[Portfolio] Bryce Houska – 3D Prop/Environment Artist

ariofighter

Hey everyone.



I have gotten some great info from this site on both past projects and seeing other people grow. We have now come into 2011 and I have been out of school for a year. I have applied for several jobs and haven’t heard back. I know I need to improve, and I welcome the work that that entails. Luckily I am stubborn and want to do what I love, so I don’t plan on giving up. I will keep on practicing until someone finds me a good fit for their studio.



That being said, I am really looking for some help; perhaps maybe even being pointed in the right direction. Where do you see my biggest need for improvement is? I am prepping myself for “everywhere” because those are the kind of crits I have come to love about this website. Everyone here is blunt, but still much focused. I look forward to reading what everyone may have to say.


Thanks a lot everyone



I guess I should post a link to my website


www.brycehouska.com

ZacD

borders, fancy text, logos, color scheme, etc on the site need some work, or removed.

Check out Adam's site, http://www.adambromell.com/

No logo, no formating, any text is plain, and everything anyone would want or need is right there, brief bio, contact info, you could add a resume link.

Matroskin

Well I do agree with Zac about removing logo and fancy frames, but I would say some visual design is good too if it helps reading and understanding thigs easier. Just not to "overfancy" would be enough

Other than that to me in general as a beginner portfolio it is looks like a solid one. I've seen ppl getting hired in the industry with much more basic portfolios btw. The fact that u did not have any reply of course depends where and for which position u have submitted it BUT it does not mean that it is only because of your skill level.

I mean, for Blizzard for example it would not be enough but for most of other studio's entry position (prop modeller for example) it is quite a good match imo.
Well, there's always some portion of luck needed, so don't give up

I noticed sometimes u have extra content inside some "asset page" than what thumb actually shows.
For example, thumb shows only shotgun but in fact u have a case for it and another rifle there. I think that first of all a rifle is cooler than shotty so it could be betetr candidate for the thumbnail. Second, I would suggest to show them both in the thumb. Otherwise ppl might just miss it.

Ok, now actual suggestions on the portfolio content (beside mentioned interface-related).

1) The environment is quite good. Big plus are textures as they are neat and (very important) well balanced in tems of brightness and color. Nice, fairly complex and consistent enviro. BUT the lighting kinda lets it a bit down. Basically it is almost as if it was in unlit mode e.g. almost looks like being lit by one skylight.
Since it is an inclosed enviro it is expected to have more lighting contrast and occlusion.
It should not be very dark (cauz u wanna show it off and not hide in the dark;) but some darker ambience would fit better imo. This image by Rasmus (http://www.razkun.com/) might be good ref for that:
http://www.razkun.com/images/tunnels/content_Tunnels_01.jpg

Next, the building modules (sections of walls) which u show would look better in UDK with their shaders instead of max(or maya) simple render which kinda makes them look worse than they really are in the final scene.

Showing some texture sheets would be good as well.

If you show shader trees then u could explain actually why. I mean, is there any additional feature u incorporated there or anything like that?
Otherwise ppl might ask themselves : "did that guy need to do that complex shader tree just for a simple brick wall?" Is it because u have texture blending or additional adjustment masks that affect final result? U could clarify that on those images

2)I would concentrate more on "finished" in-game assets. Those hi-res vehcles r cool, but imo would be better to have one (tank or train engine) but also in low-poly and textured with normal maps etc. U r definitely able to do that and i think that finished "products" show the beginner's competence better than "stages" like only hi-res (unless u do crazy awesome complex hi-res art like GoW).
Also IF you still want to show only hi-res, then wires can be a good addition because hi-res skill invoves a clean mesh
That is why if hi-res is not your main focus showing it as a part of finished assets applies less requirements on it since its just a "stage" of the whole prop (like in the case of guns or crate).

The demoreel is unnecessary there because firsty it is missing your enviro (a best part) and secondly it is almost the slideshow of same images as u have on the website. Demoreel is totally not required for a job if u have good website and images in it, so i would not spend time on that.

Lastly, the CV.
Remove any experience which is unrelated to to CG, 3d, design or games (e.g. sales etc). Pppl in the industry do not care about that and it just adds "noob" touch to it (not to offend u; it is actually a common mistake so no worries;)

Overall, as I said, it still looks good and I guess seen your good enviro modeling/organisation/texturing I think you could develop more stuff in that direction After all there r way more beginenrs out there with props/guns than the ones who have good looking enviros.

But, an off topic question:P Just for curiosity.
I saw u were in Westwood college. Seen your quite solid works did the college became better recently? Cauz it is kinda a joke subject between many ppl and I've seen some awful student works and it kinda gave an impression of a "fake" education (at least for 3d and stuff). Or you just were learnign yourself in the meantime?

Striff

The lighting in your Boat environment just feels really flat.

Matty_b

Hey Bryce, Artist is spelled wrong on every one of your images in the bottom right corner I'm liking your train and tank but they're not finished! I got told a lot not to post unfinished art because it made me look like I couldn't complete what I started. It also looks awesome just to see the finished product for the viewer! I don't see a lot of references or wires for almost anything, those wires are how studios know how you work. Always post wireframes of everything, not posting almost feels like you are trying to hide something from the viewer! Your lighting is coming off a little flat across the board, its hard for me to tell on some models if there is much of a specular map. I would take a few hours and just fool with the lighting a lot. XoliulShader supports up to three lights for 3ds max shots, try 3 lights 2 directs and an omni light set up for a 3 point lighting system. Also try out rendering with the same light set up once you get it looking great in Xoliul. The Marmoset engine is awesome for taking screen shots! Download the trial and monkey around a bit with it. A good lighting tutorial (I think at least): http://cg.tutsplus.com/tutorials/autodesk-3ds-max/quick-and-effective-game-art-portfolio-presentation-day-1/ Models look nice, I'm wondering if you need all those polys on the grip of your shotty, how does it look with a straight render from the first person view without the ridges just a normal map on a flat surface? I'm not digging the scratches on your shotgun, some have ended up in areas that wouldn't get scratched (nooks and crannies), they also got a bit extreme for metal in some spots. For example you have some extreme scratches that are pulling downwards on the gun, I can't think how that would happen. When you scratch up a surface think of how it would happen in real life. Let the scratches flow, and also drop them on a overlay layer so they aren't so white! The crate looks good already but it can be pushed further. With the crate I would take another look at my specular. Make the metal just the slightest blue, brighten up some of the buttons so they don't blend so much with the rest of the crate. It came out a bit high on tris if its not a major prop, I think it can be toned own without losing quality but its hard to tell without seeing the wires for it. I think it would be cool to have the buttons glow a bit, that's just my own opinion though. Also if it opens I would like to see that as well! The environment looks good but like Striff said its coming off a little flat. Careful with any lights like skylights, they destroy shadows and cast shadows (those thin shadows right under something that are usually the darkest). My best advice here is not to use skylights at all, unless your scene gets super dark and needs to be brightened up and there is absolutely no way to do it otherwise. On your resume move skills above education and below work experience. I would only include your last 3 jobs on your resume. If you have any mod experience add it. Take off your graduation date, they don't need to know how old you are or how long you've been looking for a job they can find that if they want pretty easily. I'm not a big fan of the demo reel either, the music is a bit slow (I like Halo too :P) and its a bit long. I skipped after a few seconds of your tank to see what else was on the reel. I think I would take it down unless you could put together something with wireframes and different types of lighting for your pieces at least. I don't honestly think you need it, your site pictures look good already! All in all things look great, you have the know how and the ability to push your projects further! Keep coming back for more critiques on new stuff, I'm interested to see where you will end up. Thanks for sharing. Forgive my English I'm American.

Matty_b

for some reason it just deleted all my paragraph spaces sorry

ariofighter

Wow, I really thank you for your input. It is nice to get some unbiased, but not blatantly mean feedback.


Here is a list of things that I have gathered from all of your posts, and I will implement in the next 24/48 hours. Longer in the case of the project re-works.



Website/Layout changes



Remove Logo
Remove Demo Reel and Videos
Add images of both shotgun and machine gun to weapons thumbnail
Make all images just images. (Remove border)
Make changes to resume. (Remove Grad Date/Remove non-related exp)


In regards to the resume, if I am working on a small game project for a non-profit is it worth putting in even if it isn’t for money and not completed yet?


Project Changes


Environment – Relight with more prominent light source to create higher contrast in the scene.
Weapons – Re-work Scratches on Shotgun and work on specular map for both
Crate- Add emissive map and rework specular map
Train/Artillery – Complete to low poly game asset

I will make these changes ASAP, and hopefully do my work more justice. I just got a hold of the Marmoset Tool bag, so I will try to set up the models in there and maybe I can come up with better lit scenes.

CJE

It might also be worth nothing that if your trying to get into the game industry, most of your in-game assets are far too high poly. 7000 tri's for a Shotgun? You need to able to show you can make it look that good with far less geometry.

ariofighter

Hey everyone.

I made some changes to my website based on everyone’s suggestions. Is there any chance that I am on the right track?

My link again is: www.brycehouska.com

I also learned something very important about the marmoset toolbag. It helps if you click the use specularity button.

I also would like to show some progress on my relighting of the environment. I have a question about the lower wall segments. It almost looks like the light is bleeding threw the wall segment. I cant seem to figure out why it is doing that. Has anyone else had that problem, or could now how to fix it.

Firecracker197

Your pictures are tooo small :poly115:

ariofighter

Firecracker197: Just so I understand, are you being sarcastic because there not loading or are they really too small? The only reason I am questioning is when you click on the thumbnails those pictures are all 1920x1200. I think the script I'm using downsizes it based on your monitors size though, maybe that's causing a problem.

Firecracker197

No seriously for me they are way small...I'm on a laptop.

If thats the case that might be a problem for people like me who do have small screens, I was thinking to myself "I know I have a small screen but Ive never seen an image that fits inside my screen at full res." You should probably have it not do that, or like everyone said have less of a border so you can take advantage of the screen space as much as you can.

Especially now that I know of lots of art directors have iPads that look at portfolios that way when they are on a lunch break, or out of the office. That is even smaller res than my screen.

ariofighter

Hey again everyone, not that I want to dig up an old thread but I don't think its necessary to create a new one for something I had already needed.

I am working on relighting my environment still with the feedback I have gotten from GDC. I think I'm on the right track but would love a fresh set of eyes.

The originals are on my website. www.brycehouska.com and I might as well post them here. So first will be the originals, then the relights. Any crits on the lighting would be welcomed. Thanks in advance.