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I don't really know anything about 3D graphics but I do have background in animation so I need someone to verify my opinion/observations,
and also show off your vfx work if you'd like.

Recently I've developed a habit of just analyzing the visual effects of the games I'm
playing, and I'm realizing and honestly surprised that so much of 3D visual effects is
really just putting 2D animations and textures on top of invisible 3D geometry (that may or may not be animated as well).
>There aren't 6 trillion particles to that create that swirl of dust during a powerful hit, it's a brief 2D animation on top of some double helix geometry.
>That smoke coming from a chimney is a 2D animation on some kind of billboard plane.
>That river of water or waterfall is - yet again - just some fancy noise projected on top of some invisible geometry
>etc...

The reason this is kind of a big deal to me is I used to really specialize in 2D visual effects.
Frame by frame using a ton of gradients, shapes, particles, lines, glow effects, blurs, flickers, textures, etc.. and doing all this shit by hand.
And so when I would try watching tutorials on how to make 3D visual effects, I realized that it's a VERY similar process that I used to do
with 2D. So much of that shit really is just getting down and dirty with your tool and having a bunch of tricks
and techniques to make an effect look a certain way. It blew my mind because I just assumed with 3D you have a fucking braindead effects engine
that you tweak for 30 minutes and boom you've got some really good looking stuff; but no, you really do have to put in the work for every little part
of your effect... Which is honestly perfect for me, I'll feel right at home, it's just getting used to the tool and jargon associated with 3D graphics.