Not using a demo reel on my portfolio?
polycounter lvl 14
So there is a thread up in Pimpring and Previews right now discussing how it's almost counter productive to create a demo reel if you have no animations. My goal in landing a job in the industry is either in concept art (obviously no reel) or as a modeler and texture artist.
Since I really won't be having any animations, will employers really prefer that I have no video file for them to view?
Any and all feedback is always greatly appreciated
!
Since I really won't be having any animations, will employers really prefer that I have no video file for them to view?
Any and all feedback is always greatly appreciated
!
Replies
if you dont use animation i think its not really a good move
if you do want some turntables for your 3d work, you can always look into creating a 360 quicktime file. one where you can rotate by draging your mouse. this way the viewer has control over the speed and can easely pause on a frame he likes.
im not going to use a reel when i apply
** + what the others are saying
From what I understand HR people don't like to bother with reels (unless looking for animators of course), if they don't like what they see on your site then it's highly unlikely they will sit and watch a reel.
There are a few exceptions to this, for example if you do a super good job of presenting the most awesome reel ever then people will forgive you, but otherwise it's not worth the time or effort. Images are easier, faster and better in 99% of cases for a modeller/texture artist!
It's a little depressing that I NEED to create a demo reel for my graduation. I'm almost wondering if I should show my department director and senior portfolio instructor this thread to convince them that creating a demo reel for my models and textures would be a hindrance.
I think at most, I would like to create simple 360 turns just so the viewer can get a look but I believe a fully blown demo reel is not worth it.
Any more input from others is always highly valued. Thanks again
I'm also somewhat against demo reels as well (if you are just showing still shots, maybe 360 etc.) it just seems like such a waste of time and effort. I think the only time I would use some sort of "demo" reel, would be when you have a map or something (from an level / environment artist's perception). It would be nice to have a quick video just showing the map off, showing key areas that have either some great lighting, or really nice interactions with particle effects. etc. that really brings the area alive. I can say this as well about characters, if you did take time to do maybe a cool little animation / idle animation (and its actually worth showing) then MAYBE show this, but I say group it in with the piece itself, so the employer doesn't have to watch a 2 min demo reel, he or she can just play a short clip (if they want do) while still providing them beauty / breakdown shots on your website.
Napples napples napples and so-forth.
If you're just doing it as a requirement it's easy to just burn a dozen .jpgs and quick turnaround vids on cheap cd and call it a reel. They taught you how to burn disc in your school, correct? Pick slideshow in your image browser if you need to demo it in front of your class or instructors.
If you want fancy menus, there are freeware dvd authoring apps out there for that if you don't already have it installed as a default tool in your pc/mac. Just pick a template to your liking, select your files, burn to disc, done.
You can even download demo versions of Premiere or After Effects if you feel like being fancy with the editing of your video (pad it with a long credit/thank you list if you want to annoy your teachers
Do teachers find that annoying or are they the ones encouraging students to put that there in the first place?
But seriously a site should be just as good when applying but I totally understand why they're asking for reels, they are a lot easier to critique, knowing exactly how long each one is.
Students probably won't get AS carried away with as many unimportant details or "cleaver" navigational options like they would a website. I'm sure there's still quite a bit that can distract them but really for an assignment that's probably the easiest way to review them and make sure all the content is seen within a reasonable amount of time.
But yea unless you're going for animation or special effects, its probably a waste, other than you should render to raw frames (probably TGA) so you can also use still shots in your folio.
Sad thing is, they're being told that that's what they should be doing. It's different in film, yes, but many aspects carry over when it comes to general peeves.
No, they're not telling us to make VHS tapes :P
I also see where you're going with demo reels being an easy way to critique student work. I probably will be very serious in showing them this thread. I don't want to waste my time on something that can potentially turn employers away.
My school is pretty good about focusing on us being a highly marketable person, so I'm not too worried about it.
I'm glad I was directed to this. Thanks, Haiasi-san.