3D Presentation for Portfolio Website

BubblegumTate

I know it's a topic that has been discussed before, but in searching I couldn't find true definitive answers.

I'm just starting to fill out my portfolio website with some little projects I'm doing right now. The problem with my portfolio website at the moment is that it's bare-bones and I'm presenting every piece I've done as one "hero" image and then moving on. On the "characters" I'm generally stopping at the painted sculpt and then carrying on. My next plan is to start doing game-ready characters and environments. It also hurts a bit that my previous work over the last 4 years was creating still images for adventure/puzzle games.

I feel like I'm not providing enough information though. When looking at a portfolio website, especially Environment and Character, what should be presented? Just one or two nice shots of the finished product? All stages and wireframes w/ textures? Just textures and finished product?

If you are someone in a position that hires or looks over new "prospects" for a company, could you show me an ideal portfolio website?

I have a temporary one set up currently, but soon will be building a better one.

Richard Kain

I would say you definitely need one full-color + lighting "glamour" shot, and at least one flat-wire shot with even lighting to show poly-flow and underlying construction. Showing full texture sheets is less common these days. No one really cares how the 2D paint job looks when its flat. As long as it looks good on the model they are usually content.

Personally, I think there is a lot of potential for incorporating the Unity web plugin for portfolio pieces. With modern HTML5 fall-though options, it would be easy to have a replacement image fill in if the Unity web player isn't present.

BubblegumTate

Thanks. It's been an odd revelation day, where I realized I need to re-think my approach to my work and presenting it to line up for my next job.