u/Classic_Relative7429

I'm finishing my engineering undergrad and I'm at a weird crossroads.

Since 2021, I've picked up a handful of paid projects locally and internationally. I've worked as a developer, designer, video editor, and even helped with content strategy. Nothing huge, but enough to know how client work operates and that I can deliver.

The problem is that almost everything I look at now feels commoditized.

Websites are cheap. Design is cheap. Editing is cheap. AI is making everything even cheaper.

Every niche seems saturated with agencies, freelancers, and people promising the world for $99.

I'm not looking for a job.

I'm trying to figure out what business model or service businesses genuinely struggle to find competent people for.

If you own a business or regularly hire freelancers/agencies:

What is something you happily pay for because good people are genuinely hard to find?

Not trends. Not "learn AI." Not hypothetical opportunities.

What are businesses actually spending money on repeatedly today?

For context, I never built a portfolio because I never planned on turning freelancing into a business. I just took opportunities when they came. Now I'm considering building something long-term, but I'm struggling to see where real demand exists versus where people are just making content about opportunities.

I'd appreciate honest answers from people on the buying side.

I'm finishing my engineering undergrad and I'm at a weird crossroads.

Since 2021, I've picked up a handful of paid projects locally and internationally. I've worked as a developer, designer, video editor, and even helped with content strategy. Nothing huge, but enough to know how client work operates and that I can deliver.

The problem is that almost everything I look at now feels commoditized.

Websites are cheap.

Design is cheap.

Editing is cheap.

AI is making everything even cheaper.

Every niche seems saturated with agencies, freelancers, and people promising the world for $99.

I'm not looking for a job.

I'm trying to figure out what business model or service businesses genuinely struggle to find competent people for.

If you own a business or regularly hire freelancers/agencies:

What is something you happily pay for because good people are genuinely hard to find?

Not trends.

Not "learn AI."

Not hypothetical opportunities.

What are businesses actually spending money on repeatedly today?

For context, I never built a portfolio because I never planned on turning freelancing into a business. I just took opportunities when they came. Now I'm considering building something long-term, but I'm struggling to see where real demand exists versus where people are just making content about opportunities.

I'd appreciate honest answers from people on the buying side.

I've been seeing a lot of impressive Three.js projects lately interactive games, customizable 3D models, smooth camera controls, animated gradient orbs, product configurators, and other highly polished web experiences.

I'm coming from a 2D design background and have very little experience with 3D, so I'm trying to understand the actual workflow behind these projects.

A few questions:

1. Are most of these assets and scenes created in software like Blender, Cinema 4D, Maya, etc., and then imported into Three.js?

2. Do developers use visual tools/platforms to build scenes, lighting, materials, and animations, or is everything created and configured directly in code?

3. For interactive elements (camera movement, customization, physics, animations), how much is handled in Three.js versus external tools?

4. Are there beginner-friendly workflows for designers who aren't experienced in 3D modeling?

5. When I've tried generating models with AI or building simple geometry in code, the results often have rough edges and don't look nearly as smooth or polished as the examples I see. What am I missing in terms of modeling, topology, materials, lighting, or rendering techniques?

I'd love to understand the typical production pipeline behind modern Three.js experiences and what tools people actually use in real-world projects.