Portfolio feedback and advice for getting the first Job

Mchung0218

Hi all,
I have been applying for Character/General Modeling Artist job postings for the last six months. The only successes I had were from Taiwanese studios. However, due to visa restrictions, they can't offer me a job. As for applications to Western companies(mostly American), I have only received rejection latters and haven't even been offered an interview yet. So, I was hoping I can get some advice. 

Here is my portfolio. 
https://www.artstation.com/mchung0218
Do I have too few pieces? Are the models not good enough? Please let me know if there's something that's providing me from getting interviews.

Some potential non-portfolio issues that might be providing me from getting interviews that I can think of. 
1. Something is wrong with my resume. Resume .pdf (Hopefully there are no spelling mistakes.)
2. I have been using my current location in Taiwan as my address, so the companies think that I need a visa to work in America. So I should use the addresses of my relatives' in America to apply. 
3. Covid is still hurting the job market? Fully recovered job markets would have better chances of me finding a suitable position.

Please help me identified the issue that's preventing me from getting interviews. I am continuing to work on a new portfolio piece to better myself, however, I feel like I am working in the dark and don't know if it's getting me closer to a job. So, any advice would be much appreciated!

Alex_J

if you need a job fast i think you should cut the characters and do only a few props. 

with some focus you can probably make a AAA quality prop. But the character will take more time. Doing characters is the hardest thing, so it takes more time.

you could probably use the helmet and sword from the burmese warrior. Just a little more attention to textures and rendering and maybe they are "good enough." But you could go to a one of these professional artist who are offering tutelage and get them to look over carefully. 

I think your burmese warrior is pretty cool but it needs more polish pass on the materials and rendering so it looks realistic rather than plastic. Probably the sculpting of the anatomy can get a little more attention too - though I'd just soften him out a little bit. I think you've overdone some of the borders where muscles meet. 

2. If you don't need a visa, then yeah don't confuse people. But if you do need a visa, don't lie. 

Then again, sometimes in life it's better to let someone make a commitment, then let them know there's a problem. Otherwise they would have ghosted you before, but now they'll work with you to solve a problem. And they never know the difference. You just have to be smart about it.

Mchung0218

2. If you don't need a visa, then yeah don't confuse people. But if you do need a visa, don't lie. 

I have dual citizenship so I don't need a visa to work in America. I guess I should change all my addresses to an American address. Probably should change it on my Artstation too. 

But you could go to a one of these professional artist who are offering tutelage and get them to look over carefully.

I have done that before. While I learned a tremendous amount from it, I do find the mentorship is too short and not enough for the cost. I might do that again if the mentorship time is longer or the cost is cheaper, otherwise, I think buying tutorials are more cost-effective. 

with some focus you can probably make a AAA quality prop. But the character will take more time. Doing characters is the hardest thing, so it takes more time.

I guess it comes down to this. I was hoping my portfolio is good enough for an entry-level position, but I guess it isn't. Thanks for replying! I guess it's back to grind for me. 

Alex_J

i'm just one opinion home dawg. and i never worked at a studio. 

i just look at the art and see what can be improved. maybe there is some studios that have entry level position where you've demonstrated enough aptitude. Thats why i suggested getting some one on one with a professional. not just for "how to improve my arts" but also, "which places might i apply? how can i target my work to them more specifically?"

defragger

To get a job, you need to demonstrate the basic craft skills of the trade in your portfolio.

Here are a few things I've noticed that show a potential employer that you haven't mastered this fully yet:

• polygon distribution is very uneven. Some parts are far too high-poly for an optimized game mesh while other parts of the same piece are too low-poly. For example the roof of the house or the warriors necklace compared to his face and shoulders.
• there are loads of edge loops that don't do anything for the silhouette. For example on the warriors sword and signs on the wall of the house.
• UV's are badly distributed. Some islands are rotated by a few degrees and the distances are unnecessarily large.
• are you familiar with using / creating normalmaps? I don't see any used on the house and the characters don't show HP -> LP bake
• are you familiar with PBR workflow?
• texture resolution on the house is very low and it doesn't use trim-sheets, why?

What you need in your folio is one hero asset that shows you can create an optimised, state of the art, game-ready model from start to finish.