Environment Artist Portfolio Feedback

AllenRoss

Hello all.  I've been frequenting this site for quite awhile and I feel that you can give me honest feedback on my portfolio.  
At the beginning of the year I had gotten an interview for a temp job at Avalanche Studios but botched the art test and wasn't hired.  The problem I've been having since then is that I have been applying to studios everywhere (US, Canada,Uk) and have been met with silence or rejected apps.  Within the last few months I've overhauled my portfolio since I had a large jump in the quality of what I could make and I would like some feedback on what it is i'm missing that keeping me from getting any kind of reply.  
I'm currently participating in the Artstation Beyond Human challenge and will add the scene into my portfolio in a few weeks so any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Portfolio: https://www.artstation.com/allen-ross
challenge: https://www.artstation.com/contests/beyond-human/challenges/30/submissions/21045?sorting=latest

Carabiner

Hi there! I really like your newest UE4 piece and I think getting some more solid examples of that level will help you land a job. I think you're well on your way.

One thing you could do is re-render older pieces: for example, the typewriter renders stand out a lot. I'd say re-do those renders one with better lighting (which you've proved you can do in the newest UE4 piece) and a bit of a background/scene.

The lighting in "Autumn Shrine" is nice too, but it looks a little blown out - could be good to do another pass on that.

pixelpatron

Hey Allen,

Buckle up, reality check time. Let me first start off as I applaud your efforts. Getting a job in this industry is not easy, keeping a job in this industry is even harder, and not getting bitter or burnt out...well that's a whole different enchilada. If you have any sense...walk away. If you're determined to prove me and everyone else wrong.....read on.

Let's break down these 1 by 1 shall we?

Typewriter:
While a decent model here are your missteps. 

Take a look at this for a minute.....

What do you see?

The things to take away from this image that i see that I'd put into a model compared to what you've gleaned and put into your model have gaps. I see buttons that have wear and faded lettering due to use (in contrast your buttons and metal iron elements look almost brand new and not of the time period of which they were created.) You've done a spool that has a rough texture...I'd love to see if this is accurate as it seems in my mind that the letters being pressed against that spool wouldn't get proper coverage (for not being flat)...and thus have bleeding and possibly missing lettering when the arm and letter made contact with the paper against that spool. That level of detail may sound absurd to you, yet the people your trying to get a job against are not missing those details. Some environment artists will develop an eye for that level of detail and some won't. Some will find work and some won't. See where I'm going with that?

Your metal looks not of the time period nor showing wear and tear appropriate to the age of the object you've modeled. The wood knob seems really low poly for what it should be and the facets stick out. The wood material could be stronger and I don't know if it's vanilla substance wood or just poor lighting that's hurting it. Overall your entire model is void of subtle dents/scratches and micro detail that would really make this asset sing. The model itself looks to be one solid metal box. Where are the rivets/screws fasteners holding this thing together? How does that lid fasten itself to the base? I'd love for your to post your reference image(s) for comparison as I've never seen this style of typewriter before. (not calling foul, honestly just would like to see what you had to work from, and where you made the choices you made, and possibly overlooked things that would make this object a better 3D asset).

Your strap on the side isn't easily identifiable, that made of leather? How is this object constructed? Where is the stitching or rivets holding it together? I like the pinstripe patterns across this asset for the most part, yet some don't really accent the object properly (not following the flow the object) and are out of scale compared to one another. (the lines are thick in some parts and skinny in others).

In conclusion I'd really think hard about where this could go, your foundation is decent but you flubbed the details and didn't give enough attention to an appropriate time period, overlooked physical/practical construction and didn't consider accurate material definition based on time period of the object. 


The Appraisers

Lots of stuff that could push this one, I'll just give you a laundry list....gotta get back to work. (you have reference/mood board for this scene?)

• Curtains?
• Where the wallpaper, seems weird there would be exposed brick for this building? Maybe only for exterior walls? Interior wouldn't be brick. 
• Blood doesn't have properties I'd expect it to. It'd be reflective and smear across the floor and not be drips as you have it. (reference The Last of Us Part II trailer).
• Book cases have weird roughness on the surface and especially on the edges and don't look like wood.
• The top window frame doesn't have a frame? 
• The detail of these windows is lacking, and show some laziness in that you didn't have a solution for proper glass nor outside elements, (a Hollywood style backdrop 'photo on cards' approach would suffice).
• Wood floor pattern seems to be too tight and flooring of this nature is typically a bit more reflective if this is depicting new construction.
• Your lighting solution is from different time periods (the fluorescent tubes over the paintings) thus confusing me as to what this space is...old or new?
• Weird that pillars would have crown molding but your room walls would not.
• The brick with the white frame seems very odd, I'd make that interior wall have wallpaper on it's lower half and only use brick on exterior walls and around windows. 
• Your guy monster eating a human is a bit out of place and doesn't scream maturity. While fun it shows that your not experienced. 
• Books seem out of scale compared to room.
• White lower crown molding on brick pillar doesn't make sense.
• The huge gash on the wooden table seems a bit much
• I wouldn't run the white wall panels/separation on the areas where the exposed brick is present. I'd either make the pillars white and do only the exposed brick by the windows or come up with a wallpaper solution for your interior and ditch the brick all together. 

To give you a push, look at how things are constructed, you need to be paying attention to how things are put together as those details are starting to matter and are present in most games now. The lines between early 3D (suggestive models) and what is now possible on the likes of PS4/Xbox1/PC are no longer blurry.....there is a hard line in quality and we've passed it. 3D models and interiors for games have crossed the threshold are approaching movie quality levels of production values. You'll have to educate yourself on a great number of things and start studying how objects/structures in the real world are put together so you'll be able to put those details into your work to have more convincing pieces. 

If you want advice, I'd hold off from big environment pieces for now.....focus on making 10-12 super high quality and well executed props. Less is more......finished not perfect. Make a lot of shit, throw it away, start again. Seek out feedback....be comfortable failing. Learn from those failures.......You have too many gaps in composition/lighting/mood and overall execution to tackle all at once in a full environment piece. Baby steps. 

Good luck.

AllenRoss

@Carabiner  Thank you, I see what your talking about with the Autumn scene and I agree it is washed out.


@pixelpatron   I've had numerous critiques on the work that I have made since I decided to peruse this particular path.  One of my biggest gripes has been that many people who give critiques seem to try to walk a fine line of trying to give advice without bruising the other persons pride/feelings.  So, i'd like to thank you for candor with your critique ,because from my perspective it has been very rare to have someone take a long look at what I've done so far.  You've given me a considerable amount to think about and that the current direction I am going with what I'm making might not be giving me the best results but be detrimental to my growth. Thank you again.

JamesArk

Your latest stuff is definitely trending in the right direction. Some feedback:

Typewriter:
- I wouldn't include this at all in your portfolio, tbh. Especially since your latest two pieces (Appraisers and your Artstation Challenge) show a noticeable step up in quality.
- The solid white background is pretty harsh on the eyes (check out https://www.artstation.com/timbergholz and his renders for individual props. They have really nice lighting, neutral gradient/blurred backgrounds.)
- The texture of the main cylinder thing is really bumpy and doesn't come across as realistic, or aesthetically pleasing. There's also a lot of noticeable geometry because the renders are taken so close to the mesh, so I can see the individual facets of the cylinder and the wooden handle.
- I think with some tweaking this prop could be used as a part of a larger scene, but as it stands isn't quite enough to be on its own where so much scrutiny will be given to it.

Autumn Shrine:
- Overall the lighting seems pretty washed out and there isn't immediately a nice place for my eyes to go. The scene generally come across as flat.
- More of my own opinion but: I also don't think it's a particularly interesting scene either. If the quality was very high it would probably be fine to just have a shrine and some rocks, but there are hundreds/thousands of the same scene out there without any inherently cool or unique aspects to them.
- The rocks looks very flat and undetailed, they kind of look like styrofoam or rubber or something right now, pretty much just a solid grey mass.
- More variations of shrub/glass/flower would go a long way. It currently looks as if there's only 1 or 2 little plants and 1 kind of flower.
- The trees look like generic SpeedTree default stuff, so there's not a lot of interesting shapes going on with them. They need branches/imperfections/more interesting silhouettes. Also, the large sheets of many leaves stand out a lot. More leaves/more volume to the shape of the leaves would help a lot.
- I would also leave this one out of your portfolio.

The Appraisers: 
- The best of the three pieces on your Artstation. Pixelpatron broke it down quite well, there's a lot of realism being lost in the subtleties of the scene.
- One of the main things that sticks out to me is the blood trails looks very unrealistic (too flat in terms of reflectivity/specularity, too vibrant red).
- The round wooden table looks quite low resolution.
- The bricks have some graininess to them? Their normals look jagged around the edges or something.

Artstation challenge is looking like your best piece yet, keep pushing it.

Keep it up man, noticeable improvement overall from piece to piece.