Where to develop a 3d designer?

Question

3D

Situation:
I have a friend who has been freelancing as a 3d designer for 2 years. And it seems that there is significant progress, but now a person is stuck at a stage when he seems to have the basic set of skills, but does not know where to move. He doesn’t get much money from freelancing and is thinking about returning to a less qualified job, which I dissuade with all my might.

Goal:
Find a way to point out gaps in knowledge/skills to the developer, see new opportunities and create a development vector.

List of topics that require clarification:

1. In general - How everything works, features unlike other areas of IT
   
2. Hard skills - Technical skills, areas of development, specializations, development options for 3d designers
   
3. Soft skills - what soft skills should a 3d designer have?
   
4. Freelance sector - the situation in the 3d-design sphere in the context of freelance.
   

What can help:

• I am sure that a conditional call of 1-2 hours will be enough to point out gaps in knowledge / skills, see new opportunities and create a development vector. If necessary, I am ready to compensate for the time of a specialist, but where can I find a person with the necessary skills / knowledge?
  
• Any articles/learning material relevant to the situation. There are similar articles on the Internet, but here's a nuance - as a person not connected with 3D design, it is difficult for me to assess the usefulness / relevance / adequacy of such information. Therefore, it will be very useful to get links to similar articles from a person who is in the subject.
  

PS I have been in web development for 10 years, but I rarely intersect with areas where 3d modeling is used. I tried to search for people from this area through acquaintances, colleagues, the HR department - but apparently I am doing something wrong.

Answer 1

Wherever he wants to go. You have not written anything about it here, and it looks like nowhere. No conditional calls will help here, even super informative ones.
If you really want to help a person, motivate him to start solving this issue on his own. You can only give him links to where to start looking, the same link to the toaster so that he comes and asks what worries him, describes his goal and his dead end.

Answer 2

A familiar hobby is motion design. He says that there is very little useful and relevant information on the Internet.
And development options: see what is most in demand in freelancing and download these skills.