ENDA Episode 03→ The time when the Endless Apprentice met the Grand Line of VFX (Prologue)

When I left my country to follow my journey to become a comp artist, I knew that the competition was going to be fierce, but I could have not imagined the proportions of it and all the multiple phases that took me here.

It took me almost two years to experience the different sides of what I called the Grand Line of VFX (yes for this point and on I’ll be using metaphors with One Piece’s universe, but I’ll try to make it simple for those that don’t know the series) and I think is fair that I share how this Grand Line functions, at least for what I could have observed and experience from my side.

The 4 Seas: We all start at some point and that definitely will be our country of origin, where depending on different circumstances the local VFX industry will be developed in different sizes and standards of quality.

There will be of course seas like the North and West Blue where that industry will be more advanced and the possibilities for getting stronger (like specialized education) will be higher. On the other hand, it will also mean you’ll be playing a more difficult game from the beginning for all the capable players that begin at the same time.

On the contrary, there will be seas like the East and South Blue where the local industry will be either very small or almost non-existent, leaving for those who begin here a larger and more difficult path to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for having the basics to leave their respective seas. The only advantage is that the competition here will not be enough

In my particular case, my country is located in the East Blue of VFX. So as you might think, getting the basics was not easy, and neither it was cheap.

In this part, I can say that it took me almost 9 years (between college and an animation school) to get the equivalent of a standard Devil’s Fruit: a skill that depending on the user’s training and creativity could be useful or useless.

Thankfully, I had good teachers who taught me how to use my Comp-Comp fruit. It was thanks to them that I learned the existence of three concepts that fueled my drive to continue my journey as an artist. Today, I'll focus on the last one: the Grand Line of VFX.

It was that last concept that made me look more into this Grand Line of VFX, and researching about it for months while I was doing my thesis for the animation school and preparing everything for my incoming journey to a new unknown Ocean where I could keep my learning and have the possibility to work in one of those big projects.

What I found about it, what I experienced in the first part of the Grand Line of VFX was more than I could have imagined, however as you read at the beginning this is just the prologue, the real beginning of the Grand Line will start in the next update.

In which sea did you think you started your journey? I will be delighted to hear about your beginnings too.