of why I wanted to do this in the first place. I wont be depressed anymore about not being in the Indusrty but more so focus on the present and work on myself, my skill set, and be ready when that time comes. Thank you again. If there is any way of showing you my previous work and comparing it to the work I will accomplish Present time, please let me know I would love feedback. - Also are you doing patreon ? or any kind of Mentoring ?

[@RustyAnimator]

Really glad to hear my channel is helping you get clarity and turn things around! Often going back to basics and slowly building yourself back up is the way to win. I do have video courses to help animators learn at their own pace as well as a live mentoring program called Augmented Animator. I usually mentor about 20 animators for 3 months straight each term. And each students animation exercises are customized by me based off their specific skill level, challenges, and goals. If you're interested in any of these programs you can check out more here: rustyanimator.com/animation-courses/ And I would suggest joining my email list to stay update with course openings and such. They often sell out quick.

[@veronicasacco3072]

Thank you a lot for sharing all these info. Finally I know how to build my reel. Your videos are amazing btw!

[@RustyAnimator]

Your are very welcome! And thank you kindly for the support.

[@sleepinggiant3660]

Wish I found you 10 years ago. Awesome video Rusty. Knowledge = POWER!!! Unless you ask Cersei (GOT)

[@RustyAnimator]

Much appreciated.

[@3dbabu604]

thank you for wonderful video

[@الاستاذحميدخالد]

In the maya 3d program, I made solids and made them movement with other programs. The problem is that in the movement making programs, you need to prepare the models to qualify in order to be prepared to complete the movement.

[@murugananthamk1149]

Great .. I need this type of advice ..Thank you very much

[@RustyAnimator]

Happy to help!

[@inkydragon27]

Thankyou so much for this, your advice is water in a desert ^__^

[@anoopmdanu3729]

very helpful video....thank you so much Rusty...

[@Just_Another_Youtube_User-i6k]

Awesome vid Rusty, thank you so much.

[@RustyAnimator]

your very welcome

[@kez2936]

Hello! Thank you so much for this! I'm trying to apply for animation internships soon and this really helps. I've been trying to search for detailed animation demo reels tips but haven't found one as detailed as yours.

[@xpea16]

Thanks for all information 😊

[@harrygomes383]

This is really helpfull sir !! Thank you !!

[@MacacoBugio]

This is very informative, mate! I've just finished my graduation in 3D, so im having quite a hard time deciding what to animate for the reel, but you just gave me a direction to go for! Thank you! But let me ask you something: As someone whos aiming for the game industry, do you think its a bad idea to make a reel showing in-game and cinematic animations?

[@ukmonk]

great video thank you!!

[@RustyAnimator]

You are so welcome!

[@eson814]

hi, it is very helpful for me because recently I just graduated and very confused on looking an animator job then I saw this video. Very good. I also have a question can I use the character that is model by others like using some free rig model from other website and animate it?

[@farshadmohiti]

Man! I like your video and helps me so much- Thank you

[@RustyAnimator]

your welcome!

[@DrumBassArchive]

This is extremely helpful, thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@RustyAnimator]

Your welcome!

[@Animationcafe]

good tips, thank you. Glad I found your channel)

[@davinci451]

Could anybody tell me what the scene at 9:11 is from? I'd like to take closer look.

[@swapnanilnag3713]

Thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️

[@RustyAnimator]

You are so welcome!

[@jessicagonzales8884]

Hi! Thanks for the advice- it's all super helpful! When talking about a musical piece for your reel, how do you get past issues of copyrighted songs for your character performance? I know there is a lot of great copyright free instrumental music out there, but I have yet to come across a good collection of lyrical songs which are unlikely to be flagged and removed on vimeo/youtube. Do you have any recommendations or suggestions on how to approach this type of shot, from that perspective? Thanks!!

[@RustyAnimator]

Great question Jessica. It sounds like your thinking more songs you would listen to. I'd consider more movie / tv musicals. E.g. West Side Story, Yesterday, Rocketman, LaLa Land, Les Miserables. If your checking out all these kinds of sources they are less likely to be flagged. Especially if its like an obscure TV show moment or a cover song. Music Popularity is irrelevant anyway. At the end of the day you don't really need to share it publicly as your not trying to making money from the song - your only out to get hired from a demo reel. So you can keep your uploads private / password protected / google drive / personal website upload / sync sketch or anything along those lines to send to recruiters.

[@Cxeri93]

what about facial animations. a close up of blinks and eye darts

[@RustyAnimator]

in terms of demo reel shots - you would cover your skill in blinks / eye darts in pantomimes and lip sync. and you could just have one of them be a close up. otherwise you could do a close up of the face going through an expression test. but you would animate everything on the face

[@sketchyo_o27]

hello sir, thank u so much :) ur tips means a lot for me bec. i was too confuse about demo reel but after watching ur video now i know what i have to do ,i make notes of everything u told , i will try to be in ur contact through youtube & email :) you're doing great ;D love from INDIA

[@RustyAnimator]

You are most welcome!

[@tristenmorgan3009]

Hello so I was just wondering and you all might never see this but I will ask anyways. I want to animate but I have a hard time finding scenes to make the animation that much better being inside a scene. If any what are some of your recommendations could I try and make a scene myself or are there places to get scenes. thank you.

[@paolaabril9250]

What about cartoon and creature animations? for feature reels?

[@الاستاذحميدخالد]

The cartoon film industries needs a lot of time, even though this industry is also used in the games industry, and the only one who is negatively affected by this industry is the people, God protects them from it.

[@Adityasabharwal]

Does this work in 2d animation as well.? Currently i am working in a vfx co. As a 3d animator. But i like to do 2d also. So will it be possible if i make a 2d animation reel and get opportunity in both 2d and 3d.?

[@Florent-yy3pd]

Hey ! Great video, I just got a question, is it a good idea to put video references alongside the animated shot in the reel ? Like can I show the animation once and then a second time but with video reference on the side ?

[@RustyAnimator]

You could but how would it help? To prove you copied the reference? Animation isn't supposed to be a copy of the reference . The goal isnt to prove how well you copy. Animation should stand on its own in the way it moves physically and how it entertains emotionally. The reference is only a guide to help create the final art piece. For this reason I dont think it helps you to include it.

[@qb4130]

Great video!! Incredibly helpful. I have a question: what about a demo reel for TV animation? Especially studios that mostly do preschool shows. Should it be similar to the feature animation demo reel?

[@RustyAnimator]

Good question. Yes, TV aims to create animations like feature animation -- meaning a lot of acting. So a feature reel is what you want. The difference in a studio is a higher level of animation quality / quota.

[@jamessmelser]

Thank you for this video! I think it's gonna be very helpful to me in the future. I just have one question though: I've recently graduated 7 months ago with my Bachelor’s in animation yet I've never completed an internship. How would I gain the experience needed to get hired at these jobs? Because I look through LinkedIn and Indeed for animation jobs and a lot of them ask for 2-3 years of professional experience, and since I have never done an internship, I lack said professional experience. Would a demo reel be enough for that? How would I approach this?

[@RustyAnimator]

The 2-3 years of experience is to scare off the people who havent really taken the time to build a proper demo reel. You don't need the experience -- the reel just needs to show you have good skill in animation. What's good enough skill wise is a bigger question - As it varies per studio - though the bar tends to be quite high these days as a lot of people want to be animators. I should probably do an indepth video on this.

[@jamessmelser]

@@RustyAnimator That would be a great video topic to cover, thank you👍

[@ayurvedicanbscaart7137]

Thanks a lot 😀

[@RustyAnimator]

Always welcome

[@Radical_Dreamers]

Trying to make my way into the animation industry here. That was really helpful thank you... I got a question though : Do you think there are more jobs opportunities in Game or in Feature animation ? I like both equally so I might as well focus on the one where I might have more chances to get a job.

[@Conceptsofsanket]

Is rendering animation with lights betteerr than just a playblast with. Blank BG ?

[@RustyAnimator]

90% of the time no. Animation teams in studios want to see your animation clearly. They look at playblasts all day long. Shading and lighting can cover up or make animation unclear. It can also make your shot look really unappealing if your not a pro at it. The worst thing would be the animation team saying "why did he spend all this time on lighting? did he think the animation was polished?". Stick to viewport 2 at most.

[@punitpatel3214]

3000% helpful 👍👍👍

[@zamora3D]

Does modeling and rigging your own models get bonus points?

[@bigkantungu]

Not sure if you're looking to get into rigging, but I've heard that riggers in the 3D industry are highly sought after and can almost always land a job anywhere! It would be its entirely own discipline outside of animation, but if you enjoy rigging I suggest you could look into that as well.

[@Violazemo]

I think is mainly luck: is your demo reel the last of the bunch or the first one the recruiter is watching today? They are making a game about spiderman so If you don't have a shot with acrobatics and the next demo has those shots then you don't get the job...99% luck...

[@RustyAnimator]

lucky timing / talking the right person plays a role. But its far from 99%. So much of this falls on your skills and your network. Then you suddenly start finding jobs.

[@الاستاذحميدخالد]

Making a movement from scratch for three-dimensional figures requires a long time. Why do we not use previous movements that we build on what we need and what we make that pleases God better than we follow in making something that is devastating to the morals of humanity, meaning making the movement meaningful for good

[@verobj]

Which one is the most stable?

[@RustyAnimator]

Verobj which industry you mean? it all depends and varies. In short - VFX is usually more contract based so that can have you relocating more often. Though you could get the same in games. And Feature can be really tough to break into. If i were you id focus on what kind of animation you love the most and later you can find a way to get more stability if its too unpredictable for you at first.

[@brkrvisions780]

Where can we post the videos that we made

[@RustyAnimator]

Great question. The Rusty Animator FB Group: facebook.com/groups/rustyanimator

[@brkrvisions780]

Thanks

[@unaperrson]

In my experience, there is a mentality in studios in the UK that they don't want to hire someone unless you have relevant production or project experience. Jellyfish Pictures make a point of telling you not to bother applying unless you have the required experience or you will be rejected! I find this attitude demoralizing to say the least. I am not sure how you are supposed to progress in your career if no-one wants to give you a clean break. Any thoughts? I notice you say professional experience does not matter, but I find myself being constantly stonewalled because I do not have recent experience and so I no longer bother applying for jobs at all. I also find age to be a barrier to re-entering the world of work. If you are over fifty it is very tough. You are much younger than that and so probably haven't experienced this problem in life yet.

[@RustyAnimator]

Hi unaperrson. Sorry to hear you've had a tough time. Though having mentored students 50+ that have gotten their first animation jobs - I have proof age is a non-issue. To your other point about getting hired without experience, their may be some companies that have usual requirements like "no junior animators". But 95% of the time that experience requirement is just there to scare off the really unqualified artists. So go ahead and apply where ever your skills fit. And if 1 studio rejects you for their own unique requirements - keep moving forward. Who cares. We all had to start without experience some where. All it takes is 1 gig to get you in and then your options snowball from there. That said, how many rejections have you had? If the UK is so tough - why not go outside of it? And how do you know for sure that your skills are 'good enough' to be entry level?

[@unaperrson]

How do I know my skills are good enough to be entry level? A couple of years ago I contacted a former tutor of mine who teaches character animation at Masters level at Central Saint Martins in London, to ask him if he had any advice as to what I could do next, and he was nice enough to say that he thought I am already an excellent animator. He also said that he noticed a drop off in offers of work as he got older, so maybe my concerns aren't entirely unfounded, although I can't prove it. Also, I am already an experienced animator having had some experience at several studios, but my job applications have fallen on stoney ground this last couple of years. As I am sure you know that when you apply online you get the usual application acknowledgement and they never bother contacting you again unless you are shortlisted for an interview. One studio took a staggering fifteen weeks to respond to my application - I had given up on them! Another application I followed up on received a swift re-buttle because they said they receive so many to look at. I have made a considerable effort to keep practicing my skills over the last few years and am generally pretty happy with my work and confident in it, so I shall keep on working until I have done as much as I can. Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post, I appreciate it.