Environment/Hardsurfice Art - Self made maps a plus?

Taylor Hood

Hey guys I've decided to focus in the area of Environment and hardsurface prop work. I'm going to keep this short and simple as we all know what happened last time. I'm also not going to mention a certain factor about myself. We all know what that is ;P

Anyway guys, seriously, alot of you are awesome environment artists so do you guys think its a good idea to maybe put a self made map in an engine such as UT3 in a website portfolio? This wouldn't be a map comprised of unreal props and such, ofc not, I'm talking full of my own props I make for the level (or scene)

Do you guys think that'd be a plus? : )

EarthQuake

IMO, if you're working on a portfolio as an environment artist its a good idea to focus on a few small scenes. I wouldn't worry about having an entire playable level(as this is more suited to a level designer than an environment artist).

If you were to create a few small scenes, with some sort of focused design in each it would be great. Like the front of a gas station, with appropriate props, an outdoor scene with some trees, foliage, something interesting here like a cave entrance or something. A few small peices like this where you can focus in on a specific area and detail it out, rather than trying to make something massive. Idealy you want to just show these scenes off in stills, and getting them into an engine like UE3 would be a great idea.

I dont think most people want to go through the bother of downloading and playing your map(again unless you are going for level design).

You make the main scene, and a set of props you can also show off individually. This way you have like 3 main scenes, and 5 or so cool props from each scene to show off individually, this would be enough to fill out a good portfolio, but it will be quite a bit of work.

Disco Stu

Wait your only 15???
^^ jk what eq said i guess

fmnoor

Work on your perspective, values and lighting on paper first. It'll make creating environments easier - and probably help create more interesting scenes.

Taylor Hood

Thanks EQ. I was thinking more like a couple screenshots or a scene, you know?

Disco Stu, Yes.

Indeed, Fmnoor : )

EarthQuake

Yeah a few shots per scene. You can be smart about it and block out your scene, plan your camera angles and only worry about detailing the areas that will be seen in the final shots. This will save you a lot of time!

Taylor Hood

Thanks EQ. Wise words!

I'm gonna sound stupid but I just cant seem to remember the that made the epic robot mech scene made in UT3 posted here not too long ago. I keep thinking its you, EQ ;P

Justin Meisse

Oh yes, definitely a good idea.

For some inspiration check out Peris' Unearthly entry, he's got the map available for download so you can fly around it in unreal ed:
http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=55458

Taylor Hood

Ah! yeah! That is an epic entry right there.
Oh yeah, I'll try it in unreal : )