Help Please - Lighting & Presentation for Porfolio Pieces

newgameartist

Ok i have been out of the 3d market for a good while (3+ years)
had a kid,worked a managerial position sold out got bored came
back to 3D

Currently updating my portfolio but and this is a big one

So i am looking for advice on presentation for current gen assets
basically how best to light and present my models in the best possible way
so that my work is displayed on a par with currently working professionals.

They are current gen game ready models from Max,Zbrush and Mudbox

do i need to present them in engine in viewport or rendered ?

what kind of lighting set ups work best these days ?
preferably looking for a one size fits all lighting rig to so its a consistent style ? examples would be nice as generally i suck at lighting

Any one know of a good way to host a easy to use portfolio site ?

kodde

I'd go for showing your work in UDK, render with Marmoset or use a custom realtime shader for Max such as Xoliuls shader. All of these can produce a nice real time like look.

UDK could more of a hassle if you're not used to working with it. But showing your work within a game engine is always nice.

Marmoset is real easy to get started with, but personally I feel you lack control to fine tune lighting as the setup is based on cubemaps (unless this has changed in newer versions?). It has some cool post process features you can use.

Custom Max Realtime shader gives you pretty much same features as the above and you also get to tweak lighting parameters as you like.

SyncViewS

Hi, if you are using 3ds Max, you can give these materials a try. They are good for showing high-poly models and their wireframes and give fine results with untextured and normal mapped low-poly too.

As Kodde said, for final assets the best way to show your game art is to take them into UDK, or Marmoset. Or use a viewport shader. Some studios require to see your art in a game engine.

You can see some examples in my personal portfolio.

Eric Chadwick

This page has some good portfolio tips.
http://wiki.polycount.net/GameBusiness

Added the materials to the wiki here.
http://wiki.polycount.net/Model_Presentation

aphexx

look at these:
http://www.torfrick.com/
http://testroete.com/
they have different approaches in their portfolio.
the second portfolio has more stuff, but the first stays in mind.since its art jumps right into your face. and he really presented his stuff.

concerning your shading question, i`d try the xoliul shader in 3dsmax:
http://www.laurenscorijn.com/viewportshader
see also laurens own props on his site
you can achieve good lighting results with this shader, when using a high value in the shaders half lambert power. half lambert is actually not intended for simulating decay of light, but it works in this shader.

here are thingys i made last week:
wallpanel: viewport screen with 3 lights
floorpanel viewport screen with 3 lights