Critique my portfolio please~

Khangaroo

Hi guys,

I just recently graduated and am currently on the job hunt trying to break into the industry. Please take a look at my portfolio and tell me what you think.

Portfolio

Thank you,

ZacD

Remove the guild war fan art, any artist on Polycount or in the industry has seen that building dozens of times, and unless yours is the best looking version anyone has ever seen, you don't want something stale in your portfolio.

I don't like how your best stuff is hidden in "props", it's better than the chest that has it's own tab.

And finish up Side Scroller Enviroment, it looks pretty good already.

AlexCatMasterSupreme

I'm going to stream a hot diaharia of crits while I scroll your site. I warm you I am tired as well.

So for starters lets talk about your props. The glock feels like you didn't really texture it and your presentation could be greatly improved. It could also benefit from having more modeled it. The biggest rule you should ALWAYS follow is having your background be darker than the asset you're presenting, if you dont it wont stand out and I for sure wont remember it. Two sharpen your images and render them out at a higher res then resize them to a smaller size, this will make things look much more crisp and make a big difference. I would ditch the silly fonts and keep it hella simple. Having overly decorated and silly fonts feels kinda studenty. One more massive thing, NEVER EVER EVER EVER have a straight black background for anything ever, just slightly above black point will look so much nicer.

Your pirate scull image wip sufferes the same, it's not standing out from the background, furthermore I would pick more interesting angles and FOV's to take your images at, look at how some really good artists are doing it for better ideas.

The scifi prop is okay modeling wise but not so cool design wise, it is extremely generic and really not that easy to read. I highly suggest modeling from a really good concept that could show off your modeling skills because this is made of a lot of primitives.

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The winter scene is pretty good mood and lighting wise but there is big stuff like the moon being stretched that stands out to me. I think the overall look is good but the assets don't hold up individually too well.
I would remove any and all tutorials you followed because that will be a big red flag for most employers.

The Draenei chest looks like it could use a lot better presentation as well, its just a top down 3/4ths that only takes up some of the screen and is RIGHT in the middle. IN photography there is the rule of thirds and thinking about how offsetting stuff in a lot of cases can go a long way. Again FOV and angle as well.

This angle, FOV and rotation is very interesting. Less wasted space as well.


I think your strongest thing is your environments at this point and I would go back and do some more polish to the geometry and skybox and it could go a lot way. I would try making some really nice models from a concept and just work hard at nailing some hardershapes and texture definition.

Hope this is helpful!

DWalker

Remove the WIP section; only present finished pieces, and only your best pieces at that.

The link to Winter Ember on the front page doesn't seem to work.

Un-textured projects always feel unfinished, and shouldn't be included until they have been textured.

Khangaroo

Hi guys,

Thanks for the comments, it definitely help a lot. I've fixed any broken link, remove the tutorial stuff and also consolidated all the props under one section including the chest. Also made some adjustments to the presentation according to Alex's critique. Will go back and fix up the first environment (the stretch moon etc.) this weekend and finish up the stuff in WiP section asap.

Thanks~

AlexCatMasterSupreme

So much better!

Nosslak

I think the biggest problem right now is that you're using bullshit thumbnails where you can't even tell what your clicking on beforehand in some cases. I mean I recognize the Guild Wars house and can kind of see what the wolf scene is about. However the first one is pretty difficult to tell what it's about and the third one is just impossible. Make the thumbnails more zoomed out so that the subject is almost fully included in the thumbnail (e.g include most of the buildings and the whole chest).
Also if you want to use category pages (like props and WIP) you might want to add some text to the thumbnail to indicate that better.

IMO you shouldn't have any WIP projects up on your site either as then it just looks like you don't finish your work. Both of your WIP projects look promising so I think you should take them down for now, finish them and then re-upload them when they're done.

I think your site would look better with a smaller top banner where you line up your name with the navigation. Doing this would also free up some space above the fold so that you could resize the thumbnails to make them actually readable.
Lastly you should also link your name to the portfolio page and use a mailto link for the email address.

j.pears

my main point would be to remove and WIP's. industry people dont want to see half finished work. put your WIPs onto a blog or something separate from your portfolio. but coming along well. i like the breakdowns. what are you rendering out in?

Khangaroo

Hey guys,

I fixed the thumbnails so its easier to see and also remove the WiP section from the site. Thanks for the feedback I'll continue working and upload as I finish them~

They are either rendered out in UDK or Marmoset.

Nosslak

That looks a lot better, man! However I think you could still make the Guild Wars house thumbnail more zoomed out and clearer.

Also if you want to go with a solid color at the bottom of the page make it fade in with a gradient from the other textured background so it won't stick out so much.

I'm starting to really nitpick here, but the letter G in your name looks weirdly cut off.

Good job so far, though!

carlobarley

i think your at a point where as a student, you must keep making assets and environments until you get hired, good luck! you should also take into account what's in the job market right now, who's hiring in your area or if your willing to relocate, what skillsets/style are they looking for, etc.

i saw many student friends of mine back in school never update their folio after they graduate and ask the question, why have I not gotten hired yet? thinking that their graduation folio is the finish line... there is no finish line, just constant creation, improving, evolving and learning





keep working hard!