Hardsurface job explanation help

simondudley21

hi so im just about to enter my masters year in 3d art and i want to do something in the hard surface area, when looking at jobs i always see hardsurface as vehicles, weapons, props and anything thats not organic really, but at the moment i can only really do props and weapons, do i need to be able to be great at modelling everything in the hard surface area or can i for example focus on weapons and props and still get a job as a hard surface artist or would i need to wait for a rare specific weapon job role to become available?, i ask this as i am really bad at modelling realistic cars (i can do sci fi ships fine),

thanks in advance

Jonas Ronnegard

There are weapon artist positions at bigger studios, but what I usually see is veteran people falling into that position more then hiring new juniors to do the job, as well as there are a lot of people that are awesome at it but there is only so many positions.

I would follow my passion, but I promise you that any weapon artist wouldn`t have a problem doing any sort of hard surface modeling if they had to.

simondudley21

so if my portfolio has props and weapons would i still apply for the hard surface jobs or are vehicles a must? 

Jonas Ronnegard

I think if you have some really high level props and weapons they will probably take for granted that you won`t have a problem creating any hard surface object. 

I guess if we could see your portfolio it would be easier to judge what you should or should not be worried about.

simondudley21

its pretty bare as i recently removed a load of my old un textured models and im currently working on creating new ones, thats the main reason i decided to look at job listings so i could tailor my portfolio ready 
-https://www.artstation.com/artist/simondudley1995

Jonas Ronnegard

well looks like you can do the modeling, not sure if this is the place to give feedback on your portfolio since you haven't really asked for it,
but since we are on the subject I'll give you my thoughts.

I think you can get the basic modeling done and you can probably replicate what is needed of a hard surface artist modeling wise.
what is lacking is texture and presentation, texturing is currently looking a bit flat and basic which will probably need to improve before you get any offers.

As for presentation, it's not necessary for the work but you will need it to gain attention from the portfolio reviewer, your art can be great but if the presentation is shit many leave it without taking a closer look, sometimes that might be a mistake, but it also shows some kind of artistic skill, if you know how to present well it kinda shows you have a good eye for what looks good or not and that usually translates to all parts of the job.

I have never held a job as a Hard surface artist though so don't take my word for it.

simondudley21

thanks for the feedback, and yeah i dislike texturing but started to crackdown and focus on learning it, as for presentation what would you recommend? and on the subject what would you recommend on modelling for my portfolio under the hard surface role, when googling i mostly find weapons and mechs  

Jonas Ronnegard

I don't really think the subject really matters that much if it's an already existing object, if you do it awesomely it will show your skills regardless.

As for presentation, as an example here is a search on hard surface based on amount of likes on artstation,
https://www.artstation.com/search?q=hard surface&sorting=likes
most of those at the top is presented well, 

simondudley21

hm ok i have a long way to progress, thanks for the help

Jonas Ronnegard

you have all the basics, just need those final touches, you will get there.