the funklab

Now. I’m going to be the first to say that in the media industry, having a degree or a diploma pretty much means squat. Zilch. Nothing. What talks is your work, if you can work to a brief, on budget and on time. But having training does teach you the necessary steps to achieve to become faster and more reliable.

Being a self-learner is vital to working in production. No one is going to ask you to take a course in visual effects, match moving, or anything. It normally lands in you lap as “Yeah, we want a new promo for Company X. It has to look like the ID’s on Foxtel. You’ve got 2 weeks”. Then it’s up to you to make it happen.

There are several places to get a bit of a helping hand. Here are a few that I’ve come across.

Full on 2+ year TAFE

A few years ago I went Northern Metropolitan Institue of TAFE (NMIT) and attended their TV training course.

It was a great course and definitely one I would wholeheartedly recommend. The facilities are amazing (full 4 camera HD studio, 4 Final Cut suites, 3 Avid suites, real kick ass). The course is heavily hands on. You work in teams and in the second year, all we did was produce content for external clients. The teachers there are fantastic, and soon you begin to think of them as mentors. I still catch up with them and talk through things.

It is great for those starting out, or who are running a smallish business and want the opportunity to get up to speed on a HD setup.

the Pixel Corps

The Pixel Corps are a guild of media developers producing a heap of content. Being a member gives you access to a wealth of information in a great community. The guys (and girls) are all willing to share information, and having the opportunity to work on a group project or tackle an exercise is invaluable.

The video training is fantastic. There is much more than can be absorbed in a year, and you get access to some pretty awesome industry standard software packages.

Libraries and Text books

Textbooks are always tricky, especially in anything tech related. As soon as the book is out, it seems that the new version of the software is out. However, there are some great books detailing the theories and processes behind the applications. A couple I can recommend are the DV Rebel’s Guide, Digital Compositing for Film and Video and a bit more app specific, but a great help was the Essential Blender

Using a library is a great way to get access to some pretty hefty textbooks. If you can’t find what you need there, normally you can ask and they’ll either get it from another library, or order it in. It’s you’re rates and taxes, so it’s worth making the most of it.

Community forums

Every software package has at least one forum dedicated to it. Creative Cow is a great place to start. They have a forum for everything I’ve ever used, and really helpful. There are the Apple forums, the Blender Artists and a host of others. Always search before asking a question, and try not to be an ass, cause then no one will help you.

Google the sucka

Yes. Do not underestimate Google when you’re stuck. I’ve found thousands of answers to my questions just by Googleing around. Most of the time you just need to put the right keywords in. Try the program, then a couple of words describing what you’re trying to do.
Like “shake track improve interlaced”. Refine it a few times, and drill a couple of pages down.