Hi,

Is there something in demand and super specific/niched down that I can focus on learning and becoming reasonably good at in Houdini, for which I could eventually find freelance work remotely / internationally?

Is VFX remote/international work a thing? I imagine it's more of a thing now after c0v1d, right?

I have some basic 3D modelling knowledge and experience but have never done VFX.

Get into KineFX, rigging in Houdini is going to explode and there is simply no freelancers able to rig other than a handful so if you apply yourself we will certainly be interested.

Study anatomy and explore current rigging techniques and how to translate them in Houdini, well, that is more up to you but it is not super hard either.

Also, learn about Motion capture processing, a bit of Motion builder will help you a lot on what is expected from you and I am sure you will get work pretty quickly.

Let me know if you need any other pointers, we can keep in touch as we will sure need KineFX riggers pretty soon.

good luck.