Overwhelmed but Eager to improve: Seeking Guidance to Start in VFX

Embarking on this journey into the world of VFX is very exciting but feels very intimidating. For me I feel lost amidst the sea of technical jargon and complex mathematical concepts. While I understand this site offers a guide for beginners, I still find myself a bit confused and unsure how to proceed. I regret not asking earlier but I ask for advice on how do you guys simplify the process, prioritize essential skills, and build confidence when taking your first steps into this fascinating field. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

To be frank your question is so general that it’s hard for people to help you. You should just start making small projects with tutorials or on your own without caring about all of that. It’s okay if it sucks or you don’t understand everything. You’ll naturally find more specific questions you want to ask and topics you want to explore so the community can help you further. At that point the guide on this website is really great to help you navigate past that point.

Simplifying the process is frankly to just ignore most of the things you get stuck on and move on. “Essential skills” exist but depend on what you personally want to make, and you’ll naturally accumulate a list of stuff you want to learn as you go. No need to prioritize anything at the earliest level. There are infinite techniques, software, and concepts to learn, but you don’t need it all. Confidence is built when you finish small projects or tests, not when you get stuck on a concept too advanced for your current skill level.

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Thank you for this. I believe more than anything that I’m probably overthinking a lot of things. I genuinely thought I had to fully understand every single detail before moving on, which often left me feeling stuck. Seeing that I shouldn’t prioritize everything at once really eases my mind.
I’ve found myself jumping from one tutorial to another, feeling like I’m learning but struggling to apply that knowledge on my own.
If I may ask what helped you break out of tutorial hell when you started?
I do apologize if this post was too broad of a question, but I’d love to hear how you and others overcame this fear or wall.

I’d recommend attempting your own idea for an effect. This isn’t “make an effect without a tutorial” but instead “make an effect with your own decision making”. You can use tutorials and resources to help you at each step, but the idea and execution should be your own. Tutorial hell happens when you get used to videos telling you every single number to input, and following that without making your own decisions.

For example, lets say you want to make a meteor. Instead of following a meteor tutorial specifically, begin making it on your own, maybe even make a sketch or something, and think about the components you might need for the effect (there’s no “wrong” answer, don’t try to be optimal).

Then with tutorials, documentation, and other resources on the components you think of like the rock, the fire, the trails, and whatever else you think of you can progress the project step by step. This way you can discover skills you want to pursue further, and you’ll have a better understanding of what things actually do as they apply to your own work.

If it doesn’t work out or is more complex than you anticipated just move on and try an even simpler idea until you can handle it and move up from there. Good luck!

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Hi. Start small. Don’t worry about the technical jargons and math concepts for now. Just recreate effects that you like even if it means following tutorials. The technical knowledge would come as you keep practicing. No one was born with the knowledge they have today, we all had to acquire it at some point and gradually.

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