[Portfolio] – Jimmy pereira

underfox

hello everyone, my name is jimmy pereira i'm 26 years old and i'm french/ portugues and i'm almost finishing my 3D modeling formation for videogame in france hoping to get a job in the area. ( crossing my fingers / toes / hair everything ).
I have been working on my resume and online portfolio for 2 weeks now, and since i noticed that there was a lot of usefull critics on this forum i decided to put my shyness aside and show you my resume and online portfolio so you could let me know what you think about the website and the content.

so i'm not completly finished so i will be telling you what is still missing at the moment, so you wont wonder why a few things are missing.

the " environment " is still not fonctional, i'm currently working on it and it should be ready in a 1 or two days, same goes with the " projects " and the "showreel" wich should take a bit more time to complete ( especialy the showreel)

Sorry for the wall of text and here goes the website

Portfolio


thanks in advance to everyone willing to help me out

Blind Boy Grunt

Freakin LOVE the album thing. employers will not forget you

respawnrt

I would think twice about that resume if i were you, it's your future job at stake.A simple pdf to download would be normal i guess.

Azreality

I'll give credit for being original. If you were attending a conference where you could hand out these things people would surely remember you. That can be good or bad depending on what it is they are looking at.

You could also just keep your portfolio website having a simple pdf download as well.

One more thing... Is that a capital records logo on that back? Isn't that copy righted? Maybe make up your own clever record label logo instead.

mbischof

It's cool, but I immediately think you're a musician - and maybe you are.

yodude87

mbischof wrote: »

It's cool, but I immediately think you're a musician - and maybe you are.

this.

underfox

thanks you for the usefull comments everyone. so far the modification will be:

1. pdf format of my resume on the website.
2. changing the capital label to one designed by me.

Is there anything to say about the site interface? is it easy and simple to use? should i remove something to make it clearer?

respawnrt

Hi, maybe you should remove the 2d and sculpting parts, first because they aren't so good and second because they clutter your portfolio.
It's always good advice to go for quality rather than quantity and especially since it's a 3d portfolio for games, i'd say go with quality 3d models or enviroments, whatever you are good at.

underfox

duely noted, going to remove thos pages once at home.

underfox

i have been making a few modification as some of you told me

http://jimmypereira.weebly.com/index.html

1-removed the vynil designed resume and made a new one ( with some grammar error for sure ) the PDF CV is diferent than the one on the website, is it bad? should i remove the yellow color ?

2- removed both 2D and sculpt sections ( since they were not that good anyway and as respawnrt said , they were cluttering my site )

3-I added an environment work ( tell me if it is worthy of beeing shown or not). I will put another one and will start working on a new one soon.

thanks in advance for the advices ;P

AlexLeighton

I think there's too many links between the main page and your work, you have to click 3d, then environment, then medieval village to see the pictures. I would just have links directly to each gallery from the main page, don't sort it into categories unless you have a whole load of stuff on your site.

underfox

glad that you said it, it crossed my mind more than once and i wasn't sure of it, but now that you said it, i'm sure. i will put the 3 sections on the main pages.

underfox

ok so i updated my portfolio, finished my demoreel ( do you consider it to be a proper demoreel?) and added a new environment.

http://jimmypereira.weebly.com/

crits crits crits :P

Benjam

I like it, found it easy to use, the demo reel was pretty cool. Someone said something to me once at a gamer conference to make your portfolio all one page viewable so you can scroll down it because it makes it easier for recruiters to have a look at all your work. Imagine you are a standard recruiter and have been browsing through hundreds of portfolios, its 5pm you wana go home and you have to look at one last thing, the guy wouldnt want to be looking through links and maybe get lost etc.

I do like it because it is easy to navigate but maybe change it so that when you click environments all your screen grabs are on that one page and separated by a line or something? Its just my opinion.

Love your work!!

sdmitchell

Regarding your CV/Resume there are a couple of spelling/grammar mistakes. I know that English isn't your first language and actually it's not really the spelling so much as grammar. I would be happy to go through and point them out if you want. I don't wanna just point them out 'cause I'd feel like a dick. ^_^''

Low

I went to french highschool in Qu

underfox

@benjam Thank you very much, i will try to have all my environment works packed in the same page. thank you for the tips and the kind compliments.

@sdmitchell Thank you, I would be a dick to refuse your offer :P i'm so bad when it comes to grammar.

@low Can't be me, I never been to qu

sdmitchell

Right, copy and pasted it into a separate document and made some changes; https://docs.google.com/document/d/12YtCi8HXZQucx6NEguz5X4x0i_0b4EjQdkfpgvzQP9I/edit

There were somethings I weren't quite sure of though. Like the use of the word "polyvalent", I didn't know what it meant and had to look it up and it means something about chemicals and chemistry? Is this the word you meant to use http://www.thefreedictionary.com/polyvalent?

I'm not quite sure what "informatician" is. Perhaps information technology? Please clarify!

SVN; I don't know what this is (XD) but you should write the full name of the software.

Many of the changes are just spacing and punctuation edits, so I highlighted stuff in red for easy reading. I hope this was helpful. ^_^

underfox

well if you were in front of me i would pay you a drink definitly :P thanks a bunch sdmitchell, really appreciate.

i searched, and it seems that "polyvalent " means " versatile " in english, iI am so bad .

i'm making the modification right now . thanks again

sdmitchell

Ah! That'll be versatile. Got it. And no problem, happy to help. ^_^

Hawt Koffee

what's the name of that song in the demo reel?
you didn't list it

underfox

My bad, it's " aruarian dance - by nujabes "

So... I decided to send the portfolio to some studios like it is now, was it a good idea Or should have I waited for a few more things to retouche? Is it professional enough ?
I won't lie, i feel kinda stressed to think that it might not be good enough.

Benjam

its all a learning curve dude just keep updating, upgrading etc. etc., im upgrading my portfolio at the minute before i send it off because it is no where near good enough at the minute but there is a job opening somewhere i cant not apply for right this second so ive gotta go for it. Im in the same boat as you are man, you are not alone!

underfox

Thanks Benjam, wish you the best of luck to leave this boat as soon as possible

I have a question, I hosted my videos on sites like youtube, dailymotion and vimeo the probleme is the following, youtube and dailymotion have adds before playing the video, no need to tell you that emplyers won't even try to watch it as soon as they see that, and vimeo forces you to go on site to activate the HD mode.

Does anybody know a good free video hosting site with no adds? or i there no other choice than to pay for that kind of service?

AlexLima

Ou p

underfox

Hi everyone, It's me again, sorry for uping this thread again but I need some more critics if possible?
I have been sending my portfolio to quite a few studios during thos last 6 months and no positive result so far, some has shown interest in me and granted me a meeting but it seems that my lack of experience is holding me down ( or is it really because of that?)

Obviously I keep questioning my self about my portfolio. Is it any good? does it show that I could be an asset to a production team or not? are they telling me the truth about my lack of experience or is it just because i'm not good enough?

I'm thinking in doing another environment scene but unfortunatly my current work doesn't give me enough time to put my self into it. But somehow i have that impression that my portfolio is somehow holding me down.

Need your crits.... badly.

djgardner

hey underfox. Sorry for your job search troubles. Hopefully something turns out for you in the near future.
So regarding you portfolio.
- You state you want to become an environment artist, but you have a section for characters. I would scrap that from the portfolio. As an environment artist in the industry, you will NEVER do characters. It's a skill not a lot of people have, but those that do, work only as a character artist. Your characters are really simple too, and not something I'd showcase in their current state.
- I really like the overall feel and look of "Prairie". Lighting and Composition are good as well. The only negative things I have with it are the length of the video. 3 mins for a fly through, with no breakdowns of the scene (lighting only, wireframe, etc).
I would have also liked to have seen some breakdowns of the various props in the scene. Show the low poly, high poly and in-game models with textures, then show the maps. I wouldn't do breakdowns of all assets, just the ones you feel are important to the level, or are really interesting.
- The scale in the medieval environment looks off. Maybe it's just the angle of the render. I'm looking at the picture on the middle row, to the right, ... and the stones on the street, compared to the tiles on the sidewalk, compared to the buildings looks out of proportion . I would go back in and adjust.
- Your asset section just looks like props taken from the two levels, and put into their own section. Like I mentioned above, you'd put these assets in their associated environment as the breakdowns.
- Your main menu has a section for your demo real, but then you also have a sub-section on the top of the page that also links to your demo. I'd say scrap the sub-section, and just have it on the main portfolio page. For the demo, I would have also included a breakdown of some assets from the environments and breakdowns of separate props you did. But at the same time, I have mixed feelings about having a demo reel. If someone watches your reel first, and it doesn't impress them, it could be the deal breaker for you, and they'll pass on your application.

- So if we visualize your portfolio now (if you make the changes above), you're left with just an environment section with two different environments. In general, I'd consider this portfolio a long way from being ready to submit to companies. Remember, quality over quantity; but to be honest, those two environments aren't yet at the quality standard to really stand out to a company.

- Now if you don't mind me making some suggestions for your future portfolio (and suggestions I've received from industry people as well), you could really improve your portfolio.
1) Improve upon your environments, make sure they are the best they can be. If you feel you should add more trees, then add more tress; as an example. Add those breakdowns for your props. Ensure the lighting is top notch, and the overall composition is the absolute best you can make it. When the Art Director of what ever company you apply to sees your work, it should win him over.
2) Make some interesting and unique props. Make sure they aren't related to your environments. I don't have a magically number for how many you should have, but make sure they are the best.
3) Follow a constant art style. You seem to be doing a good job so far, but I've seen a lot of portfolios with a mixture of realistic work for like Rockstar Games, Call of Duty games, etc ... and work meant for World of War craft. Don't follow that path.

Don't take it to personally, it's just feedback, and we all learn from our mistakes. You have a lot of potential from the work I've seen so far, so keep it up.

underfox

Thank you for the feedback djgardener, I'm definitly going to remove the character module as you said , as for the assets, I think ( thanks to you ) that it will be my next objective. I will work on some props so I can showcases it properly in the asset section.

I have some props done like this ones





Would you consider this something worth showcasing in my portfolio?


Also ,when you say that I should follow a constant art style, could you explain me why it would be a bad idea? I was actualy thinking in doing some cartoonish assets but since you said that, I'm starting to wonder if I really should do it afterall.

I'm not taking anything personally, your giving valuable feedback and I'm very thankful to you.

aajohnny

In my opinion you don't have to follow a certain style, just try to be unique and different. I would show those scanners/printer. I think they are worth it!

LuCh!

I would get rid of the seperation of environments and assets,
make the front page the one of the environments + the demo real on the bottom,
show the assets with there projects, I see no sense in seperating the two
nice environments btw!

underfox

Thanks both of you, It is indeed true that I should have the assets showcased with the environment itself, I will see to do that.

I'm going to put the printer and the papershredder in the portfolio then.

djgardner

printer looks good. Remember to show wireframes and the maps with nice high res renders.
The reason I say to have a set art style is for a few reasons.

1) Your art style should represent what types of studios you want to work at in the future. Think about it... say you want to work at Treyarch or Infinity Ward (Call of Duty studios) but your portfolio is only WoW style art, you have dragons and all. How do you expect to be hired by them? They literally cannot judge your work 'cause it's not their particular art style.

2) You want to improve your work constantly. how do you expect to do that when you keep switching from one art style to another? I'm not saying you can't do a different art style in general, I'm just saying focus on what you're good with, and continue with it.

DWalker

I agree with the earlier comment about moving the props for particular environments to the pages for the environments, and using the props page for independent objects. The text on the props listing the polygon count and texture sizes is a bit hard to read even in the slideshow mode - is there any way you can use larger images in the slideshow or a larger font for the description?

You should put some work into the trees - the branches seem very angular and the clumps of leaves just don't feel organic. Don't be afraid to spend polygons where you need them, and remember that the definition of "low poly" keeps going up. Since the scene is named "prairie" trees should be fairly sparse - otherwise it would be "forest" or "meadow"; a few well-placed and well-designed trees will be enough. Finally, even when trees grow on a slope, the trunks tend to grow vertically; a few of the trees on your hills have a very noticeable tilt (20-30 degrees).

The ivy in your medieval town looks enormous - leaves seem to be 1-2 feet long. It looks like you were trying to increase coverage on a low-polygon budget.

The buildings seem too short - each level should be 10-12 feet tall, while the interior ceiling heights should be 8-10 feet.

The streets and sidewalks are very wide by medieval standards - ancient cities are not the result of careful civic planning, but an almost organic gradual growth with competing desires - owners want to maximize the use of available space while everybody else wants to get from A to B. In most cities, major roads are often little wider than 2 carts with a narrow sidewalk on each side, while alleys are rarely more than an arm-span wide. Streets were also rarely straight for any appreciable distance - they tended to meander around natural obstacles and oddly-shaped buildings - and they rarely met at right angles. Some research into medieval streets and street layout will provide useful reference images.




You should also try to clutter up the scene. Carts, tarp-covered boxes, piles of trash could be added with only a minor investment. Try adding a muddy puddle to the center of the street, and possibly a grated drain to the sewers along the curbs.

The lighting also seems a bit odd for a moonlit night - the main light appears to be a bright white light rather than a softer blue-tinted light you generally see in night scenes. The light from the windows would be from either candles or oil lamps; the light they cast tends to be yellower, and inconstant, flickering and flaring over time, almost seeming to "pulse". This effect would be most noticeable during an animation (hint, hint ).

Another feature you might want to add are painted signs for the shops/inns. Aside from adding points of interest to the scene, they also give you something simple to animate, moving gently from a mild breeze.

This brings me to my main complaint about the city section of your reel - it seems to do little more than move down a straight line, and might as well be zooming into a still image since everything is static. Consider the animation as a narrative - nobody expects The Third Man, but plan an interesting path that shows off your hard work without being too obvious about it. Also consider how to add simple touches of life - swinging signs, flickering lights, guttering torches sending out smoke and occasional sparks. The effects should be subtle, and can be quite simple, but the cumulative effect will be well worth the effort,

underfox

@djgardening I see your point of view, I think it is a logical one and I definitly agree with it, the thing is at my current level, I'm not sure I could join a company like treyarche and such, so I try to focus on smaller studios ( while sending application to kojima production for exemple, doesn't hurt to try hehe) and thos smaller studios often ask for polyvalent people able to do cartoonish works as well as realistic one. Needless to say it's quite confusing for newbies like me to know which path to follow when so many studios ask for so many diferents things and I for one am ready to work anywhere as long as it is for making games.

As for the printer I'm currently working on the page to add it in the assets section ( during the little time I have after works and on week ends ) I will also follow what you said about the assets going to the respective environment section.

@DWalker Thank you for this long post full of usefull information and hints hints The medieval environment was the very first environment I made in UDK,I had to do it in around 2 weeks with 0 knowledge of UDK and that's why you can see so many technicals flows, still it doesn't excuses a lot of things you pointed out, like the night light color or the overall sizing of buildings and streets etc... Unfortunatly it is a project that I lost ( BACKUPS ALWAYS) yes I am at fault here and I'm not denying it I deserve a few spanks everytime i look at it I think " damn i could do some assets to cluter the scene a little bit more.

As for the prairie environment, It is still a WIP even though I almost didn't touched it since I started working 6 month ago the last time I had vacation I spent them doing an environment art test for gameloft montreal . I definitly took what you said into account about the angularity of the branches and such. same with the trunks on the hills, I will rotate them for sure

Once again thank you for thos excelent feedback, and keep them coming please. I'm starting to have a good idea of what should be re-done now.