What does my portfolio need?
polycounter lvl 8
Hey guys! I am currently working on my portfolio which can be found here.
I aspire to be a prop artist, but I also like vehicles and weapons (can be those considered as props?).
My question here is:
What else does my portfolio need to prove that I can be a good prop artist?
I am thinking about making some organic/natural/non-hard surface assets, but I haven´t found any ideas or inspiration, so if you could help me posting any concepts, that would be great. Also any feedback regarding to my actual portfolio will be very welcome.
Here are some samples of my work just in case you have any trouble entering my site.
Thanks a lot for your time,
Javi.
I aspire to be a prop artist, but I also like vehicles and weapons (can be those considered as props?).
My question here is:
What else does my portfolio need to prove that I can be a good prop artist?
I am thinking about making some organic/natural/non-hard surface assets, but I haven´t found any ideas or inspiration, so if you could help me posting any concepts, that would be great. Also any feedback regarding to my actual portfolio will be very welcome.
Here are some samples of my work just in case you have any trouble entering my site.
Thanks a lot for your time,
Javi.
Replies
Will textures do?
That isn't to say that you shouldn't practice 2d at all; you should, absolutely. But for a portfolio, stick to stuff that will get you the kind of job that you want to apply for.
OP, I personally think you should experiment with colors more and non-hard-surface props. All of your stuff is made of metal, and prospective employers will likely want to know if you can do stuff that's not metal too. I'd also be willing to hazard a guess that you've textured these with Quixel. How about a spooky, gnarly tree? Or, if there's a particular studio that you like that has an extensive back catalog, choose an old game from that catalog that hasn't seen a sequel for a while, pick a prop or idea you like from it and bring it into the 21st century, while keeping its original style intact. Don't hesitate to do the concept yourself if you're having a hard time finding something organic that appeals to you, but make sure that if you show it to a guy on the street he can tell what it is.
Edit: Also consider putting wireframes and texture flats in your portfolio so people can see better how you put stuff together.
I agree with Jed, you do not necesarily need to put 2D stuff in your portfolio. It can be seen in your 3D models and textures if you know to draw or not.
You have to show things related with the kind of job you are seeking. If you want to be a prop artist, you should be able to do hard surface and organic too. Also you could add an enviroment, like a small ship interior for example.
You could start by adding some non metallic props as Jed suggested you.
See you in October
I would agree, to maximize job opportunities, you should have a few complimentary organic assets, but that really depends if that is something that interests you.
As for the hard surface stuff, you can do anything really, just make sure you pick the most interesting designs to model, that can have a great impact on how impressive your stuff is. Right now I'd say everything is well executed but not the most interesting objects. Take a look at Paul Richard's stuff (autodestruct) give him credits for the design and model away, you might wanna start with that,
good luck!
I would like to say that I dont use Quixel anymore, I used to use it on my old portfolio but now I just get very specific masks and I dont use them all the time. My texture workflow is this:
I bake some material masks from a diffuse map in 3DsMax, which I use to separate metals from plastics or rubbers, or just if I am colouring different parts of the model that are in the same geometry and the Normal map also in 3D Max.
Then I use the border detection photoshop filter to make borders stand out a big bit by multiplying or overlaying it, then I can leave it as is or I can use it to mask specific material borders, like metal which I personally like to make its borders very scratchy by aplying different clouds/noise filters and adjusting their levels, and I also hand paint rust, random wear or scratches, etc.
I then use photo textures or not depending on the material definition I want to reach.
I do not use quixel because I find it a very slow software (at least my computer sees it that way) although I would really like to use it to the small detailing process.
Regarding to what @JedTheKrampus said, I like your idea of picking an old object and copy it using actual workflows, I will do that for sure, thank you very much for that dude!
I have already presented the wireframes on my portfolio, you just have to scroll down a little bit.
I know I have to make non hard surface stuff, I said it myself in the original post, I am just out of ideas on what to do, that is why I am asking for advice too.
That guy Autodestruct is an awesome artist, I really liked him, thank you for recomending his stuff here.
Thanks a lot, you are helping me a lot here, really, and thank you very much for the kind words that some of you wrote
Well now only the art needs to stand out. I know you wont like that but the Cobra
does only look good from far. If you look it close up, you see very blurry textures
(use higher res textures) and low polycount and lots of edges (dont spare on polys)
and the general silhouette looks sloppy and not accurate with enough mistakes made.
It looks shiny from far and the first impression is good, but at a closer look its your worst piece. The render is very nice, lighting the reflections but the asset itself would need a bunch of work.
The rims look very sloppy, the metal front grill (dont know the name) looks very strange and wonky. The car itself could need more polys
especially around the front, but thats not too bad. If you redo the grill
and the tires you could get a lot out of it. For the textures, I would just cut the website lightbox, so people cant see it from too close because it looks pretty good if you cut those 2 things and look from not too close.
For the turret, the obvious edges of the platform drags it down, aside that it is fine
The sci-fi UMP 45 looks like it has a good texture on most of the parts, but its such a form does not follow function sci-fi concept that is very noisy. The magazine feels like the weakest spot, I would redo the texture there with something much simpler, like mainly uniform colored paint in a bright color like red, that will make the asset more interesting as it is somewhat bland, make it less uniform, and strip some noise away. Some personal touch is always nice too, a sticker or something that
makes it more human and counterbalances the magazine.
Dont do 2D, it will look bad and just drag you down if you put it on the page
Try getting 1-2 new models out and really care about your modeling accuracy,
and do not take any imaginairy objects for subjects, until you have enough real life things in your folio. The sci-fi gun is always worth a lot less than a real gun on the same level of craftsmanship per example, and concept artists are often not as good as you think, especially if youre
not a experienced general artist yourself. Their flaws will weaken your
work, as simple as that. Real life objects are made by industry designers
that put a lot more time into an object, and people can relate to it.
I don't like how your ground just cuts off into the distance. It makes the picture look half finished even though your car asset is amazing. But it's being dragged down because of it.
Or, if you want a black background, try and make it look like studio lighting.
You got some tight pieces in there... modelling high to low and textures looks really good. I dont actually agree about the 2D stuff, dont think is actually necesary since you are a 3D artist. I would definitly work on more organic kinda things, think about the main kind of work that you ll be doing in case you get hired by some company. Maybe with a couple of extra pieces, it will look perfect. Sometimes is better to have a few things but with high end like you have.
Sigue dandole canha que va muy bien! Un poquito de organico y en nada enganchas un curro. Alguna idea de si en Espanha o fuera?
Un saludo!
Only thing I can suggest that (I don't think) others haven't, is maybe it would be better to change the 'about me' page with photo of you, to a 'resume' page with no images. It makes for an easier way for employers to see your education and work experience and also prevents anyone from judging an image.
@slosh, It is great that someone that inspires me so much on my day by day struggle to become a better artist, even if I am not into character art, takes time to write such kind words. Thank you.
@_Kratos_ Muchas gracias por esos
D is ok, A is like B just with less variation and lives from the grass and mud which could be very hard to do
Dont compare to my site, I only do crap in 3D, and I often render offline, but im no 3d artist
http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/forza-3-real-polygon-counts-revealed.132603/
The guy in the third comment was surprised they only used 170k for Lod0 for Forza 3, which is pretty old now
Cars often use procedural textures however. Specs are not the point. People care for looks, you have to impress them. Nobody will say "I guess he made it with mobile specs in mind, such a forward-thinking person!"
Nobody will credit you, but impressions don't go away. Dont make things stupidly high obviously, but dress to impress, that is what counts.
14k is not even high for a weapon, let alone a car.
Numbers are just small pieces of text. They are only a factor if YOU decide to make them a factor. You dont even show numbers on your site, so why does it bother you ?
Leonardo dosn't show the Mona Lisa in his portfolio because it took 5 months to paint, and he would not have those specs in a production environment ?
Edit: Why do i write so much text, textures can always be scaled down
and models nearly always get LoDs and use occlusion culling. Theres no reason to start low
Show what you can possibly achieve, and let your employers give you the chains, the sky is the limit.
@JoshuaG You are right, I didnt use too many faces for that base, but I am not planning to go back on that piece, which is the first one I did for this portfolio, but thank you very much for taking your time to write that down, it is an error which I already learnt about in the past.
@coots7 Thank you mate! I am going to make the B image but whith more rocks and mud piles, you know, more organic stuff wich is something you all agreed about.
@Shrike, Wow! 170k tris for a car? That is a really high poly count! I will definitely take that piece of advice in mind and will make my models a bit higher res.
So decition is taken, I am doing a B type diorama, I will be making changes to it to be more organic and covered by nature. If someone thinks this is a bad choice, don´t hesitate on saying it. I want the best for my folio and you guys seem to know what is good.
The metal material for the top cylinder - and the metal overall - is really muddy and doesn't appear to be any specific material. It might just be an excessive cloud overlay.
The rings on the mount too rather lopsided and segmented. It might be better to leave the details in the texture and remove the geometry.