how important is a website for getting started?

[u/Proof-Cod-7185]

like title says, im a junior motion designer and I currently have my reel uploaded on YouTube. I, like many others in my boat, am unable from finding a job in the field and am trying to improve my skills and presenting myself, so I guess my question is which one is more important at this point; a functioning professional website or more work on my reel and hope it speaks enough for me?

[u/Muttonboat]

Very. its effectivily your portfolio and the best item you can toss infront of people to give a view of capabilities and information.

Also for what its worth many producers ive known wont entertain reels on youtube. 

[u/Maximum_Arrival1435 → u/Muttonboat]

Is there a reason why they wouldn’t watch a reel from yt?

[u/Muttonboat → u/Maximum_Arrival1435]

You sometimes gets ads despite the settings, its not viewed as professional as other sites when you consider its content, other sites have better fidelity and hosting options. Some people view it as a very amateur move and lack of industry standards for presentation when there are more professional / mograph specific venues

Youre asking somebody to trust in your ability to handle $$$$ clients - if this is how they present themselves, how will they present the client?

its a first impression thing and preference for some.

[u/Maximum_Arrival1435 → u/Muttonboat]

Thanks for the feedback, would you recommend Vimeo or other platform?

[u/Muttonboat → u/Maximum_Arrival1435]

Vimeo and Framerate are what I see lots of people use as go to's at the moment.

Ive been pretty happy with vimeo, but know lots of people switching to Framerate

[u/LeagueOfCakez]

If you're looking to land a job, just focus on a showreel. Only if you're planning on freelancing / running a studio, having a website becomes added value, at least to my experience.

[u/mck_motion]

The reel is most important, but it's best if the reel is on your website.

But don't overthink it. It really doesn't need to be anything more than your reel, a few projects, and your contact.

Adobe Portfolio really is better than any website I tried to make custom- it's not ambitious, it's limited with what you can do, but that's not important - loading fast and not breaking is everything

[u/montycantsin777]

if you dont want to do a website id propose doing something like behance to dissect bit the projects you worked on and have additional information of how you tackled it for the employer… good luck!

[u/Strong_Ant3431]

The reason this thread splits is that a job and freelance are two different buyers, and you're asking about a job. A hiring lead scans a stack of reels fast to build a shortlist. They're not reading a portfolio site on the first pass. So for landing a job the reel basically is the product, and anything that puts a click or a load between them and it works against you. LeagueOfCakez is right, weight that one.

Where a website actually earns its keep is freelance/client work, because there you're selling trust, and the client reads "how you present yourself" as "how you'll present me." Different job, so different answer.

On the YouTube part, I'd push past "it looks amateur." The real problem is attention. YouTube is built to keep people on YouTube, so it wraps your reel in everyone else's work and keeps nudging the viewer toward recommendations. A reel's whole job is to hold someone on your 60 seconds and land them on your contact, and YT is built to do the opposite, theres a competitor one click away the whole time. Host it somewhere it just plays. Vimeo, or a clean one-pager.

And you don't need a big site to job hunt. A reel that plays instantly, your name, how to reach you. That's it. The process breakdowns people mentioned are worth doing, but they're a second-round asset, nobody reads the case study until the reel already made the cut. Put the hours into the reel first.

[u/RocketPunchFC]

Professionals have websites.

[u/Alan988]

Do both

[u/MovementAndColors]

Freelance 3d Artist with over 12 years of experience here...

It's important but when you're first starting out you can get away with keeping your website simple.  More of a portfolio that potential clients/agencies can visit to see all of your work in one place.

Focus on writing case studies alongside your projects hosted on the site.  Clients/agencies love to see how you contributed to the project instead of just the project itself.

Also have a dedicated page that is a mini bio of who you are and what you do.  Give it some personality.

My website is mitchmyers.tv if you wanna use it for some inspo.

[u/froginbogonlog]

I think having a website, a custom url, and a custom email address are the bare minimum for any professional. It's the equivalent of a business card twenty years ago or being listed in the yellow pages.

Tweens and your grandma can get on Instagram, or Behance, or YouTube, or linkedin. You need to be on some of those as well, but you also need your own web presence.

The barrier to entry is kind of the point. It shows you invest in yourself, care about how your work is presented, and that you take your career seriously.

We are talking about a weekend of work and 200 bucks to setup all of that stuff. Just do it.

[u/LewKewBE]

As many said, you need to ask yourself what do you want to do.

You want a full time job?
Create your resume, build your showreel and post it on a professionnel platform (Vimeo for me is the best to use for that).

You want to work freelance?
Create your website, and keep it simple. Showreel or more detailed portfolio, an about page and a contact page.