Portfolio Catering to specific AAA Studios???

Amank679

Hi guys, 

So, I'm creating an entry-level portfolio focused around environment art and at my university, I've had an employer visit recently. The employer said that it's best to cater specifically to their company by creating environment/ assets that fit their games. 
My question is if I have a list of 1-3 AAA studios I'd like to work for, how would my portfolio look? Is it better to have a separate portfolio specific to each studio? If not, then what would be the ideal overall structure that caters to each studio?


My other question is, when catering to specific studios, Is it better to try and replicate work that already exists in the game or to create new assets/environments that currently don't exist that could fit into the game?

Thanks again in advance!

NikhilR

I think what you'd want to do is match the style more than specific content.
I mean specific content is also good, but make your pick between realism and stylised.
Some studios do mention the project you'd be working on in the posting, so that's one other way to know on what to focus on.
But most importantly do what you enjoy doing and feel passionate about.

Zi0

NikhilR said:

I think what you'd want to do is match the style more than specific content.

This.

If a studio you like has a realistic art style then don't put cartoony stuff in your portfolio etc.

Biomag

Your portfolio is meant to assure the potential employer that you can do what they do at the same quality level and style. You actually can even have stylized and realistic stuff in there, for some studios it might even be something they want you to have if they often switch between titles or have teams that collaborate on different projects, but remember you will be always judged on your weakest piece. Your eye for quality is something that gets revealed in your portfolio.

Because of that it makes a lot of sense for juniors to pick 1-3 studios (either go realistic or stylized) and do art that fits their games. On the one hand it gives you practice and a very comparable result ('is my stuff on par with the art of this game or does it stick out?') and on the other hand it shows the company exactly what they want to know.


When it comes to what pieces you want to do for your portfolio consider that doing assets that already exist in game give you a clear reference what the studio wants things to look like, BUT you go against senior artists who get daily feedback and revisions and maybe even don't do the whole asset by themselves but have others more specialized doing parts of it (modeler & texture artists for props, for characters the potential split between face, clothing and hair...) - and make no mistake here you will be compared to the game's quality so you better live up to that standard.

The alternative is to do something new and try to make it fit the game's style. Now here you risk exposing a weak concept that you made up and losing a lot of points due to the not-as-appealing overall look of what you set yourself as a goal. You ain't a concept artist, so you very probably don't have the same experience to make it as interesting as the game art is - or at least the composed scene might not be as catchy.

But there is also the nice middle ground - find a concept - either something that the studio made that didn't end up in the game or some serious fan art from a pro concept artist - get the permission to use it and make that a portfolio piece. You can focus on what actually will be your work (doing the 3d part), while having a clear and thought out direction to go and in the end it will fit into the studio's art style so its just up to you to reach the quality level they are looking for


And for the last question - no separate portfolios are needed. Just make sure no weak pieces are in there. Nobody will throw your application out of the window just because you have several kick ass projects in there in completely different styles

garcellano

I'm going to beat the bush on this, but I agree on some sense. Make a piece that's a fan art of some game. It's a thing that some traditional artists or comic artists do (maybe even singers ex. cover songs, but this is off-topic). Make a piece inspired by whatever game you like.

I'm wondering myself on the sci-fi space, because you can make a fan art piece specifically for a game like Halo, Destiny, Call of Duty, or just have something inspired by those games. It's almost similar to any post-apocalyptic scene. I honestly don't know lol, but if anything, having something based off of some game or inspired by it does help in some way, getting more eyes on it, maybe even from fans or people outside of the game art world.

Amank679

Biomag Thanks for the reply that was super helpful!! I'll most likely try to find some unused concept art or fan art and try to make a full environment out of that!

Amank679

@garcellano I totally agree! I'd love to work for Bethesda on the Fallout games. Something about the overall scale and endless opportunities just make the worlds feel so immersive. I'll most likely try to recreate fan art or unused concept art.