Looking for a Portfolio Review.
Hey all! This is my first post that will be showing my portfolio. Iv been afraid to do so up untill now. All Im really looking for is possibly some feedback on my current portfolio, Things I should change or add for when I go to update it. I will hopefully be changing out the current 3 project I have in my portfolio with completely new pieces.
http://AndrewRedpath.Carbonmade.com
Any and all feedback is Welcome, Thanks in Advance!
Andrew Redpath
http://AndrewRedpath.Carbonmade.com
Any and all feedback is Welcome, Thanks in Advance!
Andrew Redpath
Replies
Gets quite blurry :c
Thank you Alismuffin ^-^! I shall look into my DOF.
*edit : Looking through my photos, I have to agree xD! DOF overkill Q_Q
For my Street Corner I was trying to go for an over cast style of light, I also was told the same thing about my scale and how the plants looked plastic from my teachers and class mates. Sadly I didnt have enough time to go back and fix those issues befor the project was due.
I currently am in need of learning how to properly create spec maps to get the right meterial definition. Im very lacking in that department. I will beging to look into how to make them correct when I start my next project.
When creating feature project I will start using a character placement for scale, that is another one of my great weaknesses. As for the more stylish pieces I tryed to stay away from proper scaleing, but if that is something that should be avoided then I will re-evaluate how I model.
As for the black outlineing on every one of my project that was a last minute desision I had made with other class mates to make my work a little unique compared to everyone else in the class :P Saddly I guess it doesnt work for all pieces. Ill stay away from that, It was really only meant for the enigmatic piece anyways.
I shall Look into the Noob section Right away, I have yet to do so. Im excited to see what challenges they may have
Thanks Again DKK!
The particles for the waterfall really should be denser and smaller, to give a better impression of steam. Also, try rotating the sprites as they rise -you might find that it produces a better approximation of a rolling cloud.
You got the paper work saying you graduated in a game dev program, but you've only just started.
Your work needs much improvement before you should start applying to studios.
SOME SUGGESTIONS:
- You got the beauty shots of your environments, but where are the breakdowns or props, etc? Texture sheets? You got nothing really telling an Art Director how your workflow is.
- Carbonmade is a good portfolio to use while in school and on a budget, but you're done school and should start putting together a proper portfolio site. Buy a domain, find a nice portfolio theme on Wordpress, or make your own site. Either that, or upgrade your carbonated account. I want to see HQ pictures.
- Get rid of the black outlines.
ENIGMATIC
- Lack of Lighting, just really dark and flat.
- Ambient Occlusion WAY too strong.
- Bold outline shader too strong as well.
- Has potential to be a good scene, just doesn't have anything interesting besides the building. Needs more story behind it.
Final Thoughts- Needs to have some sort of story behind it, right now its just a house with really blown out shadows and shaders. Needs more too it. Has potential to be good though.
STREET
- Style isn't really bad, just needs to dress it up with some props.
- Puddles aren't too bad but the street is just too washed out.
- Not sure if its just the angle but the traffic lights seem off-scale.
Final Thoughts- It isn't a bad environment, just lacks props and interest. Add some street props, once again have a story behind it.
THRONE ROOM
- Stone platform needs some texture on it, just really flat and boring.
- The throne should feel more valuable, if the player has to make their way to that throne there has to be a really good reason. There needs to be more than just candles around it.
- The bridge is good, I like the texture work and its interesting. Well done.
- Needs to feel more dangerous.
Final Thoughts- I think this is your best environment out of all three. I think the bridge is done well and is interesting. The foggy part just doesn't seem fitting to me, it seems like you have to avoid that area and walk over it the way its laid out, make lava, toxic waste, just something to make it feel more dangerous. Right now its just another stone floor, doesn't really make it seem like a big deal at all :P
I am not sure what shader you are using but it is hurting your work imo. It gives off some really odd, heavy shadows. If its tweak-able I would have the black outlines toned down a bit. I think the throne room shows you have creativity and potential. You lighting really needs some work, its REALLY important because that helps the atmosphere you are trying to push a lot. Some of your textures are good and some are flat. I didn't read everybody's critiques so I apologize for repeating things if I did, and I don't want to come down as harsh :P I hope it helps.
The video is pretty nice, but at some points a bit of slow and repeating. It's quite nice that you also show the wireframe and so on in it.
As for the individual presentations, you showed the wireframe in the video's, why not show it here aswell? What I also liked in the first scene presentation, was the textures. If possible I would also display the textures of the other scene's. You can also show some object separately, this will give you a chance to display the object without other distractions around it.
And last but not least, what I really missed on the presentation was information about the scene. How many tri's had the scene? How many textures were use, and what is their resolution? Did you use specular and normal maps? Show what you have made, and how you have made it.
Let's start off with the edge-shader you have on your work. Usually It's fine using an outline shader however its' really tricky to get something look really good with it and you need to take a lot of things in consideration when you use something like that.
A good example is right here. The plants in the foreground are just ending up looking noisy and uninteresting. Using things like this you need to focus on big and nice shapes that end up not being too complex. As soon as they get too complex you'll end up with a lot of noise in your environment. You need to have a really nice thin line to make it look good. Too big and you'll end up with a lot of black in your environment if you have lots of props in them.
In all honestly it feels like it's used to cover up the bigger problem you have with your environments right now mainly your subject and your art-direction.
I don't think your texture work or modeling is all that bad , I just feel like you're lacking art-direction. You need to focus more on composition, lighting and color theory. Just to get something interesting going. Always try to work from big to small if you're making environments, if it feels good in blockout it'll surely be good later on when you start your texture work or adding more props to the scene.
Right now they just feel like empty environments without soul in them. So you need to ask yourself how do you infuse that kind of feeling into your environments? How do you make them look beautiful and interesting? Analyze people that have some good stuff and what you like about them and try to break it down. And use that same knowledge in your environments.
Just go through basic art-principles as well and apply to your scenes:
Composition
Color Theory
Lighting
@ DWalker When I was fiddling with those black lines during the development of my three pieces I was unable to get them any thinner, I had tried many different things. Truth be told the black lines were a happy accident for my at the time. I will look into that little trick with lightening up the colors in textures and fiddling with the opacity.
@ djgardner My end goal studio wise I would have to say Blizzard or Arena Net, The style they use is what I try to stick to when I am modeling. Games like World of Warcraft / Diablo 3 and Guildwars 2 use a style that I absolutely love. I will not be applying for these company's for many years to come. I know my work is not even close to where it should be. I am unsure of many other company's that use a similar style except for some located over seas.
As for my Website I will most likely be sticking to Carbon made for the time being since I only just graduated a few months ago and I am lacking in the funds department and shave to pay off school bills. I agree that I should have break down and I am lacking them in all of my pieces, I did such a poor job of pre-pro and putting these 3 environments together that I dont have much of a breakdown to show. I will keep this in mind and do a better job when creating my next 3 pieces of work that will replace what is currently in my portfolio now.
@aajohnny Thank you for breaking down my scenes, I have been told that my scenes need a story from a few people now. I Believe I understand what everyone is trying to say in that respect but maybe ill leave an example just to make sure.
I will use the throne room - So In efforts to tell a story without words, and to make the scene a little more interesting. Could I have possibly Added I treasure chest next to the throne and piles of gold and gold pieces spread out around the throne to give it more of a sence of worth, maybe even a skeleton sitting on the throne one hand over the chest giving it the look of him protecting / guarding his treasure from thieves. These are thing I will keep in mind for future pieces.
@ Shrike I Will look into that
@vincentvangeel Good Tips! Thank you, I noticed a few people in my class who rendered out object in there scenes separately. I will keep that in mind for my new projects : D
@chrisradsby For my next few porject's I'm going to be working from concepts. Which is something I have yet to do. I will be using a few pieces from Artyom Vlaskin since his work is something I would love to recreate in a 3D piece. I will look and analyze other Environment artists work to see how they fill and make there environments come to life. I find when I'm creating an environment one of the biggest issues I come across is trying to fill the environment. My teacher would always stress using a Gant chart to plan out objects in your scenes so that later down the road I may not run into these issues. I still find myself with that problem though. I'm excited to see how I over come some of the issues I am having that others have stated above along with yourself. While working from the concept pieces I hope to get a better understanding of lighting and filling a scene by staying true to the concept itself.
Thank you all again for all of your feedback, I feel very inspired to fix my issues and learn from past mistakes and hopefully create better work in the end.