[Portfolio - Site] Lemmons

cow1787

Hey guys, updated my site with a new design and some new work. Just posting it up here for critiquing before I make it live. Some of the nav links may be directed back to the old site, but most of it should work for you. (you'll be able to tell if it's the old design)

All the work has been done within the past year, but there is 1-2 items that I've been iffy on leaving up. Just want to see how everyone reacts first before I make a final decision. Any other critiques/suggestions are totally encouraged as well.

http://www.marklemmons.com/v5/index.html

Thanks guys,

Mark Lemmons

Hoopla!

Awesome bro. i like that you have some full rooms there. that fan is hot. cheers!

n88tr

lots of good finished work

some concept art/ other multimedia would be a bonus

cow1787

@Hoopla! Thanks man, I think the fan has gotten the most praise so far

@n88tr I'm just an environment guy, just focusing on that. Wouldn't want any potential future employers to get the wrong idea of what I'm good at and going for.

MainManiac

Very nice, the white border on the thumbnails distracts me though.

Isaiah Sherman

I think the work on your site over all needs a lot of work. Nothing really stands out to me as something I would stop and look at for more than 3 seconds. However, one thing I REALLY liked about your site is that when I cycle the previous / next buttons, they're in the exact same spot.

That being said, I was able to cycle through your page easily and was focused more on the work than the site which is a good thing !

MattQ86

That intercom speaker has the best texture out of all the work. I'd move it up higher so that it's one of the first things people see. In general your UDK renders look the best out of the bunch. I think that's partially because of the contrast with the really clean and soft looking stuff where I'm sure the client isn't exactly looking for realistically dusty rooms.

I guess it goes to show that people do better with personal projects.

Nice site, good work, I want to see more of that personal project.

cow1787

@Haiasi Haha, thanks. And I totally agree. The site itself is the best part of the site. But unfortunately it's all I've got to show currently. Though I do 3d at work, I don't always get to make cool quality pieces; since they're usually for a lower end rendering engine (see: Ogre3D). But that's why I've started the personal project

@MattQ86 Absolutely right about the unrealistically clean rooms and such. Same goes with the Stryker, they don't want to show their product 'used'. Thanks about the speaker, I'll move some stuff around, make some of the personal things a little higher on the list. I started the personal UDK project with some friends, so we've definitely had "Portfolio Quality" in mind. Hopefully I can get more done and start replacing some of the other Professional pieces with them.

As for the Personal UDK project itself, once we've got more done and actually viewable inside the UDK, you'll be seeing more from us. Keep a look out!

Chemical Alia

I like the navigation and the layout of the site, there was no confusion in using it and I was able to get to your work quickly. What I'd suggest, though, is to get some better renders of your work. The lighting feels flat and dull in all of the images, and it causes the surfaces to look like sweaty plastic. If you can improve the presentation of the final renders, I think it will go a long way in making the portfolio feel more interesting as a whole.

Purplepaint

I have to agree with Alia on a FEW of the renders, but i LOVE the website layout.

cow1787

@Chemical Alia & Purplepaint: Thanks. New renders I'll definitely look into, probably with Marmoset. Once I get further along on the Personal UDK project, those objects will most likely be shown in-engine.

I've taken the suggestions so far and have implemented a few of them.

Removed Hospital (was told it was my weakest, I didn't like it either)
Removed Classroom (was told it was my weakest)
Moved the Fan closer to the top & added it to the 5 top transitions
Moved the Speaker closer to the top & added it to the 5 top transitions
Removed the white border around all the images

I also added lazyload to the pages for faster load times.

If you missed what they looked like, here's the Hospital and Classroom.
http://www.marklemmons.com/v5/img/portfolio/feature_HealthcareICU.jpg
http://www.marklemmons.com/v5/img/portfolio/portfolio_EducationClassroom4.jpg

kyphur

I like the fan and the amplifier the best out of the. The site layout is pretty tight and cohesive also. I like being able to flip through the images easily and focus on the artwork while not paying attention to the site but still experiencing it in the background.

cow1787

Alright, I've been working on some new lighting. Since I've been told the binoculars were the next worse, I decided to try out with them. It's still using the 3point Shader, haven't tried Marmoset with it yet. Tweaked the texture and lens a bit.

Is this more to the likings of everyone? Critiques please

Left:Old | Right:New

Vguhal

Looking quite a bit better already, high frequency detail on the surface is a nice touch that brings out the spec. Now just get it into Marmoset!

X-One

First and foremost, I like the site layout. As mentioned, in almost every render, the lighting is not helping you very much at all. In fact, I'd guess that it was hurting you. Aside from that, I'm just a little worried about the content itself. I'm seeing a lot of small props that are well done for the most part, but they're failing to hold my attention for very long. None of the work has any style or flair that indicates an artistic touch. At a minimum, try and convey a mood in your images, especially in your environments. I don't mean to be overly critical, because I struggle with many of the same issues. I'm just mentioning these things because I almost always have to make a conscious effort to avoid these issues with every project I approach.

cow1787

@X-One: Thanks. And the lighting in the scenes are one of the reasons I removed 2 of them. It's all light baked crap I've done at work, but they're the only complete scenes I've done. So I'm left with props I've done at work that are of any quality at all. (I don't work at a game studio, so most things I do are behind the times on our capabilities - not that the artists can't do quality work, we just don't get a chance to)

As for just having props, hoping I'll be able to expand on that with the UDK project I've mentioned. Props for now, eventually get into wall/room pieces, put them together to have an actual UDK scene.
___

I know I attached these in the previous post, but they're now hosted on my site so I won't feel guilty for using up the precious interweb space of polycount

Old


3Point


Marmoset

cow1787

So, I just made my site live. Thanks to everyone who gave some crits, check it out if you haven't already. I'm working on some more stuff like I've said before, so expect to see some updates in the coming months. I may even post WIP threads here on PC instead of being a hermit.

http://www.marklemmons.com

And like always, comments & crits are still welcome

D4V1DC

Wow I just got a big Fraud Warning after clicking your portfolio, scary, good luck otherwise.

cow1787

Wow, really? Has anyone else gotten this? Maybe it's because of the JS?

Mefix

yeh, same

cow1787

Are you both using Opera? I get the same thing for Opera, but works in the others. I also just noticed that Adblock completely screws it up...I'll have to work on this. I can assure you there's nothing wrong with the site and you can ignore the warning for now, or use another browser in the meantime...but still something I'll be looking into to fix

Purplepaint

cow1787 wrote: »

Are you both using Opera? I get the same thing for Opera, but works in the others. I also just noticed that Adblock completely screws it up...I'll have to work on this. I can assure you there's nothing wrong with the site and you can ignore the warning for now, or use another browser in the meantime...but still something I'll be looking into to fix

Works beautifully on Google Chrome, i really love the layout of this site haha

cow1787

Thanks Purplepaint

Still trying to figure out what's wrong with Opera (posting on their forums for help), I've even moved everything back to the original /v5/ folder and it works without warning...so If you use any other browser you can view it at...

http://www.marklemmons.com

For the time being, if you use Opera, please view it at...

http://www.marklemmons.com/v5/

And if you use Internet Explorer...I'm sorry. (actually it should work in it too)

[HP]

Gotta love the layout! Did you coded it yourself as well?

Good stuff buddy.