Portfolio Review

nick2730

Hey Guys, im getting ready to kick off a summer of revamping portfolio. Can you please take a look at my current site and work and tell me what I should fix and or what new things I should work on to help me get my first Job

www.nickbarone3d.weebly.com

sp0nge

Hey man some cool stuff there, sites clean and simple and gets the job done which is exactly what you want. I'd maybe suggest brightening up some of the text on your descriptions and resume as it can be a little hard to read - I'm guilty of the same crime on my site and have had a few people mention the same thing :P

Work wise, you could maybe try making a few tileable textures since I'm guessing you're focussing on env art? Just a couple of nice wall/floor textures would be cool. Also I'd take a look at some hard surface texturing tutorials to really start popping the materials on your objects. I learned a lot from this guy regarding specular and gloss maps which can really make the world of difference on metal and such - [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tgy0lBdJK0"]Weapon creation tutorial - Part 1 (high poly model) - YouTube[/ame] (4 parts). Hope that helps!

Mrpopo

Nice website layout, my main concern would be your models, in particular your normal maps. Many of your models appear to have very sharp edges and are reading like low poly models. What you want to do is create the illusion of rounder edges on your low polys. To do thast you will have to revisit your highpoly models and soften the edges of your models because when they get rendered into a normal map all the sharp edges get lost in the resolution of your map and just get aliased away. Here's an example of what I mean, this image has been thrown around these forums quite a bit but I think its super helpful in understanding baking normal maps from high poly models.

nick2730

beautiful thanks for the feedback guys

@sponge - i just saw that video lol after i did everything in my portfolio. I will definitly give that a go next model around. As far as my focus i tried environment art and I will continue but I also want to do a lighting portfolio since I love it. Should i make them separate ?

@mrpopo - so when i'm doing edgeloops on corners make them further away. So lets say i use ring or loop then connect and have 2 segments as oppose to going 75 spread doing something like 50 so its not as close or "tight" to the edge so its more rounded ?

Mrpopo

yessir, that's the idea if you look at the weapons in Brink, they have very rounded models and although this might not seem truly accurate to real life it just looks better in 3d.

here's a link to the Brink guns, thems some nice highpolys- http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85669&page=3

nick2730

Awesome

At the level I'm at now do you guys think I'm good enough to get a job somewhere or should I do some new work and apply later

sp0nge

I'm not much of an environment boffin, especially when it comes to lighting, but I would have thought that the best way forward would be making your environment models/textures and lighting them in the same thing and then talking about each of the processes. Regarding applying for jobs, it is never a bad idea to keep your eye out and apply for everything that seems relevant, it's largely about being in the right place at the right time in my experience. Also however, it's never a good idea to stop working on your portfolio! :P I'd suggest firing off the odd app to companies looking for junior artists, interns etc whilst really applying some of the new skills you'll learn from those tutorials and the feedback you're getting here to new projects. A couple of months portfolio revamp, if you have the luxury of such time frames, can do your confidence the world of good and help you push yourself in applications and interviews. Also looks good that you're constantly looking to improve your skills.

TL: DR Keep applying, keep improving! Shoot and maneuver baby...