Student portfolio help & advice
Hi everyone. This is my first post on poly count. I know there are many threads talking about this topic however if you could spare the time to help me out i would really appreciate it.
I'm a second year student at university studying computer games technology. I'm aspiring to become a environment artist and would like some advice on how best to gain access to the industry with this role.
My problem is that my portfolio is not all environment work right now and was wondering if instead of purely focusing on environment art (as i don't have much under my belt yet)should i post all of my good quality work so as to not dissuade any potential employers.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Many Thanks.
https://www.behance.net/LewisOliver
I'm a second year student at university studying computer games technology. I'm aspiring to become a environment artist and would like some advice on how best to gain access to the industry with this role.
My problem is that my portfolio is not all environment work right now and was wondering if instead of purely focusing on environment art (as i don't have much under my belt yet)should i post all of my good quality work so as to not dissuade any potential employers.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Many Thanks.
https://www.behance.net/LewisOliver
Replies
change the preview of your console, it's dark and flashy i though it was just a photoshop bash, not actual 3D work.
You need cohesion on one side you said "who specializes in environment asset creation / Level design" but your portfolio doesn't show that.
Quality Over quantity. If your goal is environment and not generalist, do environment and get rid of the character. Also WIP is not really a portfolio piece , Un-texturized (yup new word) work are really not appealing to the eye.
Also this is personal but i don't like the way you used the showoff as folder, they aren't. A barrel isn'T that interesting to look at, most people won't even click on it, but ALL your assets are hidden there !
you japanese environment is your strongest piece, show wireframe and texture breakdown of it.
Your preview should be an eyecandy, people are lazy so just looking at the small preview should make people said " Wow ! that look amazing I wanna see more" else they can even not bother clicking it.
- Your character isn't even baked and LP. Don't show it (though you shouldn't anyway because environment artist).
- "Concepts" is spelled incorrectly on your environment concept piece-- and that's clearly basic photo-bashing. I wouldn't show that.
- 2D art doesn't need to be there, it just confuses the message that you want to be hired to do environments.
- The Fusion has an unappealing brand design. The model looks nice enough, I'd honestly give it a clean render and maybe real-time it (might be a good opportunity to learn the basics of PBR?) and present it that way instead-- Odow is right, it looks too flashy and if I wasn't looking through your folio to nit-pick I wouldn't have clicked it at all.
- The Japanese Environment is the best piece imo, but it also is just a tad student-ish... I'd keep it, but you need to up your game, man!
Look into acceptable industry workflows (right here is often the best place to start a search), proper scene lighting, composition and presentation, current gen workflows and tech (properly sculpting and baking your normals, PBR, eventually Substance Designer/Quixel/etc), look at what other people around the forums are doing.
There are hundreds of breakdowns of ace personal environments or professional art dumps posted here, take the time to have a look at them-- that's the standard that you should be aspiring to and potentially competing with for jobs. You'll get there, but you need to check that you're not becoming complacent with where you're at. That can be deadly in this industry.
- I really like the fighter jet. Texture it and show it in a game engine.
- The crates and barrels & bare blacksmith's tables have been done a million times before, and worse, gives employers an opportunity to compare you directly to other applicants who also have those.
And their stuff could look like this:
http://orbart.free.fr/Gallery/Images/crate.jpg
So it's better to do something original. :poly142:
You have to work to stay in perspective. Make sure to check out sites like Artstation and Polycount to see what people are doing and how, and keep up to date on things like the state of the industry as a whole but especially useful skills in the art department. More than those, though, keep making stuff! Fill out your portfolio with actual environments or well polished dioramas.
Don't mean to scare you, just Bartalon and Odow did a good job going into detail with the Whys and Hows already, so I just kept to the point.
Keep it up man, sorry if I was a little harsh
You can improve a lot. For example it still seems you are really weak on modelling.
Can you maybe start doing these. It starts simple, but it is really good practice.
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=129938
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=132146
http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/309/0/7/elysium___grenade_by_benmauro-d6t57c8.jpg
http://www.gamearthub.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/7__trolley_by_karanak-d6zfl4e.jpg
For example, the two concepts above shouldn't be beyond you, if you start with the challenges. The props you have now are really simple too simplistic. Even your environment art and plane work is simple.
But, do the weekly hard surface challenge. Even the 4th week has more complexity, than nearly all your pieces combined.
http://i.imgur.com/bNv3MzS.jpg
Edit, I'm pretty sure all the work in your portfolio could be model in three hours. Note, all your props would take 1 hour to model. The houses about two hours and that is mostly judging perspective. The well in your prop takes twenty minutes to do.
You are a student now, work harder. Do the challenges on polycount and push yourself. You will find it harder when you actually work and can't spend all your time getting drunk and messing around at uni.
!
Thank you so much for the detailed responses. I completely understand the feedback and agree whole heatedly, i've only just started putting my portfolio together and am currently in the process of developing more detailed assets. I defiantly need to up my game in the modeling department and recognize where my flaws are (there are many), however i am determined to become a better artist.
Again thank you for the your inputs everyone and ill do my best to improve the quality of my work.