Ready to work in 3d industry? Critique and advice...pls

Sean_P

Hi Guys, a year ago I quit my job and used my savings and time to learn everything I can about the 3d world.  I think I'm ready for a job but being in Sydney, Australia there aren't many/any opportunities here to work for a video game company. My current train of thought is to apply for all the jobs I can online but also get a 2 year Canadian work holiday visa and try to get some work over there.  It would absolutely help me if you could provide some advice on how to move forward or some critique on my artwork...no need to be gentle

I would be looking for work as a modeler/texture (Environment, props, hardsurface\weapons) not too picky just want to get my foot in the door.

Polycount and all it's users have been integral to my learning and I hope to give back in the future.

Here is some of my work, there is more at my artstation https://www.artstation.com/artist/seanpuller 

joshschmitt

I would say no currently. Focus on props  and more of a specific field, you have a character model which is great but doesnt help if you want to be a environment artist. I say your SIG pistol is your best work, however 2 uvw maps are definitely not needed and could achieve same quality with 1 uvw map. I would say make a few  more props and focus on the materials of them.

Edit: Also, dont have your artstation link cover the entire picture of the artwork your trying to display. I only use my name in the picture.

Sean_P

I 100% agree I should specialize and create more props.

Do you think it hurts my portfolio to have the other stuff in there?

I agree with you the sig is the best model, my focus with that model was to use the marmoset online viewer and after it compresses down the textures the normal map suffered, my solution was to splut the uv's . 

The artstation link is only on the stuff I put on polycount, the sticky in 'Looking for Work' said to do it so the image can be traced back to you.

Thank you very much for the feedback

joshschmitt

To a potential employer it could hurt, you should always remove your assets that arnt great quality as to a employer your folio is only as good as your weakest prop.

3dReaper

Okay I am going to be honest and harsh.

Only pieces that are worth keeping are the Sig, Wood stump, and hydra, and... maybe the Wood floor + fan cobblestone.

Shibuya South Exit Environment UE4

• Looks empty
• Looks rushed
• Overtly minimal
• Overall lacking detail
• Various items look last gen or older

UE4 Sci-Fi Alley Scene

• So terribly busy
• No idea what I am looking at until I really study the images
• Water effect is over done so much so it looks like you did it to hide the work

Japanese Vending Machine

• Looks like you used a fill color
• No real detail
• Where is the artistic attention to detail?
  

Sig Sauer P320

• Looks very close to real.
  
• Good job over all.
  
• Terrible renders, never never ever use a black background for renders, clashes too much.
  
• Put more effort into renders of your High Poly, do not screen grab your 3d modeling program.
  
• Always post your textures, so viewers can see what you did
• Add more detail via wear and tear to the Sig and you can make this really shine
• No need for two UV sets
• UVs are not optimized optimally enough. Some frivolous areas
  
• Better lighting, better renders, better detail

Ruger GP100

• Model looks good
• Proportions are slightly off but overall read well
• Textures are very, very Contrast heavy
• Add more detail and improve textures... probably best from scratch
  
• Get a better render with better lighting
  
• Always post your textures, so viewers can see what you did

DoubleStar Hydra Fang

• Solid
• Great modeling, some uneeded edge loops
  
• Good texturing
• Add more detail
• Terrible renders, never never ever use a black background for renders, clashes too much.
• Get a better render with better lighting

Crawford Thunder Strike Neck Knife

• All same as the previous knife
• Sheath looks very unfinished
• The material you used for the pommel, the pattern is not realistic at all. It is following one direction and not following how it would have been realistically crafted/weaved.
  
• You incorrectly imported the textures into UE4, the metal looks super dark or lighting was not a focus
  

Knife display in stump

• Stump does not read well at all from various angles, the normal map is not reading well especially at the top.
• Grooves looks low poly, perhaps from the texture rez

Tree Stump

• Solid
• Could use some more detail
  
• never ever use a black background for renders
• AO, Normal, and Albedo, where is the roughness?

Materials:

• Post textures on your folio for all
• never ever use a black background for renders
• more detail in roughness
• Ice does not read well, looks like a foil mixed with Gypsum
• Art Deco almost looks good, does not read well due to overt cleanliness and harsh colors, add more detail
• Moroccan tile does not read like tile, more like a paper or wallpaper
• Zbrush Brick wall, almost looks good, harsh color, harsh black shading, lack of detail,  looks very same-y overall
• Roof tile, very very hard to read, looks more like metal with a noise detail pattern

Overall you need to spend more time, pay more attention to detail, spend more time emulating AAA tier artists, and use reference!

From here, Focus on one "Hero Prop" and add a shit ton off detail and attention to the piece. Focus on every little aspect. Renders are just as important as your piece. Always post multiple renders for your low poly, high poly and a wireframe of the low. Post textures. Do not render with a black background.

We all hate to see our art critiqued in some fashion. We just have to keep pumping new work and get better/faster!

Asking for advice and critiques put you one step ahead of others. 
Keep at it.

Sean_P

I appreciate your honesty.

My focus recently has been trying to get a lot up on Artstation, and your right I have been rushing a lot of stuff. 

It seems less is more, I would love to know how many pieces other people had before they got a job

Sean_P

Also thank you for taking the time to look through my stuff

3dReaper

3-5 stellar props are ideal

melli06

Hey there!
 I think these guys have given you some solid critique. I'll instead offer some solid resources.
For some artistic concepts I recommend Andrew Price's tutorials/lectures. They are sort of geared for blender but the values in the first parts of the videos really hold up in any medium including game art. Here are some solid ones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o0PauhFQyo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj1FK8n7WgY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8i7OKbWmRM
You might know some of this or it may not help you, but I tend to find understanding at least a few artistic fundamentals helps a lot in the long run.
I find for motivation this podcast is great! Has great advice for game art portfolios and tips too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_s5n7IUMB8
Hope this helps mabye?!?! I am by no means an expert and still super new, good luck!
Fixed the link for the podcast, its great to have in the background while working.

Sean_P

Thanks for the resources watching one at the moment and i'll definitely check out the others.

huffer

I think that if you keep only your best works and rerender some of them, you can try applying to junior positions. Not every studio is an AAA studio, and a good path is starting at a smaller studio. I'd keep the weapons, and either render them with better lighting in Marmoset, or do another texture pass to add more realism, wear and tear, etc, make them stand out more. You can even use the procedural wood and cobblestone to make a small polished enviro piece.

Sean_P

thanks HUFFER. I'm certainly under no illusion that I'll walk straight into a senior art position at naughty dog, I just want to start working in the video game industry and I can't find much on offer in this part of the world.

Zi0

Its good to see you are trying to learn multiple things like creating guns, characters, materials etc. if you end up working for a smaller studio then knowing how to do more than for instance only modeling is a plus. If you want to focus on bigger companies than you have to specialise, decide on what you like to do most, making weapons or environments? When it comes to portfolio content, having a few but good pieces is better then having a lot of lower quality pieces. In my opinion the Sig pistol is your best piece, look on websites like artstation how other people render/present their artwork for inspiration.

This might help as well: https://www.gnomon.edu/blog/10-killer-tips-for-landing-a-job-with-a-aaa-game-developer
Good luck!

Sean_P

Thanks ZIO, I appreciate the comment  and the link has some great info

Kid.in.the.Dark

Listen to everything that's been said here. There's not much else I want to add besides I have much respect for you and your passion to pursue a completely different direction in life... keep at it, never give up. The only one who can stop you from achieving is yourself. So never let yourself down. Go Sean, GO!

Sean_P

Thanks Desmond, I appreciate the support and the kind words

Wolf1

Your work is definitely not bad. Yes, there's quite a bit of work to do - I think people in this thread have done a very thorough, helpful job with that - so really all I have to say is more motivational than constructive criticism per say.

When I finished college a few years ago, I was with a lot of people of various talent at the time. I believe we were roughly 30 finishing students. In the first six months, A little bit less than a third scored a job - from which only two ended-up in a AAA company. Fast-forward a year and a half later, 20 people have a job in the industry doing what they love. Quite a few ended-up in AAA companies.

Now, the difference between those 10 additional people who scored a job versus the 10 others who did not (or swapped domain) was that they kept working on making their work better. You coming here and asking for feedback is exactly what you should be doing and is proof of someone who wants to move forward.

Don't give up - you have talent and potential. Read a lot of tutorials, buy books, listen to tutorials on youtube, take a look at what other people do.

Good luck in your future endeavor!
Wolf1

Sean_P

Thanks Wolf1. That's a great anecdote which shows real insight, thank you for sharing

3dReaper

Some good references:

http://www.marmoset.co/toolbag/learn/pbr-practice

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fb9_KgCo0noxROKN4iT8ntTbx913e-t4Wc2nMRWPzNk/edit

http://blogs.unity3d.com/2015/02/18/working-with-physically-based-shading-a-practical-approach/

Allegorithmic's Youtube playlists (paste into address bar): youtube.com/user/Allegorithmic/playlists

http://www.artisaverb.info/PBT.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt30zzBQb3w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNwMJeWFr0U

Sean_P

Thanks again 3dReaper, I have seen a few of those but some are new and contain great info/examples

I've been spending the last 2 days playing around with the modeling techniques Red Storm used for The Division (Maya to Zbrush with heavy use of Dynamesh), when i'm done with this I plan to revisit and revamp my previous stuff.

Remington 700 with MDT TAC21 chassis system WIP

Millenia

Looks pretty clean - your edges are looking very sharp ATM and won't bake too well. I'd exaggerate the edge smoothing a fair bit more so that it reads on the normal map. Ben Bolton's stuff is a good benchmark IMO: https://www.artstation.com/artist/benbolton

Sean_P

Thanks Millenia, your 100% right, however the best part about this workflow is I can use the polish sliders (mostly Polish Crisp Edges) and that will soften the edges in a matter of seconds and I can dial it to whatever I want

Looking through Ben Bolton's stuff it looks like he follows a similar approach and you might already know this, in which case a agree and I learned it from some of my earlier models which I sub-d modelled and was a bummer when all of the numerous bevels weren't big enough for a good bake