[Portfolio] website and content crits

NickGW

I was hoping you guys could give me your thoughts on my work and where it stands with regards to what you might expect a junior artist to be able to do. I feel like I'm ready to start applying for positions but I was hoping to get a dose of reality as to whether this is the case or not.

Anyways my website can be found at www.nickwilliams3d.com. Any feedback on the site is great as well.

thanks as always Polycount!

Nick Williams

Kroma!

Personally I feel that the Homestead is your best piece, the presentation looks really nice and the lighting is beautiful. The only thing I would say is that the sky is a bit too blue for the time of day and the sun being where it is. It looks like it's sunset and so the sky should be more orange/pink.

The Valley Ruins is your weakest piece in my opinion. It just looks a bit random, like the new and the old don't mix well and look out of place. That may be the point though; that the new has been a recent installation to the ancient, as a secret outpost or such like. Also a bit more colour variation in the greenery would be nice with some flowers or different shades of leaves. Your high poly work is nice though, gives the sci-fi feel that the concept has.

The only things I can think about your gun is that some of the scratches could be better thought out, like would the scratches really appear in those areas in that shape. I know the concept has something similar but especially on the side of the gun the scratches would be more subtle and would more likely be along the length of an edge like this:




But those are just my opinions, I am also a junior artist but I haven't even made a portfolio yet, so you are winning there - at least your work is out there.

NickGW

Thanks for the extensive response Kroma.

Your right about the lighting and the sky. I used one of the default skyboxes from UDK but like you said it doesn't fit. I'll look into creating a custom skybox that works better with the lighting I have.

I was definitely going for the new installation in an old place sort of feel. If you have the chance could you maybe provide a little bit more about what parts stick out the most to you. Is it the walkway system, prop placement, or something else? Any thoughts that might help me to create a better cohesion between the old and the new. I did spend a bit of time going back and forth on the foliage specifically the ivy and the grass. I'll make some changes to a few of them and see how it looks. There are flowers (blue ones) but they are mostly in the valley area. I'll try messing around with that some more as well.

I did go a bit overkill on certain areas of the Mattock. I was trying to get across that the gun had seen a lot of action and was well used. I'll tone some of that down and work on making the wear and tear look natural.

thanks again for the crits!

Kroma!

No problem

I think the issue I am having with it is the sparseness of the new models. It looks like it would be some kind of research facility with the spotlights and crates, but there just aren’t enough of them to make it feel like it is being used. I can imagine there being power generators and wires, maybe some machinery for investigating the discoveries.

Something like this from Batman Arkham Asylum really struck me as being a research base; loads of equipment and technology around. However, it is built into the cave, meaning it is more of a permanent construction than what is in your scene:



Depending on how long the new stuff has been there for, you might want to have some dirt/grime/plant growth on the objects, or maybe even have it being blended in with the old like this from Halo 4:

NickGW

I found the skybox material and tweaked some of the settings to better capture the time of day.



I hadn't intended for the newer sci-fi stuff to be a permanent isntallation, rather something akin to an archaeological dig. I'll try adding a bit of foliage overgrowth to the walkway when I play around with flower placement. As for further props, a generator is a good idea. After seeing that Halo 4 screenshot I think having some sort of Comm tower or satellite dish would also work well with the scene. Then have some cables running along the bottom of the walkway to it and out towards the artifact in the center.

Thanks again Kroma!

Kroma!

No worries, that shot definitely looks better.

I thought your scene might have been less of a permanent construction, so it will really benefit from your additions. I look forward to seeing them!

NickGW

Finally got around to redoing the Mattock's textures. I also changed the UV's a bit and mirrored other areas to make better use of the space. Here are some shots from UDK and the previous version for comparison. I still need to Add some text and a logo onto parts of the Mattock, and I'm still trying to get a better lighting setup going in UDK to show off the gun, but let me know what you guys think of the.

I also updated my website with a few high poly models I did over the course of the past few weeks.

Update





Original

DWalker

A minor point - the menu at the top should highlight the current selection. Changing the color (from blue to white, for example) would probably be the best option.

On your resume, you list 3 colleges, but don't indicate any degrees. While I'm uncertain about common practices for artists, I generally read that as "attended" rather than "graduated".

NickGW

@DWalker

I'll mess around with selection states for the menu when I get home later tonight.

I did intend for the 3 colleges to be read as attended rather than graduated. I have enough credits for several certificates at the community college and I'm currently taking the last class for an Associates in Art. I'll play around with how I word that part so it's clear what I've completed. Something like "Colleges Attended" should work until I can actually say I have the pieces of paper.

Thanks for the feedback DWalker.

NickGW

I made the change to the menus on my website so now when you hover over one it turns a light grey. I also made the change to my resume regarding colleges. Once I have any of the certificates and degrees I'll change mt resume again to better reflect that. The revised mattock has replaced the old one and same for the homestead images.

I'm moving onto making some changes to the Valley Ruins environment next. I started making a few more props and will soon start on better integrating the foliage with the walkway. I've also started blocking out and planning another environment so once I get to a point where It's worth posting I'll make a thread for that.

Let me know if you guys have anymore feedback, everything up to this point has been extremely helpful.

Thanks again you guys!

NickGW

I made some of the changes Kroma! suggested a while back. created a few more props (comms tower, portable generator, cables etc.) and I also played around with adding foliage hanging from the walkway and growing up the supports. I also played with vegetation color for the ferns and ivy as well as general post processing and lighting tweaks to bring other areas out a bit more.

I also put up a high poly page for sculpts and other high poly models I've made recently and added a few breakdown shots to the valley ruins page.

Feedback and crits are always welcome!

NickGW

Updated the site with my latest project and the Halo 4 high poly stuff I did for fun back in spring. Resume has been updated as well to reflect some recent changes. Added the certificates I've completed and the AA degree (I don't have the document however barring administrative error during processing I have the degree). If anyone thinks this is a bad idea let me know and I can change it. I've also put a short about section on the contact page with a few more methods of contact. I also plan to add a low poly section once I finish up a few more of the Bastion weapons I've been working on.

Still trying to figure out what I want to do next to improve my portfolio. In the mean time I'll be working on smaller stuff to keep busy. Thats it for now!