Hello! I am Georgi Gelov, an M3DS Academy for Digital Arts graduate student. I am pleased to share my story, specifically my journey towards achieving my goals.
Every beginning is difficult... that is the sentence that guides my life, in short, it means that we wander to find ourselves.
I studied at the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering (FINC) for several years, trying to find myself. I enrolled to learn to program but ended up in the industry that I always loved, the film and gaming industry.
Like me, my successful colleagues enrolled in M3DS Academy; although we were all sceptical at the beginning, as 3D in these spaces was new, I wanted to try and become good at it, and my persistence made me believe!
Although it was initially difficult for me to cope with programs like Autodesk Maya and Zbrush because I started from absolute zero and had no prior knowledge, thanks to our instructors, something gave me confidence that I would succeed in the industry. They always said that it doesn't matter who is good or bad at the beginning, you need to master the tasks given to you, and for your portfolio, you will create what you want.
Years later, after graduating, I realized that the theme of my industry, 3D, is a volumetric field that offers a huge number of possibilities, such as working on games, movies, cinemas, product design, fashion, and many other things I didn't think existed.
So far, I have worked for four companies that work on entirely different things and principles, but one thing is the same, and that is 3D. Just as they say we need to follow the rules of nature, it is the same for the 3D industry; it has its own natural rules.
So far, as I mentioned, I have worked on various projects, but I would like to highlight one that is my favourite: the cinematic of Call of Duty Vanguard - "The Pacific Cinematic."
I faced working with a larger team for the first time, but what is even more interesting is that I worked on this project from home.
Here, I learned that it is not only important to complete your assigned task but also to be communicative with the team and to be organized. All the tools I learned at M3DS Academy were also used in this, and almost all the other projects I worked on, the academy has given me... The skills I learned at M3DS Academy have been invaluable in my career, but it's also important to continue building your skills and portfolio daily. The more you showcase, the more opportunities you'll have to work on exciting projects.
My advice to new generations is to work hard, believe in yourself, and know that there is a future for you no matter where you are. I'm proud to have built my career from Macedonia, and I'm constantly inspired by the talented individuals I work with. I've also had the pleasure of working for Vertigo Visual, Leartes Studios, CG HERO, and Onyx Studio, and I'm currently working at Track VFX.