Please help with portfolio review
Hello! I'm looking for someone to help me evaluate my portfolio,
I recently graduated and I'm working on improving my 3D skills, but I'm really worried that I'm not good enough and the competition is too high... Could you please tell me if I have a chance to become a junior?
Here is the link: https://www.artstation.com/nu24
Right now I'm trying to make a realistic character and learn Autodesk Maya.... What do you think I should improve on? Should I remove my older models, or make something new?
Thank you so much in advance!
Replies
i think your art is really great as it is but with just a bit more polish on a few projects it would be indistinguishable from the best AAA art right now.
here are my opinions in no particular order:
DRAGON
the dragons surface details feels a bit muddy, like it has no sharp details. The rendering is majorly holding it back. This is all just viewport screenshots? Some thoughtful lighting could go a long way
I think its awesome you rigged and animated it, but if you are trying to be a modeler I'm not sure that adds anything. Would be better to polish the renders more, and also show the technicals to prove that it is game ready. You have some wireframes way down there but what about the texture and UV layout?
Overall, probably just a handful of high quality images would make a stronger impression compared to dozens
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Cartoon reindeer
I think its great. The facial features could be defined a little sharper? Like his nose, mouth, eyes,,, it's hard to imagine these animating, they look almost as if they were projected on from an image. Kind of flat looking? I dunno, I just feel like it wants to be a main character but it has NPC attention to face or something. Perhaps a real artist could explain better, if I'm onto anything worthwhile.
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Viking Babe
I think it's your best piece. It's fine on its own but it is not as strong as the reference. I think revisiting this to make it as impressive as the reference would be good use of time.
Again, doing some proper renders would help a lot. In the concept, look how light interacts with all of her detailed outfit. There is a ton going on. We also have a few material types that should make nice contrast in how it plays with light. Leather, fur, pale skin, a silky red cloth... that could all be really striking if you go through the materials carefully and tweak roughness to make each very distinct.
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Halloween cat
I'd remove it. Looks too much like beginner art
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Owl
This could be neat if it was rendered in an appropriate setting. Similar to the cat and the reindeer, the face details seem like project image and lacks contrast.
Compare the constrast and sharpness in the reference to yours.
Fur cards for feathers i think would be expected for current and next gen.
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Others
Hau Cheng - its fine but needs a proper render
Xie Lian - I guess its okay. nothing super interesting. It could be an NPC but I dont know that its portfolio material
Lion - i'd cull this
hair - it's probably fine for a lot of types of games but i think its pretty far behind current gen hair so i'd probably cull it.
Overall - The biggest red flag to me is that the first thing we see is "Beginner 3d artist." It should instead say, "3d Character Artist". Don't undersell yourself, you have plenty of talent and skills developed already, with just a bit more work you'll be as good as anybody.
the dragon sculpt banner should be replaced with something else. It's not super strong and unfinished sculpts is sort of a red flag for game art.
the common theme across your portfolio is that you modeled and textured but you did not do any presentation. It looks like viewport screenshots. Materials are consistently flat. It is a shame because the models are pretty complex and executed pretty well. It is like if ferrari built cars but did not paint them. What the hell? Why would they do that? You did so much work, give it a proper finish! :)
I think if you just take a couple of these models a bit further and get serious about lighting, materials, and presentation you'll have a solid portfolio.
Alex_J Thank you so much for your reply, for giving it so much thought and going into details - I appreciate it a lot!
You gave me a lot of hope and motivation, as recently I heard from another sculpting artist that this might be not enough to become a junior yet... I know I have to work a lot on my sculpting skills, but I will keep going!
You are right about the rendering, I will try to learn how to do it well, and I'll try to adjust the portfolio following your advices. For the dragon I wanted to show at least on one model that I know the basics of animation and rigging, but I will also add UV maps to it. About the barbarian I'm ashamed I didn't make the face look better D': I'm trying to make a better job with my next character.
Thank you again for help! c':
the marmoset toolbag website has a ton of great minitutorials showing how to present characters. it you just follow their steps it will make a big difference.