[Portfolio] - Aaron Walker, 3D Environment Artist

RitualSynergY

Hello PC!

I have been around for some time and have benefited so much from so very many of you. I am a soon to be graduate and would love to hear what you all might have to say about my portfolio and website. (aaron3dwalker.com).

Please feel free to critique my works, website, the way my names spelled, anything! Again, thanks for the community and any advice or words you may have for me!

(EDIT)

As per the great feedback I received I have updated my folio with an outdoor scene All the details are on my website, but I am open for feedback on everything as always! Thanks.

Olli.

that looks pretty neat! I would probably look at some of the non-environmental work and do some quality checking. All the environments look great though!

RitualSynergY

Hey Olli thanks! Are there certain pieces in particular that you mean about quality, or just in general. Thanks for the reply!

RitualSynergY

Hate to bump, but anyone else?

sybrix

I would cut the stinger ship and characters out. They aren't really contributing imo.

All of your scenes are very very similar. They're all dimly lit interiors of a similar style. I would suggest doing some exterior pieces and some organic scenes.

Overall I really do like the environments though.

RitualSynergY

Great points sybrix, appreciate it. I have been aiming for an outdoor scene for a while also. Sometimes those pesky school rules/teachers have a grip on yah :P

I'm in the planning stages for my next scene as well so I will definitely keep that in mind. Thx again!

criticalchap

I think that you would benefit from some exterior scenes as well. They're all the rage, of course. Other wise, I think that you've done a good job of sticking to a color palette and consistent tone. I saw that you had some photography experience in your resume. A good way to start up on the exterior environments will be to walk around and take references of any park in your area and working from that, just to get started. It's likely the sort of thing that I'll be doing next. Also, axe the character and prop work and find some illustrations if you have them. Every art director I talk to wants to see those in the portfolios of any artist.

RitualSynergY

Hey thanks criticalchap, sorry for the late reply.Yeah, I had a feeling my characters were more filler than anything else, but that's why I'm here :P. As far as illustrations go, do you mean environment pieces or just traditional in general? Thanks again!

RitualSynergY

And here I thought the edit would bump O_o...

Buzzcore

Great work! Really nice atmosphere about both images. Although if I were to add some CC, I would rotate one of the rocks I have circled, they jump out straight away as clones and once you notice it you can't un-see it. Not a big deal I know but for portfolio work you want your images to be as strong as possible.

RitualSynergY

Thx for the CC buzzcore, I will most definitely change the rocks since now I can't un-see it either . Thinking about rebuilding the lighting makes me cry a little though. Appreciate the time you took either way, cheers!

djgardner

Your environments look great. May I ask what studios you'll be applying to?
A suggestion I'd give you is to remove the low poly section under 'Props and Assets'. Employers want to see completed work, not 'coming soon' work. You also want your portfolio to be professional looking, and removing that will make it look better.
As far as the high poly props... they are nice, but from talking with an environment artist at Infinity Ward, they want to see your workflow. Just having a high poly model of a wall piece doesn't tell an art director much. Sure, it tells them you can high poly model, but can you bake that down into a normal & AO map? Can you make an in-game low poly model with nice textures? If you modelled that off of reference images, include those in a collage, or if it's an original creation, include your sketch of the wall.
I hope you understand what I mean.

RitualSynergY

Hey djgardner, I have a few big studios in my cross hairs but I'm being realistic about it and will be looking for an entry level position where they are offered. But hey, a man can dream

I agree with you about the "coming soon" comment, I am already in the works for baking the wall into a low poly asset and will be texturing it shortly. It was my own concept but now that you mention it, showing the sketch is a good idea.

I'm definitely looking to fill the props section with more meaningful work real soon here Thanks for the tips though, ill be sure to adjust and add with the quickness!

therepopulation

That looks great!