Thinking of doing an Digital Media diploma/degree? Read this first.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

the local market is simply too small.

in usa, a small group of support is enough to keep you surviving.

from the apps i've published on the itunes app store, i see more generous american buyers than singaporean buyers at the ratio of 50:1.

now i've changed my strategy to target the usa market.

Do you write game apps? Care to share some tips on how to be successful as an app developer? I'm an aspiring app developer. Thanks for sharing.

i don't see myself as successful, but quite surprised that americans are willing to support my amaturish apps. maybe becos .99 USD seems like 50cents to us.

first of all, u need to know how to use objective-c and xcode. then u can try using the cocos2d framework to make your games. download at cocos2d for iPhone, comes with tutorials and stuff. tons of code and tutorials on the internet.

most importantly, have a good gameplay to attract gamers. good luck.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

i don't see myself as successful, but quite surprised that americans are willing to support my amaturish apps. maybe becos .99 USD seems like 50cents to us.

first of all, u need to know how to use objective-c and xcode. then u can try using the cocos2d framework to make your games. download at cocos2d for iPhone, comes with tutorials and stuff. tons of code and tutorials on the internet.

most importantly, have a good gameplay to attract gamers. good luck.

Hi, in fact I'm writing my first iPhone app using cocos2d. A friend told me he's making about 1k usd from a single app he wrote. Another friend, a Filipino, also had a simple fun app that made him an accumulated 60k over 2 years. It's very encouraging to geeks like myself who can't survive in banks or corporate world.

Do you think the iPhone developer community in Singapore is big? I heard that there's a lot of demand but not enough good developers here. Maybe you can explore starting a consulting company to write apps for big MNCs and such.

Clarification: that first friend is make 1k usd from that 1 app EVERY MONTH.

[mugster]

I am also in agreement that the games and animation industry is looking bleak in Singapore. They have been hanging on the thread via government funding only.

Mobile development is a hot area though. Definitely lack of programmers here. But dont try to write your own app in the hopes of selling them. Chance of success there is low. Join a mobile app development outfit and take on projects instead.

I am a nyp grad with a digital media design diploma. My specialised area is 3d modeling for animation and games. After graduation i went to an animation company to further train my skills and i started to do some free lance and landed my first job as a modeler working for a certain disney animated tv series for playhouse disney channel ...

being a Singaporean and WORKING in Singapore its very hard to get a job in this very specialised area. The number of companies i can apply to is very limited (i can count finish in 1 hand) ...

Artist are poorly paid in this industry and i think the govt has really painted a very beautiful picture of the games and animation industry which to be honest, it isnt.

copied from Need Some Advice For A Certain Course In Unisim - Flowerpod Forums - Beauty, Makeup, Skincare, Health, Lifestyle, Entertainment, Love & Relationships

I studied animation in Poly, only to be doing some other things in life now. the animation industry in Singapore is a very young one... let's face it, the culture in singapore is if it doesn't make money fast, it's over. The company or business funding a animation feature doesn't understand that good animation takes time to be produced. and since they are in business, the nature of business is return of investment in the shortest time. 4-5yrs for a good animation film? dream on. It's too long for them to see the returns.

next, the education system. when edb starts to promote animation, every tom dick and harry school starts to teach animation. who oversees the quality of the sch & the lecturers? who QC the syllabus? and what do they teach? software operators or story teller? these 2 are very different job scope. 1 just operate and animated and bring characters to life and another bring life to the story. the education that I had was to be a software operator. not a story teller. and for guys, after poly, u need to go and serve ur NS. more than often, you will lose your software skill. let's not kid ourselves. the software changes like 2 or 3 times within ur NS life. How do you catch up? so naturally, after you are out of the army, you are back to square 1 again, learning software, but maybe faster.

Next, the quality of life for animtors. It is common for animation house to squeeze dry their workers. they have too, if not, how do they survive? plus the fact that the government doesn't regulate a min wages for the industry? this result in the fact that some aspiring animator will be willing to work for free just to build up their portfolio. If you get employed, you will need to work hard and fast. u stay back to work. you render stuff. but if the clients are not happy, u have to reanimate. just ask yourself how long can you hold out for passion?

i can go on and on.. but its too tiring and too sad to write anymore.

Our local Animation industry - www.hardwarezone.com.sg

I studied animation in Poly, only to be doing some other things in life now. the animation industry in Singapore is a very young one... let's face it, the culture in singapore is if it doesn't make money fast, it's over. The company or business funding a animation feature doesn't understand that good animation takes time to be produced. and since they are in business, the nature of business is return of investment in the shortest time. 4-5yrs for a good animation film? dream on. It's too long for them to see the returns.

next, the education system. when edb starts to promote animation, every tom dick and harry school starts to teach animation. who oversees the quality of the sch & the lecturers? who QC the syllabus? and what do they teach? software operators or story teller? these 2 are very different job scope. 1 just operate and animated and bring characters to life and another bring life to the story. the education that I had was to be a software operator. not a story teller. and for guys, after poly, u need to go and serve ur NS. more than often, you will lose your software skill. let's not kid ourselves. the software changes like 2 or 3 times within ur NS life. How do you catch up? so naturally, after you are out of the army, you are back to square 1 again, learning software, but maybe faster.

Next, the quality of life for animtors. It is common for animation house to squeeze dry their workers. they have too, if not, how do they survive? plus the fact that the government doesn't regulate a min wages for the industry? this result in the fact that some aspiring animator will be willing to work for free just to build up their portfolio. If you get employed, you will need to work hard and fast. u stay back to work. you render stuff. but if the clients are not happy, u have to reanimate. just ask yourself how long can you hold out for passion?

i can go on and on.. but its too tiring and too sad to write anymore.

Our local Animation industry - www.hardwarezone.com.sg

[mugster]

Excellent posts on this topic written 4+years ago

Led by the Blind Part 1 @
Led by the Blind Part 2 @
Led by the Blind Part 3 @
Led by the Blind Part 4- IDM Education in Singapore @

up this post for this year's grads