Needing some advice

ZacD

I know "polycount isn't your blog" so I'll try to keep this short and impersonal, hoping some of it can helpful for artists a similar situations. But I feel its important to my situation to explain where I am in life.

I've been doing 3d since Highschool, flash games before that in middle school, and I was always into the backgrounds and scenery more than characters or animation. I graduated high school with mostly a photo-real product design looking stuff portfolio and then got into game art. I started posting here, got an internship at a local animation studio working on an iPhone game but that never really went anywhere while taking some traditional art courses at my local community college. My parents had move to Ohio due to my fathers work, so I basically had to get a full time job to stay in Kansas with my partner. Currently I'm working full time at a call center and trying to work on my portfolio on the side to land a game art job.

I've always liked environments and props so I decided to keep up with my strengths (and I've always heard its easier/less competition for those jobs).
I'm currently at the point where I just need to polish up everything I have and then start sending my work out. Yesterday was the first time I really every tried sculpting a face, I hope I'm not taking too much pride in my work or became too attached to it, but I feel like a did a great job and I really enjoyed the process.






My question is this, is it worth it to start investing time into character art now? or should I hold off on it?

If I finish the bust, and make a low poly for it, should I include it in with my environment work or make an extra page for it? or just put it in my back pocket for now? is it possible to use character work to market myself as a generalist?

I know there's some obvious finishing up and polishing I need in my portfolio, but after that, am I missing anything? or would I be fine applying for entry level positions?

BrontoThunder

If you want to be an environment artist spend your time working on environments.

That bust probably isn't worth keeping around - it's below the standard of your other works and you know the rules for portfolios and showreels;

Start with your awesome work, then your amazing work and finish with your incredible work.

Also, I'm currently sitting in that exact same chair.

Alberto Rdrgz

Hey Zach, I think your building is missing a trim at the top, something to add to the arches.
And on the character question, i wanted to make a character as well but since i'm working on an ENV artist
portfolio i decided to make it a statue. I think thats one way to get away with doing characters as an environment
artist. But, just focus on getting environments done and flex ur modularity muscles.

ZacD

@Alberto, I actually ran out of texture room for it XD I re worked the UV's a bit and made it work though. I'm working on cleaning up those textures a bit, do a height map + crazy bump for a quick normal map, and adding decals to help with the repeats.

I also decided to normal the head, because I'm still having some troubles normal maping in 3ds.

Alberto Rdrgz

Yeah, dood bringing some of that green from the bottom, to the top will round the piece of nicely.

shawnell3d

keep it up

Lucas Annunziata

If you are interested in both characters and environments, you could always incorporate the characters into an environment as statues. Kinda what I'm in the process of doing. Granted the low poly work will be different because they won't need to support deformation, but the sculpting will be quite similar.

ZacD

Before I re-bake some stuff, does this scene need anything else to look finished in udk? cause right now, just the front looks too flat and unfinished to me

Sean VanGorder

I would say do one of two things for it. Either add some some clutter and roadside props to make it into an interesting street side scene, or use the modular pieces you have already to construct a full building.

ZacD

Better?

ZacD

ZacD

smaller tree, better material, otherwise I'm slacking

chrisradsby

Nothing is stopping you from doing both, I do both but be sure to level up one particular area to a professional level before you start investing anymore time in the other areas. Environment Artist stuff is easier to get a junior position for.

Good work and good luck

[HP]

Remember, being specialized in something, makes you valuable.