Portfolio critiques wanted

julieperron · May 2014

hello,

i would love to get your feedback on my portfolio.

I want to make props and environments mostly no characters. I would like to know what i should remove in the portfolio to make it stronger and what pieces are good but need to be fixed a bit but still have potential.

If there is anything that would be added that would make things better please let me know by images or just ideas of what to make.

www.julieperron.wix.com/portfolio

Thank you i really need your help

Ghostman511 · May 2014

IMO you should simplify things even further. Forget about a home page, and all those sub category pages. When your page loads up a nice large thumbnail of each of your pieces with a link to further pics of each piece embedded in the thumbnail is the best approach. The first thing I did when your page loaded is try and click on a picture in ur home page. Keep a separate contact page if you want but make all of your work instantly accessible.

Hope this helps! Your work is looking good, keep at it:)

stevston89 · May 2014

I wouldn't worry about site layout until you get higher quality art in there. Right now everything is very flat, has a lot of noise, and has no materials definition/ specular response. It doesn't matter what you remove or how you reorganize things the work you have just isn't industry standard yet. I would really recommend getting up to date with PBR workflows as well. Sorry for the harshness.

Ervin · May 2014

It looks like you understand the basics, but your work lacks over all quality, especially when it comes to textures. Take a look at some of the work professionals have done and figure out what you need yo do to make your work more like that.

JamesArk · May 2014

I'm no master, so keep that in mind, but here's my thoughts. In terms of art:

- Work on giving your models more interesting silhouettes. The buildings in the medieval village scene, for example, are all very simple and it makes them just look like a box with a triangle on top of it.
- Your diffuse textures seem to be either very simple and flat or very busy, both of which make them less realistic. There also seems to be a lack of realistic normal map details/edges, so a lot of your stuff has very sharp, unrealistic edges.
- Some stuff seems to be rendered only in 3DSMax? You should put it into an engine or real-time rendering software like Marmoset.

For the portfolio itself:

- Condense Environments/Level Art/Props all onto your Home page and get rid of the individual pages for each.
- I would remove everything except FinalScene.jpg and the Stone Houses scene. Also give FinalScene.jpg a real name

- The layout is kind of inconsistent between different props/environments. Clicking on the Tower of Time brings up a different layout than clicking on any of the other environment stuff. The presentation between various things also uses different fonts/borders/etc... so try to make that all uniform.

julieperron · May 2014

I do not think any of these replies are harsh, i need help and that is why i ask. Now please can you tell me what is PBR workflows i would love to know.

I do lack alot in texturing and i need to get better also at doing this and i will.

For the website i will reorganise it when i have new material and more critisism on what i need to remove ( weakest pieces) and what should stay, even if nothing should stay i need to know.

Any help is really appreciated, i struggle to get interviews and i need your help please.

stevston89 · May 2014

All of the next gen engines ( that I know of) are moving to a PBR ( Physically Based Renderer) engine. It's basically a more accurate lighting model. Currently the only PBR engines available are Marmoset Toolbag 2.0 and Unreal Engine 4. You can learn more about PBR here http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124683. Also both Marmoset and Unreal have very good documentation on their websites.

julieperron · May 2014

i actually did use marmoset for a couple of the renders of my portfolio, i have not used UE4 as of yet. The tower and the axe are rendered in marmoset 2. Does anyone else have any critiques or things that might be good for me to learn in order to get better.

stevston89 · May 2014

Well let me ask this first. Are you more interested in doing handpainted work or next gen work?

slosh · May 2014

I will have to reiterate that before you worry about the layout or organization of ur site, worry about what you put in it. Right now, none of your stuff is going to help you get a job. The quality is simply too low. You obviously have some basic knowledge and the foundation is sound. Now you just need to challenge yourself and push yourself to make something that looks really good. Start with one prop...but not something like a barrel. Choose something interesting, like a military vehicle, or a nice weapon, basically something mildly complicated. Model an efficient model and then do a highres mesh...either hardsurface model in maya/max or sculpt it in zbrush. Next, move onto lowpoly and do PBR texturing. Old school methods of color spec are becoming largely outdated. Move to PBR where you have a albedo(diffuse with zero shadowing or lighting information), normal maps, metalicity maps, and roughness maps. And once it's textured, light it well in something like Marmoset Toolbag 2 where the materials read as close to real as you can possible get it. ALWAYS use tons of real world reference and pick a few 3d assets that other artists have created as a comparison point. The gaming industry is INSANELY SATURATED. If you're work isn't hitting that bar of being the best or close to it, you have no shot of getting work.

julieperron · May 2014

Stevton89 i am looking to do more next gen work, i am not really good at texturing but i tried with my 2 hand painted pieces in my portfolio

Slosh. thank you for your input it is really interesting. I will definitely do another prop that is more complicated. i need to get better and i will do my best for sure.

snoops3d · May 2014

I would suggest picking a prop and focus entirely on recreating that prop to the best of you ability. Make it a prop with plenty of reference. You need to train your eye to see details that your not used to looking at. I did this when I first started out and it help me tremendously.

julieperron · May 2014

is there any challenge on this group that i would benefit from doing for video games that i could put on my portfolio once completed

Nosslak · May 2014

You could join next months noob challenge. In the past it's mainly been focused on doing full environments but they're including individual prop work as well now.

julieperron · May 2014

Sounds like a great idea i will for sure check it out, any other challenges that can help me.

slosh · May 2014

Challenges are great ways to get feedback and work on something new. On the other hand, I think some people rush to finish within the time limits and end up with something mediocre. Whatever you choose to do, make sure the end result is truly awesome. With each asset you do to your limits, it will just get better and better. The key is to not stop at a mediocre point and say,"eh, good enough," and move on.

julieperron · May 2014

great advice slosh, thanks alot. Wether i finish before the end of the challenge or not i will only put the great quality on my portfolio. And for sure the more i do the better i will get.

Portfolio critiques wanted

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