Sure if it's good and you are clear about what you've made. I don't see why not. Modding is probably the closest you can get to working at a studio, without actually working at one. Granted you have done mods in team.
So how woudl or shoudl be presented a modding work experience ? because as u might imgaine a modding work is usually intermixed with elements from the original game .
If you want to be a leveldesigner, id totally put that in. There its about design and map flow, not about who made the assets. As environment artist, only if you made your own assets for that game. If you put your gun or sword in skyrim or fallout, why not, its just another presentation of your model. If you made a map with assets from valve CS or similar as 3D artist then no.
As a programmer, id rather say yes aswell. Always depends on how much and what you actually did. Give examples if you want more precise help.
In my opinion, you can put whatever you want, as long as it is relevant to the job you are looking for, but you should always write a description of what you did on the project.
As environment artist, only if you made your own assets for that game.
Well, more and more companies are using outsourcing for the asset production, and then hire environment artist as level builders/level architects. So, if you did that kind of work on a mod you should also add it to your portfolio (And of course, explain what you did clearly)
What you describe is a classical leveldesigner. I can imagine some people would hire environment artists as leveldesigners (because they do not know better), but a env. guy is a 3D modeler by default, and would not have any leveldesign experience at all. Map flow, balance, line of sight, paths and patterns, thats the leveldesigners work, which is a subform of a gamedesigner, not a artist per se. Im sure there are some good guys doing the connection, but that should really be in the 1% range.
Leveldesign is its own field, and that takes full attention, thats not something you do on the side on 3D modeling. Atleast not in a AAA environment. In the small teams everything is always possible
What i meant is, if his portfolio is about being a 3D artist, then obviously a map made with preset assets is no indicator of experience. As a leveldesigner however, that is what you do, place assets that you didnt do yourself in a smart way
At best the leveldesigner starts the map sheme, and the environment artists replace the blockout geo with real assets, and then its a lot of iteration for both / playtesting
Depends on what kind of mods are we talking about here. Different kind of mods use different presentation.
If it's Skyrim mods like Better Texture or Body Mesh or different UI.
Or if it's Civilization 5 mods. Or if it's Neverwinter Night 2 revamp.
Ehh, you probably can put up some screenshot of the mods in actual gameplay, in comparison to gameplay without the mod. You might also can put in rough numbers of how many downloads it gets, and if it gets features on any websites or podasts and such.(mods of the week ?)
I don't want to hijack the thread, but this is not something rare. A lot of companies, even AAA, have level-designers doing greybox levels, and then environment artist doing the level building, dressing the scene, setting up the lights, the mood, etc. This was my last job in a quite small company (between 30 and 50 employees) and it is the case with my upcoming job in a AAA-class company, it is also what are doing some of my friends in other AAA studios. And we sometimes do some assets, but most of the assets are made by asset-artists and by outsourcing companies. FAR from 1% of the environment artist jobs out there.
Nevertheless, you are right that to get those jobs you need a portfolio that includes high quality assets, and scenes that were build 100% by yourself. But it does not mean that building a stunning environment with assets from another game does not display the ability in level building, scene composition, lighting, post-process, etc. I would keep both in my portfolio. (Again, only if it is relevant to the job he is looking for)
Youre right, I also said that in the last sentence, but I wasnt too clear i guess.
I tried to say that environment artists don't do the logic part, making a level nice after someone made a working blockout/whitebox is the totally the environment artists job
You said architect at first, and that sounded a lot more like the UX / GD part to me , however - Thread creator should give us some context
Oh I just that I do most of the things when I mod , I first conceptualize the level or landscape in mind , then I create all Assets I think I will need , then build up the scene and if something that would fit better is needed I would usually do it later... But for fastening up time usually I accelerate a lot the making of things with the resultt hat things are less detailed or perhaps precise or professional than If I should make it behind a contract request.
Mostly I wonder how to showcase a mod eventually ? If I made for example an exterior level that uses both original game items and new elements how shoudl I showcase them? Individually or like with a small video? Usually the look of those are much better when in the proper environment where the difects aren't noticed ( like missing back faces , thirted textures, cut surfaces etc... ) .
Take for example this video I did for a mod I did on Conan theme for skyrim. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QdbTFeR4FWg&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQdbTFeR4FWg there are a lot of different items made by me , then level , script etc... How to showcase those things? Is that kind of video worth for a portfolio to be used?
Perhaps acompanied by a series of zbrush pics of the hp models?
yes ofcourse! It shows you are invested in making games even in ur own time. The only important content on a portfolio is quality, be it a mod or released game.
In my opinion, focus on the stuff you did alone, and render the models outside of Skyrim in something like Marmoset. That way, it might not appear as if you're being desperate to fill in stuff for your portfolio, but actually a legitimate porfolio work.
From my observation, you usually have a few hi-poly pics, wireframes and finally a final render. So yes, I'll say yes to the hi-poly.
Of course it counts. It's all about the quality of your work not about the name or commercial status of what you did.
As for presentation. Mix up some scenes of the complete environment with pictures of the individual assets you did. Don't think you need videos unless you apply for a job as video editor. They can be a nice addition tho. It's up to you how you present your work. Just keep in mind that a good portfolio should be straight to the point and easy to navigate.
Replies
You can also add pizza baking skills in your resume.
If you want to be a leveldesigner, id totally put that in. There its about design and map flow, not about who made the assets. As environment artist, only if you made your own assets for that game. If you put your gun or sword in skyrim or fallout, why not, its just another presentation of your model. If you made a map with assets from valve CS or similar as 3D artist then no.
As a programmer, id rather say yes aswell. Always depends on how much and what you actually did. Give examples if you want more precise help.
Well, more and more companies are using outsourcing for the asset production, and then hire environment artist as level builders/level architects. So, if you did that kind of work on a mod you should also add it to your portfolio (And of course, explain what you did clearly)
Leveldesign is its own field, and that takes full attention, thats not something you do on the side on 3D modeling. Atleast not in a AAA environment. In the small teams everything is always possible
What i meant is, if his portfolio is about being a 3D artist, then obviously a map made with preset assets is no indicator of experience. As a leveldesigner however, that is what you do, place assets that you didnt do yourself in a smart way
At best the leveldesigner starts the map sheme, and the environment artists replace the blockout geo with real assets, and then its a lot of iteration for both / playtesting
If it's Skyrim mods like Better Texture or Body Mesh or different UI.
Or if it's Civilization 5 mods. Or if it's Neverwinter Night 2 revamp.
Ehh, you probably can put up some screenshot of the mods in actual gameplay, in comparison to gameplay without the mod. You might also can put in rough numbers of how many downloads it gets, and if it gets features on any websites or podasts and such.(mods of the week ?)
Nevertheless, you are right that to get those jobs you need a portfolio that includes high quality assets, and scenes that were build 100% by yourself. But it does not mean that building a stunning environment with assets from another game does not display the ability in level building, scene composition, lighting, post-process, etc. I would keep both in my portfolio. (Again, only if it is relevant to the job he is looking for)
I tried to say that environment artists don't do the logic part, making a level nice after someone made a working blockout/whitebox is the totally the environment artists job
You said architect at first, and that sounded a lot more like the UX / GD part to me , however - Thread creator should give us some context
Mostly I wonder how to showcase a mod eventually ? If I made for example an exterior level that uses both original game items and new elements how shoudl I showcase them? Individually or like with a small video? Usually the look of those are much better when in the proper environment where the difects aren't noticed ( like missing back faces , thirted textures, cut surfaces etc... ) .
Take for example this video I did for a mod I did on Conan theme for skyrim. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QdbTFeR4FWg&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQdbTFeR4FWg there are a lot of different items made by me , then level , script etc... How to showcase those things? Is that kind of video worth for a portfolio to be used?
Perhaps acompanied by a series of zbrush pics of the hp models?
From my observation, you usually have a few hi-poly pics, wireframes and finally a final render. So yes, I'll say yes to the hi-poly.
As for presentation. Mix up some scenes of the complete environment with pictures of the individual assets you did. Don't think you need videos unless you apply for a job as video editor. They can be a nice addition tho. It's up to you how you present your work. Just keep in mind that a good portfolio should be straight to the point and easy to navigate.