Brian Choi - Character Artist - Portfolio Critique

Brian "Panda" Choi

Hey Polycount:

Character Artist seeking Portfolio Critique

Humbly requesting a portfolio critique. My specific plans before December hits is to send applications to Blizzard for their open Character positions on the World of Warcraft and Blizzard All Stars team, as well as any other companies during this season who will be taking applications. The Blizzard applications involve Cover Letters, but requested critiques for those are in this thread.

• Is the formatting easy to use?
• Does it look good?
• Any critiques for specific pieces?
• Anything else that comes to mind?

Thank you for your time and God bless!

McKracken

I really like it, only thing i thought is maybe that red hood helm isn't up to the standard of the your other work and i'd maybe leave it out or work on it a bit more.

almighty_gir

i would advise creating two more character pieces before applying.

BradMyers82

Your drawing and painting looks really strong, I would try to find a way to make that very clear on your portfolio first and foremost.

I agree with almighty_gir about making 2 more character pieces. Your first character mushroom guy, is cool but I feel a little too creative honestly. I also feel that your wow type guy is a little too colorful (too many color variations in it) and a bit flat feeling (not enough depth painted with contrast/value).

But as a character artist I think the main thing your portfolio lacks is proof that you have a solid understanding of anatomy. I think making a couple of realistic humonid models (next gen) is really what you need.

Don't get me wrong I like your style, and absolutely love your sketches/creativity, but employers need to see that you can make standard next gen humanoid kinda stuff first to truly evaluate your skill level. That's my opinion at least, nice stuff man!

Justin Meisse

BradMyers82 wrote: »

But as a character artist I think the main thing your portfolio lacks is proof that you have a solid understanding of anatomy. I think making a couple of realistic humonid models (next gen) is really what you need.

I'd recommend that if you wanted to work on photo-real next gen art. I'm not in a hiring position but I work at a studio that does stylized, diffuse only art and next gen assets in a portfolio are pretty but I just pass over them (the asset, not the artist), they don't apply to the work we're doing. If there's too much next gen stuff I get worried that the applicant is going to try and sculpt+bake their test and fail it.

I would like to see some more characters, I think the biggest thing most character artists overlook is animals. If you're working on a fantasy MMO chances are you'll be making a lot of animals and animal people. I haven't actually made a human character since I've switched from environment art to character art, it's been about 1.5-2 years now? I lost count.

Brian "Panda" Choi

@Brad and Justin:

Closest thing have right now to a realistic humanoid is the Teutonian Tinkermeister in "The Maestros" section, but I have a feeling that doesn't count since he's still stylized and not realistic.

I do have a bunch of thumbnails cooking for a science-fiction plasma caster "mage" that I think I should probably get started on soon then to fill in the "Realism" void. Is it recommended that I attempt to do the rendering witha PHysics Based Shader model?

Brian "Panda" Choi

As a side question, how valuable is it to you as an employer that I have "finished games?" For example, I remember doing an experiment at GDC and SIGGRAPH this year where instead of approaching people first with a portfolio, I started with a trailer of Core Overload, one of the games I've worked on, and for some reason, people responded to that better and seemed more interested in me than the portfolio approach.

almighty_gir

finished games show proof of working within an actual development group. so yes, they are very important!

garriola83

In this industry, sadly, they look at your credentials and work history rather than your potential. Portfolio, it seems, only accounts for 10% of the hiring process while actual development experience accounts for most. Sad but true. I've seen great portfolios with no development history and mediocre ones that get in the studio floor. Of course there are exceptions but this seems to be the trend.
I get a lot of questions concerning low poly and diffuse only work. Also it depends on where you apply. I say do a realistic character AND a cartoony stylized diffuse only character. Fill up that portfolio with a mixed bag of characters. Good luck

Brian "Panda" Choi

Does that previous (not even paid) game development experience help a fresh grad more or just becomes the rubric for veterans after a couple projects?

garriola83

Lot of people DO start off with mod team or unpaid internships, but if you're lucky enough, you can get some freelance work to get the ball rolling. As an example, right now, I have 1 freelance project with the possibility of more, but I've chosen to lower my rate so I have a fighting chance out there. It's not something anyone can live on but it's something.
Personally, I've somewhat been reluctant as of late about working for this industry because of it's corporate practices and lack of faith towards talented people and I'm taking classes in programming along with other programming languages out there. The point is, if the industry isn't giving you an opportunity to be part of the magic that is video games...dude, just make your own.

low odor

I would take a really good look at the quality bar set by some of the artists working at blizzard...like Firstkeeper: http://cghub.com/images/view/555849/

I think you have some good work, but you are going to have to up the ante considerably not to blend in with the thousands of other applicants that are good, but not phenomenal.

I disagree with the portfolio being 10%..I've never worked with an AD that said: "This guy's portfolio is ho-hum, but look at all these games he's worked on.."

Your work has got great potential, you just need to dig in and really take it to the next level....

Brian "Panda" Choi

Those project thumbnails, should I replace the images with the assets themselves, or is it okay that I have the posters there as the thumbnail image?

Shrike

The frontpage is good I would say, site is looking clean, logo is nice , fonts are good
I think the bamboo should be a much darker grey so it dosnt stand out so much

The helmet is the worst piece imo, I would leave it out
Your portfolio mainly shows me that you know about concepting, doing proper research and describing things + that you have enough taste, which is good, the assets are on a good level, but Im missing one very complex and detailed asset with proper normals that shows me what you are capable of. Presentation is good aswell

Youre at a good level now, push 2-3 new things, they will each raise your bar by a bunch and then you are really set to go

Snafubar7

I'm no character person, but the page looks good except for the blogger bar above the banner. You can disable that somewhere in the layout options if you want.

Brian "Panda" Choi

Thanks Elliot, the Navbar above has been disabled. Did not know that could be formatted out.

Red Hood Helm has been removed. What made the helmet weak though?

Deathstick

Just one random thought on your Emberheart character. I'm going to guess that's a cigar coming out of his mouth but the texture and angle is a little confusing. I'm also not quite sure what that thing is coming out the end of it.

Is it supposed to be dynamite instead of a cigar? If so the zebra stripes are causing too much confusion. It's a small detail, but since it's obscuring the characters face it's a little distracting compared to the rest of the model.

Just my 2 cents. The mushroom guy is pretty sweet -_O

Brian "Panda" Choi

My pitch for Erasam was that he was smoking some sort of "fireworks cigar," so when the typical cigar finishes, this one launches into your mouth if you're not careful, so you usually are supposed to have some fun with it by aiming it before it hits the powder end of the stick.