After making the leap from veterinary medicine to 3D animation, Jess Choong never imagined seeing her name in the credits of a feature animation so soon into her new career!
In our interview, Jess dives into the rewards and challenges of her work as a 3D animator on LOL Surprise! The Skate Dance Movie (including what a “typical day” in a studio really looks like) and how CG Spectrum helped her make the transition. She also offers loads of great, unfiltered advice for those looking to break into the industry.
Whether you're an aspiring animator or someone considering a career change, Jess's story demonstrates that it's never too late to follow your creative passions.
Congratulations on completing work on your first feature animation, LOL Surprise! The Skate Dance Movie.
Thank you. It feels surreal and like a dream come true! I definitely still have imposter syndrome and didn’t think I would see my name in any credits this soon. I’m excited and proud of myself, as there have been times when I’ve doubted if I could successfully change careers for a third time, especially from such a different industry and background.
"I’ve felt very much like a fish out of water since starting this job, so it is immensely gratifying to see my name alongside such talented artists."
It also feels validating, a kind of proof that “I’ve made it,” which is very cool.
The official trailer for LOL Surprise! The Skate Dance Movie which has garnered over 1.2 million views.
What does a typical day look like as a professional 3D animator?
I get to the studio, turn on my computer, open up Maya, and look at my shot list in the studio's pipeline management tool. We use the shot list so we can track what’s in review, what needs to be revised, or what has been approved.
Every project is different in terms of deadlines and timelines; some projects require about 20-30 seconds of animation per week, and other projects 15-20 seconds, so it’s important to keep track and to know whether you can take on more shots or if you need someone to help you finish your shots on time. So, first thing in the morning, I look at my shot list to see if there’s anything urgent, such as client feedback, that needs to be addressed, and I’ll prioritise those.
A typical day as an animator comes down to self-management of your time. Most days, your lead or supervisor will give a priority list to let the animation team know which shots need to be finished by the end of the day or by the end of the week so we know we need to jump on those first. Otherwise, I will normally try to prioritise the more difficult shots (longer shots, shots with a lot of characters, etc.) and leave easier shots to do later.
Each project will have a different schedule; for example, blocking may need to be finished by a Wednesday before we can start splining, or blocking may be due on the Friday and we start spline once the client approves the blocking pass. It’s important to know the schedule and when certain deadlines are.
Shot breakdown of a lion animation by Jess, which includes the blocking stage.
A full rundown of the day basically comes down to looking at my shot list, animating until around 10 am, when we might have a coffee break, animating until lunch, and then continuing animating until the end of the day.
Some days, I will spend time filming reference in the reference room and we may also have animation meetings to discuss the overall progress of the project and for any questions to be answered. Depending on the project, we will also have dailies.
For the LOL Surprise! The Skate Dance Movie, we had dailies, where every day, we had the opportunity to show our work-in-progress shots to the director and animation leads and get feedback. Dailies are great for discussing feedback in person and being able to clarify any questions. We will also receive regular feedback on our shots, where the leads or supervisor may do drawovers (like you would on SyncSketch) to help push the animation in our shots.
"The important thing throughout the day is time management. There will be shots in various stages that need to be worked on, you could have one shot in blocking, another you’re splining, a different shot that needs internal feedback addressed and another shot needing client feedback addressed."
Knowing when you need help and if you don’t think you’ll finish by the deadline is important; that will need to be communicated with your lead and supervisor so that they may need to reallocate work so everything can be finished on time.
Movie poster for LOL Surprise! The Skate Dance Movie.
You’re no stranger to changing careers, but how was this transition different? What makes working in the film and games industry unique?
Compared to my other careers in engineering and veterinary medicine, both of which required 5 years of university, launching an animation career was very different! The studying itself was very different, going from a very academic and science-based field into the arts. It requires different aspects of your brain, and I could finally explore my creative side, which was very exciting and new for me.
Overall, I’ll say that studying animation online was a lot more fun and less stressful than studying for a veterinary medicine exam! It’s exciting being able to have the creativity aspect, and I love animation because you can literally animate anything you can think of!
This transition was different from my previous career change because of my increased financial responsibilities. My partner and I have a mortgage each, and so I couldn’t afford to stop working to study full-time, I needed to maintain an income.
I did look into doing a Bachelor of Animation, but I needed a format of studying that was super flexible and online only, as I needed to continue to have as close to a full-time income as I could. After a fair bit of research, I found CG Spectrum, which suited my needs exactly in that I was able to negotiate the day and time of my sessions, and it was completely online, so I was able to continue working whilst studying.
"Working in the film and games industry is unique in that you can feel people’s passion for their work on a daily basis, and people love to share their creativity and ideas. I love perpetuating growth in this industry and the seemingly endless support from colleagues or the community."
Everyone is willing to help and give constructive feedback, I’ve not seen anyone give negative feedback, which is immensely encouraging to then share my work with more people. It’s very exciting to be surrounded by people who have such a strong drive and passion.
How did CG Spectrum prepare you for studio life?
Learning online with CG Spectrum was great because your mentor has worked in that industry, knows all the ins and outs, and can answer all the questions you have about studio life.
"So, even before starting my first animation job, I already knew what an animation lead and supervisor were and the various roles the other departments play, and I already knew what dailies were because my mentor would tell me what a typical day in a studio was like."
I think having one-on-one mentoring especially helps with receiving consistent feedback on your work and being able to do multiple rounds of feedback on the one shot. This is very similar to studio life, where you may have quite a few rounds of feedback from your lead or director in order to get the shot right.
Having a mentor (either one-on-one or small class) really helps with analysing your own work and how to make changes to your work without being too precious about it, which is very important when working in a studio.
What do you wish you had known about the industry before starting your job?
Certain industries can be more difficult to find a job than others, and it felt particularly difficult in the film and gaming industry. Finding work in the film and games industry is much more competitive than I initially thought. The film and gaming industry can be quite erratic and unstable, but then there can be periods of stability.
I chose to get into this industry at a bad time, as the writers' strikes were happening in the USA and had an effect on the industry globally, which continued to have an effect even after the strikes were over. However, it seems like the industry is now picking up again. There are definitely ups and downs that can have an impact on the industry on a global level.
Since starting work in an animation studio, I’ve realised how many people will move around for jobs in this industry. A good percentage of staff at the studio where I’m working now moved interstate for the job as (like myself) they were unsuccessful in finding a job in their home states. Although COVID has made working remotely a more common occurrence, a lot of job ads these days want at least a hybrid of work from home and in the studio.
"To follow the best career path as an animator, you definitely need to be prepared to move interstate or even overseas for the job. It’s definitely something to take into consideration."
I had absolutely no future plans to move from Sydney as my partner and I both own properties there. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a job in Sydney, so I had to make the decision to move interstate, which obviously impacted my partner as well. If you talk to anyone in this industry, you’ll likely find that everyone has moved for a job at least once, if not multiple times.
Scene from LOL Surprise! The Skate Dance Movie where Ali discovers skate dancing.
What advice would you give to others looking to make a similar career switch?
I would say to definitely take some time and reflect on why you want to switch careers and to research the career you want to do in-depth so that you are sure it is what you want to do.
Even before looking into online schools and how to become a 3d animator, I researched what 3d animation is and what it involves and did tutorials on YouTube on how to animate in Blender to ensure it was something that I could do and that I wanted to do.
"When you have the drive and passion for something, it makes it way easier to switch careers, as having that motivation is critical when trying to study something new whilst also having to work and maintain an income."
Before taking steps to switch, it’s also important to ensure you will be financially stable and that you may need to ask for support from your partner or family. I was in a good position where I was able to earn enough money working three days a week as a veterinarian to support myself whilst studying animation online.
It can be daunting changing careers, particularly to a completely unrelated industry, but it is advantageous to have previous professional life experience, so definitely highlight the soft skills you’ve picked up from previous jobs.
"I think having soft skills from other careers is very helpful, as time management and communication are very important in many industries; they’ve definitely helped me as an animator."
What advice would you give emerging artists commencing their 3D animation studies at CG Spectrum (or elsewhere)?
With online study, you are definitely responsible for how much you will gain out of the course. If you do the bare minimum in any area of study, you’re not achieving the maximum potential possible.
"When studying with CG Spectrum, I did the animation assignments multiple times and in different ways. Even if those shots don’t end up looking great, you learn something every time you work on a shot, so the more you can do, the more you will learn."
I would recommend you do as many walk and run cycles as possible and do more than one weight-lifting exercise, more than one pantomime assignment, etc.
One of the best things about studying with CG Spectrum is that I felt like I could be flexible with what I was learning and the rate at which I was learning it. I have a passion for creature animation and wanted to do as much creature animation as possible, so I spent more weeks on the creature animation module than others.
So, if you have a particular passion or interest (such as acting, body mechanics, creature or cartoony animation), you can work with your mentor to focus more on that aspect. It’ll also make studying much easier as you're working on something you love.
"I would also strongly recommend choosing ideas for assignments based on what you want to animate versus what you THINK should be on your demo reel. I’ll always be grateful to Mark (my mentor) for pushing me to animate shots I wanted to do rather than what I thought I should do."
Jess' impressive 3D animation showreel, including a scene she animated in LOL Surprise! The Skate Dance Movie.
For example, I had several ideas for an acting dialogue shot, one of which was a more serious dialogue piece, and because I felt my animation demo reel was light and fun, I felt I needed a more serious shot to round out my reel. Mark asked me which shot I wanted to do the most. I said I wanted to do something different, and he said I should just do it. It doesn’t matter about having an ‘all-rounder’ demo reel; as long as everything on there is something you love and are proud of, it shows not only your animation skills but also who you are as a person.
One other thing I would advise animation students, if they have the time, is to do animation challenges outside of school work, such as the CG Spectrum challenges or the Agora Community animation monthly challenges. Even if you don’t submit it, it’s a good way to think of new ideas and to keep honing your skills.
What steps did you take to ensure you were growing in your craft and standing out while working on the LOL Skate Dance Movie?
There were amazing animators with years of experience working on the movie, which was pretty intimidating and made it hard to stand out when you’re a junior on your first animation job. My focus was to improve and learn from the animators I was working with.
"When working in a studio, the best way to grow as an animator is to ask all the people around you for feedback and help. Everyone in the industry is super nice, and more senior animators are always willing to help out juniors."
I asked more senior animators for help and feedback on my shots, and they were super helpful with the shots and gave general animation feedback for future shots. Watching other animators' shots in dailies and analysing their work is also very helpful. It was inspiring to see just how far the other animators would push the characters, especially their expressions, and it inspired me to push my poses more.
I also ensured I filmed reference for most of my shots, which helped me to get more comfortable filming reference in general but also helped me to understand how to utilise my references as best as I could.
Before working on LOL Surprise! The Skate Dance Movie, I was working on LOL the series (season 5), and during that time, which was my first few months of working as an animator, I asked my lead to help analyse my references with me so that he could help me improve how I did my references as well as how to better interpret or work with the reference.
How important is networking in the film and games industry, and what strategies worked for you in building connections?
Networking in any industry is important. I don’t think it’s a necessity, but it can help. The film and gaming industry is smaller than I thought, so making connections is a bonus. However, making a career change from a completely different industry obviously means starting with zero connections.
CG Spectrum has a great professional development module that helps with that. One of the recommendations is to start reaching out to people on LinkedIn. It can be very daunting, especially if you’re an introvert like myself. But I reached out and was incredibly surprised at how responsive and lovely people were. I had someone give me advice on my reel and the industry in general, how they got their first job, etc.
You just need to be genuine and mindful when reaching out, you don’t want to annoy anyone, just show you are truly interested in working in the industry. Once you’re in the industry, it’s also good to make genuine connections and not make connections just for the sake of networking.
What’s next for you?
I’m still currently working at the same studio. Since starting, I’ve been lucky enough to have worked on multiple projects, including the LOL series, the LOL movie, the Baby Alive series and the Rainbow High series. I’m hoping to continue to grow and learn as an animator, as seeing how talented other artists are has really inspired me to be a better animator.
To learn more about Jess's animation journey, you can follow her on Instagram, connect with her on LinkedIn, and see more of her work on ArtStation.
Interested in a career in 3D animation and working on animated features like LOL Surprise! The Skate Dance Movie?
If you dream of bringing characters and worlds to life through 3D animation, CG Spectrum’s online 3D animation courses, taught by industry pros, are here to help you succeed! With hands-on guidance, career support, and a thriving community of fellow creatives, you’ll be set to animate your future. Start your journey with us today!
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