[Portfolio] Thomas Havlik

keres

I'll be posting random work here. Right now I do texture work mainly but plan on doing some architectural visualization very soon (renders to come!)

Critique is very much welcome!

To start, some hard surface painting (99% handpainted): (this list will be updated until I finish my website portfolio, as I also do web design professionally)
Rendered in ID Tech 4
http://keres.satgnu.net/images/wip/01.jpg
http://keres.satgnu.net/images/wip/02.jpg
http://keres.satgnu.net/images/wip/03.jpg
http://keres.satgnu.net/images/wip/04.jpg

Here's one I did from 50% photoref that I thought turned out really well
Rendered in Xreal
http://keres.satgnu.net/images/wip/brick02.jpg

Jeremy Lindstrom

5 tiling textures do not a portfolio make.

Razgriz

Well, at least some of what is here doesn't look so bad - but your presentation of it is terrible. It would be far better to post texture flats so we can actually see whats going on. Several of your images have specular thats just blown out so bad that I can barely see whats going on. I like the first one the most, but, again, its very hard to crit when your hard surface painting isn't presented in a format that emphasizes the... painting.

If you do insist on leading with the real-time shots, it really needs a sense of scale. The metal (pyramid grates?) look awkward just because I'm not sure if they are meant for a floor, an air duct, or something smaller. Context is important since most of your textures don't have any specific reference to their intended size in-game.

keres

Jeremy Lindstrom wrote: »

5 tiling textures do not a portfolio make.

I have hundreds of more textures, but I have started over from scratch starting to bake all of my textures where possible. I am by no means new to this kind of work, there will be tons of more to come, please bear with me

Razgriz wrote: »

Well, at least some of what is here doesn't look so bad - but your presentation of it is terrible. It would be far better to post texture flats so we can actually see whats going on. Several of your images have specular thats just blown out so bad that I can barely see whats going on. I like the first one the most, but, again, its very hard to crit when your hard surface painting isn't presented in a format that emphasizes the... painting.

If you do insist on leading with the real-time shots, it really needs a sense of scale. The metal (pyramid grates?) look awkward just because I'm not sure if they are meant for a floor, an air duct, or something smaller. Context is important since most of your textures don't have any specific reference to their intended size in-game.

Ah, right. They're all generic panels and 99% hand painted. I'll make new shots with scale reference if it is that important.

Edit:
and yes that is an air duct but is 512x512px in the case I wanted to use it for a wall (for any reason)

Edit 2:
Redone screenshots. Door was added for scale reference (it is not mine)
Added ground texture.

Alberto Rdrgz

hahahahahaahah tiled textures is your portfolio?

Wombatinahat

hahahahahaahah tiled textures is your portfolio?

Come on man the guy asked for critique. that doesn't help any.

You are looking purely for texture artist work I take it? you need to work on you presentation. i'd like to see the texture sheets as well as an in engine example. and you probably want to get more examples up as five isn't really much to go on. As far as the texture work goes it looks good to me, show some more types of material.

Visceral

I just think you need moore work done. Maybe some full Scenes maybe? Where you are showing off your textures in a working enviorment. And dude dont let the trash talkers get to you, your of to a good start.

chrisradsby

Take a look at others portfolios, then you might get a sense of what needs to be done.

keres

Seriously guys I'm building this up in a way that reflects my current work. I know it's not much right now but it is growing every day, in a week or so I should have a full scene. I have a pretty decently sized portfolio from last year but it simply isn't "me" anymore. If you REALLY require I post the stuff, I can. Otherwise please be patient.

There isn't much of a point putting these textures in a scene if nobody likes them. Why waste my time making them, then putting them into a scene, to have it shot down?

Also, momentarily I will have some architectural renders. My computer is not powerful enough to render such things and I am attending a class that has a server farm on Tuesday this week. If their software is working then, I should have shots.

Shogun3d

Alberto Rdrgz wrote: »

hahahahahaahah tiled textures is your portfolio?

Being a dick doesn't help him out. If he was happy and confident with his work and cared less what others think, he wouldn't have posted it up here.:thumbup:

If you REALLY require I post the stuff, I can. Otherwise please be patient.

Game Studios wont require you anything, and you can't simply give them a few pieces of work and say "Hold on, mind if I email you some more in a week or so?" They will simply pass and move on to someone who's more qualified and a better fit.

There isn't much of a point putting these textures in a scene if nobody likes them. Why waste my time making them, then putting them into a scene, to have it shot down?

There is a huge point in placing textures in a scene. Especially when nobody likes them. This is your time to take criticism and you can either suck it up and improve on your skills day by day and put together something that is truly unique and sets you apart from the competition, or you can just say "meh" and pass. It's your future.

The more your work gets shot down, the more direction you will have in putting together a strong, competitive portfolio. We are all students of video game art, and further progress with our knowledge. You shouldn't be surprised to hear me say that a ton of my work that I do at my studio ends up getting shot down, or revised.

The purpose of showcasing your texturing abilities in a nicely modeled and lit scene is to display how your textures react and appear under certain environment settings and conditions. Understanding lighting is an important aspect to making good textures. Texturing isn't a showcase of photo manipulation or painting, it's about combining several techniques to achieve a unified and balanced look to a scene through shaders, lighting, and modeling.

I highly suggest you take a piece of an environment concept art that you like, and recreate it. Doesn't have to be an entire scene, it can be a mini scene. Just something to showcase quality textures. You may have 100+ textures, but more isn't better and directors certainly don't have time to wade through them. Choose your best, and apply them to a game environment.

Post up a critique of your work when you achieve milestones, from modeling, to applying textures, etc.

With that said, you have some great textures that could really be applied to a great scene if you commit. Good luck!

BlvdNights

No one likes excuses. Your texture work is good, but your presentation is awful, and your attitude isn't that great either.

Like some others have said, you need to incorporate your textures into a scene. I've seen plenty of scenes where the modeling is super simple but the texturing is gorgeous.

Take all the great critiques and advice that's been posted in this thread so far and use it. Also remember, that first impressions mean a lot, especially in this forum.

PredatorGSR

There is rarely if ever a time in production where you will make a general texture just for the sake of it. It is always for a specific purpose, and is created to fit into a scene or prop. Without making it for a specific scene or prop your textures will just look generic because they have no purpose. I don't think an employer would put much value in a portfolio that had a bunch of generic textures, whenever I see just materials I skim right over them. It doesn't matter how bumpy a texture is, what matters is how it fits into the scene and how the scene as a whole looks.

Creating a good texture is just the starting point, what makes a good texture artist is how the scene fits together as a whole. Look at games like Uncharted 2 (they use dedicated texture artists), to see the kind of thing that texture artists are expected to do.