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Please review my portfolio

polycounter lvl 7
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skycity02 polycounter lvl 7
Hi, I work hard for this portfolio for a while. I am looking for an entry level artist position at any studio that located in Los Angeles. I am interested in game company but not limit myself to it. Please take a look at my portfolio and give me some feedback from professional artists.  
https://www.artstation.com/artist/daiwang
Any constructive feedback are greatly appreciated. :smiley:  

Replies

  • Kid.in.the.Dark
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    Kid.in.the.Dark polycounter lvl 6
    Hey Dai,

    I'd say the first issue with your portfolio is that you are shooting at too broad of a profession. In locations like Asia and such you'd be able to get away with throwing anything into a portfolio just as long as it looks good (not all but quite a few countries/studios) but in the western industry the majority of high level studios (AAA titles) or anyone working on anything decent in locations like LA require specialisation as right now your portfolio is a little everywhere since you've got a mix of Prop/Character/Weapon & Vehicle... This doesn't tell your employer anything about what you want to do but other than you're still deciding what it is you want to get great at. So my first advice would be to choose a specialisation, secondly would be to work on presentation of your projects as a lot of your pieces look like they're being lit with the same studio HDRI and it generally comes off quite dull but generally should you decide that you want to go with character, environment or prop, etc you will end up cutting at least a 1/4 or 1/2 of your portfolio based on the stuff you have but not to be harsh but some of this stuff I would cut due to the fact that the quality of it just isn't high enough and would require much rework or would be easier to just start over almost.

    However if I were to say what aspect of your portfolio is strongest it would be your vehicles.. however I'm not a vehicle artist so I wouldn't be able to tell you whether these were entry level vehicle artist quality but I'd say those were the pieces that would most likely get you hired.

    These are the projects I feel you should just cut from the portfolio entirely...
    - Sci-fi Weapon
    - Street Parking
    - Ring Engrave Machine
    - Engraving Machine Model and Render
    - Girl at gym
    - Robot Worker

    I would also remove the back plate for the Acura RSX Game Model piece as well or just polish it more as right now it makes the car feel very small and doesn't do your model any justice. The vehicle itself looks lovely though.

    The rest has potential to be something depending on what you decide to do.

    Hopefully this doesn't come off as harsh but more of a helping hand, just keep working with it buddy.

    Keep going
  • vzdragon
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    vzdragon polycounter lvl 6
    your work looks really good but i agree with the above comment. My one critique would be on the car (since i own it) the area where the bumper meets the fender (near the headlight) is way off and so is the headlight itself. Seems like you were trying to replicate that spec d projector headlight. for me those two sections make the car odd to look at. Consider re working those areas, other then that the rest of the car looks good
  • skycity02
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    skycity02 polycounter lvl 7
    Hey Dai,

    I'd say the first issue with your portfolio is that you are shooting at too broad of a profession. In locations like Asia and such you'd be able to get away with throwing anything into a portfolio just as long as it looks good (not all but quite a few countries/studios) but in the western industry the majority of high level studios (AAA titles) or anyone working on anything decent in locations like LA require specialisation as right now your portfolio is a little everywhere since you've got a mix of Prop/Character/Weapon & Vehicle... This doesn't tell your employer anything about what you want to do but other than you're still deciding what it is you want to get great at. So my first advice would be to choose a specialisation, secondly would be to work on presentation of your projects as a lot of your pieces look like they're being lit with the same studio HDRI and it generally comes off quite dull but generally should you decide that you want to go with character, environment or prop, etc you will end up cutting at least a 1/4 or 1/2 of your portfolio based on the stuff you have but not to be harsh but some of this stuff I would cut due to the fact that the quality of it just isn't high enough and would require much rework or would be easier to just start over almost.

    However if I were to say what aspect of your portfolio is strongest it would be your vehicles.. however I'm not a vehicle artist so I wouldn't be able to tell you whether these were entry level vehicle artist quality but I'd say those were the pieces that would most likely get you hired.

    These are the projects I feel you should just cut from the portfolio entirely...
    - Sci-fi Weapon
    - Street Parking
    - Ring Engrave Machine
    - Engraving Machine Model and Render
    - Girl at gym
    - Robot Worker

    I would also remove the back plate for the Acura RSX Game Model piece as well or just polish it more as right now it makes the car feel very small and doesn't do your model any justice. The vehicle itself looks lovely though.

    The rest has potential to be something depending on what you decide to do.

    Hopefully this doesn't come off as harsh but more of a helping hand, just keep working with it buddy.

    Keep going
    Hi, Kid
    I really appreciate your critique. It's little bit hard on me, but everything your said are right and professionally. I was kind of unknown which area I really want to do when I created my projects (even at right now, but I think doing props are more likely for me), so I just let my heart direct me.  
    Lack of presentation is true too.  I will try my best creating some new lighting.
    Cars are my strongest points and I loved doing them but I worry that there is limited opportunities in the job market.
    I will working on those problem as you suggested. Thanks again for great critique!! :smiley:

  • skycity02
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    skycity02 polycounter lvl 7
    vzdragon said:
    your work looks really good but i agree with the above comment. My one critique would be on the car (since i own it) the area where the bumper meets the fender (near the headlight) is way off and so is the headlight itself. Seems like you were trying to replicate that spec d projector headlight. for me those two sections make the car odd to look at. Consider re working those areas, other then that the rest of the car looks good
    Hi, vzdragon:
    Thanks a lot for your critique. When I created the car I only looked at the reference photos from google, can you tell me which car you are talking about, I will check it and working on fix. Also, I really appreciate your kind review. :blush:

  • Kid.in.the.Dark
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    Kid.in.the.Dark polycounter lvl 6
    Anytime man, just as long as you understand what I've said is to help. You'll find your footing once you dive deeper in and in all honesty... don't specialize at something just because it's easier... if you really want to do vehicles... then do it man... character, vehicle or whatever... do it, wasting time trying to find an easier option is always damaging to the career you could be building for yourself... this being said from experience, I wasted a lot of time trying to find quick fixes and fast track solutions to getting into the industry doing things I didn't want to do... if you love something, do it... it'll come naturally just as long as you love it enough to push hard at it every single day up until your first hire.

    Keep at it man, chin up and keep moving forward (Y)
  • skycity02
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    skycity02 polycounter lvl 7
    Anytime man, just as long as you understand what I've said is to help. You'll find your footing once you dive deeper in and in all honesty... don't specialize at something just because it's easier... if you really want to do vehicles... then do it man... character, vehicle or whatever... do it, wasting time trying to find an easier option is always damaging to the career you could be building for yourself... this being said from experience, I wasted a lot of time trying to find quick fixes and fast track solutions to getting into the industry doing things I didn't want to do... if you love something, do it... it'll come naturally just as long as you love it enough to push hard at it every single day up until your first hire.

    Keep at it man, chin up and keep moving forward (Y)
    Great advise Kid :smile: what if I have passion doing both props and the car, can I dig deeper into them at the same time? Because I think I am doing good modeling for the camera, phone, and cars.
  • Shrike
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    Shrike interpolator
    The modeling looks good but the texturing, materials and general rendering need work. Your edges are usually too sharp for baking also.
    Try spending more time on texturing. Dont make everything overly glossy and dont just rely on substance to do everything in a generic even fashion. Play a bit with lighting and presentation, youll be fine. 
  • skycity02
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    skycity02 polycounter lvl 7
    Shrike said:
    The modeling looks good but the texturing, materials and general rendering need work. Your edges are usually too sharp for baking also.
    Try spending more time on texturing. Dont make everything overly glossy and dont just rely on substance to do everything in a generic even fashion. Play a bit with lighting and presentation, youll be fine. 
    Hi, Shrike
    Your suggestions are straight to the point. Yes, I were relied too much on Substance painter because it makes texture creation very easy.  The render process used to be my weakness spot. I work on this issue recently, but still requires more effects. I relied too much on Marmoset toolbag for easy lighting setup previously. I dig more into v-ray recently, and as you and mr. Kid suggested, I will improve the lighting and presentation. 
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