My portfolio isn't badass enough! Help!
polycounter lvl 15
Hey folks! So like the title says, I need to improve my portfolio. Specifically, I'm hoping for feedback on the website/presentation, but I'd love to hear what folks have to say about my work as well.
www.davidmann3d.com
I loosely borrowed the general layout from Pior, but sadly I just do not have the amount of work, let alone amazing work, that he does to pull off the varied squares approach.
So right now I'm working in slots, but would like to move up or move on. I've been a generalist for 3 years now, focusing more on character modeling and animation lately. I wish I could post more of my professional work, but the games I work on take forever to release after I've finished working on them, that only one or two have even been announced, let alone released, so I have to wait on showing off my hand in them. Kinda frustrating, but oh well-- I still get to make some fun art and animations, even if I can't show them off to PC yet
I know my modeling/texturing skills need improvement, which I try to work on as much as life allows, but it's slow going![:\](https://polycount.com/plugins/emojiextender/emoji/twitter/confused.png ":\")
Still, though, if you have any suggestions for improvement on the models or techniques I should consider, feel free to say so.
Anyway! Any suggestion on layout, presentations, even designs or what you'd like to see more of, would be greatly appreciated.
Oh! Also! Any suggestions for hosting? I like the guy that runs my service, but damn it is just too slow for my taste anymore, and I doubt they'll do anything about that-- they haven't really improved site speeds in the 5 years since I've been with them
Thanks PC!
www.davidmann3d.com
I loosely borrowed the general layout from Pior, but sadly I just do not have the amount of work, let alone amazing work, that he does to pull off the varied squares approach.
So right now I'm working in slots, but would like to move up or move on. I've been a generalist for 3 years now, focusing more on character modeling and animation lately. I wish I could post more of my professional work, but the games I work on take forever to release after I've finished working on them, that only one or two have even been announced, let alone released, so I have to wait on showing off my hand in them. Kinda frustrating, but oh well-- I still get to make some fun art and animations, even if I can't show them off to PC yet
I know my modeling/texturing skills need improvement, which I try to work on as much as life allows, but it's slow going
Still, though, if you have any suggestions for improvement on the models or techniques I should consider, feel free to say so.Anyway! Any suggestion on layout, presentations, even designs or what you'd like to see more of, would be greatly appreciated.
Oh! Also! Any suggestions for hosting? I like the guy that runs my service, but damn it is just too slow for my taste anymore, and I doubt they'll do anything about that-- they haven't really improved site speeds in the 5 years since I've been with them
Thanks PC!
Replies
I'm not to fond of your title banner. The irregular typewriter font is an... unusual.. choice. Most artists use the title to further showcase their skills, providing a strong initial impression, as well as a general feeling for the artist's personal style.
I'm not a fan of the phrase "Pre-Vis" - previsualization is a hold-over from the film industry, who acquired it from still photography and even then the term "visualization" as described by Ansel Adams was both clearer and more accurate... "Concept Art" is probably a more accurate description of your tasks.
Your skills indicate that you are a generalist - a jack-of-all-trades, and master of none as the saying goes. There's nothing wrong with this, and it might be an asset in small companies where one artist is expected to do everything, but most larger companies prefer specialists - environmental artists, character artists, animators, etc.
On some of the pages, you have your text change to black on a black background on mouse over - this is VERY bad.
The font for the explorer doesn't really seem to fit, and the map seems more appropriate to pirates than a Victorian explorer. I'd recommend choosing a less ornate font from the Victorian era. For the map, look at actual explorer's maps or something from H. Rider Haggard:
The polycount seems rather high for what you have, and I can't really tell where all those polygons are. Most (if not all) of the folds in the clothing can be moved into the normal map. Overall, I'd expect a model with the complexity of the explorer to fall into the 5-7k range. The stachel - and its buckles - seems a likely spot for optimization.
@JadeEyePanda: Good call. That's something I changed on my business card but hadn't changed on my site yet.
@DWalker: All valid crits, thanks for the feedback! The Pre-Vis thing: You're right, and besides-- how do you even show off pre-vis work to begin with? By it's very nature it looks like poo.
Right now I am more or less a generalist in my current role, though my focus has been more on character art and animation. I know the big studios are always looking for specialists, but if I'm honest, I'm not really sure how much I'd like to work at a AAA studio. At least not in their current states, save very few. But you're right-- I am leaning towards character art, so I should state my focus as such.
Thanks for pointing out the text-to-black thing-- there seems to be a problem in my css. Yet another reason to switch to something like Carbonmade-- I suck at html.
Thanks for the crits on the character, as well. I'll definitely look into different map types for the presentation shots.