{Portfolio}- charlie williams -Environment/Prop artist

cb!

Hey Poly count !

Its been a while since i have Posted my portfolio here , but I wanted to get fresh eyes on it . Ive been in the industry a while now and I am looking for a new studio home. To make that next step up .

So Ive redone my whole website added alot and taken away a bunch of work . Less is more right
So lets hear what you think and if theres any thing i need to take out or put in etc... you guys know the drill .

So here is my new site :

http://cargocollective.com/charliebwilliams

Lucas Annunziata

First thing I notice when I open up the site is how tiny the thumbnails are for your different sections. This opening page is the first thing that people will see, so you're gonna want to do everything you can to interest people in clicking on those sections. The fact that I even have to search for a second to see find your name is also a big deal. This is YOUR website, brand yourself. Doesn't have to be anything schnazzy, just let me know what your name is.

As far as your low poly models go, you've got some really cool stuff there, but I think the images are a tad small. Either make em bigger, or just allow me to click on em for a larger image. That full screen slideshow thing is annoying, and I didn't even realize it was there when I first scrolled through. Remember, 50% of people will leave your site within 0-30 seconds,
and another 25% within 2 minutes. That isn't much time, so you want to make things as easy as possible.

The high poly models section...doesn't look all that high poly. If they weren't explicitly in that category, I wouldn't know. I'm still seeing a lot of 90 degree edges.

I like the breakdown of the assets in the textured section, but it'd be nice to also so an example of the modular pieces fitting together. I'd cut the images of the shaders as you're not doing anything fancy, just adjusting the textures within udk.


Overall, the work is pretty nice, but I don't see why it needs to be sectioned off the way it is. They are all buildings, so if you just through all your images on the entry page, then had your about me/resume section as another, you'd be set. The less clicks someone has to do, the more of a chance they will see more of your work.

Good luck on finding a new studio.

cholden

Normally, people bitch because portfolios don't have construction shots. You, on the other hand, don't have an renders, in game screens or beauty shots. Almost all construction. With that in mind, you're just not presenting your work at it's final quality which is a HUGE detriment to the layman and common producer reviewing portfolios.


The high poly section is a bunch of boxes. I don't really see anything high poly unless you count turbosmoothing some shapes.

All your images are super thumbnails. Give me them full res! That full screen button ain't cutting it.

Ditch this About page, and present a legit Resume. It's so disorganized I can't find anything. I mean, you're listing all these positions and credited titles, but where is any of that work? Nothing is labeled, and to be honest, you present yourself as a fraud. Everything sounds so legit, but the content or organization just isn't there.

Normally, professionals organize work from specific projects so we can understand and correlate the portfolio with the resume.

cb!

darbeenbo wrote: »

First thing I notice when I open up the site is how tiny the thumbnails are for your different sections. This opening page is the first thing that people will see, so you're gonna want to do everything you can to interest people in clicking on those sections. The fact that I even have to search for a second to see find your name is also a big deal. This is YOUR website, brand yourself. Doesn't have to be anything schnazzy, just let me know what your name is.

As far as your low poly models go, you've got some really cool stuff there, but I think the images are a tad small. Either make em bigger, or just allow me to click on em for a larger image. That full screen slideshow thing is annoying, and I didn't even realize it was there when I first scrolled through. Remember, 50% of people will leave your site within 0-30 seconds,
and another 25% within 2 minutes. That isn't much time, so you want to make things as easy as possible.

The high poly models section...doesn't look all that high poly. If they weren't explicitly in that category, I wouldn't know. I'm still seeing a lot of 90 degree edges.

I like the breakdown of the assets in the textured section, but it'd be nice to also so an example of the modular pieces fitting together. I'd cut the images of the shaders as you're not doing anything fancy, just adjusting the textures within udk.


Overall, the work is pretty nice, but I don't see why it needs to be sectioned off the way it is. They are all buildings, so if you just through all your images on the entry page, then had your about me/resume section as another, you'd be set. The less clicks someone has to do, the more of a chance they will see more of your work.

Good luck on finding a new studio.

Cool Thanks for your comments this is anew site so ill look into organizing it a bit better So that people see my images clearly and as soon as possible . I do think im able to update the image size even more in order to show the work better I render alot of those peices out at a high res will see if i can get the the thumbnail size bigger also .

cb!

cholden wrote: »

Normally, people bitch because portfolios don't have construction shots. You, on the other hand, don't have an renders, in game screens or beauty shots. Almost all construction. With that in mind, you're just not presenting your work at it's final quality which is a HUGE detriment to the layman and common producer reviewing portfolios.


The high poly section is a bunch of boxes. I don't really see anything high poly unless you count turbosmoothing some shapes.

All your images are super thumbnails. Give me them full res! That full screen button ain't cutting it.

Ditch this About page, and present a legit Resume. It's so disorganized I can't find anything. I mean, you're listing all these positions and credited titles, but where is any of that work? Nothing is labeled, and to be honest, you present yourself as a fraud. Everything sounds so legit, but the content or organization just isn't there.

Normally, professionals organize work from specific projects so we can understand and correlate the portfolio with the resume.

Hello chris


Thanks for you feed back , I will definetly look into getting my pdf version of my resume up . You have brought some interesting points about my website and this will help me re label and organized my website. As far as the work on the website goes I kind of scaled down my work since my last site and tried to put up peices that showed off more of the type I work i want to do . Based off you comments I will look to get more mudbox/ zbrush models in the high poly section and more models that are finished and render out in realtime etc..

The organization of the site in more of a project form could be done with some of my older work but i found that since alot of more recent work was more nintendo wii res the screen shots from the engine i have from work are not the best quality which was a glaring issue with my last shot . Or there was time where I didnt get all the work(at the best Resolution ) that ive worked on at the 2 other studios in the past.


With all that being said I do appreciate the critique although I do want to clarify that I am not a fraud (lol) And that Im sure colleagues hear on polycount that know me can attest to that . The only reason I feel the need to say this is so many times when people use that word in association with artist it tends to be a big deal . I can asure you my creditials are legit ,

One thing i didnt mention was my old site which has alot more of my work from previous studios here it is

www.charliebwilliams.com


With that said given your background as a lead from looking at your site chris I will look into a better way to get my PDf resume on the site so thats more clear .

My old site has a link to my pdf resume i welcome you to check it out ,

And if this new layout you think that Im hiding something i certainly dont want that .This makes me think that then the format needs to be address to better to represent the resume on the new site ... and i guess ? add the Crappy Res jpegs from my old previous professional work maybe in a archieved professional art section .

Just seems like that would be alot of work to try and show so that my resume seams legit ? I always figured that you put more relevant work forward like the cinematic work or the layout and the texturing work I did and the various test or personal projects that show more up to date work.

When Applying at a companies this last year that does more high res or "next-gen" material seemed to always flock to my personal section on my old site and all the psp or wii work i did or Dora work etc.. didnt really care to see it .


And the issue that you alluded to bothers me a bit/ confuses me also being a instructor also i tell my students to put your best work up to represent you. Now as a professional as you go threw your carreer when is it ok to take off old work and present new work in a portfolio setting i figure listing it in resume was enough .

Anyway thanks again I do appreciate it although I am a bit concern now, but check out my old site to see more of my older professional work .


ps. linkedin profile :
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=7673982&trk=tab_pro

Amadreaus

I'd also avoid posting any textures that are obvious cgtextures.com photosources. Good rule of thumb, if you're gonna post tiling env. textures, they should be a touch more custom.

cb!

Amadreaus wrote: »

I'd also avoid posting any textures that are obvious cgtextures.com photosources. Good rule of thumb, if you're gonna post tiling env. textures, they should be a touch more custom.

Thanks Ill keep that mind also good point

cb!

*bump for more views

jeremiah_bigley

you don't seem to have much content...
And I don't understand the "old website." I am not going to say anything about the old website because I don't think you would/should do that to an employer.


And the bit of texture work on your new website is bare because you have those modular brick and window sections that look like they were ripped straight out of this 3dmotive Tutorial.


Overall you could just use more

Computron

Your textures page has textures straight from a 3d motive DVD and the cracked wall looks a lot like phillpk's material tutorials...

ES_139

they are pretty similar but they are not straight from the 3d motive DVD I know the picture that has been used to make that texture, but I agree the layout and the overall feel is very similar. Its obviously the same workflow but its his own work maybe he should credit the tutorial though I don't know bit of a grey area....

Computron

If there is any doubt it will most likely be off putting for anyone looking to hire you...

ES_139

do you think? even though the techniques that he has learnt from the tutorial were used to create his own piece?

to play devils advocate though I see what your saying and because it is so similar to the tutorial it might not be the best move to put it in your portfolio that your going to be sending out to employers.

danjohncox

My feeling on that 3d motive style piece is that it uses the idea almost exactly the same way. not really trying anything new with it. Also since it's not built into a new scene at all either. If you wanna use that new technique, try taking it further. Its the fact that the setup is almost the exact same, but not better or more creative, just derivative. It becomes more problematic when you see the philip k texture too as that looks almost 95% purely copied. It does make me wonder if there is anything else in here that's been heavily copied. And thats never a feeling you want to create

cb!

danjohncox wrote: »

My feeling on that 3d motive style piece is that it uses the idea almost exactly the same way. not really trying anything new with it. Also since it's not built into a new scene at all either. If you wanna use that new technique, try taking it further. Its the fact that the setup is almost the exact same, but not better or more creative, just derivative. It becomes more problematic when you see the philip k texture too as that looks almost 95% purely copied. It does make me wonder if there is anything else in here that's been heavily copied. And thats never a feeling you want to create

I do see what you you guys are saying , But i do use cg textures alot to grab photo reference from . So to answer the questions of the 3d motive tutorial i can apply credit to that as far as the pipeline choice . Thus the layout is similar but as far as the photo source that credit goes to cg textures which is what 3d motive used I tried to find similar texturesthings like the windows and what not are from the same set on cgtextures . But if this is is a problem it can easily be removed and if there is more of a problem with the uv layout being similar that can be changed as well .

Computron

Just don't put anyhting in your portfolio that is any bit similar to a tutorial. Just don't.

ZacD

Computron wrote: »

Just don't put anyhting in your portfolio that is any bit similar to a tutorial. Just don't.

^Following a tutorial is great for doing your first project similar to it, but it doesn't show that you learned anything or know the concepts or ideas presented in the video. My suggestion would be do something similar, but different enough it wouldn't be viewed as just following along with a tutorial.

cb!

jeremiah_bigley wrote: »

you don't seem to have much content...
And I don't understand the "old website." I am not going to say anything about the old website because I don't think you would/should do that to an employer.


And the bit of texture work on your new website is bare because you have those modular brick and window sections that look like they were ripped straight out of this 3dmotive Tutorial.


Overall you could just use more

The old site is just that my old site it shows alot of my work that Ive done at other studios . The point of posting it was in reference to another poster reading my resume and not seeing that work reflexed which my original interntions were to update my site and try to add some new things to it show that i can use unreal(udk) or navigate around one of the industry standard engines ones ive used in the past have been specific to the company. This is the main reason showing the texture setup and the unreal shader pics

The phillipK tutorial is a great and i have viewed it and used his method there to create the broken rock but it is not his files so if its to confusing
then that to can be changed and another rock study can be easily created.
I just tried to simulate the same out come but i guess its two similar



Now as far the two websites go the www.charliebwilliams.com is my older site and my newer site is www.cargocollective.com/charliebwilliams On my older i have alot of older work so and I found some employers asking more about my personal section which had alot of what you see on the new site then the old wii art I did at my last job.

Also sadly enough the last place I worked screen capture tool was not the best so all the in game shots i have came off blurry and not at a high res . So i was attemptign to trim down withthe new site add some old things and put new studies and personal work on this new site with some re render level layouts i did and things of that sort .

I was trying to trim the fat so to speak . And based off intial feed back not having all those old " blurry " images came off as if my resume was some how not totaly truthful so i posted the old site to show older work and for comparison on the new layout and choice of work shown . Sorry if it confused .

cb!

ZacD wrote: »

^Following a tutorial is great for doing your first project similar to it, but it doesn't show that you learned anything or know the concepts or ideas presented in the video. My suggestion would be do something similar, but different enough it wouldn't be viewed as just following along with a tutorial.

Yup I hear ya I thought by finding different textures and tiling them and what not I was changing it enough . Great point . Ill change that ASAP .

cb!

darbeenbo wrote: »

First thing I notice when I open up the site is how tiny the thumbnails are for your different sections. This opening page is the first thing that people will see, so you're gonna want to do everything you can to interest people in clicking on those sections. The fact that I even have to search for a second to see find your name is also a big deal. This is YOUR website, brand yourself. Doesn't have to be anything schnazzy, just let me know what your name is.

As far as your low poly models go, you've got some really cool stuff there, but I think the images are a tad small. Either make em bigger, or just allow me to click on em for a larger image. That full screen slideshow thing is annoying, and I didn't even realize it was there when I first scrolled through. Remember, 50% of people will leave your site within 0-30 seconds,
and another 25% within 2 minutes. That isn't much time, so you want to make things as easy as possible.

The high poly models section...doesn't look all that high poly. If they weren't explicitly in that category, I wouldn't know. I'm still seeing a lot of 90 degree edges.

I like the breakdown of the assets in the textured section, but it'd be nice to also so an example of the modular pieces fitting together. I'd cut the images of the shaders as you're not doing anything fancy, just adjusting the textures within udk.


Overall, the work is pretty nice, but I don't see why it needs to be sectioned off the way it is. They are all buildings, so if you just through all your images on the entry page, then had your about me/resume section as another, you'd be set. The less clicks someone has to do, the more of a chance they will see more of your work.

Good luck on finding a new studio.

Great Points !!

That makes sense , Ya know I had a hard time grouping them and I guess I didnt need to at all . Its all environement work makes sense . Thanks alot :thumbup:

Two Listen

Didn't you already quote and respond to darbeenbo's post on the 22nd of October?

cb!

Two Listen wrote: »

Didn't you already quote and respond to darbeenbo's post on the 22nd of October?

oo right in my effort to respond to everyone i got mixed up on the post "eek" sorry about that . My mistake ..