Probably the best aspect of working in the 3D industry is the incredible change and growth the industry experiences, constantly, and the wonderful opportunities to continually learn and grow. It keeps things exciting, fresh, and always new. Every day I sit at the computer and I know there is some new challenge for me, either a new concept to learn, a new issue to troubleshoot, or something new to create.
I also enjoy sharing what I learn, and enjoy the teaching and the writing process. That’s why I teach at the college, of course, but also why I started the Chicago 3ds Max User’s Group three years ago. We all benefit when we share, after all, and I find that the more you give to others, the more you will get back in return.
I once had a new member, after introducing himself at a meeting, state in a somewhat adversarial manner that he and I were competitors. Although true, it seemed from his tone like he was living in a zero-sum world where his gain of knowledge at the meeting was somehow my loss. As we had just met perhaps I’m reading into it more than what was there, but you certainly go into doing a presentation knowing that someone is going to come away learning something – thats the point – and hopefully it will enhance their work. Otherwise, there would be no point in sharing knowledge, and if everyone worried about what someone else might learn from them we would all still be living like apes in the open plains.
Taken to an extreme, back in my Electrical Engineering/Computer Science days, I worked with a man that would literally close the door of the control room and work on troubleshooting equipment by himself, so that no one else would know how to work on the systems. He was the guy in charge so there wasn’t much we could say, but eventually he went the way of the dodo. Ultimately we didn’t have the advantage of his knowledgeto work on the systems ourselves after he was gone, but managed just fine in the end. A business owner friend, a true craftman, stopped hiring trainees as they would stay with him long enough to learn the craft and then quickly became competitors, undercutting his cost. For him there was a real cause for concern for his liveleyhood, and a remorse for the time he invested in these individuals. This issue has probably existed as long as there were craftsment to learn from.
One of my favorite quotes is from “Futurama” where, after a video had played in the show, an announcer says “You’ve seen it. You can’t un-see it!” Sharing with others is like that. You hope you show them something and it sticks, and once learned you certainly can’t un-learn it. Hopefully they will then share that with others, or write a tutorial, or help a user on a web site, and add their unique take and further understanding of the subject. We all benefit in that way.
Helping others troubleshoot problems, such as on The Area http://area.autodesk.com, helps you in honing your troubleshooting skills, and is one of the best ways of learning about the software and avoiding/solving problems yourself. Reading the solutions to problems certainly helps me in my work, but what is more fun is looking for the questions with zero replies, as they are often the more difficult issues to solve, and the most interesting to work on. You might not get the answer, but more than likely you will learn a lot whether you find the answer or not. I encourage people to be involved with these sites and to at least read through the issues and learn in this way.
I also find that writing is one of the most powerful tools there are for you to learn something. The process of putting words to paper (or blog, or in user forums) in a manner that needs to be understandable by others makes you think about the subject in a detailed and focused manner that you won’t experience otherwise. I encourage others to write about, or at even teach, the things they are interested in learning. That is the best path to becoming an expert, and the best way to enhance the 3d community as a whole.
Remember – you always get back more than you give!
