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Jelmer Boskma - Demo Reel '06

Jelmer
polycounter lvl 17
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Jelmer polycounter lvl 17
Hi everybody,

My year at VFS is over and I'll be graduating in October. This is my final demo reel that I've build during the 6 months of the modeling stream. Thanks to everybody who replied to my work in progress threads and gave me feedback that kept me going. Cheers!

I'm looking for work. I'm both interested in digital as in traditional types of jobs, please contact me at: 3d58jelmer@vfs.com

I also opened my new website at www.jelmerboskma.com feel free to give it a visit!

Recut my reel, new version is up:

Quicktime .mov version (40 mb) (right click, save target as)
http://www.jelmerboskma.com/jelmer_reel.mov
http://jelmer.keurigonline.nl/jelmer_reel.mov
http://student.vfs.com/~3d58jelmer/jelmer_reel.mov


beest_1.jpg

beest_2.jpg

beest_3.jpg

Replies

  • Showster
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    Showster polycounter lvl 18
    Congrats Jelmer I hope you get what you want smile.gif Very smooth as always.
  • JKMakowka
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    JKMakowka polycounter lvl 18
    Awesome work, technically superb.

    But first of all, that music is such a cliche wink.gif

    Other than that... I am not sure if for an actual job in the industry this reel really fits. Of course people will probably assume that if you can do stuff like this, you will be able to do other more gamelike stuff also, but fact is that assets like this are seldomly used in todays games.
    In otherwords I think your reel lacks 1. real humans, which most of the characters made in the industry are (and making a realistic looking human can be a lot more difficult than fantasy monsters) and 2. real game assets not ment for the 'next doom3'tm.

    I guess this will not be that much of a peoblem since you also have a degree from VFS, but judging by the reel alone it could also be from someone who has only experience in feature film making and not in actual game work.

    *disclamer* I never worked in the industry nor do I have any idea what todays recruters look for, but that is my uneducated guess.*disclamer*

    P.S.: that vampirebat looks fantastic!
  • MoP
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    MoP polycounter lvl 18
    Very nice stuff Jelmer.
    Nicely polished reel editing and rendering too.

    The expressions on the first 2 creatures are really cool, the chicken thing looks a little odd though, like it's grinning in a dumb fashion - I preferred the look of the coloured painted head concept for it later in the reel.

    The poses are good too, although I'd have liked to see a little animation too, like some idle cycles or facial motion etc.

    [edit] I also thought you should remove the ape sketches, they're not adding anything.
    Also, what's with the ridiculously dense meshes! They don't need to be that high poly...
    How long did each creature take to create from start to finish?
  • SkullboX
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    SkullboX polycounter lvl 18
    Excellent work.

    I don't get why you put your best work in the middle of the reel though. I'd start with the octosapien (textured, highest quality and most fleshed out character) followed by the bird (which I think is the 'weakest' of the three) and finish with the bat.

    I'd also take out the ape drawings at the end. Your 2D isn't your strong side as is and especially in that one the perspective is really off. The conceptual drawings for the creatures you've created do add a lot as they show the accuracy of your models, but the ape, besides not being as good as any of the other drawings, doesn't add anything.

    Other than that this is some of the most impessive modeling I've seen here. You should have no job landing a job in character art - especially not in games, but I doubt that's what you're after. smile.gif
  • motives
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    motives polycounter lvl 18
    very cool, really good job and congratulations

    just one thing besides what others have said, give your contact and information in the end more screentime, right now its only a few seconds
  • Ninjas
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    Ninjas polycounter lvl 18
    Really nice. I agree with the ape head, and it seems there is something going on with the framerate in the QT version, almost like it's been pulled down to 24 from 30 FPS. The only thing that struck me as odd is the position of the scratches on the bird's beak. Great work though really.
  • Daz
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    Daz polycounter lvl 18
    Yeah what is up with the jerky framerate in the QT version? You might want to check that out. Congrats on getting this done Jelmer. It's impressive and very nicely presented.

    Some thoughts:

    I agree with the ape drawing comments.

    As JK said, I think the lack of *actual* human beings in your reel could definitely bite you in the ass If you're unlucky. There's only so much actual creature work out there.

    As for the other point that was made about the lack of game resolution models, that IS a problem but *ONLY* If you're interested in working in the videogame field. If you're only aiming this at cg studios/fx houses then they're not remotely interested in seeing low poly models of course. But If you're also applying to games studios, you definitely need some realtime models in there. I'm sure you know that.

    Great stuff man and good luck out there.
  • poopinmymouth
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    poopinmymouth polycounter lvl 19
    It's a little long in my opinion, and I think the pieces could benefit from a universal presentation. You used a different background, camera moves, and order of wireframe to render on each one. I think the work is top notch, though. As others have said, you could really benefit from having a completely humanoid figure in there.

    Also, as a side question, what is the deal with the credits at the end of VFS reels? Do they encourage you to put in teachers, classmates, friends, and family in there for a specific reason? In a demo reel sent out to companies, I can be almost 100% sure the studios watching do not care about any of those people except yourself. It takes up time in the reel and space to compress it. I've just never understood what purpose those "shout outs" serve.

    poop.gif
  • Neo_God
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    Neo_God polycounter lvl 18
    That is a some really great looking stuff Jelmer! I mean this stuff is some really top-notch work.
  • Tulkamir
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    Tulkamir polycounter lvl 18
    Beauty stuff man. Good job.
  • conte
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    conte polycounter lvl 18
    Good stuff. I like bat and chicken.
    Cthulhu's face very similiar to face of Marcus from
    "Underworld2" movie: http://206.145.80.237/intpageimages/luma/2.jpg
  • Jelmer
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    Jelmer polycounter lvl 17
    Hey guys, Thanks for all the replies. I realise my reel is more catered towards vfx houses then game studios. But since I've been here for a while, I didn't want to not post it here. smile.gif The sketches might not be as well done as the 3D models, but I do want to show that I'm not just all digital but that I enjoy drawing as well.

    Ben: There are a few credits that are mandatory to put in, as well as a vfs presents and copyright vfs title. I realise people won't care about who I thank, but all the people credited mean a lot to me. A whole lot more then shout-out's my friend.
    Mop: Simple animation would probably not make my models look better. Besides the fact that I'm not a good animator, there's also the tremendous amount of extra work there that needs to get done before it can be animated (building muscles for simmulation to make it look believable when it's moving, rigging, final geo skinning)In the short amount of time that was given to us, this wasn't possible for me to do. Besides all that, I liked the idea of presenting a reel as a collection of sculptures. I've tried to give as much character and life to them as possible, without having them actually move.

    EDIT: I've re-uploaded the .mov files, the frame rate should be good now. I'm still having a bit of trouble with the wmv version, but I'll try to get it online asap. Thanks!
  • Penzer
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    Penzer polycounter lvl 17
    Hey Jelmer, thanks for coming and posting your reel. I've got it downloading right now, will watch it in a minute. You know what was random? I actually saw you again Thursday night when some friends and I were wandering around after dinner. You must be out and about having a life again now that you've finished your reel, because last time I went out I bumped into you.

    I really like the over layout of the reel. The first few shots of each model, with the names look really good. It's a really nice touch that you have "galina carnivora" and the other names on there.

    One thing I've heard over and over again from people is that your website should have atleast some part of your contact info visible on every page. Just having your e-mail in the corner. Really great though, good luck with the job search.
  • Jeff Parrott
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    Jeff Parrott polycounter lvl 19
    Too bad Oddworld doesn't make games anymore. Seems like a reel that they would eat up. Best of luck man, I've seen people with worse reels get jobs (myself included) so I'm sure you'll have no problem. Congrats!
  • NuclearTes
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    NuclearTes polycounter lvl 18
    The quality of your work makes me want to hide in a corner. poly107.gif Excellent work! I think I like the bat and bird the most, because they are the most convincing creatures. The Octosapien is also a very impressive and well executed model, but I always find animal-human hybrid creatures less believable.

    I agree with the others that a real human character would have been a good addition to your reel and that the ape sketches are best left out. It felt like an odd ending of your reel - almost disappointing because it was the only concept in your reel that was not executed as a model. Make sure you start and end your reel with the most impressive pieces, because that will leave the best and most lasting impression.

    I agree with Poop about the credits. Although I do not doubt that the people listed in your credits mean a lot to you, I thought listing all your schoolmates was a bit confusing. It made me wonder if they had any part in creating your reel apart from their support.

    I also visited your website. I think it would look better if you centered the content of your website, because even on a resolution of 1024x768, the waste of space on the right side of your screen looked a bit strange. It will still fit on a resolution of 800x600, but the waste of space on higher resolution screens will seem a little less obvious. I also think the font size of the italicized paragraph is too small. It's very hard to read on a screen with a higher resolution. The anti-aliasing makes it worse. The menu items look a bit too anti-aliased as well, almost blurry. It would look better if they were slightly crisper. Consider increasing the font size of your main content. I know it looks pretty, but it's uncomfortable to read text that small especially when you're using a higher resolution.

    I hope I don't sound too harsh and my comments will be helpful. Good luck finding a job - I'm sure they would love to hire you. poly142.gif
  • Miguelito
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    Miguelito polycounter lvl 18
    I am very curious about your overall workflow. Especially about the part with the displacement maps.

    Bat FTW!

    Miguelito
  • Jelmer
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    Jelmer polycounter lvl 17
    Hey guys, thanks for all your feedback (including the comments on my website). I've altered a few things and made a new cut.

    I think the new version is more of a powerful compact package then the old one. The new links are up, for the one or two that are interested in downloading it.
  • sevenfingers
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    sevenfingers polycounter lvl 18
    Very tight!

    I love the detailing you have going on your models, and the packaging (graphic design, music, sound effects) really wrap it up nicely.

    I doubt you'll have any problems finding work smile.gif
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