A Greenhorn (me) looking to start his portfolio
Hi there everyone ! First time here and I have to say I'm a little bit overwhelmed by the stuff you guys and gals do 
Up until now I've only dwelled in modding for C&C Renegade (late Westwood's only FPS in the franchise) and decided I wouldn't want all this experience to go to waste but instead capitalize it, refine it and maybe break into the industry some day (that's practically the same reason I started studying Games Design at uni).
Alas, I have piled up a couple of renders throughout these past ... 4-5 years, most of them work in progress shots (simple renders usually) and I thought maybe I could sort them out and polish the best of them so I can lay the foundations for my portfolio.
In-game rendered stuff :
Allied Barracks, Pillboxes and other random bits made for a Renegade2 mod :
Load screen for the Alpha version of the same mod :
Random village buildings for a Dune-inspired Renegade mod :
Max-rendered game assets :
Civilian building featured in the loadscreen map :
Soviet Spyplane :
Same model, wireframe :
Previous Dune assets, demonstrating modularity :
Ideas for Harkonnen-themed slums housing :
Variations of the same modular housing unit :
Generic high-rise apartment complex (another idea for Harknonnen civilian buildings) :
Public Propaganda Telescreen, back view with human reference :
Misc stuff (not done for any game in particular) :
"Space bar" render (my first attempt at doing a animation, stoped working on it until I learn how to properly optimize render times) :
Animation sequence from the same project as the space bar (never got too far due to long rendering times - most likely my fault) :
http://youtu.be/EDzQNIOL6wk
M29 Grizzly from Mass Effect :
That about wraps it up. Sorry for spamming the place with images, hopefully not all of them are crap haha, but that's why I came here : to get my ass kicked and improve myself !
Up until now I've only dwelled in modding for C&C Renegade (late Westwood's only FPS in the franchise) and decided I wouldn't want all this experience to go to waste but instead capitalize it, refine it and maybe break into the industry some day (that's practically the same reason I started studying Games Design at uni).
Alas, I have piled up a couple of renders throughout these past ... 4-5 years, most of them work in progress shots (simple renders usually) and I thought maybe I could sort them out and polish the best of them so I can lay the foundations for my portfolio.
In-game rendered stuff :
Allied Barracks, Pillboxes and other random bits made for a Renegade2 mod :
Load screen for the Alpha version of the same mod :
Random village buildings for a Dune-inspired Renegade mod :
Max-rendered game assets :
Civilian building featured in the loadscreen map :
Soviet Spyplane :
Same model, wireframe :
Previous Dune assets, demonstrating modularity :
Ideas for Harkonnen-themed slums housing :
Variations of the same modular housing unit :
Generic high-rise apartment complex (another idea for Harknonnen civilian buildings) :
Public Propaganda Telescreen, back view with human reference :
Misc stuff (not done for any game in particular) :
"Space bar" render (my first attempt at doing a animation, stoped working on it until I learn how to properly optimize render times) :
Animation sequence from the same project as the space bar (never got too far due to long rendering times - most likely my fault) :
http://youtu.be/EDzQNIOL6wk
M29 Grizzly from Mass Effect :
That about wraps it up. Sorry for spamming the place with images, hopefully not all of them are crap haha, but that's why I came here : to get my ass kicked and improve myself !
Replies
Coming from someone who's still new to 3d myself, i would highly recommend starting with some smaller objects which range across different materials like wooden boxes, or metal crates. It is much easier when starting out to focus on small items then large scenes.
Another piece of advice i have is make sure you read these forums as often as you can. They are a not only a huge inspiration, but you will get an insight into the workflows that can really help you improve your work.
I would defiantly grab a heap of reference for a small object and make a new thread here as you work through it so we can give you some feedback!
Hope that helps!
I definetly wouldn't stick any of them as they are right now in a portfolio haha!
Still, its probably best that I decide for myself what to focus on instead of asking around. Thanks for your insight !
With that in mind, I use this site mainly to see what the bar is set to; Try finding the most visually stunning piece in on the forums that matches your style. Your worst piece should be 10 times better than that. Using that mentality, you shouldn't ever have a problem finding work. As for right now, it looks like you don't have a clear understanding of next gen game art. I would use the wiki to your advantage and gain some knowledge. We are in a time right now where the current boundary of game art is being pushed far beyond what the current standard is. It is probably the worst time to be a student right now because most institutions are behind that curve / have no idea what next generation art is.
I wish you luck. It will be a long road but with persistence and dedication you'll get there soon enough.
If you want to do a scene, think of a scene you want to do, grey box it out, then go piece by piece, prop by prop. focusing on quality, not speed. You`ll get faster with time. Watch tutorials, ask on here for feed back. But really take your time and focus on quality and your skill level will increase ten fold.
To go on the starting new things is better thing. When I animate, it will get to a point where the piece is better than the last thing i did, but its still not as good as I see in my mind. But that's because my skill doesnt meet my imagination yet. But since im still learning (and always will be), my workflow is constantly improving. So I could spend 5 days poilishing every little thing to make it just right, or if i start a new piece, i`ll have a better animation in just a day or two. You really do have to know when to say ok, lets see how I do from the start.
Hope this helps. cheers