Realtime VFX Demo Reel
polycounter lvl 3
Hi everyone! First time posting, though I've been lurking around for a while. I'm an aspiring FX artist, and I recently got offered an internship at Airtight Games, so I put together a demo reel of some of the work I've done in the Source Engine (I would have liked to include some Cryengine work, but I wasn't able to get the engine preview window to go fullscreen in the SDK. If anyone knows how I'd really appreciate it!)
DEMO REEL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTDzwr-nvmc&feature=youtu.be
I'd like some critique on my work, especially if you're familiar with particle effects, but even if you aren't that shouldn't stop you from seeing anything that you might think needs changing.
Also, if anybody has any tips for when you're making a demo reel that'd be appreciated too!
EDIT:
Updated the reel, taking everyone's comments into mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JkLFg8r1cg
DEMO REEL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTDzwr-nvmc&feature=youtu.be
I'd like some critique on my work, especially if you're familiar with particle effects, but even if you aren't that shouldn't stop you from seeing anything that you might think needs changing.
Also, if anybody has any tips for when you're making a demo reel that'd be appreciated too!
EDIT:
Updated the reel, taking everyone's comments into mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JkLFg8r1cg
Replies
I'm sorry I can't give you any better critique at the moment, at work so time is limited. I'll pass this thread around though, hopefully others can give you some feedback.
Just watched your FX reel, awesome stuff!
a few thoughts,
* Your TF2 fx are by far the strongest IMO. I think they should go in the beginning of the reel. Start the reel with the sentry gun fx and end it with the bomb cart for example. Cut up everything else into short clips.
* I would cut it down a little, maybe around 2 mins or 2.5. You want to really grab the Art Lead or who ever is watching it and show them your best stuff! A lot of the earlier shots have you showing off environment fx, which look great, but I think the muzzle flashes and explosions are the real gems in your reel.
* I thought the galaxy could be removed.
I'm really impressed with your fx in source! My hat goes off for to you for learning it and making some really sweet stuff!
Lee brought up a lot of good points above here, it's a little too long a reel...like he said, 2-2.5 minutes is a good sweet spot. Think of it like a trailer for a film, where you're trying to keep your viewer (in this case prospective employer) hooked...they might be going through a dozen of these.
Few points...
--I actually thought that galaxy was a real nice show-off, especially when you show it horizontal and you see it has volume...maybe shorten the top view some, turn to side after a few beats and then move on.
--I'd cut back on any explosions/black smoke particles you show where there's nasty clipping happening...I don't know if Source engine doesn't allow soft particles (depth biased alpha blending), where it softens the edge of where a particle card clips with geometry, but those stood out to me real bad.
--Muzzle flashes are awesome, especially loved the little touches like tenth second sparks and the like
--Some explosions I liked, the grenade ones felt more like smoke bombs to me though...I'd carry over some of those smoke fingers shooting out to give them more motion/oomph
--Impacts are great!
One thing that you might help clear up some by taking a cue from the reel Urgaffel linked above...I wasn't really sure how much of the work in these VFX were yours and what was used from elsewhere? Are you painting the textures, building the materials and shaders? Reusing pre-existing materials for new particles? Listing that somewhere, or showing it, would help clear that up a lot. I don't know if it'd be common with other FX guys, but my first thought was "what percentage of this is his versus existing content?"
Hope this helps! Awesome work man!
One thing I'll say is your WWI flame thrower could use another pass regarding motion. The smoke feels very disconnected from the velocity of the flame. You have the right idea, just needs refinement.
@Lee3dee: You think I should put the TF2 stuff first? I'd heard that a good way to lay out a presentation is to put your good work first, your okay work in the middle, and your best work last, but it probably would make a stronger first impression (especially if I've got a shorter reel) if I put it there first. Though the only thing I'm not as proud about the TF2 fx as I am about the other ones is that I was using exclusively the valve-made textures, rather than any of my own (@JParkerRH: I know I didn't address it but simply for information's sake, I did create the vast majority of the textures for those effects. The only ones using more Valve stuff are the TF2 and WWI: Source ones. I could definitely add a little notation describing which one's I did textures for.)
As the others have already mentioned the reel itself did feel a bit too long, I'd say almost twice as long. The parts where you show the environment fx can be trimmed down a bit, you usually only need a couple seconds to show off this type of work.
The explosions are really nice, they've got a good sense of interaction with the surrounding environment, this is something that's easily missed when someone is getting started with VFX. Things like bursting dust from the force of an explosion, decals from the blast damage on the point of impact, and lingering smoke are very important when it comes to these types of effects and you handled it well.
The Misc. FX section has some nice stuff, but I think your reel will be fine without it and its almost a minute you'd get back.
The Vehicle Explosion at 3:30 has a background that's a little too dark, especially when the smoke is up against it.
You picked a really good explosion effect to finish off your reel, its got all the elements you'd expect. If there's anything left to make it feel more grounded to the environment I'd say have some flaming debris pieces that collide with the ground and leave behind some smoldering debris, some can be charred and smokey, and some could still be on fire.
Keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing some CryEngine VFX work too.
VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JkLFg8r1cg&feature=youtu.be