[Portfolio] – Danny Parks, (Done in Google's Lively)

amsmntparks

Hey folks,
I'm one of the people helping with Google's Lively Custom Content beta test program. I decided it might be an interesting way to showcase a portfolio. I've uploaded a bunch of work from other projects and put them in a generic room. You can leave comments on the specific pieces or on the whole room.
http://www.lively.com/dr?rid=-1331940199652051842
Let me know what you think of the Lively-portfolio concept and the work in there! Thanks,
-Danny

Slum

Is this a joke? Not sure what I'm looking at.. A white box with a brown circle..?

amsmntparks

Slum wrote: »

Is this a joke? Not sure what I'm looking at.. A white box with a brown circle..?

If you see little green and white circles on the floor, stuff is still loading. Give it a minute and look around. There should be 15 models in there.
If you've never used Lively before, there's some guides at http://www.lively.com/help/
Thanks for looking!

Deathead

Wow.. I'm flabber gasted.lol edit: I honestly can't see anything. And if there is something there then its obviously not loading.

Yozora

Do you have to install the program for something more to happen?

I see a image with a few characters on it but I cant actually click on anything so thats not really a good way to show your work... and if you do have to install the program for it to work properly then I guess that really ain't a good way, it will just annoy potential employers

amsmntparks

Very true. You do need the Lively plug-in.
It's kind of like needing flash or shockwave to view a portfolio. Since it launched a few days ago, it's got way less market penetration. But it's a google app, so there's hope that someday everyone will get it. I doubt it will ever replace a traditional portfolio, but it does help show things static images or pre-rendered videos can't.

If you're still interested you can get the plug-in from: http://www.lively.com/html/landing.html

Yozora

ok just curious and very bored so I decided to try it...
First you have to install the program and then you gotta create an account, decide a username and go through them annoying "type the letters in this image" verification thingies...

And then it takes like 1-2 mins to "materialize" the room... not quite sure what that meant but I think that meant its loading something

The camera controls are awkward, as is the movement of the avatar... you gotta click and drag the avatar around to move in the room. If you dont view from the avatars perspective then its impossible to rotate around your models. The default screen size is really small as well, there is a full screen option but it opens a new window that isnt maximized so after clicking fullscreen you still gotta click maximize window for it to really be full screen.

Cant find anything to save preferences.

When you click on 1 of the models a annoying small popup appears where you see a thumbnail of the model and the option to view it in the catalogue. You then have to click again on the view catalogue button to enter which opens another new window... I can see this is where the texture and wireframes go, but it seems like I have to be authorised to even enter...

Anyway, its way too much hassle and I definitely do not see this having a decent future in showing portfolios at all. Theres also no information about you or the models. This is even worse than when people use flash to make their portfolios!
If you really wanna show all angles of your models then you can render multiple angles and make a animated turn-table gif.

Also on a sidenote, I seem to have become stuck on one of your model's heads and I cannot move off.... great Looks kinda funny though;

amsmntparks

Hey Yozora,
I really appreciate you going through all that to check it out. And just think, now you have a gmail account too!
You make a lot of good points about the camera, preferences, and overall usability of Lively. You can move and rotate models with the move tool (looks like arrows going in 4 directions). But this project is brand new and is still getting tweaked.
This portfolio would probably have been a better example if I put some animated pieces in.
That screen shot is hilarious, by the way.
You didn't happen to have any comments on the actual work did you?

GOBEE

hey uhhh.. I dunno. I'm not sure how many people will go through that in order to view your work. I know I'm not. Not that I don't want to see your work but because I'm just lazy right now. Maybe take some screenshots like Yozora did and post them up on this forum so we can view your work from here. You really want to make it extremely easy for someone to view your art. While this site you're using might sound unique, it really does just become a hassle.

MikeF

luckily i already had a gmail account, so it was easy for me.
cool way to show things off, and the work is nice, but the interface is pretty poor.

Ghostscape

I went to your site saw a screenshot didn't feel like downloading lively to see the stuff that I saw in the overly compressed screenshot.

Lively is kind of a cool thing but nobody is going to want to check out your portfolio in lively. You could make a lively portfolio as a supplement to a regular portfolio but it doesn't serve as a good portfolio platform.

Mark Dygert

It would be neat to have a lively version for people who want to check it out. but I wouldn't hinge your whole portfolio on it. If you require a plug-in people are going to keep right on moving.

amsmntparks

Even if it is just as a supplement to your traditional portfolio, I still think it's a pretty cool idea. Of course, I probably don't have the world's most objective opinion on this.
If anyone is interested in giving content development for Lively a try, send an email to: livelydevelopersignup@google.com

EVIL

Employers do not want to download plugins in order to view your work. And this is a prime example of it. I know you want to present your work in a fancy interactive way but search for something flash based, since that would probable be the only plugin most employers would have installed.

I'm not going to download the plugin and I can't believe any employer would. Especially if he has another guy in line with a simple to the point portfolio with work of your skill level.

Good luck

TheWinterLord

I think a more traditional way of showing of your work is better for you. Then you can always have the link with the option to view everything in 3d. Pretty cool stuff though. Im wondering if I can download your 3d objects and hack n steal them... (just wondering how safe it is if you dont want your models to get out to everyone for free)

amsmntparks

Don't get me wrong, I'm in total agreement that you need a traditional portfolio. I print mine out at Kinkos, and carry a cd when I'm looking. This is just another tool at your disposal. I have no html or flash skills so this lets me put my work in full 3d on the web. Sure, an employer would have to be pretty interested already to install a plug-in. I'd think of it as bringing a playable demo of a game you worked on to an interview.

TheWinterLord, the models and textures are as secure as they'd be in an online game. Take that for what it's worth. I'm sure there's some dedicated hacker out there who will figure out a way to rip models, but it hasn't happened yet.

Ferg

I think by "traditional" he meant HTML website. CDs and a hard copy portfolio are almost a total waste of time these days. 99% of the time, employers will immediately skip you over if you don't have a decent straight-forward HTML website.