Moral Question about modeling for portfolio

Vulcan4770 · Mar 2015

Hey Polycount.

When working on a project for a portfolio is it considered "OK" to use the male Ztool in Zburhs to build upon?

For example, I'm working on a Hero and it will be unrecognizable in the end, I just don't want to spend time modeling another male body. ( I have a original female body that I'm trying to finish for future). I sometimes feel guilty like I'm taking a shortcut but I don't know if in the end it should be an original base model.

What are your thoughts? Thanks.

Kwramm · Mar 2015

for the folio: if the final work, i.e. what you build on top, conveys that you could just as well have modeled your base, because you have the talents and skills, then it should be fine. If you have other pieces in your folio of comparable quality and type, which are all made by yourself, then this shouldn't be a problem.

at the job: people use base meshes and shortcuts all the time. It's often even desired.

Vulcan4770 · Mar 2015

Thanks for your thoughts, here's my portfolio. http://forrestreidbailey.com

I think I can pull it off using the short cut.

RubberDuck · Mar 2015

Kwramm wrote: »

for the folio: if the final work, i.e. what you build on top, conveys that you could just as well have modeled your base, because you have the talents and skills, then it should be fine. If you have other pieces in your folio of comparable quality and type, which are all made by yourself, then this shouldn't be a problem.

at the job: people use base meshes and shortcuts all the time. It's often even desired.

If I am not in the industry yet, is it advisable to avoid this kind of practice till I am employed?

Kwramm · Mar 2015

RubberDuck wrote: »

If I am not in the industry yet, is it advisable to avoid this kind of practice till I am employed?

When hiring a modeler I want to have confidence that you can create the sort of artwork in your folio, from zero (concept) to 100% finished. On the other hand I also want to see that you're not a "one hit wonder". All your folio pieces taken together, have to show that you can handle every stage of the creation process with confidence. If your folio covers that, feel free to take shortcuts for additional pieces.

As a beginner you definitely want to practice both. Doing everything is a good training to just nail down your personal workflow. Focus on this first.

Taking shortcuts, which do not sacrifice quality, help you to optimize your own workflow and help you to practice and plan your assets/asset-parts for reuse.

Popol · Mar 2015

I think that taking such shortcuts does more harm than anything when you are still new to character art. By looking at your portfolio it's obvious that you have still a lot to learn about anatomy and by using a basemesh that you haven't made you are skipping some very important basic knowledge and in the end your final model will look bad because you haven't learn the basics.

I consider that when making a portfolio piece you should always try to improve yourself, especially when you are a beginner. So just make the body from scratch. Yes, it's a little bit more work but that way you'll become a better artist.

JacqueChoi · Mar 2015

Just make your own base-mesh from scratch that you keep on reusing.

That way there will be absolutely no doubt.

Noren · Mar 2015

If you do, and it's a central piece of your portfolio, mention it.

skyline5gtr · Mar 2015

Like others have said, beyond the morality your not doing yourself any favors by using it. Start from scratch and force yourself to learn

Odow · Mar 2015

It's easy to hide shit with cloth, people wanna see if you can do anatomy right, not if you can hide ugly legs with the longest skirt. I think it's really important for a character artist to nail anatomy before doing anything else.

Vulcan4770 · Mar 2015

Thank you for the feedback everyone.

kanga · Mar 2015

Thoughts are divided on this. For me if it is a commercial job then I will kit bash the crap out of any of the stuff I have made myself just so I can provide the best result in the least time. For personal projects I like to start from nothing because it forces me to look at the base again and again. Also starting from zero is part of the fun, no?

slosh · Mar 2015

I think taking shortcuts at work in a fast paced env is fine as you need to get stuff done quickly. For personal work, don't take shortcuts...its just better practice to resculpt anatomy over and over. After you get to a certain point, most people have basemeshes they like to reuse. I have several male and female basemeshes that I use to start with. But I always tweak proportions and resculpt the anatomy...keeps me honest and I enjoy it.

Moral Question about modeling for portfolio

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