Some feedback on my Portfolio and work pls
polycounter lvl 2
Hey guys,
I finished my school of 3D Animation & visual effects in Decembre '13
and I focused on modeling and texturing (In my freetime drawing and painting.)
I know its difficult to do the first steps in this industry, especially here in Germany, so i think its a good start to ask you gyus about feedback on my portfolio and my work.
Portfolio: http://www.rowenafrenzel.com/
Say what you think, give me feedbacks, critiques, tips and trick. Anything would be very helpfull for me. You only can grow when you fail, right.
Games and Art are my passion and i definitly want to improve my skills on a higher level. I don't have so many experience with game stuff so i need some help with it.
Questions:
- How does my portfolio look like. Is it okay or to boring? (I did it all by myself with basic html knowledge)
- Do I need more stuff to show and which?
- Do I need better painting skills for textures?
- Is it better to have rig, animation skills too? (because i'm not so good at it)
- I love to create creatures or animals, but i definitly should do characters, vehicles, Props too right?
Thanks for taking the time to help me.
(hope my english is not to bad hehe)
Thumbs up for you and a big thanks for any help.
____________________________________________________
Edit: I redesigned my portfolio, so thanks for all your help ;]
I finished my school of 3D Animation & visual effects in Decembre '13
and I focused on modeling and texturing (In my freetime drawing and painting.)
I know its difficult to do the first steps in this industry, especially here in Germany, so i think its a good start to ask you gyus about feedback on my portfolio and my work.
Portfolio: http://www.rowenafrenzel.com/
Say what you think, give me feedbacks, critiques, tips and trick. Anything would be very helpfull for me. You only can grow when you fail, right.
Games and Art are my passion and i definitly want to improve my skills on a higher level. I don't have so many experience with game stuff so i need some help with it.
Questions:
- How does my portfolio look like. Is it okay or to boring? (I did it all by myself with basic html knowledge)
- Do I need more stuff to show and which?
- Do I need better painting skills for textures?
- Is it better to have rig, animation skills too? (because i'm not so good at it)
- I love to create creatures or animals, but i definitly should do characters, vehicles, Props too right?
Thanks for taking the time to help me.
(hope my english is not to bad hehe)Thumbs up for you and a big thanks for any help.
____________________________________________________
Edit: I redesigned my portfolio, so thanks for all your help ;]
Replies
First things First!
Well I think the most important thing that will help you the most is to remember the phrase, "Quality over Quantity". You only need 3-5 REALLY stunning pieces/scenes/assets in your portfolio.
Because when someone looks at your work, they are going to judge you based on your WORST art work.
That being said, I would take out everything that is out dated. And Take out anything that doesn't hit the definition of "Stunning".
Like the things I would get rid of are:
-ANYTHING School related.
-Any none stunning Things like the Fantasy Train, and the Tiger etc.
Your Portfolio should tell the company 2 things.
"This is what I am best at."
"This is the Quality of Work you will get from me".
Now all that being said the Shrine is your best piece. I'd say put some extra work into it, finish up the rock texture and slap some Next Gen techniques on it, and you will have 1 asset for your portfolio. Now make 3-4 more cool assets!
!!!!!IMPORTANT!!!!!
Also I suggest picking an area of expertise. Character? or Hard Surface? Don't do both. you can sneak some character stuff in your hard surface. But don't try to make a character unless you are amazing at it.
The goblin is nice, you have potential, but its not of professional quality.
Keep up the hard work, and you will be working in the industry in no time!
If you have anymore questions let me know.
No No i definitly WANT to hear those things.
Okay first the school stuff. yep i think you are right. that put my other pieces down. If anybody want to see my school stuff they can ask about it, right. So away with it.
What do you mean with Next Gen techniques?
Really? I thought a modeling artist need to do hard and organic modeling. Because when you can do more things you have a higher chance in the industry. Or i'm wrong?
By Next-Gen tech I mean, Bump Maps, Zbrush Textures, AO maps, show us some awesome modeling and Normal-map bakes. And show us some process! I was told by a friend/old mentor that showing how I got things done helps a lot! It shows that I have good work flow.
Take a look at my portfolio: http://briantrochim.carbonmade.com/
Its not finished by any means, and I'm really trying my best not to toot my own horn. But you want that quality of next gen. You want that level of Detail!
Notice how I hide as many hard edges as possible with my Normal maps, and Triangulation. Most of those scenes are just flat planes! I'm serious!
And for a Direction. Yes you want to be able to do both. BUT ONLY when you are a MASTER! You need to pick a direction so you can focus on that and be the best you can be at it first! I have some character stuff, but I am not proficient at it. I am a hard surface guy first, organic second. But as you can see, I have put a lot of work, and practice in, to do the characters I have done. But only after I became skilled at hard surface stuff first.
So you need to decide which you want to do. Character? or Hard-Surface?
Here is my Philosophy for starting in the industry (hopefully it pays off):
I only have school experience I am not a professional By any means!! And Technically I am your competition. So ask yourself: How do you compare to me? Is your art work as good? If the answer is no. You got work to do.
Anyways as always I'm here if you need me. or if you prefer you can send me a PM if I don't respond.
Ah okay i know what you mean with next-gen tech now.
yeah...i think i need a lot of work and my answere is...sadly no. But its a nice philosophy.
In my school i only do quad modeling, not tris so i need practice in it. how it works correctly and so on.
Did you paint the texture all by hand or in zbrush? I paint in mudbox but thats not so good i think you should do it in ps or in another program, right? But i dont find many tutorials about it.
Ah okay i know what you mean with the area you choose. Mhh.. i think i like more organic modeling because i like creature, characters etc. I must think about it.
Maybe i should redesign my portfolio a little bit. Need more focus on my work.
So nice of you for your help. This motivates me. :]
Right now I have to just navigate through a web of links and such to get to your work, including small icons and such. Not trying to be rude at all, just all constructive criticism. There is a bunch of info already in the threads found on Polycount about portfolio creation and presentation tips that you can easily access with some searching
Remove bio and contact page, replace with single Resume/CV page. Having it hidden as a download at the bottom of the bio page is bad form.
You need a single portfolio page. Again, more hidden content issues. As it stands from site > 3d art > another list of thumbs before seeing content. Content FIRST, and again that giant header is forcing the work down, not being to focal point of this site. "Hidden Gate" convenient name. I also agree to remove the school stuff. Anything that's unfinished, WIP, etc. has no place in a portfolio.
I really like RailbladerX's site as example. You click it, and it's just 3 nice, big thumbs of work that go to large images with full breakdowns. See how his NAME and position are clearly started at the top? I don't even know your name as it's written in some silly font graphics.
In short, I'd wipe this site, replace it with nice big thumbs of your 3d Art, and a single link to Resume/CV. I'm very anti-about pages. Only thing employers want is to see what you CAN do, and your experience. Personality is what the interview process is. The last thing you want is anything about yourself that can be misinterpreted or prejudged halting the process
And here's your required reading http://www.jonjones.com/2005/10/07/your-portfolio-repels-jobs/
I reading the site. Very helpfull!
1 click for 3d art
1 click for each project (thumbnails are too small)
taken to a gallery of kinda small thumbnails
Another click to enlarge image (have to do this for each one).
The recent models show potential, but what is really lacking is texturing. It looks like you never made a texture that is not polypainted, (im sure you did that but thats not the point) it clearly looks like the weakest point to me
Choose what you like, it looks like you can choose between character and environment, but you really gotta push hard and deliver a lot of content, competition is fierce ; )
yay i have a basic html knowledge so i can do a simpler site, thats no problem. If that doesnt work i keep that site in mind!
uhh jep... the textures i made are only done in mudbox, but i have some problems with it. Maybe it works for creatures or skin but definitly not for other thinks. If anybody have a good tutorial site for painting texture, that would be nice. I dont found many thinks.
Is it better to have digital painting skills? I think i must improve this for a better looking texture.