Not using a demo reel on my portfolio?

Isaiah Sherman

So there is a thread up in Pimpring and Previews right now discussing how it's almost counter productive to create a demo reel if you have no animations. My goal in landing a job in the industry is either in concept art (obviously no reel) or as a modeler and texture artist.

Since I really won't be having any animations, will employers really prefer that I have no video file for them to view?

Any and all feedback is always greatly appreciated !

Ark

Id say a nice clean laid out website with beauty shots, breakdowns and texture sheets are just as good as a demo reel.

Rens

you have to decide how much time someone gets to view a piece, wich is easy with an animation, but with stills or turn arounds, it gets quite noying. is it going too fast, too slow ect.

if you dont use animation i think its not really a good move

if you do want some turntables for your 3d work, you can always look into creating a 360 quicktime file. one where you can rotate by draging your mouse. this way the viewer has control over the speed and can easely pause on a frame he likes.


im not going to use a reel when i apply

** + what the others are saying

Ben Apuna

For you, no animations? skip the reel. HR people are busy, best to make an awesome first impression on them with some amazing stills as soon as your page loads.

From what I understand HR people don't like to bother with reels (unless looking for animators of course), if they don't like what they see on your site then it's highly unlikely they will sit and watch a reel.

MoP

Images are higher resolution, smaller file size, and easier to view. You don't need a special codec or viewer to look at a 1280x1024 JPEG image. If you don't have animations or scenes then I don't see why you'd want a demo reel.

There are a few exceptions to this, for example if you do a super good job of presenting the most awesome reel ever then people will forgive you, but otherwise it's not worth the time or effort. Images are easier, faster and better in 99% of cases for a modeller/texture artist!

Frankie

Some companies, usually film, only accept demo reels so in that case you would need one. If it doesn't ask for one on the companys webpage you want to apply at I don't think there is any need.

Isaiah Sherman

Great input everyone, thank you all very much!

It's a little depressing that I NEED to create a demo reel for my graduation. I'm almost wondering if I should show my department director and senior portfolio instructor this thread to convince them that creating a demo reel for my models and textures would be a hindrance.

I think at most, I would like to create simple 360 turns just so the viewer can get a look but I believe a fully blown demo reel is not worth it.

Any more input from others is always highly valued. Thanks again !

JasonLavoie

MoP that is a sick example man, wow... can't believe I've missed that before.

I'm also somewhat against demo reels as well (if you are just showing still shots, maybe 360 etc.) it just seems like such a waste of time and effort. I think the only time I would use some sort of "demo" reel, would be when you have a map or something (from an level / environment artist's perception). It would be nice to have a quick video just showing the map off, showing key areas that have either some great lighting, or really nice interactions with particle effects. etc. that really brings the area alive. I can say this as well about characters, if you did take time to do maybe a cool little animation / idle animation (and its actually worth showing) then MAYBE show this, but I say group it in with the piece itself, so the employer doesn't have to watch a 2 min demo reel, he or she can just play a short clip (if they want do) while still providing them beauty / breakdown shots on your website.

Napples napples napples and so-forth.

Adam Curtis

I work with that guy, but never seen his reel! Going to have to give him some serious high fives tomorrow.

MagicSugar

Haiasi wrote: »

It's a little depressing that I NEED to create a demo reel for my graduation.

If you're just doing it as a requirement it's easy to just burn a dozen .jpgs and quick turnaround vids on cheap cd and call it a reel. They taught you how to burn disc in your school, correct? Pick slideshow in your image browser if you need to demo it in front of your class or instructors.

If you want fancy menus, there are freeware dvd authoring apps out there for that if you don't already have it installed as a default tool in your pc/mac. Just pick a template to your liking, select your files, burn to disc, done.

You can even download demo versions of Premiere or After Effects if you feel like being fancy with the editing of your video (pad it with a long credit/thank you list if you want to annoy your teachers ).

Yozora

MagicSugar wrote: »

(pad it with a long credit/thank you list if you want to annoy your teachers .

Do teachers find that annoying or are they the ones encouraging students to put that there in the first place?

Mark Dygert

Please also include, while the extra long credits are rolling, a turn around that is way too slow of a chrome sphere on a checker board. I wonder, are they also telling you to mail in VHS or Betamax tapes when you start applying?

But seriously a site should be just as good when applying but I totally understand why they're asking for reels, they are a lot easier to critique, knowing exactly how long each one is.

Students probably won't get AS carried away with as many unimportant details or "cleaver" navigational options like they would a website. I'm sure there's still quite a bit that can distract them but really for an assignment that's probably the easiest way to review them and make sure all the content is seen within a reasonable amount of time.

But yea unless you're going for animation or special effects, its probably a waste, other than you should render to raw frames (probably TGA) so you can also use still shots in your folio.

sicsided

Needed a demo reel on my website to pass one of my final classes also. I worked it out with my teacher though, and he was impressed with my site enough to let it pass as he liked my layout and look so much. I'd say just bring this thread up like you said, and try to negotiate with them about it.

Isaiah Sherman

Funny thing about credits and demo reels, in my Advanced Zbrush class a large portion of bad demo reels we covered in the first few weeks was from the Vancouver Film school. A large majority of them feel like telling a whole elaborate story that takes 3-4 minutes and then include a 1 minute long list of credits.

Sad thing is, they're being told that that's what they should be doing. It's different in film, yes, but many aspects carry over when it comes to general peeves.

No, they're not telling us to make VHS tapes :P

I also see where you're going with demo reels being an easy way to critique student work. I probably will be very serious in showing them this thread. I don't want to waste my time on something that can potentially turn employers away.

My school is pretty good about focusing on us being a highly marketable person, so I'm not too worried about it.

Mark Dygert

I don't think it will turn future employers off, but it might get ignored. The only way I see it being a detriment is if its the only way to view your stuff and IF its not easy to access or too low of quality to actually gauge your handy work.

Oberyn

Phew. I was wondering this stuff myself. I really think the 360s are a nice idea, though. As was previously stated, it gives the HR folks a quick look at your work, with the ability to go a little more in depth should they choose.

I'm glad I was directed to this. Thanks, Haiasi-san.