Megascans Opinion - To use or not to use.

Darkcon

Hello everyone, I wanted to ask you guys for your opinion for using Megascans in my portfolio.

I'm building a small jungle environment, I already have my own modeled and textured assets ready to go, but I do not have any of the beautifully scanned plants and trees that are in the megascans library. I want to use them, but from the eyes of a possible employer, is it better to used my own created foliage, trees etc, or is it better to showcase the ability to use new technologies for my environment using megascanned assets?

Synaesthesia

My own personal viewpoint:

I don't think it matters if your environment uses work you created entirely by yourself.

I would go as far as to argue that the end-result is really all that you should concern yourself with. If you've subscribed to the service and are using materials you've purchased, it's absolutely not different from working in a professional environment and using the textures and materials that other people have created. I'd say it proves you can work with what you have, or are given. 

Being able to make your own art is not bad and I wouldn't discourage you from it. In a production environment, you're definitely not likely to be that guy who makes that stuff though. You'll probably end up putting together what other people have made.

I'd suggest trying to create your own 100% self-made environment and then demonstrate what you can do with our texturing service - that way you cover all of your bases.

This is the only industry I know of where some people take issue with using work you've purchased in your own personal projects. The best analogue to this I can think of is saying that you shouldn't show off your DIY living room as an example of carpentry experience because you didn't smelt all of the nails yourself and create all of the wood and the hammers and other tools you used.

gnoop

I'm agree with that opinion entirely and hope the industry would consider such approach a normal everyday practice, someday.

In real world an employer would ask you what exactly is your work and at fist offer you a contractor position with a hugely restrictive contract coupled with professional liability insurance requirement, super restrictive NDA etc.

Expect the wording: “All the work done is original product created by contractor”

You would have to negotiate every 3d party “nail”. Some companies require sub-contracts be arranged with such 3d party providers. And in my own experience they always kind of hesitant and wants everything they are paying for be without any legal encumbrance.

Maximum-Dev

One issue here is that if you rely entirely on megascans for plants on your portfolio pieces and then they hire you and task you with creating some plants that don't exist on the megascans library you'd be in trouble.
If you're making portfolio pieces in order to get hired somewhere as others said it doesn't matter if you've used already existing atlases, but you should also have the ability to create your own from the scratch.