Do I ...suck at this? Or, What the hell am I doing wrong?
Hi. I really feel lost trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. I feel like my technical approach to 3D isn't bad, and I also believe I do fairly good work. The more I get turned down for jobs, of course, the less I feel this way.
Is anyone willing to tell me what I'm doing wrong with my portfolio? Is there something glaring that's getting me disqualified? Help would be appreciated. My portfolio is here:
https://hrafnaharr.artstation.com/
Is anyone willing to tell me what I'm doing wrong with my portfolio? Is there something glaring that's getting me disqualified? Help would be appreciated. My portfolio is here:
https://hrafnaharr.artstation.com/
Replies
Where abouts in Aus are you @Hrafnaharr?
I'm in Northern Queensland (Cairns), but my location is somewhat irrelevant as I'm looking to relocate. Most likely back to the U.S., however, I'm willing to (almost) anywhere. I'm in the process of getting my fiancé's house ready to sell, as we're 'done here'.
The issue here is that I don't -know- what is hobbling me?:
Are they looking at my location and declining on that basis?
Is it the work?
The process is, for some reason kept vague and confusing, and since the covid crap, the in-person events are all kaput, so getting face time with people is a bitch. I know that the business is at somewhat who you know/connections you make, but I'm struggling to find time to deal with life and do the 3D work, so there's not a lot of time for socializing. I need a bloody mentor. Thanks for your input, I do appreciate it.
Ah ok. I was more curious about your location in case we happened to be close thus be able to actually physically meet (I'm in Brisbane) :)
As for your issue, it's a bit difficult to say. If your applications have mostly been going overseas, then I would be guessing the time differences would have a pretty major impact on that.
If you've been applying to local companies, that could be a number of factors. Despite the lockdown, most would probably want you to be located in the same city for when lockdown ends, unless they specifically advertised they are seeking people to work remotely.
Another factor, would be simply that for the most part, Aus dev teams are much smaller than in the US, and have probably received many applications for roles they advertise, so it could simply be that they found someone who's style they thought fit well with the project they are working on, or again, placed a heavy emphasis on location.
I haven't worked in the industry for some time, but I was lucky in that I got in to it by being head hunted at an industry night upon completion of the course I got sponsored to complete in a private college (QANTM). This was way back in 2000 though, when there were actually a number of big name developers with a presence in Brisbane. After getting your first gig, you will find it easier to find follow up jobs (providing you didn't get fired for not doing your job or something like that of course 😂. I got several positions after leaving my first one, and not just in games, but also doing 3d animations for big corps like CSIRO, and then even did a 3d kids tv show.
Even interstate employers would be more likely to consider your application, especially if you mentioned that you are planning to, or would move locally to the company if a position was offered. But yeah... the market is pretty small here, and there's a good chunk of talent in Aus, so it's pretty crowded. Best thing you can really do, is look at who you're applying with, check out projects they're working on or have worked on, and try to show them stuff that really fits with the style of their projects. For instance, if a company is working on a racing game, and you show them nothing but RPG characters and weapons, you'll quickly be overlooked if others are submitting lots of nice looking cars/race tracks etc.
If you wanna chat some more in a somewhat more realtime fashion, feel free to jump in to the discord, and shoot me a friend request/dm. I'll be happy to help. If you don't have discord or don't want to use it, that's fine too. Just offering up the option :) (link in signature)
I'm by no means a 3D expert or a recruiter, but here's my take;
It all sort of depends on what jobs you're applying for... Your 3D work is good, but I could see why a studio who focusses on photorealism wouldn't hire you. Mainly because your models are fantasy and not real world objects.
Also i'd say that your presentation of your work is somewhat on the lower side.
If I were you I would focus on diversifying your portfolio, add in some more "realistic" objects in there that are not creative or fantasy like. Because when I look at your work, I can't figure out rather or not you're a weapon artist or a prop artist.
What I'm hearing from people on this is essentially, my presentation on renders is not acceptable. That's something I can work on.
Are weapons not "props"? Are props not highly detailed central objects that a player can examine closely? All weapons are in the hand, and generally require more detail, so, perhaps you can explain to me what the difference is, as I might not be aware of something.
As to presentation, is there a standard? Not every render can be a diorama. If I made a diorama for every model, it would increase my work time extensively and that's limited as it is. Other than that, is my lighting crap? I've seen a couple comments about my presentation needing to be better, but I've heard no specific suggestions on detailed changes that could improve them, just "it could be better" and "make it spiffier" and that's pretty vague. Could anyone clarify this?
Thanks much.
Not exactly an answer to your specific questions, but have you ever considered using Sketchfab to display your models? That will allow people to see the model cimpletely (rotate around it etc) and also be able to analyze the textures etc as well
Not Sketchfab but I have Marmoset, and can set up an mViewer for them. I've done that in the past, and I agree, I should get those up again.
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I do appreciate it.