How To Make Money in VFX (Allan McKay talks The 50K Myth) VFX Salary 2020

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  • Опубликовано: 1 дек 2024

Комментарии • 64

  • @inspirationalgoosebumps6006
    @inspirationalgoosebumps6006 4 года назад +15

    Allan, I always get goosebumps while listening to you. Your explanation is like a healer. You know once I feared that jobs in VFX does not give room to spend time with family and friends. But I realised it is possible if you do it in a right and efficient way. If you break that barrier in your mind which never lets you go beyond your physical and mental capabilities, you become an inspiration for others. 😌 ✌️

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  4 года назад +2

      That's so awesome man! I do think there are times you're going to have to do some late ones but that's every industry. But definitely as time progresses you get better at managing yourself and your time and communicating with managers what needs to be done so that you don't all end up working late. That's really great that you're mastered the game and found that balance, really awesome brother! 👊👊🔥

  • @nikolaostsimpetonidis4243
    @nikolaostsimpetonidis4243 4 года назад +1

    One of the biggest barrier I hear by my surroundings, apart from salaries, to much competition etc. is that it is unlikely for me to switch career, from teaching to VFX, now in my 40s. To be honest when I hear all the comments by people around me I get discouraged a lot. Listening to all the " you are too old... ", " usually companies prefer younger ones to start as a runner", "younger don't have family obligations", " younger can get paid cheaper..." and so on. Honestly, I am tired of listening to all these negative comments. Listening to your inspiring videos, really keeps me going and believing in myself. Like you say, if others did it, why can't I or anyone else who is/might be in my shoe? Many thanks for the as always highly inspiring video! All the best and stay safe!!

  • @RaviKumar-fo7ys
    @RaviKumar-fo7ys 4 года назад +8

    'We are all habit builders and we are also habit breakers' Thanks, Allan.

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  4 года назад +1

      LOVE IT! AND YES I couldn't stress this more - so critical. Thanks Ravi!

  • @7bajwa
    @7bajwa 4 года назад +4

    I remember when I started in the industry. Going abroad and working in the big studio seemed like a big unachievable dream. When I joined my first company, I saw people leaving and join some big studios across the world. Which gave me confidence and a same thought that I can do it too. So after 2 years of hard-work and a good portfolio, I joined one of the place I always wanted to work. Cheers Alan, Love your videos, Learned a lot and got so much confidence. I am not in VFX but I always love the guidance. It works the same in all the art fields. Keep sharing your knowledge. :)

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  4 года назад

      That's so great man and congrats on all your success! 👊🔥

  • @pooya1
    @pooya1 4 года назад +3

    I should invite my entire family and play this video for them! thank for sharing Allan! you are my hero!

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  4 года назад +2

      Thank you Pooya1! I'm honored 🙏

  • @MirceaGoia
    @MirceaGoia 4 года назад +3

    As always, your discourses are inspiring :)!

  • @pixoled
    @pixoled 4 года назад

    Hello Allan, thank so much for bringing this topic up just in right time (personally for mentioning myself) cause as a 3D generalist i have been in this field for 6 years now i love what i do but recently i was struggling to change my field because of low income and got tired of working with low budget clients. I was telling myself to do other things for money just like anybody does to feed their family. Then, i did a 2 weeks of research being SQL developer which was paying good and was easier to learn comparing to other programming languages but in 2 weeks i realized that all the fields have huge competition. Then, your topic popped up and i loved watching it. Thanks again for your motivational video which brought me back to the field again. Now, i understood that spending time to be a master of your fields is more important then giving up at the beginning of your career.

  • @Bruceleekungfoo
    @Bruceleekungfoo Год назад +1

    Great videos! I worked with Rodriguez in Desperado and he showed me during production how he would set up shots, etc. I made my own "El Mariachi" action film in Mexico for $50K and got it released on Blockbuster Home Video. 🎬🎥

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  Год назад +1

      That’s so cool! Always wanted to meet him, loved his book. I’ve had multiple people promise to introduce me but nobody has come through haha. What’s the name of your movie? Congratulations btw that’s massive to have done that especially for 50k

  •  4 года назад

    Hello Allan, great yo see you again, and many thanks for this video, it gives me new energy to start growing high in mi career and health for the mind. again thank you

  • @jso19801980
    @jso19801980 3 года назад

    Hi Alan,
    hope your well, you helped me via icq more than 20yrs ago. I'm still working in the 3d industry and doing fine.

  • @arunckraj
    @arunckraj 4 года назад +2

    Very inspiring and informative Allan!!

  • @jayrangani
    @jayrangani 4 года назад +2

    Hey Allan thanks for making all this videos,I'm also try to make big career in art industry,and your videos are very inspiring and full of knowledge.hope i will meet you one day.

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  4 года назад +2

      Awesome Jay! And definitely looking forward to meeting one day!

  • @AB-mv1mb
    @AB-mv1mb 4 года назад

    your videos are so inspiring!

  • @masterfootage5481
    @masterfootage5481 4 года назад +1

    Good day, Allan. It is always with great pleasure that I watch your videos inspired by them. I would love to hear your opinion. I think this question has arisen in the minds of many. I love working at max, but a giant like Houdini is growing very fast. Can 3ds max compete with it in the presence of plugins (such as TP, Tyflow and Phoenix FD, etc.). For destruction, I still leave the preference for TP. No matter what constrain is prescribed, it is inferior to SC in TP. I would be glad if you take a minute of your time to answer me. I wish you good luck and success, and most importantly the health of the strongest! Thank!

  • @akhilshekar8427
    @akhilshekar8427 4 года назад +1

    I really loves vfx industry,Recently I completed my course and now I'm looking for a job. One company offered me job, salary is 8000 thousand rupees per month, but my room rent is 8000 thousand how can I struggle with this salary. now I'm planning to leave this industry.😥 and I lost my 234000 rupees to complete my course.😥

  • @deshpandemediaservices
    @deshpandemediaservices 4 года назад

    Your video makes sense thanks

  • @johnsackman2453
    @johnsackman2453 4 года назад +2

    Great video! But how did you bypass the 125 work week and still remain productive?

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  4 года назад +3

      EXACTLY - I have an article that's archived right now (I'm bringing all my old articles back online soon).
      I have done those hours many times over my career - one of the last times was on the movie 2012. Which is mostly what I was referring to (letting my friends stay in my Berlin hotel since I only went back there every few days to shower). That was by far the worst work conditions of my life. Which took me 6 months of being completely burned out unable to work.
      I wrote an article after that called "overtime vs productivity" on how working so much OT managers expect to get more results, when you do the math, it really reverses productivity altogether.
      There is such a thing as doing sprints - but long-term 120-150 hour weeks for 3 months is not sustainable and the results you end up getting after a while end up being much worse than if you were to be maintaining a regular sleep schedule.
      It's a much bigger conversation - in some cases it's nice - you charge OT and you make bank. I knew someone at Weta making $20k per week doing so much OT, but the health and also relationships (family etc) factors need to come into play as well.
      I think working hard, doing late nights on occasion (in any industry) is completely acceptable. And normal. It happens from time to time.
      But as a management strategy it doesn't work. So to answer your question - I reached a point on the Berlin job where I wasn't productive, I would make mistakes, I would not think straight, it's not an effective management strategy.
      After I wrote that article I had a lot of positive feedback from supervisors, studio owners and managers at many major studios around the globe. And I had seen a lot of positive changes actually happen from it. Of course there are plenty of studios that work artists to the bone, but again that's any industry and it's mostly smaller shops where in reality you don't want to work for in the first place. It's just a matter of asking the right questions up front to really get a feel for whether they are a positive work place or one that doesn't really know what they're doing.
      I hope that helps John!

  • @peacelover5729
    @peacelover5729 4 года назад

    Watching it even though I'm not currently interested in vfx, my kinda goal was to have game studio, currently got level design role after around 6 months of trying(not even seriously try, but trying to get efficient, one thing i realized is many study stuff online feels inefficient(maybe case with offline too) there's video on how to take high res screenshot in Unreal Engine, such simple thing, people even tell how to install software sometimes) However the role is unpaid at the moment so not that super high role, but I'm working on my way on, btw I'm sleepy now might have typos

  • @ApeRathod
    @ApeRathod 4 года назад +1

    ❤️❤️❤️ love from India, keep making those awesome videos Allan, you are awesome 😍😍😍

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  4 года назад +1

      Thank you so much Kruthi!

    • @ApeRathod
      @ApeRathod 4 года назад +1

      @@AllanMcKay you're welcome, sorry for the spelling mistake in your name, I fixed it 🤗 but it also taught me something new today, pinned comments gets unpinned if edited 😅

  • @harshkevat9236
    @harshkevat9236 4 года назад

    We have to study couple of softwares or only one like maya ...
    I wanna make carrer in vfx will i have to go for degree or just professional courses like maac maya academy of advanced cinematics

  • @creativestudio8838
    @creativestudio8838 4 года назад

    Thanks Allan

  • @kaeliedouglass6697
    @kaeliedouglass6697 2 месяца назад

    Do you think this is still the case with the current state of the industry? I’m a beginner who is interested in this field, but it seems like everyone on the VFX subReddit is warning newbies to stay far far away from VFX work.

  • @igor_timofeev
    @igor_timofeev 3 года назад

    I used to make VFX footages for Shutterstock and have some $1.59 per download... Working for peanuts, yeah.

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  3 года назад +1

      Well you could always find websites that have better rev split or still on your website and make 100% of the profit. But you then are responsible for the traffic not shutterstock. However if the footage you're selling is good and worth it, raise the prices. If it's not, find original ideas or work on the quality of the footage so it is worth it.
      I've got plenty of colleagues making tens of thousands of dollars selling stock. So either find a website that pays better, or bring the customers to you

  • @Lysdexi
    @Lysdexi 4 года назад +3

    100k isn't a lot at all. VFX artist are severely underpaid thanks to decade of studios practicing in a race to the bottom. A junior developer with 6 months of experience gets the same salary as a 10 year senior compositor in germany.
    Stop making excuses for the industry.

    • @Lysdexi
      @Lysdexi 4 года назад

      @@surprenantzac I don't see a reality where this is gonna happen unless the structure of the industry changes.

  • @anupamdasrc6970
    @anupamdasrc6970 4 года назад +3

    Way back in the day at DD I use to notice all the Houdini guys would go home early or play volley ball at the beach (I was using LightWave at the time). Thought they were lazy, but actually they were smart and doing some amazing shot work. As a technical/artist/programmer guy, I find automating the shit out of everything is what establishes that work life balance. that and spending the time to research new workflows, and using really awesome tools (Houdini, Substance, Quixel..etc). I mean we can complain about upper management, or offshoring work..and all of that is real and true , im sorry but they are. Its going to take time to resolve and not all of it is directly in our hands. So, workflows that automate the repetitive monkey work leaving much more time for creative decisions is key. On a side note, I think AI/Machine Learning inside an art pipeline will greatly help as well. Learning to code and automate things is So important right now, and can really help accelerate your career even if you consider yourself a pure artist type. IMO. You've hit on all of the automation stuff in much of your training videos and thank you for that. Artists need to learn how to code.. at least the basics.

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  4 года назад +1

      Thanks man yeah that means a lot and it's funny you say that. Every just the last few days there's been so many tasks that either for me or my team just seemed to be taking far too long, even editing documents for social etc. So I ended up writing tools or image generators etc.
      Autonation just gives you an extension of what you can do
      It's so critical
      That's really awesome I couldn't agree more with everything you said
      And I remember those days of DD Venice the guys would all go surfing for an hour because the network went down or other things like that. Haha
      You definitely need to find your escapes
      Thanks good sharing Anupam!

  • @RichardServello
    @RichardServello 4 года назад +1

    I've been doing quite well financially for 15 years in VFX. Is this really a thing?

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  4 года назад +2

      Apparently - if you listen to some of the comments people make here. That nobody gets hired, you only make $100 a day, etc etc
      I honestly think there is a slant, that there are artists that don't really make much progress in their career - but it's usually because they coast and don't really treat it like a business.
      But then there's those who 3x everyone else's revenue and go on to direct features or have ultra success in their career - because they take their career seriously.
      Which is why I wanted to address this in this video, that a lot of us set the bar low and because of that the career strategies we put in place reflect that
      Thanks for sharing btw Richard!

    • @RichardServello
      @RichardServello 4 года назад

      @@AllanMcKay that makes sense. VFX is literally the only thing I ever wanted to do. I used to make stop motion animations with my families VHS camera as a kid and did animations with a vcr and drawing program. I got a bootleg copy of lightwave when I was in high school and made animations on a Pentium 4 that took a week to render. There's nothing else I've ever wanted to do. It's always been a very serious endeavour for me. I've worked for 20 years to be the best at what I do. Thank you for sharing your experience. Glad you're doing well now!

  • @bobankrsmanovic9398
    @bobankrsmanovic9398 4 года назад +1

    Many people praise Alan for the video (and they should), but I don't think many understand what Allan actually do with this video.
    Even with this video, he is growing his business. Every single view or like, is to boost his personal ID, and so on.
    Again, nothing wrong with that. But it's a more like situation where semi famous person release a book "How I get famous", and with good marketing it sold like millions, and he get really famous. Did the readers get famous? No. Because they don't understand that simple trick.
    But again, nothing wrong with that.
    Especially Allan, whom's free tutorials learns me better skills then any schools. If anyone deserves fame (for his free contribution to the community), Allan deserves it.
    One thing I disagree with the video, is that comparation with the running guy. Sure, he can beat that 4 minutes. But can he beat 10 seconds? Yet, it's a good example of strong will.
    But I think Allan, you are confusing here 2 things: Strong will, and (primal)sense of marketing.
    There is people that don't have strong will, yet very successful, because they have strong feel of marketing.
    You have it both. You had strong will, until you realized you're just a slave, then your sense of marketing comes in.. and you become, what are you now.
    That's how I see it, and of course, I might be wrong of everything.
    Keep up the great work man.

  • @shubham_s06
    @shubham_s06 4 года назад +1

    Hey Allan love from India....need help ....how to connect personally with you.....PLS HELP!

    • @ApeRathod
      @ApeRathod 4 года назад +1

      Have you tried sending an email bro?

    • @shubham_s06
      @shubham_s06 4 года назад +1

      @@ApeRathod no... what's the Id?

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  4 года назад +2

      @@shubham_s06 amckay@allanmckay.com - send me an email happy to help where I can

    • @inspirationalgoosebumps6006
      @inspirationalgoosebumps6006 4 года назад

      @@AllanMcKay Allan you are an ossum person 🤩🤩

  • @suraj6177
    @suraj6177 4 года назад

    What was your first payment/salary when you entered industry?

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  4 года назад +4

      I started on 25k
      At least for my first staff job

  • @RichardServello
    @RichardServello 4 года назад

    OMG... If I made $50k I wouldn't be able to pay all my bills and support my family.

  • @RP_VFX
    @RP_VFX 4 года назад +2

    Hey Mr. Allen
    I hope you can take out a minute to help me out with something..
    Till now I have only learned maya as a 3d software..
    And not much time left for me when I'll enter the industry..
    So I hope you could help me about which softwares are important and used in the industry..
    Also I've not learned anything(vfx) from any institutes or schools..
    I'm learning everything by myself from RUclips..
    So will it affect my career?
    I mean do studios see any certificate of vfx school and institutes or it won't matter if I have same (or maybe better) skills than my competition...

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  4 года назад +3

      Hi RPVFX - all studios care about is your demo reel. If you can show you did the work - that's all that matters.
      Nobody cares about what kind of education you had - despite what schools might say.
      All I and every other employer cares about is "can you do the work"
      So don't worry about where your education is coming from just the quality of work you're putting out.
      Understanding a visual effects pipeline and the process is important, so make sure you are able to demonstrate you can finish shots and understand the studio process.
      Best of luck!
      check out www.allanmckay.com/myreel/ for the demo reel guide I put out - hope that helps!

    • @RP_VFX
      @RP_VFX 4 года назад +2

      @@AllanMcKay thank you so much Mr. Allan..
      Also regarding softwares..
      Can you please suggest me if there are any specific softwares used in the vfx industry
      I mean I've learned maya and I'm about to start learning houdini but I was hoping if you could suggest me some softwares so that I don't waste time learning Softwares that aren't used in main industry..

    • @ivanbonavick227
      @ivanbonavick227 4 года назад +3

      @@RP_VFX it really depends on each studio. Most common ones are houdini, thinking particles, fumeFx, tyflow is in constant development and i think it has potential, maya, 3ds max, realflow, etc. My suggestion is: focus in one or two soft (houdini is a great option) and learn as mucho as you can. If you do that, moving to another soft will be much easier, since all soft are diffetent, but has the same principles, so its just more about learning the interfaces and workflow.

    • @RP_VFX
      @RP_VFX 4 года назад

      @@ivanbonavick227 thank you broo..

    • @inspirationalgoosebumps6006
      @inspirationalgoosebumps6006 4 года назад +1

      @@RP_VFX but suggesting software to you also depends on what you like to do example do want to be an fx artist ? Then houdini. Do you want to be an modeller then for base - 3ds max then maya then z brush, do you want to be texture artist ? Then substance painter ,photoshop,do you want to be an animator ? Then maya, do you want to be an compositor ? Then after effects, fusion , nuke. Rigging artist ? Maya. Lighting artist ? Maya,modo,or houdini.
      Houdini has node based procedural workflow so most of the times information about it is necessary

  • @007walk
    @007walk 4 года назад

    For me its always i need to get better before going out there and looking for my own clients, or even do freelance work. Because I know people are always after high quality work and i just feel that my own quality is not up to the standard.

  • @guytomlinson0540
    @guytomlinson0540 4 года назад

    This wasn’t helpful to me

    • @AllanMcKay
      @AllanMcKay  4 года назад

      Sorry to hear that Guy, perhaps down the line it might be when you're ready