[Portfolio] t4paN - Alex Tapanaris - character artist
polycounter lvl 10
http://www.alextapanaris.com/
So, I just sorta finished my portfolio, there's going to be some more things going in there hopefully, video etc for a couple of animations.
Sugestions and polycountstyle crits on both site and content would be appreciated.
/edit Ah, yes - there's no resume in there yet, and the info is kinda in Greek only since I'm currently looking for work in Greece. Will come around to putting up a resume in both English and Greek in a couple of days.
So, I just sorta finished my portfolio, there's going to be some more things going in there hopefully, video etc for a couple of animations.
Sugestions and polycountstyle crits on both site and content would be appreciated.
/edit Ah, yes - there's no resume in there yet, and the info is kinda in Greek only since I'm currently looking for work in Greece. Will come around to putting up a resume in both English and Greek in a couple of days.
Replies
I'm not a big fan of this concept. You have pleanty of armor plates, but how about some straps? So much of her body is not decorated, and it doesn't really work. Also I look at her face and I'm not sure if she is supposed to be hot. She doesn't really look hot. There are a lot of extra polygons around her boobs and on her shoulder blades that don't seem to do anything.
Yeah, all those textures are single 1024 on every character, will post flats up soon.
Yeah, I went for a Missy Peregrym/Jennifer Garner type of girl, not oeverly cute etc but obviously, she's unintentionally ugly as well... -_-
The model is a bit old so there are indeed some unused polygons, especially in the back - I do still think that minus a loop or two on the top of the tits, the rest of the polies do support the silhouette on the boobs.
/edit also, yeah, the model is pretty bare in the body, Maybe some straps on the arms, but she definitely could use some stuff on her upper body. I just can't think of what.
Thanks for the crits guys, keep em comming!
EDIT; im 12yrs old, in internets years...
24, but how is it pertinent? :P
lol, I heard this one before both here and from a friend in real life. It's usually in the form of "Britney Spears headset" etc. Can't help it.
I guess what I am trying to say is, this folio makes you look as someone who 'just picked up 3D' - looks like you still have to pile up some experience to be able crit yourself properly.
I would suggest focusing on 2D art. This will give you a perspective on what is off/not alive with your current characters.
Good luck!
Also, so you dont get over-whelmed by it all....focus your attention to one area at a time when you draw or doing sculpting exercises. Draw/sculpt a nose, an eye lid, head shapes, arms, hands, fingers, etc.. etc. This way, you gain more familiarity with each exercise so when you DO feel you're comfortable for an entire character...it will all come together. I think the one thing that a lot of artists tend to do is try to tackle on too much too early...me being one of them. If you pace yourself, it'll definitely go a long way in the end.
You want my god honest and maybe harsh opinion?
If I would be in the position to hire you at your current skill level which I highly doubt I would, I would let you only do low poly model work.
You're not near good enough to touch any current/next gen work since your work obviously lacks at the following points:
Anatomy - if you are going to be a character artist, make sure you train your knowledge of anatomy. Nothing is more important to be able to create a convincing character.
Asset creation - the models you put in your portfolio have poor normal maps and textures. A character artist is not only a modeller, but is also responsible for unwrapping, rigging, and texturing his characters. That's why most company's when they are seeking for a character artist ask for the full range of skills.
so, the things you need to do:
Work your butt off to learn and practice anatomy. I suggest:
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/dvds/zpe01.html
http://gnomonology.com/tutorial/350
Learn unwrapping, texturing, texture map management and learn how to create proper normal maps.
Take these points and work on them!
So, on to your portfolio:
Use a 3 point lighting setup to place your models in.
Never ever render them with the standard gray background colour.
one example of an excellent presentation of a game model is peppi's Dominance war II entry
Show your texture maps so the possible employee can see what your skills are with texture maps and managing them.
The layout is fine, nice and clear, you show your models nice and big. Something I would recommend is displaying a shortened version of this info
http://www.alextapanaris.com/about.html at your main page with a link to your Resume in a PDF.
I'm sorry to knock your ass to the ground like this but its better to know it now and work hard on it, then getting rejected over and over again with your current work.
If you really need a job "soon", try to find a DS PSP or WII developer and do some good low poly sculpts and show them those. If your successful then you have an professional environment to work on your basics, get industry experience and make contacts. Your then "safe" to work in your free time on building those next gen skills.
t4paN: I think what most pieces lack is a general expierence with shape and anatomy. I assume you dont draw that often or have drawn before? At least the humans look steril and rahter like robots - they lack emotion and the little extra human or artistic feel.
From the human heads I would say that portfolio04.html is the best of them , and portfolio04.html the worst.
The wolf on the other hand is imo. the best piece of the portfolio. While others critisized the lack of texture quality I think its rather a case of bad presentation.
If you put a little bit more time on the render or lighting setups of each character - pollish the texture alpha's and in general the transoitions from shape to shape on the texture I think you could already improve alot the outcome.
I start my models without much concepting and I realize this is not the best way to go around things, plus it shows in the pieces I've produced so far.
NyneDown: I'll do more scultping, plus as I said work on life drawing.
EVIL: heh, thanks for the long ass post, it's pretty much spot on and informative. Don't worry about the knocking my ass around :P
Johny: I'm going to look for a couple of anatomy and nudes books - do you have any suggestions on books I could buy from amazon?
Anyway, thanks for the crits guys, I'll try to work on your suggestions and better myself as an artist!
I used to draw before I went to uni, but then it became a chore and then I stopped drawing alltogether. I know I have to start again.
I didn't render any of the pieces, they're all viewport grabs. While the wolf doesn't have a normal map, I rendered him with the same shader i did the other models so that I could have specular on the viewport; when I mix diffuse+alpha+spec with "dx display of standrad material" it just refuses to render correctly in 3ds max.
I'm all ears if anyone has a suggestion about presentation, as in what shaders to use and lighting setups etc.
Again, thanks for taking the time to reply to the thread!
If it refuses to render proper check whats wrong- post a thread in the tech talk to ask others about it or simply try again.
I see a few options to archive better results:
1.) shader FX (now kind of free)
http://www.lumonix.net/shaderfx.html
2.) render to texture, use dirt-maps/ Ambient Occlusion passes and mix it with your textures
aside from that try to make a light setup (3 point light, warm/cold contrast, color perspective,...) that stands out.
Oh no, I didn't use it as an excuse - don't get me wrong; I was explaining how I did it, sorry if it sounded as if I was mate. Thanks for the link and for the tips, I'll check shaderfx out.
a minor thing I remembered,- on the portfolio there was another name used as credit for the webdesign
About the name, yeah, that's my buddy who did the site for me. I'll speak to him about it but I think he likes it there. Truth be told the guy designed and hosted the site all by himself, so he deserves that much credit imo.
It's not, it's just kind of a meme around here.
I'm going to be really honest. I think the only model salvagable in your entire portfolio is the female, but even then, she need some topology tweaking around the chest area, and a whole lot of re-texturing...The dude's body is ok...but it's really obvious in your entire portfolio that you don't go from high-poly to low...and that's kind of the best way to work these days I feel; otherwise you are restricted from the start. Your ability to create believable faces also suffers from this, although I also think you need to use a lot more photo reference when you do get around to sculpting faces. Just google some images of people and go from there. For portfolio purposes, I think it's best to spend around 10-12K on a character these days. Also, try handheld specs work. Maybe that just suits you better.
You should take that wolf and that fucked up dinosaur thing and fire them into the sun if you have the means to do so.
and renderhjs - no, I will not be changing my signature any time soon.