Starting my portfolio

Razvan

Hey guys and gals,

I have just started putting a portfolio together. Here is my first piece of work. Please tell me what you think. And don't hold back, I can take it.

Thanks.

P.S. Due to lack of better reference i had to replace most of the chair's panels.

Reference:

Crazy Bump render:

Marmoset render:

cholden

well, it's a chair with a picture on it. Unless you are going to sculpt or hand paint all that detail I'd stop now and do something reasonable.

Start with something you know, either something you are very familiar with or something you do very well.

Razvan

The chair is actually one big normal map. So you think I should not include it in my portfolio?
I used crazy bump for that because it is much more faster than zbrushing it.

ShadowFox

It seems to be missing alot of detail, generally having a bad reference will make things harder for you its what ive learnt and what the pros usually tell, try getting something with more references probably or you could try get things related to it.

Disco Stu

No way portfolio work.

Millah

What you have here is a piece that is not indicative of skill level. It basically tells potential employers, "I know how to uv map things to simple pieces of geometry". Now, If you hand created all of the these panels, that would be one thing (which could be better illustrated), but it looks more like you photo-referenced everything which doesn't really indicate to me what your artistic skill level is.

As Cholden said, start with something you know. Have any cool toys or desk doodads worthy of being modeled and then adjusted with your own take for portfolio? Give those a whirl and show us what you're made of so that we can critique your artistic skills to make you better.
Or...think of a place you really want to work and something that they've made recently and make an asset that you think would fit into their game. Contact them and let them know you made it and want feedback. You never know... they might actually respond. Keep it up and show us more of what you've got.

Progg

After working with Crazybump for the last 3 years.... I could immediately tell that this was Crazybumped almost completely... which is probably not a good thing. It's a bit blobby and out of focus in many areas. For something this large with that much surface relief, you might just be better off designing your own motifs and zBrushing them on yourself.

Also, for future reference, the scale of the concrete/stone texture you used for the seat and the back railing of the chair is way too large and is throwing the rest of the image off. It's a good start, and you will only get better as you go. Trust me... I've looked back at stuff I did when I was first starting and I couldn't believe I had made that.... it is just the nature of this industry.

Flava-Fly

The first Marmoset render shows the wood to have a really high spec. The shine isn't helping make the details pop, rather muddy them out.

DrunkShaman

This shouldnt be your final piece, and definately does not look like a chair to me..it looks like an ancient dresser table. If you are using 3ds max there are tutorials in the help menu that can help you tweek this model out.

Nice attempt though, for the next time, provide the wireframe of your model, do not set the bump too high. Use your own discression in terms of judging the model to be presentable.

Good luck.

Razvan

Thanks for the comments guys. I will take your advice Millah. I think I will start with a chinese bucket. Should be ready sometime next week .

Razvan

Low poly rubbish. It has no normal map. The objective was to make pille of rubbish that had under 500 tris. This was actually a Blitz chellange.

Vonklaus

I would really try to re-analize what you are attempting to make. The point of portfolio work is to have a small amount of VERY nice work. With more time you can make more things, but the first goal should be to make something that will catch an art directors eye. And unless you make the most amazing pile of rubbish said art director has ever seen, then you won't be helping your cause. As for your statement about not wanting to use zbrush because it is so time consuming, your going to have to invest a lot of time if you want to impress.

One of the obvious problems with the above models is the spec. If you look closely at cardboard you will notice the slight hint of the rolled paper that constitutes cardboard. And this shows up in the spec (I notice things like that because I was an avid cardboard fort maker, haha). I would only ever show boxes if they were part of an environment and not the focus.

A good place to start is to look at some of your favorite 3d artists and ask yourself how good your work would have to be to take that persons position.

shinobix

Razvan,
I agree with Vonklaus completely... Maybe not on the cardboard fort making aspect, I was a couch cushion fort maker back in the day... But its really good advice to look at some of your favorite 3D artists work and try to match / exceed their calibur of work. Also, what I'm finding with my portfolio is that you also need to consider which types of jobs you're interested in. If you want to work for Bungie, try some sci-fi scenes. If you want to work for Sony Santa Monica, try modeling some greek pavillions, etc etc. Cater your reel to the studio that you're really interested in.
As for not wanting to invest the time into using ZBrush... Saying that you don't want to because it takes too long is like saying you don't want a job. I'm using an ancient computer at home, and currently I'm rendering out a high res to low res AO map at 2048... and we're going on 30mins now. Things take time, and great things take even more time (not saying that I'm great... In fact I'm looking at some raycast errors on my render right now! grrr!). But, Rome wasn't built in a day... blah blah blah, and all that bullshit. But seriously man, you shouldn't let time get in the way of quality. Look at the industry, the games that are high quality AAA titles usually have a longer dev time than Binky's Magical Pony Ride for the Wii.

Just sayin.

cholden

Any monkey can google an image and apply it to a mesh. If you're putting together together you need to show a skill, such as modeling and/or texturing.

Here are your new rules: you can't use pictures (short of reference) and you can't use crazybump.

Sure they are great tools, but they are also currently the most abused. As an employer, we get tons of applications, and most art portfolios are just pictures of rust on tanks ran through crazybump or some bullshit. These are immediately rejected because they show no skill.

Either start painting textures from scratch or do some high poly modeling. Make yourself marketable.

Zoid

recommend you model human bodies and faces from a reference for portfolio to train your skills at replicating what you see.

Razvan

Thanks guys . I will get on it. I will just have to decide what to make next :P.
And i want to become an environmental artist.

DrunkShaman

^Suggustion:

Practice making a room or a garage.

Good luck

Shogun3d

Keep it simple, and focus on textures!! That would be a great way to push your skills into environment art.

achillesian

do a hand painted full size map (torchlight), do a photo reffed full size map(counterstrike), and then do a combo of both map (mass effect), with varying themes,

Razvan

K. New attempt.
The bucket has 2 types of textures one that is an image and the other same image with and artistic filter. And i know the top texture looks a bit bad :P


And here is a wall i have been hand painting in photo. Is that what you meant by hand painted? Could you please elaborate that a bit? Thanks in advance cholden. And do you mean something similar to the 'Some weapons' post by Pavel Petrenko.

System

Razvan wrote: »

Low poly rubbish.

Haha, I recognise that parcel tape from CG textures!

If you have a simple object like the one in your last post using a 1024² or 2048² px map the texture should be crystal clear, what size maps are you using? Also check the uv's are using as much of the space as possible, anything less than 75% coverage is detrimental imo.

With regard to painting textures, I would build up the skills by painting over photo textures, without any disrespect it doesn't look like your ready to paint your own from scratch yet. If you want to see great tutorials on texturing, eat 3d has a nice selection and is recommended by many. http://eat3d.com/texturing

Razvan

Could you please give me some more tips on painting texture. Because I am a bit ashamed to say I do not know what it is expected of me there. I think I got low poly and high poly covered. But as far as texturing is concerned I am a bit on the fence.