Preparing an entry level portfolio dilemma - Props or Substance work?

Parth

Hey guys,
So I've been preparing an entry level portfolio. I started off with props while also learning substance designer. Then I really started getting into substance and thats what I've been doing lately. So the question is -
Is it okay to have only substance work in your portfolio or the majority of your portfolio, or is it better to have a balanced amount of substances and props?

For reference - 
Prop that I made : https://www.artstation.com/artwork/y9QKR
Substances that I made : https://polycount.com/discussion/204650/substance-designer-skill-improvement-thread

I could really use some advice, to figure out if I am working in the right direction.

Thanks.
 

Brian "Panda" Choi

Both.

They're not mutually exclusive.  As a prop artist, you can do a lot for the environment art pipeline if you can also generate substances.

Ex-Ray

Cater your portfolio based on the position you are wanting to get into, for example junior prop artist then the majority of it would be props of various complexity, shapes and interest. Junior environment artist, majority would fully fleshed out real time scenes with some props, tiling textures & bonus would be substance designer work.

To have props and then some Substances feels out of context. It would be much more compelling if they all relate to each other, ie. you created some Substance designer files to generate tiling textures to be used in your small diorama scene where your props are placed in.

I would imagine only experienced/senior texture and shading artist would only have substance designer work in their portfolio.

Ashervisalis

I've always been a bit confused as to the difference between an environment artist and a prop artist. An environment artists models the entire environment, including the props, yeah? So an environment artist is also a prop artist. However, there always seems to be a divide when people are talking about the two.

Meloncov

Ashervisalis said:

I've always been a bit confused as to the difference between an environment artist and a prop artist. An environment artists models the entire environment, including the props, yeah? So an environment artist is also a prop artist. However, there always seems to be a divide when people are talking about the two.

There's definitely some overlap between the roles, but they're not the same thing. An environment artist needs to be able to make props, but at most studios it's pretty rare for the environment artist to actually model every aspect of the environment. Instead, for many assets, the environment artist will put in a request for an asset they need, and that will be handled by a dedicated prop artist (either at the studio or at an outsourcing partner). It varies from studio to studio, but at many places (including here at Volition) environment artists spend the vast majority of their time putting things together in the game engine, not building assets in Max/Maya/ZBrush/etc.

In terms of skill sets, an environment artist obviously needs a bunch of skills beyond those that a prop artist would need, while a good prop artist will be more skilled specifically at modeling and texturing than your typical environment artist. Also, in some studios, prop artist is a junior role, and new graduates work at that for a while before being trusted with full environments.


(As an aside, a common issue in new graduate's portfolios is that they're applying for environment art roles with a prop artist portfolio. If you're going for an environment art role, while it's fine to have some props in your portfolio, you need to have full environments front and center.)

Ashervisalis

@Meloncov Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks!

PixelMasher

if you want to be a texture artist, you need to show your substances in use in actual environments. anyone can whip up a fancy shaderball in marmoset with tessilation cranked and a good hdri lighting setup, but seeing them in an actual environment, tiling and blending is a whole lot better. shader balls dont really wow like they used to tbh. 

Parth

Thank you for the advice guys.
Also,
Is it worth having some world machine terrains or some unreal engine vfx in the portfolio?

PixelMasher

No problem with using world machine to help create environments, it can create awesome vista landscapes for you. But just having a worldmachine terrain is kinda boring and not that impressive, so I would integrate it into a fully fleshed out environment if you want to showcase that. as for vfx, not gonna help you get a environment job, there is nothing wrong with placing vfx from other scenes or artists in your scenes though. I steal fx from the unreal example content all the time if I think it's gonna help my scene, fog planes, smoke etc. 

As an environment artist you are not going to be expected to create vfx or probably even worldmachine terrains, especially not as a junior. Your focus should 100% be on building well composed, fully fleshed out scenes.

Parth

Thank you for the detailed reply. Much appreciated.