Advice on Demoreels and Portfolio's for entry level Video Game Industry Jobs
[FONT="]Hi Guys!
First time poster here and I apologize if this has been directly answered, I read through a lot of the forum to find specific answers but didn't come up entirely with what I was looking for.
A little background
I have been struggling for a long time to get into the industry, I haven't been the most diligent in keeping on the 3D track and have taken roles like concept imagery and 3D architectural imagery. I have a small portfolio of a lot of niche works that are taking ideas from paper to production and facilitating all the details in-between. Unfortunately as the clientele has confidential status I can't post the final outcomes of a lot of the works resulting in a few images with require a lot of explanation on to what actually took place..
A bit about my skills
I have recently dived right back into trying to get into the video game industry (I'm 2[FONT="]8 )[/FONT] as my sole aim rather than graphics abroad, I am quite versatile in my skills, Photoshop/AutoCAD/Maya/3Dsmax/Illustration, they are not up to the scratch of professionals (I am pretty hard on myself). I have a lot of WIP's but no employee wants to see those.
if you've made it this far, thank you already! I am starting a project for my demo reel and portfolio in general, but I have seen conflicting answers to what is more important, the reel, or the website.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Job Aim[/FONT][FONT="]
Whilst down the track I would like to be a character/concept artist I know this will take years inside the industry and a lot of practice/mastery at art in general. In order to get into the industry I need to apply to a junior spot and so my aim is to create a 'Generalist 3D Artist' type demo reel. My query is about what I should and shouldn't aim for in this reel.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Demo reel Idea[/FONT][FONT="]
The project I am doing is a small fight scene between a female armoured warrior and a rock/earth elemental in a cathedral type scene with a God of War type fight style.
I have begun model sheets for my characters and intend to take the entire thing from concepts to models/textures/rigging/animation/environment etc.. I am wondering if attempting so many different disciplines is a good or a bad thing in an attempt to 'wow' the employer. I would take this through a lot of feedback before submitting and polish it to the best of my ability.
This piece would be the beginning of the reel and the rest would be taken up by breaking down the piece, Wireframe models, texture maps, small animations and conceptual art.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Questions[/FONT][FONT="]
Is this something any employer would like to see? Someone displaying skill set of all aspects of the industry art pipeline? Or should I do some soul searching and really hone in on a speciality now and aim for that.
I have put myself in quite a predicament that I would love to be sponsored by an employer to stay in the UK (I have 8 months left on my visa) and would really like to become a highly versatile/mouldable employee that is worth keeping around for the long term.
I have gone a long time without asking for any help (which isn't working for my stubborn nature) but rather reading what I can of the entirety of this 'getting your foot in'.
I know a lot about the demo reel structure of best first/last and everything else in the middle but I don't know what impact a full pipeline demo reel might have on an employer.
Am I attempting too much? (I know I will polish and polish my work, I don't do half assed) Do employers frown on a reel with one singular piece?..
This has turned into a long post and I appreciate it So much if you made it all the way to the bottom, any assistance and opinions would be greatly appreciated on the matter.
Thanks,
Ben[/FONT]
First time poster here and I apologize if this has been directly answered, I read through a lot of the forum to find specific answers but didn't come up entirely with what I was looking for.
A little background
I have been struggling for a long time to get into the industry, I haven't been the most diligent in keeping on the 3D track and have taken roles like concept imagery and 3D architectural imagery. I have a small portfolio of a lot of niche works that are taking ideas from paper to production and facilitating all the details in-between. Unfortunately as the clientele has confidential status I can't post the final outcomes of a lot of the works resulting in a few images with require a lot of explanation on to what actually took place..
A bit about my skills
I have recently dived right back into trying to get into the video game industry (I'm 2[FONT="]8 )[/FONT] as my sole aim rather than graphics abroad, I am quite versatile in my skills, Photoshop/AutoCAD/Maya/3Dsmax/Illustration, they are not up to the scratch of professionals (I am pretty hard on myself). I have a lot of WIP's but no employee wants to see those.
if you've made it this far, thank you already! I am starting a project for my demo reel and portfolio in general, but I have seen conflicting answers to what is more important, the reel, or the website.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Job Aim[/FONT][FONT="]
Whilst down the track I would like to be a character/concept artist I know this will take years inside the industry and a lot of practice/mastery at art in general. In order to get into the industry I need to apply to a junior spot and so my aim is to create a 'Generalist 3D Artist' type demo reel. My query is about what I should and shouldn't aim for in this reel.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Demo reel Idea[/FONT][FONT="]
The project I am doing is a small fight scene between a female armoured warrior and a rock/earth elemental in a cathedral type scene with a God of War type fight style.
I have begun model sheets for my characters and intend to take the entire thing from concepts to models/textures/rigging/animation/environment etc.. I am wondering if attempting so many different disciplines is a good or a bad thing in an attempt to 'wow' the employer. I would take this through a lot of feedback before submitting and polish it to the best of my ability.
This piece would be the beginning of the reel and the rest would be taken up by breaking down the piece, Wireframe models, texture maps, small animations and conceptual art.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Questions[/FONT][FONT="]
Is this something any employer would like to see? Someone displaying skill set of all aspects of the industry art pipeline? Or should I do some soul searching and really hone in on a speciality now and aim for that.
I have put myself in quite a predicament that I would love to be sponsored by an employer to stay in the UK (I have 8 months left on my visa) and would really like to become a highly versatile/mouldable employee that is worth keeping around for the long term.
I have gone a long time without asking for any help (which isn't working for my stubborn nature) but rather reading what I can of the entirety of this 'getting your foot in'.
I know a lot about the demo reel structure of best first/last and everything else in the middle but I don't know what impact a full pipeline demo reel might have on an employer.
Am I attempting too much? (I know I will polish and polish my work, I don't do half assed) Do employers frown on a reel with one singular piece?..
This has turned into a long post and I appreciate it So much if you made it all the way to the bottom, any assistance and opinions would be greatly appreciated on the matter.
Thanks,
Ben[/FONT]
Replies
So, from what I've read, I think you might be a little confused as to what you really want to do. You posted this in the animation forum, and talk about a demo reel and an animation piece, but you say you want to be a generalist. It kind of sounds like you`d rather be an animator? Something you may want to narrow down before you jump into anything.
But, to answer your questions.
A generalist reel can be good, it can be bad. AAA tends to want to see a very specific skill set. They like people to focus on one thing, whether it be modeler, animator, rigger, etc. Smaller studios tend to like to see generalist who can do more than 1 thing. That said, each studio is different.
If your goal is to stay in the UK after 8 months, I would strongly recommend picking one thing and focusing on that one thing. If you choose animation, don't waste time modeling the character. Use a rig from online and spend every waking moment animating. If you want t model, don't waste time animating or rigging. Just focus on modeling. The chances of becoming good enough for a job in 8 months, while dividing your learning across multiple disciplines, is pretty low, in my very honest opinion. Not impossible, as I`m sure there are people out there who have. But, when it comes to visas, I personally wouldn't want to risk it. Focus and prosper.
Also, do you have any work you can show right now so we can get a better idea of how to help guide you?
(I`m moving this to the general forums so you get more eyes on it from a wider variety of people)
Also even if you spend like 3 years at a generalist spot, if you start at a concept artist spot somewhere else, you'll be a junior AGAIN. If your goal is to be a concept artist ( gave up the specific character thing, you need to be a general concept artist that can do everything) just get a side job and work 60h a week on your folio (idc what people say, you can't have an healty routine while your doing your folio, except if you're a genius there's way too much competition, also you didn't study art, there's concept artist that studied for 3 years and are searching for a job)
Also normally generalist mean you need to be really decent at everything, not ok at everything. Those post are fairly rare, easier to find in small studio, mostly mobile one.
Also don't embark yourself in leaving a country, getting a visa and everything if you don't have a job waiting for you, could be a really bad decision and if you screw up, that country will closed it's border to you.
Also it's hard to determined what would be best for your since there's no sample of your works, but i would suggest you choose your end goal and focus on it. Switching from 3d artist to concept artist isn't like starting as a 3d artist wishing to became an art director, it's a complete change of job and i don't know a lot of people who were able to do that. Even if you have to work a years at a crappy mc donald job and die of overworking on your folio at least you'll be aiming for your goal. ( you didn'T mention any family to care of so it's fine i guesS) From what i recently learn, employer doesn't love to engage people who have no goal and only wanted "A job" and not " THAT JOB"
When I was looking to create reels a few years ago, I had a similar idea about taking a couple of characters from concept thru animation. A mentor of mine gave me some really relevant advice to your current situation. He said something along the lines of
"If you want to be an animator, your animations need to be perfect. If you want to be a character artist your characters have to be perfect. If you want to be a generalist, everything needs to be perfect."
Although I'm not sure I agreed/still agree with the pefectionist standpoint, it does point out that as a generalist with a reel like this you are setting yourself up for an enormous undertaking, and an even bigger one to have a competitive professional reel.
There are tons of free rigs online that fit many different troupes or sterotypical characters you can just use, saving yourself the concept/modeling/rigging phases leaving only the animation up to you. There are equally as many meshes in case you still rig and animate, once again eliminating some stages.
I don't think its bad to want to do a project like this, but I think what it comes down to is trying to yourself at the end of it. Do you think companies you want to work for find this appealing? Do you think it is worth your time? Would it be better to cut this into similar "one off" projects with smaller deadlines vs one very long project? What about this project interests you the most?
I know there are more questions here then answers, but I think at this point, before you put any long months into this, its worth finding out exactly where you want to be after this is over.
Really valuable feedback thanks! First things with the visa is that, I have been in the UK for 14 months working a temp job to pave my way for getting into the industry, I have been doing an online course with Train2Game which.. Havent panned out very well, so now Im aiming to get any video game industry job that I can to get experience and in a perfect world.. sponsorship. I am realistic, I dont expect that to happen but experience would be nice.
You guys are right, I need to do some soul searching to find out what I want to do as a role as theres no use to jumping between all disciplines being a jack of all trades and a master of none.. My problem is that I dont have any real portfolio pieces that I am proud of to show! I have a link here to an animation I did back in university that scored quite well (based on characters and animation, not textures and modelling) [ame]
Here is my website which I'm still adding too (the YouTube link is also there) http://bjhartistry.com (I also quickly threw some of my life drawings in there). I know my stuff is almost hobby like... but I never ask for assistance I often always take paths there were fruitless in an attempt to teach myself or are in the end, a waste of time
Thou you say that I would have to start again as a junior if I changed roles... this isnt the worst thing in my books, I am far from being a perfect artist for Concepts but I would love to be learning along the way in another field of it.. I would have to say animation is a go as there seems to be a fair amount of jobs out for that.. And Environment artists funnily enough.
I just have been plagued with how to utilize my resources (time and energy). I am already working terrible jobs to pay my way here and dont have any anchors in terms of family or partners that would hold me back on such endeavours so I just want my foot in there!
A small answer would be to focus on animation as I have a lot of ideas of scenes and sequences I would really like to animate out. Downloading a rig is a great idea as not to waste time trying to perfect a model for such a project.
Would it be so bad to begin as an animator and move to a concept artist when I think my work would be worthy? I need time to perfect my art.
Again, thanks for the feedback guys I Really appreciate you taking the time to read that long post and provide anything back.
Edit - for the third post by [FONT="]heboltz3[/FONT]
Good idea to split it into smaller chunks! Time to perfect it all.. use rigs for the things I want to do specifics of that the kinks arent in..
I think a targeted approach to a job is the best! My focus is Animation and I will move into texturing if I get the chance as this is artistic and will lead to better concept imagery.
Sound like a plan? haha
Appreciate it guys!
I dont think you are going to make it in 8 months. I think you are going to have to increase your skill set a lot to be considered for a job in a highly competitive area like game art. I think you are going to have to find another way to stay past your visa date, or you will have to go back home and hit the self study regimen,... hard.
I hope someone else here has some more encouraging ideas for you.
Given even the past hour I have been thinking just the same. I do have a long way go, my art and modelling is quite unprofessional at best and I wouldn't hire me for any particular role either.
When I do give it a hard long think about the role I really want to do to do game art.. and that is a long way away. I haven't been in the mindset or had the discipline to really get my self sorted.
I guess I jumped at the idea of being in the industry at all and would love to be making the money doing something closer to what I love than be doing a 9-5 temp job. The UK has a more booming industry than back in Australia and thats why I wish to stay so bad.
Thanks for the reality check Kanga and to all the advice given guys, really appreciate you taking the time to help out with the internal struggle!
You're not accounting for how your skills will compare to those by other job applicants or current industry standards. Having skills and a portfolio don't automatically mean you'll get hired.
Check out portfolio samples from a recent student competition: http://www.cgstudentawards.com/next-gen-gaming/soty-finalists-games?view=category
If you only have less than a year to work on your qualifications I recommend teaming up with stronger amateur artists and programmers (who can educate you about using game engines) to help you level up.
Re: animating and concept art, it will take you years of self-study to produce a competitive portfolio. Take a short course or seek mentors.
Good luck.
Hi Benjamin86,
I think you should take Odow advice if you want to give yourself the best chance to make it.
You work 9 to 5, but then you have 6pm to 1am to work on your skills, that is 7 hours that day. During the weekends you could do 10am to 1am just getting your skills better.
P.S. Also, it would be good to see some of your props. Can you for instance go from high poly to low poly and texture correctly.
But, I work 9 to 5 and I manage to at least get 6-7 hours a day after work. The problem is that you would be competing against students who can put in twice the amount of hours in that week, then you.
Thanks for the headsup.
Hi Pangaea
Thanks for the support! I foresee some late nights coming up.
@Magic Sugar
I took a look at the portfolios and you are quite right, its back to the drawing board (literally) to boost my skills. The students shown there not only have the concept art down but hat of rigging and modelling to a high standard also. A good benchmark to work towards (and when I get there, I'm sure a new level will need to be obtained!)
Thanks for the ideas and reality check guys!
Also, 28 is pretty young, at this age you should have no trouble getting where you want to go with some hard work. But then again it isnt really work if you enjoy it, is it?
Cheerio man.
28 is young?
I feel old at 26. One thing I worry about is that it might take me three or four years to get good enough to get a job in this industry. But, then I would be 30.
I'm putting in the work anyway. But, if you have two people and one is younger I feel employees will pick the younger person.
That doesnt account for being hit by a bus though