14 Chapter 1: Basic Concepts The general rule in production is this: You're always out of time. Therefore, the most efficient pipeline will be your savior, because eventually your producer or boss will tire of hearing, "But I'm still rendering...." For now, go ahead and use as much geometry and lighting as you think is necessary. With more experience, you'll start pruning your scenes and getting more efficient ren- ders. Right now, knowing how a scene is put together is more important than knowing how efficient it needs to be. CG Specialties Like most professionals, CG professionals specialize in specific areas. Those areas coin- cide with the stages of CG production outlined earlier in this chapter. Modelers create models for shows or projects. They need to have a keen eye for detail, as well as a sense of how objects come together. Environment modelers create settings, and character modelers specialize in creating organic surfaces for characters such as people. In all cases, professional modelers need to understand form and function and be experienced in lighting, rendering, and texturing to effectively model professionally. Animators are artists who work directly with the animation of a project. Character