[Critique] Destroy or lick my Portfolio ?!
Hi everyone,
I joined Polycount not long ago as i realized it was old (like me) and popular (not like me) !
Then i found some cool stuff here...
I just like to ask some advice to you guys... as my goal is to work in the industry, as freelance at first...
I can't say i really went forward to contact people/companies/studios yet... because i'm not sure i have enough in my portfolio to do so.
So... since i don't know.. i hesitate.
What do you think ?
https://www.artstation.com/kenji-art
Also, i think i need to FOCUS on something. I can't just go from environment to teddy bears and SFi props...
I feel naturally confident with mechnical/technical geek stuff.. Like robots... but i don't feel good at designing fancy characters (because i did not study drawing and anatomy for instance). I like environment because i like to create atmospheres and mood, but if i wanted to be a environment concept artist, i suppose i would have to learn painting !!! and get idea very fast on screen/paper!!! Anyway it's different...i guess...
What should i do next to make this portfolio better ? (or what NOT to make to make it worst?!)
I was thinking about a bad ass cyborg, with bio mechanical features; mix of brains and steel alloy and so on...; a piece that would take more more than a few hours like my last props for instance...
Or shall i go for an environment but with a story... ? some characters in it this time ? to bring some humanity into it...
I also thought that technically i should learn and add a game engine in my workflow.. Like.. unreal for instance ? i'm very attracted by the RT ray tracing and i saw amazing stuff with it. I don't know if that would be a good idea.
Oh yeah... please feel free to contact me if you have some work
Thank you
I joined Polycount not long ago as i realized it was old (like me) and popular (not like me) !
Then i found some cool stuff here...
I just like to ask some advice to you guys... as my goal is to work in the industry, as freelance at first...
I can't say i really went forward to contact people/companies/studios yet... because i'm not sure i have enough in my portfolio to do so.
So... since i don't know.. i hesitate.
What do you think ?
https://www.artstation.com/kenji-art
Also, i think i need to FOCUS on something. I can't just go from environment to teddy bears and SFi props...
I feel naturally confident with mechnical/technical geek stuff.. Like robots... but i don't feel good at designing fancy characters (because i did not study drawing and anatomy for instance). I like environment because i like to create atmospheres and mood, but if i wanted to be a environment concept artist, i suppose i would have to learn painting !!! and get idea very fast on screen/paper!!! Anyway it's different...i guess...
What should i do next to make this portfolio better ? (or what NOT to make to make it worst?!)
I was thinking about a bad ass cyborg, with bio mechanical features; mix of brains and steel alloy and so on...; a piece that would take more more than a few hours like my last props for instance...
Or shall i go for an environment but with a story... ? some characters in it this time ? to bring some humanity into it...
I also thought that technically i should learn and add a game engine in my workflow.. Like.. unreal for instance ? i'm very attracted by the RT ray tracing and i saw amazing stuff with it. I don't know if that would be a good idea.
Oh yeah... please feel free to contact me if you have some work
Thank you
Replies
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/zADRXq
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/nQ4LKe
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Dxog8e
Next, like you guessed, you need to have some work running in a game engine (like Unreal), and show that you know how to optimize topology and textures for games.
Don't worry about characters, you don't need to know how to make them. Good environment artists are more in-demand then character artists anyways because everyone wants to make characters. Just focus on environment art and you'll do fine.
So you would remove some stuff ? I was afraid to remove stuff and have a too short portfolio.
What do you think is bad in my latest https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Dxog8e ?
Do you think it would have been better to show ONLY the prop and not the background ?
A lot of people on Artstation do that and it seems to be enough.
For your latest piece there are several issues. The background is distracting. The wear/tear on the textures makes no sense (should be focused on edges and buttons, but right now much of it its very random). And most importantly the shape itself isn't very memorable or interesting, which is quite important for portfolio piece.
What you guys said makes me think... that it would take a lot of time for me to understand tastes and colors... what are the shapes that most people feel attractive ? etc. and i don't think it's the field of the job i'd like (at least, for the moment). And yeah, i think it's damn complicated, relative and changing with time. I find it very interesting but i think it's another story... and as for me, i'm very old school taste kind of guy so i should be careful. For example, for my Blade runner stuff, not that it is so great really.. but it received a huge range of critiques... from people who liked the mood to people who disliked it because it was too dark and lacked of focus. Anyway, last time i was looking for some literature about those question... and i got lost in Amazon ! !
Oh man, it's complicated, but i love it....
All right, when i have something more "practical" in my portfolio, i will clean the rest for sure.
Well, meanwhile more comments are welcomed. Or about what i just said...
Jokes aside, I agree with the other comments about removing some items. The bladerunner scene could be improved upon with better lighting but the ship communicator and teapot are pretty weak pieces. The wear on the ship communicator doesnt make any sense, the placement looks completely random.
I'll also add that it might be better to focus on getting a single prop in engine and looking good before you attempt a larger environment. Especially considering your affinity for hard surface, which can be tricky when it comes to texture baking. Good luck!
Kinda wondering why the teapot seems to bring his whole portfolio down?
I mean its no match for the mech he has but as itself it looks pretty spiffy. Would he be rejected because of a teapot? And for what position in which company? How about freelance, a lot of the freelance work I do is architecture viz and they would love a teapot of that quality.
Though my favorite piece is the kokeshi dolls.
As do the other pieces, like I agree its more of a VFX/rendering focused portfolio for the moment, but for games would need some breakdowns and in engine work.
@kenji_aito
Also what is the scene for the type of work you do in Japan? Besides Platinum, Konami and Kojima Productions, are there any indie studios that focus in realism?
I agree with @NikhilR , that teapot really is bring it all down. I would prefer to see it removed or set into an environment that works with it.
The teapot.. the teapot.. oh man it was mostly a joke because i did not know what to model/shade so i did it with the teapot that was sitting on my desk at that time ! ... and i just started Blender at the beginning.
I guess i will remove it...
Do you think it's better to REMOVE or to make an folder "old work" in it ?
i kept it because i was thinking of 3DSMAX teapot but anyway. And after that , i had nothing in my portfolio at that time !...
Well, i can tell you that your comments encouraged me to go deeper in UE4 and make a full environment in it, where i will work deeply on the mood... and i will also fill it with props. This way i will show how i can integrate my work in a game pipeline.
@NikhilR about indie studios : hum.. i must say i did not really check about them... for two reaons : i'm not japanese actually ! i can work here but for deep conversation i'm still a bit limited... and second, most of them are in big cities in Japan and ... i feel ok where i am, which is more country side. In Japan freelancing is not very popular i feel... but yes, maybe later, if i have good references ? Well ,i felt my portfolio is not ready yet anyway ...
I like it, I mean if I was hiring him to do hard surface mechs, I certainly wouldn't hire him because of the teapot,
but I'd still hire him because of the mech despite the teapot.
Its a nice well rendered piece, would like some breakdowns though.
I'm not quite sure what difference removing the teapot would make. I mean usually if I'm looking at portfolios I go for what I'd be hiring for.
I mean its not a poorly done piece, its just a teapot. And its a japanese tea pot which resonates with where you are.
Like it would be great to put it in an environment, but honestly you really don't need to make a whole environment just to accommodate a tea pot.
I'd say your portfolio is pretty strong on the 3D generalist rendering side.
There is an artist you follow who appreciated one of your pieces.
https://www.artstation.com/mateusz_wielgus
if you plan to develop on the 3D generalist side that is the direction you ought to go.
As far as games go, be aware that there is a lot else than just your portfolio and how top tier you are that decides what kind of work you get. Its a very cutthroat industry atleast here in the west.
I've had projects assigned, then cancelled because a studio shut down and laid everyone off, its an issue that needs to resolve sometime with better regulation.
But keep pushing your art certainly and keep learning!
I'm glad you like the kokeshi dolls @NikhilR ! It was very personal and for my daughter(s) anyway. i thought nobody liked them because it's simple ...though i put some extra attention to the shader...
My experience has been variable really, like I've been interviewed because of certain pieces, and then the interviewer moves to my sculpts, and loves hearing the story behind my panda mech (collaboration with 3 year old cousin.)
They also liked me speaking about progression.
Other instances, poor baby panda mech is the most attacked piece, don't know why, probably don't like kids.
Like no real criticism, just screw up face.
kinda why i have better luck with multidisciplinary studios.
The story behind your kokeshi dolls brings so much humanity that should be given consideration.
And the right people would do so after seeing that you have what they need.
Honestly it's not easy but i think i should keep going... as you guys encouraged me to do so.
It's new and i never worked in this industry, so i just don't know...
Your comment about the cuthroat industry is interesting. yes. i don't have much experience (not!) but already somebody came to me "hey, you want to be a part of our game project, we have a website, blabla.. " shortly after i published my robot. But the guy told me they don't have money yet , but they can pay "after" (what?)
Any business takes risk, ideally they ought to take out a loan to pay people to work for them, but in games it is entirely possible that the game does well enough that they can pay people after so its post project compensation.
Its very important to know what's in a contract and how much risk you're taking so you are owed the right amount.
By cutthroat industry I mean that its a combination of portfolio and who you know and there isn't always a perfect balance between the two.
At the end as an artist always good to brand yourself using all the skills you have at your disposal.
About making personal work, its very important since honestly at any job you may not get as much freedom to do what you want.
It really depends, some companies do have initiatives to encourage artists to innovate and usually it does benefit the company also.
A lot of the initiative is on us to take though.
I never expected people to resent the panda girl, maybe they just had a bad day.
Youre getting away with murder right now with offline rendering and slapping procedural materials on everything which then still looks good due to sheer rendering power, but the texturing is nearly nonexistant. Edge definition is key to a good texture, large scale and medium scale details, personalization, unique elements, physical, not only surface level material history. The latest piece (the white gadget) shows that you really need to focus on that hard.
There are many good resources out there, check out Racers classic tutorials, also miniature painting channels do have some good impressions to give. Try to not get blinded by pbr shinyness that makes everything look "decent enough" and check out real references and the best texture work you can find for reference
Basically i don't put as much love in texturing than i do with geometry... And you can feel it so...
Technically i can do stuff in that field, but i will check your recommendations. I will have to work hard on that and baking normals, low/highpoly meshes and so on, so that i can get as much as detail as i need on my stuff and still having a decent number of polygons.
Finally, in Blender, many things are wonderful but i think the can be done in Painter/Designer is really amazing.
Thank you for your feedback