Moho Forum

how much time would you hope to work in a month to earn that $350? is it 100% necessary that you work online? where are you based? is the $350 "for survival"? You don't need to give the answers to anyone except yourself - but I'm inviting you, if you haven't already done so, to consider those answers in the context of you actual _needs_ (remaining solvent in the short-medium term?) rather than your _desires_ (animating to address you needs?).

and the reason is to help you make a comparison between:
> the average hourly rate you might get from animation gigs net of time / expenses for such as getting yourself noticed in the market and technology costs;
> opportunities and rewards for other options for working from home that you'd find tolerable - some of which may need internet (e.g. social media moderators) and others which might not (e.g. envelope stuffing);
> the typical wage where you are that you might get for a job you could _tolerate_ (as distinct from enjoy), after deducting time/costs of turning up (recognising that, given your insistence on "online", you might have special personal / family / geographic / ... circumstances regarding mobility that would need to be properly addressed to your satisfaction before you'd consider working away from home)


and if you've already done all that - then please accept my apologies for not adding anything to this conversation...

ColdCrystal wrote:Hold on a sec, are you saying that after a comprehensive understanding and practice with Maya(I already have 30GB of tutorials): learning new software would take about a month(including all shortcuts like second nature), and then practice - about 2 months...so about 3 months, you still would not be able to land short animation gigs for a measly $350 per month?

I doubt it. Clients are incredibly stingy and don't even want to pay for quality work sometimes. Plus you're competing with kids fresh out of art college, who often work for free.

Anyway, don't take any of this personally. Consider it a reality check because the fact is making money in animation is hard.

Good luck!

I found this a good read today, especially the comments:
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/educational/ ... 53774.html
Have to look out for the comic.

Disclaimer: I have never tried to work in the animation industry, but I have taken animation classes (in Maya) and often consider changing fields...

If you're planning to animate in Maya, do you have a source of rigged models to animate? Are you studying storyboarding and the principles of animation in addition to Maya software? There is really a lot to learn.

If factors allow you to survive on an income of $350 a month, that could give you an advantage as a freelancer. But who will your customers be? I don't think there is a large customer base of folks who already know they need a freelance animator and are also willing to actually pay for it. There are also plenty of experienced animators available for freelance work, creating competition. If you can create new customers, that could be an opportunity.

Another avenue to explore could be modeling custom props and characters for people. I think there is a small customer base for this among independent 3D animators and game creators. And when you're practicing you could create stock models for possible passive income. But I suspect there is also a lot of competition in this field.

Good luck to you in whatever you choose to pursue!


ETA: You might also look into voice acting if you have acting talent.