Wanted to see what resources for learning tech are out there and get some suggestions. Yes, everything and everything can be learned on the internet. Though info can be come outdated, inundated, lack a lot context, and may not be useful in a production setting.
I know these are the areas I could look at:
Rigging
Shader Writing
Pipeline
VFX
I know the languages to look at are python / C++ / HLSL / C# / Pymel, just not sure if there are other things I need to look at?
How much focus should I put into these 4 different areas?
Are there any good books I can take a look at?
Also side note, studied art in college. No good came of it. May go to a local community college and do some computer science studies.
Focus in just one area, get general knowledge from the others. Computer Science is not needed, but it will help you to get farther later in your career. Go for one render engine and start working on it. This is the way.
As a beginner, it’s worth learning to be a a beginner in all four – that by itself wont’ get you a job, but at the end of the process you’ll have a much better idea where your interests actually lie. Each of these areas share core knowledge in any case: riggers and shader folks both need solid 3d math skills; shader and vfx folks typically need to understand both how to put together visual appearances and how GPUs work; riggers and pipeline folks both write a lot of python and deal with UI patterns.
So keep an eye open for themes and get a surface-level knowledge of them all – then see which one(s) really speak to you.
It may be worth distinguishing if you want to work on Movies or Games, especially if pipeline stuff is your corner. Both fields have significantly different limitations and dependencies on published assets
And checking that your assets meet those dependencies / limitations is a core task.