Portfolio reel questions.

RobH

I am about to set up a portfolio reel that will be sent out to a few game companies in Vancouver and wanted to know if you guys have any tips or suggestions on how it should look. My reels in the past have been crap so I am hoping to make a killer one this time around.

All I can think of is having the model rotate with a gray diffuse and wireframe, then its texturing fades in half way through. Each model would have about 15-20 seconds of viewing time and rotate twice during its time fame. I am not to sure of how the background should look, maybe a light gray with a reflective surface on the floor.

This is about all i have so far. I have a few questions like:
1.Should there be background music?
2.Is making the reel 1:30sec+ to long? if not what is to long?
3.When showing character models, should there be any animation during its rotation? (for example a female model goes from arms out to its side to hands on hips?)

Any tips, suggestions or answers are appreciated.
Thank you!

nealb4me

Hey,

1. Don't bother with bg music as they will likely have the sound turned down. You also need permission to use copyrighted music from the artist. For example if you wanted to have "I'm like a bird" you would have to ask Nelly Furtado and no-one really wants to talk to her :P But seriously though, don't bother with it and spend more time on your visual presentation.

2. Hmm, just don't go over 2min and show your best stuff first. Worst stuff last. If the company you are applying to has a shitload of reels to look over, they aren't going to wait the full 1:30 or whatever in case they see something better. They will simply move on if not impressed immediately.

3. Unless you can animate well, don't animate. I assume you are going for modelling/texture position. It would be a good idea to put the model in an interesting pose though, which shows that you can rig.

These tips aren't the be all and end all, by I think they should be a good guide speaking from experience.

Lastly, keep the background a simple grey as you said. Nothing worse than bg distracting from the model you are
trying to show.

Cheers,

-Neal

Sage

You should put your best pieces in the begining at and at the end. I usually put the second best one at the beginning and the very best piece at the end. You want them to remember your best work. Alot of people remember those to parts of the reel and sort of forget the middle. Put only your best work. More than 3 min is too long. Hope that helps. for music just pick something you like if it's not horrible.

Alex

MoP

I personally think Bodyrott's demo reel is a very good example of a model/texture showreel.

http://www.tylersart.com/gallery.html

You can find it there... worth a watch.

RobH

Damn that is one nice Reel Bodyrott has. Looking at how his was setup, I think I am doing to have my characters move in a loop like his.

I have another question I forgot to add which is:

Is it ok to display a character with a tiny bit of nudity (butt cleavage). One of my female character wears a thong like outfit, the last thing I want to do is offened the reviewer.


Thanks for the replys so far!

Asthane

[ QUOTE ]
2. Hmm, just don't go over 2min and show your best stuff first. Worst stuff last.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't show your "worst stuff" at all

Seriously. Only show your best stuff. If you must categorize the quality, I think someone already said: Best Best first, Second Best last.

Not that I'm an expert, I'm just repeating what has been said before.

MoP

Yeah a character with a thong would be fine. I think it's likely that a guy will be watching your demo reel (but it might be a woman! ... less likely though), as long as it's a well-made model and good looking butt I'm sure they won't complain!

Steve Schulze

How to get into and survive in the games industry - The wannabe games developers bible.
http://www.planetquake.com/polycount/cottages/docrob/Industry.html


I'm going to disagree with Monsier NealB4Me on a couple of points.

My producer remembered my demo reel partly because he liked the included music. Anything that helps is worth doing, even if not everyone will hear it. I wouldn't worry too much about using copyrighted music, but you've got to choose something thats apropriate and interesting with a wide degree of appeal. Nothing with lyrics for a start. No dance music. Nothing abrasive. No easily recognisable film soundtrack music (Mission Impossible and Matrix musics are sure fire ways to get the viewer off on the wrong foot)... pretty logical stuff really. Pick something that will have a reasonable universal appeal, or at least won't offend anyone's sensibilities and you should be ok.

Unless you can't animate at all, its worth having an example of some really simple animation to show that you know how to construct a workable model and can rig it if need be. No need for something fancy. Oh and facial morphing is really easy and tends to make a fairly significant impact.

Anyway, keep at it. It takes a lot of diligence to get into this industry. Keep updating your reel constantly and send out updates to developers from time to time. Our last intern got the postition because his reels showed that he was constantly improving.

Good Luck.