[Portfolio v2] – Sam Roberts, Environment Artist

sampson

Hi guys,
thought it would be about time to post my portfolio revamped version officially.

known problems: the menu on the right doesn't shrink on smaller browser sizes and not all thumbnails cant be accessed (any help with this anyone)

I am also looking for work for 2011 onwards.
www.samroberts3d.com

achillesian

you seem a little more like a prop artist, or is that the same thing...

Xoliul

Pretty sweet, dude. I remember you were struggling with that scifi hallway, you really finished that nicely, good work.
I think the only piece that seems a bit weaker is the HP cannon; it's nothing special design or modelwise.

Hey and you're giving away Racer445's real identity, sure you wanna do that? It's like telling the world clark kent is superman! (also his url is broken)

duxun

Great Work!!!

sampson

@achillesian, isn't environment art merely a collection of props into a working whole?
@xoliul, yeah i asked him and i removed his real name. forget it exists
@duxun, thanks!

cholden

A lot of gray, a lot of metal. Overall it looks good, but start thinking about more variety. Tap into more organic shapes and vibrant colors.

SnowInChina

you forgot to add your name/mail(homepage on your renders

Nizza_waaarg

hallway scene's defo my favourite up there, little more colour like cholden said couldn't hurt.

good luck with the job hunt mayne

gauss

I find that you transition to not-environment art a little too quickly. While it isn't fully textured, the final piece in your folio is a lot more interesting than the SCAR model you posted, which frankly isn't quite accurate enough to pass muster as a weapons modeler (which presumably you aren't applying for as anyway?).

If you're an environment artist, commit to it wholeheartedly. If you secretly/not so secretly want to model weapons, scrap the other stuff and get fucking serious about modeling weapons. Otherwise adjust your priorities.


There's a lot of good stuff here but make sure your message is clear to prospective employers.

sampson

yeah i'm not looking for weapons in particular, although i could definitely do it, i made that scar a while ago. its more like hey, here's the kind of hard surface work i can do.

gauss

That makes sense, but if that's the case then I'd say don't put it before any other enviro work. Keep prominent what you want to do.

Barnstable

Nice work man. I agree that you're portfolio could be more focused on environmental work (like I'm one to talk), but what you've included is good. I might take out that cannon though. I don't think it adds anything, or shows a skill not present in the other pieces.

Oh, and I think you should texture that final street scene there and place it second on the site. I assume you put it last because you want the employer to remember it because it's a strong environmental scene, but I think it would probably serve you more to have more environmental stuff near the top of the page until you get more environmental scenes.

Autocon

The only image I think that is two big is the Generic Prop Generator. Even on my 16050x1080 monitor I cant see the entire image top to bottom, I have to scroll a little to see the rest.

One thing I have never understood was putting links to others websites on your website be it there friends or collages. Not sure why you want want empolyers to ever click away from your work and having links on your website seems to only promote that fact. Maybe thats just me.

But one of the links Ben Bolten, opens to his page with a video, crashed Firefox for me, big turn off.


Like Gauss said I also like your only modeled environment down at the bottom. If you want to break into the environment world it would be best to develop more work like that. I know you just finished your sci fi scene so thats a great start. You have some pretty solid stuff prop wise so Im sure if you crank out a few more envios they will look great!

Acumen

yeh, apart from echoing the "show more environment stuff" comments, i'd like to add that this menu on the right makes me go nuts.
you could/should have put it on top so people have the most important thing - your work - not covered in some menu and then having to scroll in order to see it all. sure you explain that it doesn't scale properly, but i say get it simple and working on every computer. not make it scalable to multiple resolutions. i think that's just more on the table of webdesign than anyone wants to know and see on your portfolio. also i ask myself why does there need to be a menu at all if all pictures are there visible right from the start anyways. i think that's adding an unneccesary step that makes browsing your portfolio not easier but harder.

me as a private user, it annoys me on my 1024 resultion to click and then scroll to see the entire picture. guess a recruiter could feel the same and close your site immediately

also your stuff doesn't seem to follow a particular order. but that was mentioned already i think. some weapons thrown inbetween then the concrete barrier (i would highly recommened to remove that )

in all brutal honesty. your latest space scene and the allyway, that's the stuff i'd expect in the environment art field. these are 2 different scenes that show you can adapt to certain styles. all of the weapons would be last on my list.

sorting could be:
environments --> hipoly --> textures --> weapons
something along these lines that you can quickly fill up when adding new stuff.

AntiAliasing wouldn't hurt too

The Generic Prop Thing humor kinda fails for me. I don't know, maybe it's me being german....
But i think you turned a really solid piece into something mediocre with the text written on it. I don't know if it's the words or the not fitting fonts you used, though
For the generic space wall texture sheet. I think it could be lit better and presented differently. Like only one flat shot and then some with "proper" brushwork/geometry to show off what could be done with that texture. I'm especially talking about the top and bottom trim being entirely flat in it's volume. Just some extrusions here and there and i think it would sell the product much better.


Maybe I'm being oversensitive with this stuff, but I just think you're kinder underselling your quality a little bit. And i really hope your space scene is just the beginning of your portfolio work and you'll be removing the "older work" with brandspankingcool new stuff in the next weeks and months
Cause I really enjoy following your progress in these forums

Sry, if some comments may be harsh or offensive. I have to add this to every post i make
Cause people always tell me I sound a bit rude over the internet, while in real life I'm a big skinny cuddling bear :poly106:

sampson

thanks for the feedback. Yep i will definately do more full environments, and pimp them at the front of the site, its just that the scifi one was the first proper one i've done...

the website would be rather empty if i didnt put my props in them.

as with the friends - i see arguments both for and against. (bens site didnt crash on me)

@Acumen - Hmm your the first person to not like the side menu, but if i hear it more then i'll think about a redesign.

Yep i agree more structure.

And there shall be brandspankingcool stuff in the future, i'm busy till november unfortunately so can't 3d ):

Autocon

What are some pro friends sites points? Just curious as I haven't personally heard any.


Also one thing you should do is get a standared layout for all your pieces. Have them all different sizes, different backgrounds looks sloppy. Also your name isnt on any of your work and say an employee saves one of your images, passes it around work and not having your name/contact info on it could hurt you. This dose in fact happen at company's with both good work and bad work, for the laughs on the bad ones of course


I actually really like the side bar and have always wanted one for my site, if I knew how to do that stuff I totally would too. Though I think it would look better on left hand side though. Just a thought as most side navigation bars are on the left.

urgaffel

Didn't read the whole thread but what jumped out at me is that you're using a high res screenshot for your sci fi environment (first image, it's VERY PRETTY) and then you resize it with hmlt/site layout so it is 20% smaller. Why?

Also, why not have larger versions when you click the image? I want to see the details and not by right clicking your image and pick "view image" Looking forward to more environments, you seem to know what you're doing