Environment & Prop Artist Portfolio Review

9Solid

Hi guys. So I've never actually had anyone look at my entire portfolio, only posting a few projects here and there and I'd love to get some feedback from you. Anything from the work itself to the presentation, layout, ease of use etc. Tear it apart, the more advice and criticism the better. Right now the one thing I'm considering taking down is the Volvo. I wanted to show I could do some prerendered/non realtime work, but I don't know if the quality really holds up and if it fits with the rest of my work. I do want to add another prop soon since it's mostly full environments right now, but any feedback on what I have up right now would be greatly appreciated.

tylerwood3d.com


Thank you!

dschmidt3d

Hey @9Solid I agree with your statement of taking out the Volvo. It doesn't really fit in with the rest of your portfolio. If you want to do more things like that you could make a sub menu and put them in there. Also the Volvo feels unfinished. Some of it is bland. And there is a lot of grain in the renderings. The front lights look very weird too. I don't know if that is like that IRL. Your Deus Ex enviro is cool but it is very dark. I could barely see what was in your scene. Throw in some bounce lighting and atmo light to lighten it up. Could really help show all your models. Your Maltese Falcon scene is cool but everything seems too shiny like the gloss/spec map is too high. Also the lamp is like neon green. My eye went to just that and not the rest of your scene. 

ArNavart

Hi, I wanted to look at your portfolio, but

9Solid

@dschmidt3d Thanks for the tips! I think I could up the global illumination on some of the lights to help with that.

@ArNavart That's definitely not good. What browser are you using? I haven't been able to replicate the issue with chrome, firefox or edge. So I really have no idea what would cause that.

AllenRoss

I took a look at your website and portfolio and I gotta say I like it.  You've some nice interior environments there.  I especially like the Tai Yong one since i'm a sucker for anything remotely cyberpunk/sci-fi themed.  It's also good to see some breakdowns on some of the work.

Now I agree with what you and dschmidt3d have said about the Volvo but I would go further and say that the TMP should also be cut. My reasoning is that while it's a nice piece it falls under the weapon art category were there are artists that specialize in exclusively that area and makes the folio less focused on props and environment art.

Also, you have nice interiors and architecture but i'd recommend showing off that you can do organic when you need to.  It wouldn't have to be a whole forest scene but a prop of something to show that your versatile.  Anyways, thats my two cents.  Hope some of it helps. 

ArNavart

@9Solid today, I tried again and it opened (btw I use firefox).
About portfolio: I'll repeat what others already said, TMP and Volvo texture and material quality are really poor, but I wouldn't advise you to remove them, because that would mean escaping the problem, not solve it, and I think the problem is low level of texturing and shading, instead redo texturing, shading and presentation from scratch. Because what if you apply for a job and they offer you to make a gun as an art test? For example, here's one of my favorite gun-oriented portfolios: https://www.artstation.com/artist/benbolton , choose a piece put it side by side with your gun and write down all of the differences that you see, then start to remove those differences, once you're done, your piece will look just as good as you expect.

9Solid

@AllenRoss I agree with the organic. I dipped my toes a little bit with sculpting the Maltese Falcon, but I could add more stuff like that.

@ArNavart Thanks for that, it's pretty inspiring and I agree that there's a lot I need to work on. It was my first gun model and I could push it a lot further. It might require me to go back and adjust the high poly, mess with the uv's to get better texture resolution and rebake.