Env Art Portfolio Question - LOD
polycounter lvl 6
I am currently building my environment artist portfolio.
My goal:
12 pieces with a good layout like this:
http://www.clintoncrumpler.com/
My question(s):
Is it worth having LOD breakdowns? (if so, should it only be for 1~3 pieces?)
breakdown examples:
All of these are created by Brandon Nobbs from
http://brandonnobbs.blogspot.com/
Any suggestions to create a great environment artist portfolio are highly appreciated. (even if it is not related to LOD) Thank you.
My goal:
12 pieces with a good layout like this:
http://www.clintoncrumpler.com/
My question(s):
Is it worth having LOD breakdowns? (if so, should it only be for 1~3 pieces?)
breakdown examples:
All of these are created by Brandon Nobbs from
http://brandonnobbs.blogspot.com/
Any suggestions to create a great environment artist portfolio are highly appreciated. (even if it is not related to LOD) Thank you.
Replies
Generally, LODs aren't that important and most artists go for "eye-candy" over performance. Showing that you are aware of LODs and know how to make good looking ones quickly, is very welcome. However, doing it for every single asset might be a waste of time both for you and the guy reviewing your portfolio.
With that said, setting out to do an epic "12 piece" portfolio is a gurantee for failure, especially true if you're a beginner. If you are a beginner with no industry experience or anything to showcase in your portfolio, my advice is to just have fun and create without an "epic portfolio" in mind. Start small. Very small.
A 12 piece portfolio itself isn't. Setting out from scratch to do 12 pieces is a recipe for failue. You'll get too bogged down, lose interest, and give it up. Or get into a rush and end up with 12 half-assed pieces.
2-3 great pieces is much more attainable.
Because you're not going to be able to do 12 really really good pieces. You'll end up with a shitty portfolio.
Quality over quantity.
3 solid environments > 12 average environments
12 good enviros = not gonna happen
If you want to show technical workflows, maybe show some material or lighting setups.
I don't plan on creating 12 environments.
My plan right now: But not necessarily in order
1) full scene (a diorama focusing on lighting, props, composition, and consistency)
2) vehicle
3) building exterior (modular pieces/textures)
4) organic model
5) hard surface model
6) mechanical model
7) plants/shrubs/vines (practice with cards)
8. natural landscape (outdoor environment)
9) realistic texture (tilable)
10) pbr texture/render (a prop using pbr)
11) hand painted texture (a model with possibly tilable texture)
12) prop
I will showcase breakdowns for some of them as well. Or would it be best to have a breakdown for each piece?
How long do you think you think it will take to complete those 12?
Yes this would be the "ideal" portfolio that anyone would love to have as it show everything. But NO ONE has that portfolio. That is an insane amount of work and you will find it hard to make even 1 great environment.
I would rather see 1 fucking kick ass/balls to the wall/jaw dropping environment and like 2/3 unrelated props than a few meh/ok environments and a lot of crummy props.
As for the original question about LOD's. Yeah I think there great to include in your portfolio. You are applying to be a production artist and at a TON of studios you will indeed be making LOD's. Demonstrating in your portfolio that you know how to do some of this technical work will set you apart from other artists who just know how to make things pretty.
I would only do 1 thing with LOD's as thats all you need to show you know how to make good LOD's. Spend the rest of your time making sweet art porn. But yeah, its a benefit for sure.
If you're just learning about environments and you're trying to get a job. Just 1 env alone is probably going to take 13 weeks.
Also, you should be using PBR for all of your pieces.
size of the piece
attention to architectural detail
interesting composition/lighting
weathering
by Antoine Galanti:
by Scott Homer:
Try and nail one item at a time. You don't want to be caught up thinking about your next six projects before you've even started the first one.
I am trying to figure out what I should have in my portfolio before applying to game studios. I am currently a graduate (for about a week now) What should be my minimum be if I do not have a scene? (also wouldn't a scene like this be necessary?)
http://gregdalessandro.weebly.com/
3 things to note:
a) I am drastically changing the layout
b) I am getting rid of the female model and Peter Dinklege (they were placeholders for my Portfolio class)
c) I plan on texturing/rendering the building I already made. (it was also built with modular pieces)
Also I'd personally advise you to just do a couple of very polished props. Unless you're very passionate about creating environments. A diorama is a good compromise. A lot of aspiring artists (including me!) set out to create big environments and either can't finish them or the quality of the assets ends up being sub-par due to the scale of the project. Or sometimes they don't even start because they can't figure out the best way to do things.
Yes,but having several props FIRST will give you a taste of how hard/easy it is for you to create small projects and complete them.
I got my job before I had a real environment in my portfolio. Just show you can do great work, and then the details matter less.
Setting yourself too high visual target will make the process frustrating and you'll end up hating what you do because nothing you do will look good enough, until the very last moment when you put the post-process filter on. Chances that you will have a final high quality piece is very slim because you will have given up way before then. It takes experience, a good process and a good eye to be able to reproduce something like that without giving up. Or you have insane work ethics
If you're honest with yourself, have you put yourself 110% in everything you've done up to this point? If not, then chances are, you have normal work ethics like the rest of us, which is to say, it's super fragile and requires a lot of mental effort to get through.
I know it LOOKS easy, because you know every step how to recreate the image. But it isn't. Start small. Make crates, fire hydrant, weapons, wheel, barrels, tv sets, make the really mundane easy stuff. If it's fun, then the quality will show, because you want to push yourself.
I really want to help you, so I'm not trying to attack you, just saving you from a very expensive lesson.
Question regarding direction:
Would it be better for me to create props for my portfolio, or to create sculpted tilables like this:
https://lazaruz.carbonmade.com/projects/4493279
He is a very talented artist.
Basically, show that you can texture a prop super nicely. But if it doesn't have a wood or a stone in it, you could do those as tileable sculpts/textures. That way you demonstrate that you can create a asset start to finish, but you also have the ability to create a variety of textures.