graduating, check out my portfolio!
polycounter lvl 4
hey guys, i'm graduating in 2 weeks from the illinois institute of art in chicago from the game art and design program and just looking for some critiques. the faculty is pretty small so i've only gotten about a half a dozen critiques.
i'm still making minor changes to it so all advice is appreciated.
my website with some other stuff like a couple really simple games:http://www.martygalinskas3d.com/
and the direct link to the youtube video:
[ame="
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQXwzv1gMLs"]Marty Galinskas Demo Reel - YouTube[/ame]
i'm still making minor changes to it so all advice is appreciated.
my website with some other stuff like a couple really simple games:http://www.martygalinskas3d.com/
and the direct link to the youtube video:
[ame="
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQXwzv1gMLs"]Marty Galinskas Demo Reel - YouTube[/ame]
Replies
I've got a few critiques/concerns, sorry if they're a bit harsh, but hear me out.
That combination of like 12 different shades of blue + weird fabric/halftone gradient banner + grunge texture background + stripes everywhere in all directions isn't cool. Tone that down. 1, 2 shades of blue at most, right now it gives off the impression that your eye for attractive visuals isn't too hot (which is the opposite of what you want as an artist).
Do you have any other portfolios of people you admire? Might want to collect a few and use them as reference for how to lay out yours.
You've got too many pages, I'm clicking way too much for what little reward I'm getting. I'd say condense these into one page, and remove the 7 pieces of 2D art + the skull study you have from the gallery page. They confuse the message.
Speaking of the message, your branding isn't very strong. What do you want to get a job doing, what are you? Have that in your title on the banner and pagename (3D generalist, character artist, environment artist, game artist, etc). Make certain every piece of art you have on the site backs that up. Also, make sure your resume is findable, because it's not on your website, and even though I bothered to click offsite to your LinkedIn, that's not exactly filled with information either.
EDIT: WAIT I FOUND IT. Don't put your resume there, I missed it even after leaving the site. Make sure it's on your contact page!
On the actual content of your portfolio:
Both your characters are... um. Well, the way you've presented them really comes across more as "in poor taste" more than anything else.
Gagger is the better of the two, and the one that makes me feel the least uncomfortable with it, but the textures really need a rework. If that third texture is a spec, you need to re-do it entirely (that is not how spec works).
The topology for Bertha is really dense in some areas and not dense enough in others, and the flow of it just isn't good. The topo for Gagger is too dense, with random inconsistencies in the evenness of the edge loops. You want even topology, and cut any loops that don't contribute to the silhouette. Additionally, instead of smart topology here (loops around muscles, and triangles for smarter deformation, etc) it seems to just be more loops. Avoid that, with this polycount you could easily do it more correctly.
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/BodyTopology
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Limb_Topology
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/ShoulderTopology
Might want to get up to speed with the latest tech, too, because these come off as a little old-gen.
http://www.marmoset.co/toolbag/learn/pbr-theory
http://www.marmoset.co/toolbag/learn/pbr-practice
https://www.unrealengine.com/education
You probably want to present your renders in real time if they're not already. I noticed the environments were Unity so maybe they are. One white light probably isn't going to do it for nice presentation though. Look into 3-point lighting and don't use a flat mid-grey background.
On your environments:
Almost everything seems to have this like 90 degree sharp edge to it. Do you bake, or are all these normals converted photo textures?
The lighting is plain and boring and seems to only come from one source in your real time environments.
There's no material definition. The rock looks the same as the wood which looks the same as the metal. Again, look into newer tech/workflows (PBR, sculpting for environment textures, etc), but also really think about the nature of materials and how the maps you're using work.
TL;DR:
Maybe post here more often, make a progress thread for your next character or environment and let people help you with ideas on how to up the quality a little. Usually I'd say to ditch the reel, but honestly with your characters being fully animated the idea of it isn't too bad. Try to get proper camera animation captures of your environments in the future, instead of jumpy low-framerate caps of walking through the level.
I think cleaning your site up will help a lot, but otherwise just keep making things and showing people.
Stay up to date on tech, techniques, optimize your workflow and get genuine feedback frequently. :thumbup:
as for unreal, i just got a license from github so i'll definitely be working with that now, the new environment will go into unreal 4.
thank you again, this really opened up my mind.
I'm glad you found that useful!
Well... While I'd like to say that's an abnormality, honestly that was my experience with taking a games specific course as well. I went in expecting this and worked on a lot of personal work to compensate. It's all you can really do, and a good chunk of it is just that the standards in this industry move really fast, and curriculums have a hard time moving along with them.
Good to hear that you're working on a new environment, and that you're going to use UE4. Post it when you've got enough to show! I'd like to see (and I'm sure others would, too).
Using phototextures and generated normals isn't always a bad thing, but you really have to paint over/alter the textures to make them useable in all environments, while being careful of how the generated texture looks and will be used. Making sure your assets are all carefully modeled with appropriate bevelling and attention to detail is also pretty important.
Sculpted textures really do give an extra level of depth and detail to certain materials, though, make sure you check out the tutorial on sculpting tiling textures in Vertex Magazine.
Again, good to hear that I helped a little, and good luck!
That's pretty much what happens to everyone I think. Give it a year and you will probably have a completely new set of work in your portfolio that will make you laugh at your old stuff.
agreed times 1000x
i'll be sticking to environments, it seems characters aren't my strong suit.
I really like the Trevi fountain Is it game resolution or is it a full sculpt res? If not then I would get that game ready and some nice textures and I feel that could make a good center piece if you will.
I think your right with sticking to environments but don't give up on characters still try them on the side to help add something to your arsenal
On a different know one thing that has helped me is going to life drawing classes, you can find some pretty cheap ones, and I learn more in those than I did in most of my schooling haha.
Good luck dont give up!
thanks man, i'm definitely not giving up, this is my absolute passion, no matter what the critique or attitude i receive i won't stop making stuff until it's absolutely beautiful. that's why we're all here am i right?
i was expecting it, i'm harsh on my own work and i'm never happy with the results lol.
made some changes to the site, and recorded some better shots of the last 2 projects, nothing major. also tried out LUTs in unity. those projects i won't be working on anymore. here's the next project i'll be working on, i'll make a new thread for it since it's completely different from this demo reel. i'll mainly be working on the carousel.