BACK UP !!! BACK UP !!!

Backing up your designs and your files is something that can not be over emphasized.What do i mean? there was a time i lost files that included designs that dated back to 4 years before that time (4 years of hard work gone!!).So please always backup your work ,always back up your designs and files ,it is very important.
In case you are wondering where and how you can back up, do one or all of the following(doing all is more advisable if you can) :
Back up on as many systems or computers as possible ,your friends laptop,your mums laptop as many safe computers as possible ,note the word safe.
Store your data in external data storage devices such as flash drives ,external hard-disks etc.
All the above can fail you ,computers can crash ,external hard disks can develop fault ,but your best bet should always be ONLINE STORAGE,yeah !!! this has been very useful to me so many times and the advantage of online storage is that you can access your files anywhere ,even if you don't have access to your computer.Some online storage services you can make use of are Goggle drive,Dropbox,etc

ALWAYS PLAN


Being a CG artists requires that you plan before executing a project ,whether it is just something you want to showcase or you are just practicing .You have to ask yourself questions like ,what do i want to design ?,what will it look like ? ,what colors would it have ?, what tool/software am i going to use in creating this design,what are the steps i will take.Asking yourself all this questions will help you save a lot of time when you actually start the design or animation on your computer,it is also advisable to answer all those questions(graphically) on paper, i mean make a rough sketch(on paper) of the what your final design will look like.Planning before designing helps save a lot of time ,so make sure you plan before you start that design.

DON'T STEAL

Stealing or showing off other peoples work as your own can be one of the most horrible things you can do as a designer. Put yourself in the person's shoes, how will you feel if your work is claimed by someone else after spending days working on the designs.Apart from moral reasons for not stealing other peoples designs it could also ruin your reputation as a designer ,your clients will loose trust in your design skills when they find out you have been showing off other people's work as your own ,it places a big tag on you -INCOMPETENT.


HAVE AN ONLINE PORTFOLIO

Having an online portfolio is one of the most important things a CG artist has to do regardless of your field in CG whether it is animation,graphic design, or modeling ,it does not matter you need an online portfolio-why ?.The world has evolved to a point where almost nothing can be done without the internet ,having an online portfolio is the best way for prospective clients to know your capabilities and your "strong points",it makes them have a feel of what you are good at before contacting you .So create an online portfolio now you can create one here www.cgpadis.com .



ALWAYS USE THE RIGHT TOOLS

Using the right tools in CG is very important, and most CG artists always overlook this fact ,using the right/best tools will always save time and give you better results .Lets take this scenario for an example,I want to design a brochure or book,and i have the following software on my laptop ,Adobe Photoshop,Indesign,Fireworks ,the fact is that all this software listed can actually be used to design a brochure ,but Indesign should be the chosen one because that was what it was built for and it has some tools that Photoshop and Fireworks does not have which will help you save time and give you better results.So always make your research and use the right/best tools for that CG project you are working on.



KEEP UP WITH THE PACE OF CLIENTS

Clients are like your life line as CG artists,even though you love what you do i am sure you will also want to make cash out of it ,so keeping your clients happy should be your priority.One thing that makes client unhappy the most is not delivering on time,or at the specified time ,so always keep to the time stipulated by clients even if it means getting an extra helping hand or getting tools to quicken your workflow.



DIVERSIFY

CG(Computer Graphics) is very broad with so many branches-animation,compositing,matte painting,graphic design and so on.So the fact that you are good in a particular aspect of CG does not mean you should not know some little things about other aspects .It helps you interact with CG artists from other fields without problems, take for example, you are part of a team working on an animated movie and you are an animator you will have to interact with so many other people such as modelers,texture artists ,riggers etc. So for ease of operation, it will be an added advantage if you know some little things or terminologies in the other CG fields.



YOU DON'T KNOW IT ALL !!!

The fact that you have so many years of experience using a software ,or you have so much experience in a particular field does not mean you should not keep learning ,always get news on new industry standards ,tips and tricks,you never know there might be an easy way of performing certain tasks that takes you hours to finish when it can be done in minutes using another method.So dont stop learning.




KEEP PRACTICING

You just have to keep practicing no matter how good you are or claim to be.You have to keep improving on your skills ,as you do this you will notice that you will do and achieve more in less time.


LEARN AS MANY SOFTWARE AS POSSIBLE

Yeah i said it !!!! .Learn as many software as possible ,10 ,20 just keep going ,i tried it and it has being a life saver .It helps you save time, do some task faster,and get better results generally.And it also helps you solve a lot of integration problems easily.

BE RESILIENT

One of the mistakes i made when i just started out as a CG artsist was that at times i gave up too easily ,learning CG or mastering CG (if you are not a learner) can be very frustrating at times, you will not always get the desired result on the first try,trust me i have been there ,no matter how perfect you claim to be at CG you just have to keep persisting ,and if you are learner dont give up too easily, CG is fun !!!.You just have to keep moving forward ,dont give up,and if you have plans on learning CG and you have not started yet START NOW !!!!.KMF(Keep Moving Forward).

ALWAYS USE THE RIGHT COMPUTER

This is very important ,choosing the right computer for CG can not be left out of this list it is very paramount ,i wrote an article on things you should consider before buying a computer for CG check it out here - http://cgpadis.com/blogs/9
.
I hope i nailed it.Is there anything you thought i should have added ?, get the comments rolling in.
Don't forget to share(use the buttons below) and sign up on CGPadis and enjoy more articles, news, discuss in the forums and so on.Sign up
here. www.cgpadis.com/join

Follow us
www.facebook.com/cgpadis
www.twitter.com/cgpadis

Another brilliant post


Awesome Awesome.

I'm into Motion graphics and Editing and everything you've said here is spot on, especially for the learning other softwares part. Normally as a Motion Graphics Designer, your core softwares are Aftereffects, Premiere pro and other obviously "Motion based" Softwares, but some time back I decided to go into Illustrator and Photoshop and I've never regretted it.


I'm more versed in illustrator though than photoshop, but I know the skeletal frame work, besides there's almost no tutorial you can't get on YouTube - which brings me to validate another point you made about always planning before hand.

I recently got a job to make some montages and segment breakers for a program, however before I got this project I had been planning and improving on my abilities with tutorials and stuff like that.


When this job finally came, it made things "so easy" for me... Because I didnt have to start from the scratch, I already had a creative backdrop in my mind to work on.



Summarily, thank you for the very enlightening post.

Cheers.

Thank you very much , i will really appreciate it ,if you register on the site,and get more updates .Thank you

@Donald3d very nice post...
Plus... nice blog!

prof800:
@Donald3d very nice post...
Plus... nice blog!

Thank you sir , i will gladly appreciate if you register on my site ,we need to revolutionize CG in Nigeria. www.cgpadis.com

Is there any thing you think i should have added,keep the comments coming in .Lets learn from each other

I intend learning 3ds max and Maya... Is it possible?? How long will it take me to know the basics??

yungcheda:
I intend learning 3ds max and Maya... Is it possible?? How long will it take me to know the basics??

I will advice you take it one step at a time ,learn 3dsmax first because it has a simpler and well layed out interface,then you can proceed to Maya. And as for the duration it depends on how fast you can learn and what sort of training resources you have access to.