Game characters for portfolio review

briantsang

Hey everyone,

I was suppose to get my work reviewed at school but there wasn't time, so I was wondering if I can get some real artists to critique. Feel free to share your opinion, good or bad. Thanks:)

ev149

Why so many polys in your square bases? It doesn't seem necessary to have that many.

tharle

bit crap of your school not to review your work just cos their isnt time! arent you paying for their service?

on to the critique: firstly i'd say you need to work on your lighting to present your work better - have a search for 3 point lighting setups used in modelling photography. currently your work is looking a little flat and a better dynamic range of values would really help. a good artists tip i've picked up is to look at your work in different ways and make sure it still reads well. eg greyscale, blurred, flipped, silhouette etc.

secondly i'd say you need to work on your anatomy - some of your arms seem a little thin compared to your bodies and you dont always have a good definition of the joint - ie elbows etc. i presume the characters you've modelled are of your own design? is this a requirement for school or your own choice cos i think it would be really helpful for you to focus on some basic human anatomy studies. don't get me wrong, your designs are cool but i don't think you quite have the skill in order to make the fantastical believable just yet.

modelling wise things look alright - maybe a little bit too high poly in places but nothing too extravagant. it's hard to see from your images but you might want to look at edge flow around joints etc - this will help with making your elbows etc more defined and with animation if your models get that far.

textures are a little basic but serviceable. they definitely have that painted in zbrush look rather than the finer detail that is achievable in photoshop. are you using normal maps atm? if you're working with zbrush i'd have guessed you're baking from a high poly sculpt to a low poly mesh but your models dont really look like that. if you're not then i'd research that workflow and, tbh, maybe forget zbrush for now and focus on getting good topology, anatomy and texturing just with maya and photoshop. not every studio will have zbrush remember!

lastly (and this one is much more of a pet hate and totally doesnt just apply to you) i really dont need to see 6+ shots of each model from every conceivable angle. think more about the framing of the shot and showing off the best bits of the piece. your work will look at a lot better because of it and it shows that you have the care and attention to detail to make things look their best.

personally i think your devil is easily your best piece, even if he teeth and eyes are a little too white. you've got a lot of work to do but you've got some good work here too so keep it up!

briantsang

woah, thanks for the critique tharle. I am working on those areas you pointed out, I still have a lot to learn. I am using normal maps, but I think the lighting killed it.

As for the different angle shots, that was the requirement of the class. The instructor says, "the more, the better" including T poses.. Does most employers just look for one or two shots of the character?

Thanks again for the critique, i really needed it.

oh yea, I was using Marmoset to render these.