Portfolio Advice

aaronmwolford

Hey Polycounters,

Below is a link to my portfolio. I'm looking for overall advice on any content that is unworthy of being showcased on there. I understand as all of us are we are ever improving, but if anything strikes you as odd or unworthy please let me know. I have several projects in tandem that will be showcased soon. With my Robot Race content I plan to make that an overall Easley-Dunn Productions showcase since I have more games in the works currently.

Lastly, what is missing? My goal is to work on content that is going to bring the most value to my portfolio. What would you like to see?

Any advice would be excellent and as always I appreciate it.

http://aaronmwolford.com/

MikeSeguin

I checked it out; here's my opinions (keep in mind I am only graduating this year, so take it with a grain of salt):

1) In terms of the work/technical skill, it's definitely there. There is no issue there.

2) Clean the layout up a little. There's no spacing; content seems like one solid block of stuff. Design-wise, this is a no-no. Space it out a little; get some pauses between 'noise' in there.

3) Dedicate an entire page to your resume. Don't just have it as a download link; actually have it written out on the page, with a link at the top and bottom to download.

4) Have your main contact information, preferrably an e-mail, clearly visible and at the top of every page. I know you already have your contact information on every page; just make it consistent across every page.

5) Where is your demo reel? I don't see one on there. I think it should be front and center, and the first thing accessible when you visit your site.

6) Representing which programs were used on any given project via the program's icon is brilliant! I may adopt this myself!

artstream

1) Larger images, doesn't do much good to have small images. If that means opening them in a new tab for zooming, ok, but it needs to be bigger.

2) Show your high poly source models, it's good to see your process.

3) Better poly optimization/usage. Your warbell suffers from misplaced density (the bell is really low when it's a crucial element of the model).

4) Keep your presentation consistent, some work you show wires & textures some you don't.

5) The treasure chest is probably the weakest, as you can make out the skull's polys due to it being so low. Goes back to the 3rd point about better poly distribution.

6) A lot of your models look "flat"; no real material definition. I think this is more of a lighting issue than texturing, as you can see some specular detail in your maps, but it falls apart in the rendering.

aaronmwolford

Thanks for the comments. I've been hearing that the chest is the weakest. That will be the first to go. I'll go back and work on the lighting. Most of the models are rendered in Marmoset.

benc

Overall I'd say its pretty solid. I agree with the above points, but I quite like the chest

2 things from me:
1 - maybe add a small paragraph as to what Robot Race is, maybe at the bottom of the page. Is it a uni project, a published game, or personal project? Did you work as part of a team (can be important and valuable to mention) what did you do on the project?
2 - For you modular walkway it might be nice to show an example of it all together and being used as a large walkway, just an idea though.

Cheers

DWalker

Don't worry about a demo reel unless you're an animator or f/x artist; quality still images are much more useful.

The 'Work' heading on your menu is misleading; it generally implies a link to a work history or professional projects. "Portfolio" is a more common title.

If you're interested in console/PC work, you should include some renders from a common 3D engine - Crysis, Unreal, etc.

On the catwalk, I initially assumed that you'd need additional segments at the curved corners. Looking at the wireframe, however, I noticed that you have enough segments, but only one of them has a significant curvature; even that out and you'd lose the current blockiness. The current texture layout looks wildly inefficient. At the cost of a few more polygons, you can really enhance the appearance of the grating by using a tileable texture.

On the ammo container, the hole in the latch really should be created by an alpha mask in the texture rather than geometry. You'll get a much more realistic appearance and reduce the polycount to very close to 300; a significant savings for such a low-poly model. Don't worry that you won't see the thickness of the metal in the hole; people won't notice at any realistic distance, and if you're showing an extreme closeup then it should be a high poly model. Also, the paint is thick enough that the text should probably appear (faintly) in the normal map.

aaronmwolford

Thanks for the input DWalker and benc. I definitely agree with both of your critiques. I'm currently editing much of what you all have suggested and I will re-post once completed. Thanks!