I would have to agree with all the very wise advice given in this thread so far.
As for subscription software, it seems tempting, but a little math will quickly show how costly it is in as little as a year's time. I'd hold off on any subscriptions, and put the $15/month or whatever it is into a piggy bank to save up for something like Dragonframe, which is a fantastic value, even though it seems high when you look at the price tag from a distance. It's a one time purchase! It's also the industry standard, so you land a professional gig, it's what you'll want to know. It also has a surprisingly easy learning curve for an industry standard software (I just can't wrap my brain around after effects, and while I'm more comfortable with Maya, I know I've only scratched it's surface!) and yet it's powerful enough to grow as your needs and capabilities grow, with capabilities for motion control and DMX lighting.
It's tricky because a lot of times the "industry standard" software is chosen by old farts who want things to work the way some ancient technology (Avid or Video Toaster) worked, or because of their loyalty to a certain operating system or mode of thinking. I can't tell you how many snobs scoff at not using Macintosh computers do do art, yet even ILM and Pixar switched over to Windows, which just goes to show how stuck some people can be in their perceptions, based on what was cutting edge 20 or 30 years ago.
Vegas is a very powerful editing software, with excellent audio capabilities, and decent compositing capabilities, however the film industry cronies don't really take it seriously, probably because it was born from the audio production industry. Which is stupid. I recommend Vegas to everyone!
And yet I have to turn down After Effects gigs because I simply haven't put the time into learning it. It's awkward because I feel the software is convoluted and weird, it's not intuitive to me. Adobe bought all of their major software from various companies, and didn't adapt them to make them work better. Ever notice that rotating an image 90 degrees in Photoshop goes clockwise, while in Illustrator it goes counter-clockwise?
I also hate the way Adobe is nickel-and-diming artists with their greedy subscription model. I once bought a perpetual license of photoshop, CS5 I think, I can't remember. But several years into it, around the time they rolled out their subscription model, they suddenly decided they didn't want to honor my purchase, so they claimed that I never had a valid license to begin with. I have the box right here on my shelf! I will never give another penny to those greedy bass turds!
Also, it really comes down to discovering your personal specialization. Are you more into the animation? lighting? cinematography? editing?
Last edited by thistof (August 13, 2019 (01:35am))
