3D Environment and Prop art feedback and critique - Neil McDonald

neilmcdonald3D · Jan 2017

Hi everyone,

I am aspiring to be a 3D Environment and Prop artist in the games industry. Below are some images from my portfolio. I have been mainly focusing on hard surface modelling using Maya LT and PBR texturing using Quixel Suite 2.0. Any feedback or comments on how I could improve my work would be very much appreciated.

You can check out my full portfolio at: https://neilmcdonald3d.artstation.com/

thanks in advance,

Neil

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/nf/8zdjcvvcaa2x.jpg

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Dethling · Jan 2017

First thing I noticed are the very sharp edges at the blaster, would soften them much more. Also would add more details (normal or modeled) to break up the middle/front part surfaces, they look very... blocky.
Also the texture looks really boring, maybe some wear, dirt and normal details.

At the last piece I notice the waste of UVs. Always try to get your UV islands straight to get clean textures.
You can also break up the side frames into four simple rectangles and then pack them so you would spare some more UV space. Depending on the planned use, you could also overlay some UV islands so you get an even higher resolution.

JHS · Jan 2017

I would suggest first to focus on optimization. Look which polygons you really need without changing the endresult. Especially on the weapon there are a lot of polys which don´t need to be there or could be solved with a baked normalmap. Also the poly you would safe could be spend on other geometry parts where they are needed. It is not important how fast you did something if the result isn´t that good, you will learn speed and optimization in workflow nonetheless the more you do.
The UVs on the cupboard could be optimized a lot, simply look how much space is not used by the mesh. With some polishing you could get the same appearance with maybe half the texture size.
Everyone started this way, you just need to ask yourself what could be better with each object. Also don´t hesitate to use concept art to step away from any creative questioning while still learning the modelling itself.

neilmcdonald3D · Jan 2017

@Dethling @JHS

Thanks for the great feedback. UV's is always something Iv'e needed to work on and so your feedback is a great help and something I will work on. After reading your feedback about the poly counts and use I have seen the errors in my ways and will make sure to focus less on how quickly they are created and more on insuring the quality is to a higher standard. I will try using the silhouette to insure less sharp edges where there shouldn't be.

Thanks again for the great feedback. Much appreciated.

jwills · Jan 2017

I think a good idea for you would be to focus all your effort into one prop rather than an whole environment , and really take your time in nailing the textures and modelling. The star wars blaster would be a great one to redo! The main thing im noticing (and albeit its quite hard to see from the images) the normal map looks almost empty which would probably explain your hard edges on the handle. Research high poly to low poly workflow (if you haven't already), give your high poly some nice soft edges and texture in some scraches or dirt, dont be afraid to add more resolution to your low poly, most FPS's go well over 10K for weapons now and i think areas like your scope, handle , stock could use with a few more polys.

Post up some progress photos, people are always willing to help and give feedback.

neilmcdonald3D · Jan 2017

@jwills

Firstly thanks for the feedback its much appreciated. I think your absolutely right in regard to the project size. With all the feedback i'm receiving I plan to scale back the size of my projects and instead focus on the modelling and texturing techniques. Iv'e always wondered about poly counts of FPS weapons so that information is very useful. I plan to start a smaller project (perhaps a single prop or weapon) and post regular WIP photos.

Thanks again for the feedback. Much appreciated.

shabba · Jan 2017

Good advice in here, but one thing I would suggest is if your goal is to be a 3D enviro/prop artist, then focus on work that is in that realm. Guns and weapons are a specialty that have a crazy high bar for quality standards, and have artists whose sole career goals are guns/weapons.

So unless you're willing to change your goals, I'd focus on enviro stuff IMO

neilmcdonald3D · Jan 2017

@shabba

Thanks for that great advice. I wasn't actually aware that weapon artist was a job title in itself. I always assumed it was a branch of prop artist so this information is incredibly useful. I think I will focus my efforts more on props as apposed to weapons and like mentioned before start with small props and work my way up to larger more complex props as I develop my skills further.

Thanks again for the great feedback. Much appreciated.

shabba · Jan 2017

No worries, here are a few of some off the top of my head:
https://www.artstation.com/artist/polygoo
https://www.artstation.com/artist/timbergholz
http://lonewolf3d.artstation.com/

gsokol · Jan 2017

Never present your work on a black background

Makes it harder to look at your work, at least use a mid-grey instead.

neilmcdonald3D · Jan 2017

@gsokol

Thanks for the feedback. I'm thinking of presenting on a lighter background from now on, similar to the destroyed newspaper stand Image.

Thanks again. much appreciated

neilmcdonald3D · Jan 2017

@shabba

Thanks for the links. I will be sure to have a look at those today.

RustySpannerz · Jan 2017

Hey man, I was in your class at UWS!

Some little pieces of advice I have. Your newspaper stand, it's much more important to have a well done piece than something that's done quickly, the 1hr goal isn't necessary as long as it looks good! So it would be a good idea to look at real newspaper stands and see how they function, what shape they have. What kind of story does your prop tell? You've made a start with this, Its been destroyed and its got bullet holes, presumably from a robbery or zombie attack or something. But what about the rust, where would rust really form? Probably not all over.

I would find a reference for something you want to model and then model it as close to the ref as possible, and get that material definition down too. The texture might be even more important than the model! And keep looking at what other people are making, spend time here and on artstation just looking at what others do and what you would have to do to get to that level.

Good luck!

neilmcdonald3D · Jan 2017

@RustySpannerz

Hey man long time no speak!

Thanks for the feedback. I'm currently working on a smaller project and will be posting WIP asap.

cheers

3D Environment and Prop art feedback and critique - Neil McDonald

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