I need help, how I can improve my portfolio?

KyleReeceHall

Hi guys

I really just need some help knowing what do add to my portfolio, whats good and bad about it and generally how can I improve it?
I've been looking for work in the UK games/3d industry for about a year now and haven't been successful yet. I've been doing 3D art for about 6 years and cant seem to progress to getting work.
My focus is characters but I want to be able to go into prop and or environment work as well.

Any help and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

http://kylehallart.weebly.com/

Thanks
Kyle

jhoythottle

Take down those lego models for 2 reasons: First, they're not that impressive to begin with. There's nothing overly original about them. We've all seen Lego characters before. Second, I see it's an art test. Most employers aren't thrilled to have their art tests advertised on portfolio sites. Always have quality over quantity. If there's a piece you aren't a huge fan of compared to others, take it down.

KyleReeceHall

Thanks allot, I was wondering if I should do that as I dont like them myself, I just thought it would show I can do other styles of character, but yeah Im gonna take them down, cheers man.

tierzilla

as i see you have the same problem i have , not enough game-ready meshes/ textures.
I would change the white background too.
hope it helps you , gonna make a thread for my portfolio critic =9

KyleReeceHall

Yeah I get that some of them are and some of them arnt, I just dont know what to make
I really want to change it but weebly doesn't give me that option and I cant seem to find any other website builders I like.

Popol

- Needs texture flats and wire shots.

- Not enough finished game res characters, like tierzilla said

- If you wanna stay in characters, work a lot more on your faces.

DWalker

I'd reduce the blank space between the menu & the first image.

The first creature's pose is... unfortunate; it looks like it's grabbing its crotch.

I'd get rid of the turntable videos; the time & space they use would be better served with additional images, including texture sheets & wireframes.

The scale of the background elements on the squirrel seem off. Unless the squirrel is quite large, I'd expect the trunk to be at least twice its current size. The grass is very tiny, and doesn't really match the background; you'd be better off with brown leaves that match the background image. The squirrel also looks angry for some reason.

I'm not certain the environment/prop section is doing you any favors. The content is rather limited and not terribly engaging. You might be better off without the section until it matches the quality of your other work.

KyleReeceHall

Thanks Popol, ill take that all into account, Im actually quite decent with faces I just need to get more finished and uploaded.

KyleReeceHall

Thanks Dwalker

I might need to move to a different website builder to do that, weebly doesnt give allot of options unfortunatly.

As for the first creature I was matching the pose of the concept I was following.
So you really think I should get rid of the videos? The videos contain wireframes.

That squirrel is very old and I am considering removing it, its not a game character either it was more of a Zbrush fiber mesh test when that feature came out.

Thanks for all of the helpful advice I will take it all into consideration.

EDIT: Managed to change my website background colour and alter the spacing, very happy with the results!

KyleReeceHall

Ive made pretty much all the changes you guys have suggested, is there anything else that sticks out?

BagelHero

Chiming in before i can get to my comp- first creature is one of my favorites on the site and I think the pose is fine. Will post more helpful stuff later.

AsaNYC

I would advise removing the sci-fi female. Weakest element you have on the front page.

Echo what everyone else has said about wires and textures (like the yellow cyborg) for everything else.

If there are concepts for the creatures that might also help show you can work from a concept as opposed to fleshing out a zbrush sculpt you made up as you go. Might matter, might not.

BagelHero

Okay, now that I have a free second;

Good to see you removed the SciFi Female, she was doing your work a disservice, not to mention that she was an art test... which kind of implies you failed.

I think your werebat needs a re-render with a better background. I also think your texture breakdowns could be presented better than just showing the maps. It's a little redundant and takes up a lot of room.

Slig could be better optimised in the arm area.
Would be awesome to see breakdowns and a turntable for that, too.

I also agree you should credit and link the artist who did the concept directly, and maybe even ask if you can show it on your site alongside the finished product (if yours does it justice).

You really do need to work on your faces a bit more if you want to stick with characters-- the sculpts show this most obviously, since they're the only human faces on here now. If you're better at them now; show it and show it soon.

Environment/Prop artist page probably shouldn't really be there. There's only two images, and the broken concrete... thing is kinda poor. It seems to be the stand for your Werebat, but you don't even show it in his beauty renders. If you want to apply for Environment art roles, take it to a different site or a subdomain. And do that when you have more to show.

Good job, though, and good luck in the inevitable job hunt!

Meloncov

I know a lot of people do it, but I'm not a fan of the proffesional/personal split. It makes it easy to miss a lot of your stuff at a quick glance. Just put your best work up front.

You really need a good realistic, textured, and game ready human. There aren't many jobs where you'd just be doing creatures.

KyleReeceHall

Thanks Guys! So much great advice and im very happy you could all help me!

Bagel Hero

I actually got an interview due to that art test but I really hated the model, only uploaded it because i thought some of the pbr materials came out good, but yeah shes gone and will stay gone haha!

Thank man ill re render him, ive learned much more advanced composting, lighting and rendering since I did that, which is why I updated my slig as well.

I have a turntable for the slig but some people suggested removing the videos, which I thought was a bad Idea, I updated the slig recently so I will re render a turntable for him and post in this thread when its done.

Thanks for all the advice, ill remove the prop page until it has better content.

Meloncov, Ive been debating that, im not sure if I should split them or not, what does everyone else think?

This is just to everyone, but im now going to start working on a realistic human character, possibly similar to something from the division, I have the skill to do this I've just put it off because creature are so fun, but I really appreciative all of the help from everyone, one day in this thread has improved my portfolio allot!

Thanks again guys, feel free to keep this thread going.

Nuclear Angel

Id say have only one page, so not a personal and professional one, just The one. I prefer it for the reason that it is just so much more easy to look at all your best work fast if you use only one. If a piece is professional work just keep a watermark from the project in the picture so that you can see it is a professional work piece easily. This will make it much more comfortable to get a fast glance of your abilities by just scrolling down your main page. Just my two scents. And whats said earlier, more game-ready stuff, with wires and texture-breakdowns in a fancy presentation is what is needed next .

KyleReeceHall

Thanks Nuclear, thats a good idea, others have suggested it too, I think ill make that change

Shrike

Try getting rid of all these strange borders around your pictures, on the first one there is even an unintended one at the bottom. Maybe get a nice unified background, a little color is likely nicer and more memorable. You need your own domain and the weebly plan. Your employer dosnt want to create a free website at the bottom of your page. And reading "name@weebly.com" on your presentation pictures sounds just silly : P

KyleReeceHall

For now I have no choice but to use a free website host, I have to watermark my images so that people can find my portfolio if they find an image of mine.

Shrike

A weebly subscription costs 3$ a month and your own domain something like 30$ a year.
There is no excuse to not get those things. Sure you use a free website creator and watermarks, thats not the point : P

KyleReeceHall

Ive updated my portfolio since I started this thread a while ago, but I still haven't found work, does anyone have any more advice or suggestions?

Spiffy

It'll probably take time to get work if at all, This industry is a struggle.

If you're going for Character artist just keep doing characters and finishing them, at this point the only general thing we can tell you in regards to your skills is just keep practicing.

As for increasing your chances, get some really stylized visually appealing characters in there, and do it at a tight poly budget, less than 4000 quads, even your lowest poly complete character still looks really dense (Slig). (Get some Pixar/Disney or even World of Warcraft references and pump out a basic character) A broad sense of style is good.

There is a point where your portfolio should only consist of completed work, If you're going for games industry that means, High Poly, Low Poly, fully textured and a basic rig.

KyleReeceHall

Thanks Spiffy!

I will keep practicing and I will try to keep improving, thanks for the help man

artofmars

It looks like to me that your trying more to be a character artist, but I'd argue your environment stuff looks to be at more polished state, so why not focus on that.
Try to get a job in the industry as an environment artist, there are generally more jobs as environment artists and you'll be able to create connections to get that character artist job.

The reason I would say your environment art is more polished is your handling of the textures. They look like the real material which they are made of which is awesome! keep pushing that!

For you characters pay as much attention to the texture as you are on the props. For example, the bust of the captain, really nail that specular and gloss on the skin, and give the texture some variation. Skin has so many different colors, and certain parts of the face have hue changes based on how close the skin is to bone and fat.

Using a free website is fine too, any person I have talked to that works as an artist in the industry has told me it really doesn't matter. Look at it this way, would it be a better time investment to spend a month on a decent website, or a month on a new awesome 3D piece that would wow an employer. Thats what will get you a job not a flashy website.

Hope this is helpful and keep working hard! Just put the time in and you'll get there :]

Teessider

I would say Kyle, you focus on either characters or environments because to me your environment stuff is weakest part of your portfolio atm which I would advise not to have in your portfolio. The environment stuff shows me that u don't necessarily understand what each of your textures do? (The normal maps are a big give away).

What ae you using to render your game-res stuff? And what texture sizes are you using? Also if your are doing PBR (physically-based rendering) texturing then you would either have albedo/base colour/diffuse, metallic and roughness/glossiness OR albedo/base colour/diffuse, specular and glossiness/roughness NOT both

You should come into the polycount hangouts with your stuff and keep going!

KyleReeceHall

@artofmars

I was just talking to a friend in the industry and he said the same thing to me, to focus on environments because there are more jobs available. Character art is the thing i love doing and its what I ultimately want to do, but I'd be still very happy doing environment or prop art. Thanks for all the advice man.

@Teesider

The maps I included from my PBR prop stuff were there to show that they can be used for either regular engines OR PBR engines, I used substance painter to do them. Everything on my portfolio apart from the first creature is rendered in marmoset toolbag 2