I worked in the generative trees in Zootopia and sculpting tools for the characters in Coco.
The studios are small so you’ll see everyone (higher ups less often, but you’ll see lasseter - he’s gone now though
or catmull walking around occasionally) I had the opportunity to meet lasseter once in a small group setting and he was the most intensely passionate person I’ve ever met about animation.
Hearing him speak about it almost made me cry.
The creative energy (and people) was incredible to experience. The engineers were artistically inclined and the artists were technically very smart. The mix of tech+art brings in different ways of thinking which I think contributes to the unique creativity of the environment.
Unfortunately no, my time in industry was quite short, but I worked on some really fun projects in that time - generative hair, trees, lighting tools. The cg pipeline has so many parts so you never get bored, and each new production and artistic vision brings new problems to be solved. It’s a fun place to be for sure!
I’m a painter working in traditional mediums (mostly acrylics and charcoal/pastels) but also previously worked as a engineer and researcher in the computer graphics industry developing tools for 3d artists (incl at Disney and Pixar).
Many of my paintings are inspired by nature and touches upon aspects of spirituality - including themes of transformation and change, death and renewal.
What % of your life right now is determined by external factors and pressures? Are you truly living this life right now for yourself?
It seems to me that you do have ideas of what might make you happy, but there are quite a few blocks, the most apparent of which is that you don't seem to believe that it is possible. But, it is fully possible to start designing a life that works for you. Millions of people have done it, but you will need to really look inside and listen to yourself.
Don't look at what everyone else is doing, or have done. If you consider what everyone else considers, you might as well continue to play a sort of video game where the rewards are determined by whichever bubble/society/conditioned norms you are surrounded by, and end up spending 90% of your time living a the collectively conditioned life. 90% of your life stressed and unhappy.
If you out in the garden and observe, you might notice how unique each plant is different from the other. The century plant (agave) likes dry conditions and blooms once every 10-30 years, but Hydrangeas need shade to thrive and bloom only once a season.
You are a completely unique individual, and what makes you happy will certainly be different from other people. Perhaps financial stability is important, but you've recognized that traveling/meditation/learning other stuff brings you joy also.
As a start, think about what your ideal life might look like. What would you be doing day to day? Give yourself the space to imagine something different, it might seem far from where you are now, but you need a direction to start moving.
When I was working in animation, there was an engineer who would work for a couple years at the studio (ultimately burning out after "crunch time" like everyone else), quit, then spend a year trading stocks in New York to recover from burn out and make up for the $ lost working for a studio. Then he'd come back to LA and work on the next production.
That was so fun and inspiring to me. What a creative way to make things work!
I'll end by saying that part of my vision was to live and paint in Hawaii (I also studied cs/did research). I was also thinking that maybe I'll have to wait till I'm 50 to start living my life. But this past weekend, I was out here with my new easel painting Kaneohe valley ;)
It took me 2 years - many small but significant steps along the way - being very honest with myself at each step. I did take a bit of a paycut/maybe sacrificed a promo, but I am 100% happier where I am now, doing what I am doing now, spending time on things that truly matter to ME. And, there are tons of people I've met here, who've done the same and took charge of their lives in the same way :)
Give yourself the permission to go after the life you want.
The studios are small so you’ll see everyone (higher ups less often, but you’ll see lasseter - he’s gone now though or catmull walking around occasionally) I had the opportunity to meet lasseter once in a small group setting and he was the most intensely passionate person I’ve ever met about animation. Hearing him speak about it almost made me cry.
The creative energy (and people) was incredible to experience. The engineers were artistically inclined and the artists were technically very smart. The mix of tech+art brings in different ways of thinking which I think contributes to the unique creativity of the environment.