Produced By - Talented 3D Animator Pursuit Her Dream Career in Animation | #31: Janie Dang

Episode Date: November 27, 2023

Janie Dang is a creative and collaborative 3D Animator with over a year’s experience in the animation industry and a BA with 1st Class Honours in 3D Animation and Games. Successful in completing fun gameplay animations and storytelling shots for various projects, Janie’s aim is to bring forth appealing and quality animations, and be considerate of feedback to improve the believability of her animations. If you enjoy the show, please, consider supporting it on Patreon or by buying a virtual coffee (or chocolate). https://www.patreon.com/ProducedByPodcast  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/producedby  Boost your creative career by joining our new Skillshare course and feel free to let us know how you liked it. https://skl.sh/3Rh7ZtY Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date, get the latest news and much more. ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7092551882589528065  ⁠⁠    Connect with Janie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiedang/ https://www.instagram.com/dangitart/?hl=en-gb https://www.instagram.com/dangitjanie/?hl=en-gb https://drawandcode.com/the-team/janie-dang/ https://www.artstation.com/janiedang Connect with the host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomasloucky/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/thisistommen/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠    Follow the podcast: Links: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/produced_by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   Web: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://produced-by-podcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/produced_by_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT5LHnM6YCaeVzIr0WatOsw ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Spotify: ⁠⁠https://lnkd.in/e5Y8Wscx ⁠⁠  Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/produced-by/id1684669642⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   If you enjoy listening to the podcast, please, leave a review on your podcast app, subscribe and share it with your friends. You can also send us a message and share any feedback, advice and tips for guests. About Produced By: Produced By unveils captivating stories of courageous people who set out to pursue careers in highly competitive fields, despite often challenging circumstances. Enter the spotlight with our guests and get inspired, whether your interests are in the creative industries, personal growth or you simply want to have fun. Listen to individuals who represent a wide range of professional backgrounds, geographic locations and career stages. So come along to follow their adventures and learn from life's experiences as we kick off on this epic journey.  Thanks for listening and see you soon!  Connect with Tomas:X: https://x.com/TomasLoucky⁠⁠⁠Stan: https://stan.store/TommenLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomasloucky/⁠⁠Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisistommen/⁠⁠Unproduced:Newsletter: https://unproduced.substack.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unproducednotesSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033Ddo8ibDlLYoaP7FFLIWMore:Links: https://linktr.ee/produced_by⁠⁠⁠Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://producednewsletter.substack.com/⁠The Podcast Club: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/25420030/Tools & gear that support the show:Metricool: https://f.mtr.cool/HRJBZKRiverside: https://riverside.sjv.io/vDnDodFavikon: https://www.favikon.com?fpr=tommenRa Optics: https://ra-optics.myshopify.com/discount/TOMMEN?rfsn=8803777.591d19JamX: https://jamx.ai/podcasters-offer?ref_id=e02d48af-ef66-4e76-b804-c2e8d282a8bfSome links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. If you find them useful, using these links helps keep the podcast running. Thank you!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to Produced Buy. Just quickly before we begin, if we enjoy the show, please consider supporting it by joining our Patreon. You can choose from a list of memberships and we'll receive some exciting rewards. Thank you and back to the episode. Hello, Jeannie! Thank you for Jeannie Nats today and welcome to the show. Can you please introduce yourself?

Hi, I'm Janie and I'm a 3D animator. I've been in the game industry for almost two years. animating various game animations. I've been also, like, I'm like specialised in Maya. And also I work in Unity as well. So I also graduated in 3D animations and games at 2020 with first class honors. And yeah, I looked for a job during COVID. And that's when I landed my first job.

So I worked in two studios. Thank you. So it sounds like you were lucky or fortunate that your first job was already like in the industry? Really, like it was like especially when I was around COVID. Like it was kind of nerve-wracking because it was, we were in an unknown period and everything was all relying on computers. Well, I guess it was like a blessing in disguise because it made me kind of knuckle down alone in the computer. And it's not as if I was missing out in anything outside because everything was in poor stage. So, yeah, I was very lucky.

Cool. And can we start with your background? Can you say where do you come from? As in like my personal background, as in ethnicity. Were you born in London or do you come somewhere from outside? I was born and raised in Southeast London. And my workplace is actually based in Liverpool right now. It's called Drawing Code.

So I'm working remotely. And sometimes I visit there to like work with the technology. Is it required to go there or is it to socialize with others? for an animator it's good to know like we don't I guess I don't really need to always visit it unless it's a high priority especially if I need to understand the technology that's happening I can't like say too much but we are using a VR set and working with that and AR so it's kind of complex but at the same complex but at the same time if you were to experience it, you'll understand it, but I can't, like, verbally say it.

And if I need to understand it and also just fix things or just experience it properly, like the experience that we're working on, then, yeah, we'll have to go there. Socializing-wise, we do have a Christmas fest going on, which was around December, December. Oh, nice. Yeah, but it sounds so exciting, VR stuff. So what university did you study? Was that Middlesex? I did study in Middlesex University. I studied there for three years and achieved the bachelor's,

first-class honors, 3D animation games, and I made a lot of friends there and, yeah, I learned. Well, I'll say like the projects were mainly for 3D modulars. I was like pretty much the only one that wanted to pursue 3D animation. so it was kind of difficult How come was it? How come I was the only anime? Yeah, people weren't interested.

I guess so. Like, I think the modules were quite more like it was, how do I say this? It was more for 3D modelers, I guess it weren't very three animated related. I wasn't able to play much animations.

with certain rigs. So I didn't get much experience in animation there. I did use AnimDojo, which was an animation course online. So that was really useful. But yeah, that was a really good time back then. And as you mentioned, you got first class. Was it that easy or were you such a good student? Was it easy? I'd say, I never found it, like, challenging in a way that's like, well, I guess it was challenging.

I think I just enjoyed it more than I did find it hard because, you know, I guess I had, like, great people there. We all kind of wanted to make something cool while keeping each other company. It was kind of a very interesting experience, and it's one of the highlights of my, like, life as of now because of just the interesting stories that came out of university. We did have like a 24-hour room that everyone used to sit and work, but I was like during the first year and it kind of left after two years. And can you say a bit more about the specific projects that you worked on? For example, what was the final project in the first year, in the second year,

and the final one in the third year? Wow. I think the first year was more about generally getting used to different sets of, like, the roles. So I did double animation, but it wasn't much. I think we did some diorama, as I say it, diorama. Environment 3D modules. Sorry, you said double animation is like two-d animation.

is like 2D or what does double animation mean? Just 3D. But we did do 2D. Just for bouncing ball, because I think what they wanted to try to make us understand were squash and stretch and spacing and timing. But that was like a bouncing ball in 2D. And I guess we did a very, very, very short brief of animation

in terms of a pose and another pose, like how to, how Maya works overall on the first year. And then a second year was mainly to do with, oh, how it was second year. I think it was like trying to specialize, but we didn't really specialize something along that is. It's been a while. Yeah, yeah, nice.

Yeah, it's been a while. And you mentioned a few times, a few times Maya. So for people who don't know anything about animation or VFX, what is Maya? Maya is a program that's specific for, well, I wouldn't say specific. It's mainly for rigging, 3D animation, 3D modeling. It's basically a program for 3D work. And it's usually used for in the industry, such as film or games. So it's a very known program.

So is it like industry standard? Pretty much. I mean, is Blender is coming up because Blender is for free. So Blender is another kind of like, yeah, Blender is another 3D modeling or animation tool, a program, sorry. And because that is for free and Maya isn't, who knows, maybe people would go for Blender more. Maybe even prefer it. It looks great. Yeah, which one do you prefer? Do you have a favorite program? Because I specialize in Maya, I would say Maya.

I haven't used a blender, but it does look quite. I say it's more inviting looking. It looks a little more, like modernized. And because it's for free, that is a big bonus. Yeah. Yep, and sorry, I interrupted you before. So what I think you are talking about the projects at the university? So yeah, I can't remember much about the first two years,

but I do remember specialising trying to work in, like, improve my animation during the last year. And that is when I was trying to create my first real. So when you are trying to apply for a job outside, in the productions. You need a reel to show your skills. So a reel is basically a video's, like shots of your animation skills. And I was trying to create as many, oh, just practice, especially practice, because as I mentioned, the project for the first two years weren't very particular

in animation. So I had to make sure that I had to relearn, learn it properly through anime dojo which is a animation course and kind of dedicate that final year I would say mainly the last few months of that year

just completely in that zone and I remember like we were because it was COVID I graduated like later so I graduated around September and I just kept going I just kept going and I I was learning how to do

post polls that's Basically, it is kind of self-explanatory. It's just basically posing a character, a character rig in one pose to the other, and then adding a breakdown, which is a breakdown is basically the transitional prose from one another. So I was learning different sets of, like, different,

I want to say different workflows, but I was learning the terminology and learning the principles and trying to apply it the first time. for the first time during that period. Yeah. And what is rig? Can you explain Rick? Sure.

So a rig is basically, if you see like, for instance, for instance, Pixar or any kind of movie or maybe even games or whatever, the props, the free-de props, the assets even, characters. A rig is basically the general terminology for controls of the character slash props. So it's a puppet.

It always starts off as, if it was a character, it will start off as a T-pose. It looks like that. And it's basically, if you think about like a just a general puppet, like the string puppet it and there's controls like this and controls you can control

each limbs and body that's a rig that's like I want to say yeah that's a rig if you can control the 3D asset slash 3D asset slash characters slash props or whatever that's a rig

okay cool and with in your final real in the third year what were maybe some you know, assets that you've created or some specifics about the real so that we can get an idea of what you created or what were your skills like. Oh, okay. So I didn't really create the assets. When you animate, you tend to just focus on the movement and your thinking process of it.

So when I was thinking about what I would add in my... real. It would be what can I like show like what's my I wanted to show as much as I possibly can in terms of diversity. So for example I wanted to show

lip sync. I wanted to show that I understood body mechanics. I wanted to show that I wanted to show that I can storytell. That's what I was mainly trying to show when I was creating each shot.

I was trying to see how I can make it diversity or diverse. Is it a diverse style? A diverse. I'm trying to make it. Diverse? I don't know. Diverse. I think that's probably an adjective or is it a verb?

No clue. Basically a diversity of shorts to like impress a certain company. Back then I was actually aiming towards. movies or like TV. So, but I ended up in games. So yeah, that's what happened. It was, it was a,

I mean, I guess that's that's what you get from a 3D animation and games degree. But then that was, so it was unexpected, but it was really cool. Yeah, and before we continue, why were you actually

interested in this kind of career? Were you always into, animation or 3D or effects? I got into animation when I don't know if anyone knows this but you know mini clip is a it is basically an online gaming place so

I want to say that actually it's basically a website full of mini games and one of the mini games had a 2D animation tool and after that you basically create a frame by frame drawing so that you create a 2D animation

and I think that was like oh that's that I made a character move my first animation I made in that or a 2D animation was a stick man farting and I thought

I was so cool okay yes so was it when you were a child or was it just briefly before university or how long ago did you get interested in it? Well specifically 3D animation. I never knew that really existed. I obviously loved like Pixar like toy story, most zinc, buddy Nemo. I really loved those and I never knew 3D animation until I started trying to specialize in a creative subject. and I saw that 3D animation existed.

And I remember applying I remember applying Middlesex University, Greenwich University, Westminster, Escape Studios and Ravensbourne. And one of them was 2D animation, but I was kind of leaning more towards 3D because my brother asked me, do you want to create this kind of animation,

which he pointed at a frozen animation? Or do 2D, which 2D? And they didn't point at anything, but I think he showed me some, I can't remember what he showed me. But I just thought about like, I just want to do 3D because I felt like, I feel like the workflow for 2D,

oh, I think it's a strenuous, like, workflow. and I completely appreciate it. And also, yeah, I appreciate their efforts and quality that comes out of. But my gosh, I don't think I can do it. Or maybe I can. Yeah, yeah. Cool. So when you decided for your first job, how did you actually start looking for a job?

Or what was the process like? So, as I mentioned, it was like COVID. So I didn't know what that like meant in the, like when I was applying. But that kind of, it all kind of suggested that there were less jobs around. That's what everyone kind of talked about. Like, oh, it has less jobs around because of COVID. We don't need people, I guess. So I went down to Kickstarter.

scheme. So that was like a government government what is it? How do I spend it? A campaign for those who find it, found it difficult is very specific for COVID times

to like it helped a government campaign to help you find a job and fortunately when I sent my CVs and real to them, they were able to find a studio that was looking for someone who is starting a new job and it turned out to be me.

Oh nice. And it was related in the field that you wanted to do. Yeah. I mean, I was definitely nervous to not get it. Yeah. And was the, I guess the industry was impact. by COVID a lot as well, right? Or do you know how was it since, you know, people or artists can still work,

could still work from home, although I guess back then people didn't really work from home. So was it very impacted or not that much? In my first, like when I went into the studio, I assume that not many people were coming. I think that's what impacted the game, well, not I want to say game industry, but that's what impacted like the studio that I went in. They allowed more remote working or hybrid working. So I guess that was the impact. And I guess that also influenced the closeness, I guess.

My one's like closeness, because we were all kind of, it was a very small studio, so people knew each other. But I'll say that impacted the remote and hybrid. I don't think it was like that before. I think everyone was working inside the office. Yeah. So when you started, were we also going to the office or remote or hybrid? I was hybrid because I like the balance of working at home and working in the office because then you get to see people and it was my first job so I felt like I wanted to understand people. I always enjoy people's I like watching people's work.

I remember a 3D artist was working beside me and I was just wowed at his 3D skills and I think it just helps like it's just more. fun. It's just more. It also helps like distinguish like where is my relaxing time and also where is my working time. Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. And how did you then enjoy your

first job? Did it meet your expectations? I never had any expectations. I'd say I learned what I needed to learn. I came with an open mind and it had its, it was a very high demanding studio for a mobile game. So it requested a lot. I remember we had to create a game every month and because we were so highly pressured, my onboarding

stage wasn't smooth because we were just, I was just put in. the deep end straight away. Like, to give more context, the person asked me, like, my estimations before, like, how long I would take an animation, before I even downloaded Maya, before I downloaded

Unity. So, it was highly pressured, but it was a very big learning experience, and it did make me grow as an animator and as a person. Yeah. And you said they,

they were making a new application each month? A new game. Oh, new game, yeah, sorry. Yeah. Sounds very fast. Yeah. So in... So the one.

No, yeah, sorry. No, no, no. I was just going to say, what, can you give just example, what kind of application is it? Because to me, it sounds very quick, so I cannot imagine how. complex the application is

or what kind of application it would be in such a short span of time? Mm-hmm. Well, I remember as soon as we get briefed, we had to just go, go, go. I remember there were

there weren't much how do I plan? How do I say this? The game designers will present a documents or powerpoints of what they envision as a game as a whole and then the producer will then

break it down to each of our teams so there will be a game developer team and a 3D team and it will mainly be between those two teams I believe I wouldn't say they broke it down broke down for marketing I don't remember but when they do that they basically

from there it's like they create all the small task that's necessary to make the game function and an example for my one will be animates the monster eating or animate

the monster jumping into the bath so it'll be very vague but also open to interpretation which is great for me because then I get to creatively input an action. But it's also too vague because then there'll be conflict in ideas. But we managed.

We managed. So how much? No, I'm sorry. I didn't want to interrupt. That's okay. I was just going to say how much creativity did you have? Or was it like you didn't really know? tried something to see if it's too much or if it's, you know, how did you know how much

creativity you can use? Oh, um, a part of me knew they, it was a slow understanding that they may not knew, like they didn't know specifically what they wanted, but at the same time knew what they wanted. So I had to present something first. and then they will give feedback on what they want. It was a very long-winded process, but, you know, I had to ask questions beforehand, and one thing I would have changed differently is to be confident that I didn't know what they wanted.

So then I would have asked more questions on what they want, like specifically. but again we managed and they fit into the game well the character's personality and therefore part of the game so yeah that's the process so how was the game in the end or some games you worked on did it work in the end did you try to play it by yourself how was it?

it all worked. Unfortunately, they weren't released because the game studio closed down before it was able to go out there. Oh, that is a show. However, I know, but I did, like, fortunately recorded the gameplay before

so that I was able to put it in a real. And fortunately, I focused on the high priority animations and they were all rushed. Like, it was, I didn't have, like, time to like really um i just had to go with the go-go mind like just go for it um quite little planning and just it's it is like that like you have to make sure that you get it was a very big

balance of quality and quantity and i was really trying to push a lot of um a lot as many as i can and especially trying to just understand the time and quality they want to so that's that's the balance that I had to look for when I was trying to make it work in the game. It sounds like quite tough first job. I would be excited to join my career I dreamed about and then the first job, I don't know, it sounds a bit scary for someone just entering the industry. Was it the same for you? No, for me, it wasn't actually. I was lucky. because I joined as a part of this special scheme where there are more people that joined at the same time.

So, and I think they managed really well. It was, I think I was really lucky. I cannot complain. There was a great group of people. They prepared everything really well. And yeah, it was great. I think I was probably lucky, unfortunately. And I was going to ask you if it's, if you can say publicly, what was the reason that the company closed down?

Or if you cannot say publicly, don't say it. I think I can say, but because I feel like it's not my company. I don't feel very, like, I don't think I can. I wouldn't choose to say publicly, like, out loud. I think it's, I think it's someone else's voice rather than an animator that's just like me. Yeah, of course, of course, no worries. So then how did you find your next job? Or how did you start looking for the next one after the first one?

Well, the first job was, I learned a lot. despite like, you know, the little, like, it was highly, like, demanding. So it made the, like, finding a new job, like, oh, I did the hard part. Like, when there was studio, I can go for, like, I knew that it wasn't. I was trying to, like, have hope in the big ones. But I ended up finding drawing code. And, oh, I've lost the question. What is the question again?

It was, how did you then start looking for the next? next one or require your first steps after what happened with the first one. Okay, sorry, I completely like, when I was, I'm talking, I was like, oh, what was I, where was I, um, going towards again? No, no worry. So I collected this, okay. Um, I collected the animations from, um, the, like the first, um, studio because those were my current animation. because the because it was so highly demanding I wasn't able to like have time to create my personal animations so I had to create a real from that collect all the animation shots such as well slash gameplay and put it into a real and I had to ask if I can show it publicly or privately because it depends on the it wasn't owned by me it was owned by the company and so I I think I think I believe I created a real from there.

And when I first, first applied to jobs, it would be a private real. When it was announced, it was closing down. I was able to ask if I can show it publicly. And I basically tried to get as many people looking at it and see if anyone is interested in hiring me. And I applied to many different, into different websites and mainly LinkedIn. And that's when I landed Drawing Code. I found it in the little list of what, like, who is finding a 3D anima apply to that. And they hired me there.

Nice, yeah. I remember I tried to look for a job on LinkedIn as well and it's great to use it but I got a bit scared when I saw that it shows how many people applied as well so I saw the number it was very high I was like wow this is impossible I mean I did refresh I was like a one point quite well I would say like during the first year I was quite crazy

like refreshing the LinkedIn page like constantly And it wasn't great because also he needs the space of phone. So I do understand not be high pressuring because it's like, you guys applied before me. So, yeah. But keep that. And did you? Yeah. And did you face quite a few rejections or how was it for you?

You know, because I guess the reality is that you need to persevere and keep applying. trying to be lucky in the end. So how was it for you? Lots of rejections. I think everyone faces lots of rejection. Honestly, you just have to keep going because any of the day, like, a rejection is like a step. As long as you've applied, it gives you the confidence that you are making the steps to get a job.

And if the rejection shouldn't stop you from keep on applying, because again, it's just the indicator that it's just not for you at that time. It's just, it is time and it is how many you apply. So those are like two ingredients, time and how many you apply. Yeah. And if one a rejection, a rejection, it may mean that the next job may be even a better one than the one that they rejected.

So you never know. That's correct. Yeah. If you want to boost your creative career, check out our Skillshare class, which was inspired by the podcast. It's called the 10 tips on how to succeed in your creative career,

and you can find out more in the show notes. Also, make sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter called Creative Spotlight to stay up to date with the show and much more. Thanks. And the second job is Yeah, and the second job is your current one, right? Yes.

I worked as a freelancer beforehand. I forgot again and mention that, but I have worked that with that too. Well, worked in that little doubler. But that was like a very small time. Oh, okay. So why didn't you continue as a freelancer? Was it just something temporary or you didn't enjoy freelancing? When I dabbled into freelancing, I just want mainly just felt like I wanted a full time,

but mainly because I think it gives you a set time of work. You get 9 a.m. to 5pm and that's your everyday regime. Whereas freelancing, you can have the tendency to overwork or you need to like time manage and I feel like I don't want to be at risk of overdoing it because I think that is not what I want to experience I think I was just a personal choice being honest it is a personal choice it's for you go for it if it's not find a full-time or part-time or what suits you yeah yeah makes sense can you then tell us more about your job? What

maybe what is specifically you do there if it's different in what way is it different from the previous job? It's quite similar I have, I was rigging the character, I did rig the character I still animate little

animations for the game to work so a game design will have a set of animations for its work for example the first and the first studios game was

about monsters, eating pizza. So obviously you need an animation having a monster eating pizza. So yeah, the specifications for the game to function, like animate for the game to function is still the same. Priorities still have to be established. You need a high priority, low priority,

so that you know what goes, you need to animate first and then work your way through. And asking for feedback is the same. So you have to implement feedback if it doesn't work towards, if it just needs improvement here and there in accordance to the game designer or your art director. And a difference is I'd say, hmm, I will say that Let me say differences differences

charactering Is it more chill now or more organised or less stressed? I am the only animator and I have been on the alone for a while

yeah I've been my first job I did have a second animator but there was a moment like three months in I was alone for about a month or two, I don't know

until another animator came so I did have an extra animator temporarily in the first studio whereas here I have I am the only animator and I'd say I

have a lot more communication with the art director in this in this studio. And it's not because like I didn't like my last art director. No, none of that. I think that studio was more of a go, go, go.

Here is more. The art director that I have right now specifically, like, make sure that we don't go through crunch time and make sure that everyone works at at a pace where things work, but also not feeling highly, you know, feeling highly pressured and make sure that the quality is there. Wait, what did I say?

No, no, yeah, it makes sense to foster a nice working environment, not to stress out, not to do overtime and I guess enjoy more working in general. So what does your... Yep Pipeline is different? Slightly, slightly. Before I would... Because I joined in slightly later in this company, I guess they have already worked on...

They haven't worked... I don't really know, actually. I will say they haven't worked out how to implement the animations just yet. I had more of a go, go, go plan of how to set up the animations in the previous. But that's only

because it was so quick and repetitive. At the same time, we knew what the new unity projects would look like because it's basically the same format of the animation controller. But here,

I currently we are right now currently working that out. And since you joined, how many projects do you work on? Or is it just the only one? I've worked on another animation, sorry, another project. So again, another difference is probably

that we've created a game every month. But this game that we're working on now is for it's been on for a year I believe it's going to like be released soon so wait for that um but I have worked on a different um project I have worked on I worked on another project that had to impress clients but I can't say too much okay okay yeah i was i was wondering if there is anything public that you can share but i guess there isn't not at a moment it will be soon though okay we will be excited for the new one that is coming and we'll check it out when it's out thank you and thank you for like this cooler podcast you know that

this guy tom has literally like tried to get the best quality video here so we've got to We've got so many episodes. Please check them out. This is very cool. I really respect that you're passing this podcast. Don't think anyone has said that book. Just try and we'll see how it goes, but no big expectations. It's just for fun and to inspire others.

It's good. So. Thank you. I appreciate it. Can you share some advice, whether it comes from your time at university or looking for a job or your work experience? Depends. Which one do, which specific parts of my, like, which specific parts of my animation stages would you like to get advice from? like from, I mean, we can,

if we can start, if you can, as a successful student who graduated with first class, what advice would you give to someone who wants to go to university, if it's worth it, or how to, you know, maximize their time there or something,

what would you say to younger yourself, anything that comes to your mind? Oh, sure. Okay, so someone who is looking for a university, I would say that's specifically for animation, or maybe it's trying to explore the 3D pipeline, like different roles, because there's so many roles in a 3D world,

such as rigging, 3D model, and 3D animations, whatever. And the first thing I would do, objectively, is look at the portfolio of the university and specifications of each modules so that you understand the quality and portfolio that you're going to make because at the end of the day when you start trying to apply to jobs outside online even you are basically showing your artist skills from that rather than a CV

in an academic world like if you were to be applying for a receptionist or maybe an accountant even something that's not from the creative industry you are

specialising in creating the best representation of your skills in that portfolio hopefully that makes sense. Yep, yeah, sure. And when it comes to working as

either as an artist or in creative industries, some career advice? Career advice. When you start off or is looking for a job? You can say both. Okay, so when you're looking for a job,

I'd say there is this word like networking which is really it can be kind of a bizarre it can be a bizarre perspective but I would I don't my definition of networking

is basically just getting to know people that's all it is it's not like getting to know people in the industry and just appreciating how they got into it people tend to like may feel like that is the only way that I need to only know this person

just to get a job and I think that's the worst way of approaching anyone because it can give some form of desperation and it's kind of fake and I don't think anyone would like if I was to talk to exactly if anyone were to talk to this like one and feel like hey I just

need to talk to you just because I get a job. I might get a job. That's the wrong approach. You will unlikely. I can agree. You'll get the aura. The aura is not, they might want to back away. I would say definitely be authentic and give your best impression.

If you were to, if it was to go into networking industries, Sorry, not we're at network industries. We're networking meetups. Because sometimes the creative, there's sometimes a little meetups that people do so that people meet new people and get stories. And like this podcast, understand, like, how to get into the industry. You basically learn.

And I feel like appreciating, learning how people got into the industry just fills up your confidence because, You will have your own story soon. And someone sharing their story can, you can find, like, relatability to that. And when you find relatability that, it will give you the confidence to continue applying and work through the rejections. And when I talk about giving your first impression, again, that's just basically knowing what you know and what you don't know. I think you're not obviously going to come across as like, when I say, when you give your first impression, you're not going to see everyone in the network and the truth as like your friends, like, hey, I vomited already.

I've vomited like two days ago. You're not going to like embarrass yourself like that. I think everyone knows. I hope I don't need to explain how to give a first impression, but you're not going to come across as, I guess. come across as yourself, but not weird as hell. Not too, not overly friendly, just as yet. Just read the environment and get to understand people. That's how I would say.

And then perhaps, because of networking, perhaps they will, like I said, give you confidence, but then they might give you word of advice. And they might have some, maybe, maybe they'll have a job, like, job openings here and there. Not guaranteed that you're going to get a job. But like I said, first impression and be authentic. Yeah, that's a great tip. I can only agree.

I heard it so many times about networking. For my own experience, I can only agree with that. So what you said, it's great and spot on. Thank you. Thank you. I'm a cool person like you. That's how I, how. I'm networking.

I'm networked. I'm not working. Yeah, yeah, likewise. I was wondering, where do you see yourself in a future? What are your plans when either dream position, dream project, dream company, where you see yourself? I think first and utmost, I see myself in a team, in an act. animation too. I've been an animator. It sounds like a vague answer, but I've been the only animator for a while now. I know very limited people that's that does animation. And I think

it'll be great to like bounce off. I think it's good to meet, like, work with people that has similar interest in you because then you are able to subconsciously bounce ideas and skill sets that's related to your work. And I will, then, I would love to see, because I was working in, how do I say this? I was working towards a feature film, but I would love to be in a future film. But if life takes me to continuously gains,

I think it would be a stylized animation for sure. I have yet to work out where I specifically want to be in simply because of how my career has developed. I think as of now, I don't want to be too mechanical. I just want to develop my animation skill set and see what I enjoy. And I definitely enjoy storytelling, style-ass animation dynamic movements.

even and I think I think I will go when I have developed that or developed like, how do I say it? Create a real for it. I'll see where I'll go from there and I think I'm quite open-minded on where it will because I'm sure my real will lead me to the correct place in a correct project.

When I see it, I know it. And I wonder, I mean fingers crossed, see in a few years when your name is in credits of some animation feature film. It's so cool. I was just curious, do you know how competitive is it if you compare working as animator, let's say, in games versus in films? Is one maybe more competitive than the other or is it similar? Um, quite unsure. I would say, um, I can only just observe. And from what I've gathered, from observation, hmm. I will say, I can't tell with that one. Like, I would say, like, I think generally speaking, the animation, uh, industry is competitive as well as supportive.

So I think it only depends on your real. If your real is, like, say for instance, so League of Legends themed, I think you'll be beaten by someone who is with a kids animation perhaps. So I think it's very, very, I can't tell generally. I think it just, I think everyone has their own, like, skill sets and, specific speciality to give in a company and I think if you just keep believing yourself there you can either see the competition as really hard or you're just confident in that you can just do it kind of thing that myself yeah yeah that's understandable and is your real publicly available

yes it is it was um form from from it was formed by the my last studio. So those were the last animations I are able to show publicly. I have yet to gain. Well, I have worked on personal projects, but I need to

develop them a lot more further for it to be in a real. Cool, so we can share their link. We can edit to show notes so that people can have a look. Sure. And so if you were to work on a feature animation, what will be maybe your dream project?

Or what's like your favorite animated films that you want to work on? Maybe it felt like a kid. Because I feel like this is my little kiddie size. I would obviously love to be like, so I would love to be a little, I think, Pixar, because there's always been, I think, if I had to dream big, Pixar would be the ultimate feature film plays. Only, sorry, DreamWorks. I would love to be DreamWorks too.

Why not? I haven't got nothing against DreamWorks. I was just, I think when I was younger, I'd mix the brands anyway. But I would say DreamWorks, Pixar, those big ones, I can dream. I'll dream them. Oh, Sony. Oh, my God. Sony has created a really cool final fashion, so I can't eliminate them.

They, whichever got great styles or like just, yeah, great styles and storytelling, I think I might, obviously, I would love to be in that. Yeah, I can only agree. And what some specific films from either Pixar or Dreamworks? I know you mentioned before. Toy Story or finding Nemo So are there any maybe newer ones or Some other that you enjoyed?

I definitely I mean I think everyone enjoyed it This isn't from DreamWorks or Disney It was Spider-Man Versus Was it again? It's Spider-Man Outside

Spider-Man versus Is the animated Spider-Man? I can't believe I cannot remember How did the into Spider Wars and across Spider-Words? Yes, yeah I cannot believe I forgot the name

that one. Fucking also. He does not like the style of that. It was mainly the style there is absolutely pretty. Yeah, I definitely agree. It was beautiful. Excited for the next one.

And when it comes Oh, Arcane about League of Legends, right? Yeah. There were so many cool animations out there. I think I just need to keep looking, I know. And

one that I would mention is there was recently animated feature film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The animation was similar to Spider-Man. It was also so beautiful.

And how much do you share your work on LinkedIn? if people want to want some inspiration or you can be inspiration for them can they follow you oh i wish it was often like i really wish like i wouldn't when i post something if i was to i would 100% love it when people like give me feedback only because like i mentioned i'm the and animator and everyone's there to, I would say like whenever I am ready to like show a personal work, I think I'll send it there. But it's not as regular. I haven't like added time to personal

study as of now. I have quite a very nice, it's a very nice balance of work hand and free time because I go climbing when I finish work sometimes. Like that's a great form of exercise. It's a way to just zone out and get away from the screen. So as of now, I'm trying to work out the time, the time to, you know, work for some things and send it out there. Yeah, but share something on LinkedIn. I can try to reshare it if people either to provide feedback or, you know, to follow you or for some inspiration. definitely go for it

you too this podcast everyone go for the phone's podcast thank you I will have really just

remember that you actually you actually you did this itself thank you I have just last few questions since we are over an hour

so we spoke about LinkedIn but where can people follow you or where they can see your work? Instagram, Dang it Art or mainly LinkedIn Janie Dang. So yeah, those two.

Yeah. Cool. We'll edit to I will add everything to the show notes so people can have a look. And then is there any question or something I forgot to question. I should have asked.

or something you want to share that is worth sharing? How did you start off this podcast and how did you? It's towards you because I think it's very cool that you started this. Like people get scared to start something like this. So take it away. Unless you have an episode for that, then we'll definitely be there. No, I didn't have, but I'm not going to lie. I was scared as well.

I was like, how do I start? You know, it's not just grab microphone and start speaking with someone. You want to do some research and know how to do that. So yeah, I did a lot of research. Obviously, it was stepping out of my comfort zone, so didn't know if I should do that. Then I guess I was maybe even afraid of what people are going to think about, you know, a guy just sharing why should people listen to him and stuff like that. So yeah, it wasn't easy, but I enjoy speaking with people.

Inspiring people such as with you now, I find out something new. It's pretty cool what you do and it's also motivating for me. So definitely don't regret that I started. yeah. Hell yeah. That is something I can take on here too. You honestly

that starting something like this is not easy. So, good job in the back when you. Thank you. I appreciate it when I here, you know, supportive for some positive words like this.

And then I would have one last question. It's a bit deeper one that I got inspired from some other podcasts. So if you had attention of everyone and you could share, I don't know, either some kind of wisdom or just to say something to people and they would hear it, what would you tell them? Oh, the definition of confidence.

I stumbled across this book of confidence and I think it was called Six Pillars of Confidence or seven pillars of confidence, I cannot remember. It was just about confidence. And it was, confidence is made up of, I'm paraphrase it by the way. Confidence is made of two components, self-trust and self-respect. So when you feel like you're lacking confidence,

you have to ask yourself which component are you lacking? Are you lacking self-trust in your decisions? Or are you just being crappy and mean about yourself? if one is unleveling or lacking, then you're lacking the overall confidence. So I think when it's so how is applicable is just generally, when you're not feeling confident, those are basically the questions,

like you have to just ask yourself, like which one is it? And it could be both. That's how you're doing it. do I will do more research on it and I'm glad I asked this question is the first time I

actually thought about this so it's a good answer it helps me a lot like because you know everyone says be more confident but what yeah and it's not like you know just it's not like

be more confident and suddenly you will be more confident like nothing it's not that easy No, of course, no, definitely no. Okay, cool. I think we can finish it then for today. Thank you so much for your time. It was a pleasure to meet you, to speak with you, and to find out something new.

As I said, I'm curious, so I didn't know much about animation, and also it's inspiring to hear someone who's, you know, pursuing your dream career. So I just wish you good luck and thank you and I will stay in touch with this. Thank you. And thank you for this cool podcast, an opportunity. Good job.

No worries. It's my pleasure. Thank you. Thank you. And I will stay in touch. Thank you for listening. If we enjoy the show, please leave us a 5-star review on your favorite podcast app, get in touch to provide your feedback or share a email.

ideas for future guests thank you and see you soon