John Valenti (Environment Artist) Portfolio

aajohnny

Hey,
I am John Valenti, and I am 18 years old ( just turned it in fact ) and I have been modeling/texturing for around 7-8 months. I been trying to get my foot into the gaming industry as a 3d Environment/Prop Artist, and I need some advice and input from you guys.

Portfolio: http://www.aajohnny3d.carbonmade.com

I took out some of my older works on there.
What type of stuff should I put in there? and what stuff is good and what stuff isn't?

I also should ask advice from you guys. I have the chance to work at a very good indie studio, I am working close to the Art Director who is a close friend of mine, and they have a chance to get published and all that, but I have an art test there and I am kind of struggling. Should I step back from working on teams for now and just make my portfolio? or should I try and take advantage of this and learn from this and put this stuff in my portfolio?
I don't know if this is a once in a lifetime thing, but maybe some advice from you guys?

Thanks,
John

c0ldhands

I can sincerely say that the stuff you have there dude dont hold up to applying to major studios. If you have the opportunity to work with someone that already has industry experience and someone you can learn from and grow then now is your time. Work on your skills and portfolio besides work. Its hard ass balls to get your foot in the industry right now, did you consider further education to improve yourself?

dekorkh

I think your work is excellent for having only done this for 7/8 months! Think twice before going to school for this stuff... they're all borderline criminal enterprises, imo.

Regarding advice, don't make your decision based on whether you think they have a chance to get published or not and also whether you struggle at it or not... Do the thing you would enjoy most, and at that thing - go dominate! Best of luck, I think you're gonna be epic a couple years down the road.

sltrOlsson

Looking at you work I see that almost, not all, work is very unoptimized.

On this shield you have used the 2th subdiv from Zbrush i guess? That's a big no no, in most cases(!), in game art. And for such a simple object their is no excuse for not doing a new lowpoly You'r UV unwrapping is a bit so and so to. You'll have some stretch and stuff on the shield atm for example.

I say have a look at some the Eat3D tutorials, that's some really good stuff! Like the pillar vid and the next-gen texturing techniques..

It's great that you have the possebilety to get into doing games early on, but don't put to much pressure on it. If it's okey for the team, ask for pieces you can do in you own time. Op, need to go from work, pop in later

LMP

if you go to a school, (for the purpose for getting a 4 year degree, anything else just isn't worth it), it would probably be wisest to go to a more general university, where you would pay less, and get a broader education, and keep working on your skills as you do that.

aajohnny

Thanks guys,

@ c0ldhands I am majoring in Graphic Design at my college right now, I go there for free because my mom works there, so I am taking advantage of that.

@ dekorkh Thanks man, I really appreciate that! that is the stuff that keeps my going.

sltrOlsson That is my older work. The newest stuff is the military radio and the steampunk backpack. Should I take the shield off? thanks for that crit btw

Matroskin

Agreed on previous comments.

Definitely if u can work on some team project why not giving it a try.
If not your friend's indy project, then some MOD. Up to u.

I presonelly think u won't need to go to a school seen what u alredy know. I myself learned stuff without any school, and I would say what u have now has good a potential (considering it was done in 6-7 months).
I am not really a fan of taking a 4-year univesity 3d/game/CG program cauz if it not for diploma only. If not for diploma, then from what i saw in some cases it will be a waste of time.
The porfolio is definitely lacking stuff right now.
You may need to work on tweaking existing stuff based on previous comments, add some small enviros (a room, a basemenr or corner of warehouse for example).
The barn thing is the only one u have for "work" section. If u make a separate section then its better to have some more content in it of course;)

And don't forget the CV btw

Matroskin

oh, and as a minor detail, make sure your renders r clear enough. stairs and pillar r quite hard to read.
Backpack is a good way - gray BG and lights r bright enough.
Btw, imo the designs of your own kinda not really good, so for your portfolio u could rather concentrate on using existing references. Realistic is easier to start with btw.
For example your backpack has good texturing but its design lets it down (looks like anything but backpack) :P

Envart

Your models need better presentation. Move away from the funky backgrounds and work on displaying them better, the pillar is rather poorly lit.

Did you create hi-poly for the radio? If so, show it, if not, you need to learn how to do that. I think you need to work on more complex models, everything is rather square right now.

Maybe work on a small scene or a complicated object like a large building. Your texturing could also use practice.

Keep it up mate

aajohnny

Thanks guys, I will definitely take this advice to heart. The steampunk backpack was from a reference actually. I should like you said start showing High polies and references, ect. Thanks for that!

looprix

There are a lot of talented modelers in the industry that are self taught so you do not absolutely need school. The computer is just a tool. But you do need to learn/understand basic design principles, which can be found in books. I say go for the indie job and keep practicing your skill. Your 18 trust me you have lots of time. Just never stop perfecting your art and you will be fine. You'll get knocked down from art tests but just get right back up.

As for your portfolio developers these days are looking for detailed high-poly models that can be baked easily...

Good luck.

aajohnny

Thanks looprix.

sltrOlsson

Had to run from work in the last post, sorry about that :P

So yeah, if you can work on the indie project, go ahead. But don't stress you work, it's better to put a lot of time, planing and effort in every single object you do then just do alot of objects in the shortest possible way. In the beginning anyway.

As mentioned, the presentation of you work is really lacking. Like the black backgrounds, NO NO! And for now, take away the work you aren't happy with. The portfolio should show you absolute edge of skill. But then, if you work on that indie game and what not you won't need it for a while (:

And for education. I guess you'r from the states? I have no idea how the schools are there, so i can't really argue about that. But for me, school have really helped me improve, allot. I had about the same skill level as you before school, and i went to a school for 1,5 years (really intense education) and now i'm finishing it up with an internship that is 6 moth long. So if you thinking of moving to Sweden for an education, well you are in the right spot Though seriously speaking, an education isn't always all bad

Take a look at sampsons work. He's self thought, tough is looks like he's studying now.. I think he's 19 or 20..

I my self if 20 and it's always fun to see new young guys like you coming in to the fine art of game art creation

aajohnny

Hey guys,

I added a new high poly section for high poly assets only... comments welcome

http://www.aajohnny3d.carbonmade.com

aajohnny

hmm nobody as usual?

Laughing_Bun

You should just post the image right in the forum. Your pillar is pretty boring.

timwiese

Is the hi poly pillar based off of a real world item? I am wondering because I find it kind of strange that an all stone pillar like that would have trim that run down the edges that also made of stone. Also they terminate before reaching the base which makes them look tacked on and not part of the actual pillar.

I think you have potential you just might not be basing enough off of reference.

You could learn a lot just by trying to match something as closely to a reference photo as possible.

aajohnny

Laughing_Bun wrote: »

You should just post the image right in the forum. Your pillar is pretty boring.

Thanks.... No I changed my sites layout a bit too. Not just adding a boring pillar.

aajohnny

timwiese wrote: »

Is the hi poly pillar based off of a real world item? I am wondering because I find it kind of strange that an all stone pillar like that would have trim that run down the edges that also made of stone. Also they terminate before reaching the base which makes them look tacked on and not part of the actual pillar.

I think you have potential you just might not be basing enough off of reference.

You could learn a lot just by trying to match something as closely to a reference photo as possible.

Thanks and I based it off a concept so idk if its actually real lol.