Student Portfolio (kdawg)

Kdawg

Hey guys, this is my WIP portfolio. I would really appreciate any feedback I can get! Give it to me hard, and fast ;p, I can take it. I've been studying 3D since around October last year, and this contains my work that I think is decent, I still have much to learn, and I can't wait!

http://keithebanks.carbonmade.com/

Is there anything that is essential for a portfolio? Specifically for gaming? I know I should learn a game engine, but not sure which one to invest my time in.



My dream is to work in the gaming industry, modeling, texturing, maybe a bit of animating, all that jazz.

I think this is the right place to post this, right?

Also, I have another thread where I'm working on my final demo for class. http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142490

Dobbler

Hey Keith,

Also a student here. I'll leave the in depth art critiques to the working professionals, but I was fortunate enough to attend a GDC panel on portfolio building earlier this year, so I'll try to hit a few points for you:

Show your BEST work. Having a small selection of high quality pieces is better than a lot of low quality work. The developers at GDC hammered on the importance of self editing as an artist, and that begins with editing your weaker work out of your portfolio. Seems like you've got a solid foundation going, but your Miscellaneous Props section could stand to be improved. I'd remove it until you bring it up to par to the rest of your work.

Specifically, work on those bedding materials. They appear more plastic than cloth. Also the metal panel underneath the bed is way too clean and doesn't really fit with the floor it's on. Think of all the dust, dirt, and scuffs you'd get on a forgotten metal panel at the foot of a bed. Some wear and tear (and blood, why not?) will make that panel belong in the same world as the worn tile underneath.

Another biggie was to show ALL of your work, not just a final render. Hit 'em with UVs, wires, texture sheets, resolution, tri count, and what programs you worked with. The more info the better

Versatility in art styles was also very sought after, so it's great you have variety in your projects. An art director went so far as to suggest he'd give applicants a hand drawn style art test if a portfolio was too heavy on photo-realism (or vice versa).

Hope those suggestions help!

Kdawg

Thanks! I was on the fence about the props, and went with it just to have the quantity. But you're totally right. It was from a group project that I wasn't happy with, so I'll remove it!

I will work on adding the technical stuff in there. I'm sorta embarrassed at the textures since I didn't use my UV space well. Haha, I will definately go back in and fix that though!

I gravitate towards a more cartoony style, because I love that, but I know I can do more photo real stuff. I just need to make something that shows it off! My current project is a whole stack of hand painted characters and props. I think after that I'll buckle down and work on a photo real character.

Seriously, thank you so much for taking the time to reply!

DWalker

On your Rolleiflex, you seem to have something odd going on on the left side by the top knob. The wireframe shows a triangle fan in the same area.

The materials on your Chrono Hunter look more like plastic than a specific material.

Kdawg

Hey DWalker, thanks for the feedback. I'm not too sure what you mean in regards to the Rolleiflex. As for Watch, yes he does look like plastic! No that wasn't intentional! Material definition is something I really need to improve on!

Swarm22

The blood on the bed has been bothering me, it reads more as ketchup than blood. Think about what the stain would look like if you spilled a drink on your sheets. It absorbs into the material, soaks it and spreads out from the point of contact. Blood acts much the same way, it's a liquid and would soak into the material instead of just sit on top of it.

Kdawg

Thanks Swarm22, but who said it was blood? Haha it's jelly! But seriously, I'm gonna take it out for now, not a very strong piece! Thanks for the feedback, if I do fix it up I'll use that advice!

Swarm22

No problem. You might want to stay away from the whole blood thing in your environments. It's a very "student" thing to do to just splash blood on stuff and probably not something you want to remind potential employers of. Just my opinion.

JustGarry

If I was you I would bake the Rolioflex down into a low poly model and render it in TB2 or UE4 something like that, if you want to work in games a mental ray render doesn't really show the relevant skills. The other work on there is good you definitely have some talent so just keep going