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[Portfolio] - David Finlay, Vehicle & Environment Artist

Hi everyone!

I updated my site with some new environment work and was told I should post here since I am currently looking for freelance work. Below is a link to my work. Critiques are always welcome!!

MY PORTFOLIO

Replies

  • ZacD
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    ZacD ngon master
    I don't see any pics...
  • dfinlay
    ^^ images moved to first post ^^
  • ES_139
    nice models, really good vehicles man.
  • doeseph
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    doeseph polycounter lvl 7
    Wow, you've got some great vehicles. Your lighting/render setup looks to really bring out your work as well. How long have you been modelling, and what draws you to modeling vehicles over characters/environment?
  • dfinlay
    Thanks guys.

    @doeseph: I have been modeling cars since 2003. The reason for that is I am a big time car nut. I love cars, old and new, and love taking them from a single cube to driving 120mph down a street in a video game ;)
  • Thegodzero
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    Thegodzero polycounter lvl 18
    Very nice and clean! Well done!
  • dfinlay
    Thanks, Brandon. Hopefully I can find some work...its been a few months with no luck, unfortunately :(
  • ZacD
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    ZacD ngon master
    I didn't realize I had to click personal and professional work, I was expecting images to load underneath it. You might want to underline the link or something, I just thought it was gray text.
  • dfinlay
    Thanks for the input. I added text above the links so hopefully that clears things up.
  • ZacD
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    ZacD ngon master
    Lol that works
  • pliang
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    pliang polycounter lvl 17
    I've seen this before, I think Valkyie may be still looking.
  • bluekangaroo
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    bluekangaroo polycounter lvl 13
    those car interiors are awesome
  • dfinlay
    Thanks for the comments, guys.
  • Jeff Parrott
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    Jeff Parrott polycounter lvl 19
    David! How you been man? No longer in San Diego? Welcome to PC. Sick vehicles as always man.
  • Ged
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    Ged interpolator
    fantastic cars are those realtime renders or hypershot or something?
  • Spark
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    Spark polycounter lvl 18
    David, I dropped you a pm, so let me know what's up. Great work, and looking forward to seeing more work down the road:)

    Spark
  • dfinlay
    @jeffro: Not much Jeff, just looking for work to keep me busy. I'm going crazy here in the Midwest! ;) I left Cali Feb 2009 so I could be closer to my family in Kansas City and work from home doing freelance work. Thanks for the compliments, sir.

    @Ged: Thanks Ged. The interior shots are all real-time, but the full cars are rendered in VRay for Maya. They are all built at current-gen racing specs though. All of the cars in my professional section are real-time (except the yellow Renault Trophy, which is VRay in Maya)

    @Spark: Thanks man. I'm replying to your PM now :)
  • dfinlay
    I added a few new images to the top. Just playing around with compositing a little :)
  • DrunkShaman
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    DrunkShaman polycounter lvl 14
    Amazing car model Dfinlay thanks for sharing :)
  • BradMyers82
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    BradMyers82 interpolator
    Really nice work man. My only crit is you should make it extremely clear how each one is rendered. If its real-time or not. Because to be honest it means so much more if its in-game. I noticed you mentioned that a few were in game on your site. But like I said, you should make it much more clear.

    Good luck on the job hunt! With all your experience its only a matter of time. :)
  • dfinlay
    Really nice work man. My only crit is you should make it extremely clear how each one is rendered. If its real-time or not. Because to be honest it means so much more if its in-game. I noticed you mentioned that a few were in game on your site. But like I said, you should make it much more clear.

    Good luck on the job hunt! With all your experience its only a matter of time. :)

    Hey, thanks for the input man! I definitely see what you mean. I am making a new layout for my site now, so I will make sure it is much more apparent which is which.

    Thanks again.
  • qartar
  • dfinlay
    qartar wrote: »
    Needs more cowbell.

    haha nice. Yea, I haven't ventured over to the military side of things yet. I like clean, shiny things :poly124:
  • bbob
    Great stuff, no critique from here..
  • roosterMAP
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    roosterMAP polycounter lvl 12
    dude, that looks insane!!!!!!!!!!
  • dfinlay
    Thanks you guys! Im working on an environment now :) It's vehicle overload on my site at the moment..
  • frubes
    Hey dfinlay,

    This looks to be a mix of game res models and high end shaders/rendering if im not mistaken?

    I noticed that you are using Vray and that a lot of your renders have an uneven noise distribution, especially in the shadows. You should look into using a linear workflow to even out the noise in the darkest areas. Theres plenty out there on that type of render setup but if you want to know what im talking about i would be happy to help you out.

    It would be interesting to see your shader setup too, i think your car paints are a little fresnel'y and could probably do with a coat material to give them more depth. Are you using a vray blend material with a glossy coat?

    Anyway, good luck finding work soon.
  • zerafian
    why are you not a turn 10 working on the next forza. Saw your still months back and looks just as good now as it did then.
  • dfinlay
    They must not have any spots open...I contacted them months ago and never got a response back :(
  • dfinlay
    frubes wrote: »
    Hey dfinlay,

    This looks to be a mix of game res models and high end shaders/rendering if im not mistaken?

    I noticed that you are using Vray and that a lot of your renders have an uneven noise distribution, especially in the shadows. You should look into using a linear workflow to even out the noise in the darkest areas. Theres plenty out there on that type of render setup but if you want to know what im talking about i would be happy to help you out.

    It would be interesting to see your shader setup too, i think your car paints are a little fresnel'y and could probably do with a coat material to give them more depth. Are you using a vray blend material with a glossy coat?

    Anyway, good luck finding work soon.

    Are you AIM/ICQ etc? I would love to chat with you about VRay. I am still used to Mental Ray but have been reading a lot of tutorials on rendering with VRay. I agree about the noise in all of my renders :poly122:

    And yes, all of the images (except the red bull plane and yellow renault) are in-game screenshots in the professional section of my work. All of my personal work is rendered using Mental Ray or VRay (mainly VRay now..).

    Lets chat sometime when you get time.
  • frubes
  • dfinlay
    I just added an environment piece Im working on right now. Did you guys see the luxury garage condo on jalopnik? Luxury Garage Condo

    I just had to model it :D

    The render settings are low, I know :) It's about 4000 triangles now. I still have a lot of little details to add tonight..
  • dfinlay
    More updates! Environments mainly and a couple new car renders. I am currently looking for freelance work, so please contact me if interested!

    Thanks,
    David
  • P442
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    P442 polycounter lvl 8
    dude, you should probably put an example of your work on the home page, cause I sat there for a minute waiting for it to load an image. I'd probably go with something from Red Dead, however, the images you've provided look as though you photographed the television. You really need renders of your work and not just screens of gameplay.
  • dfinlay
    The images on the first page are updated. The post tonight was essentially a bump :)
  • dfinlay
    Just another update :)

    Cheers!
    David
  • Shrike
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    Shrike interpolator
    Good stuff, but there is mixed quality in my opinion

    Your archviz screens all have things that dont work in it and are all
    in the uncanny valley, and archviz lives from photorealism.

    The first screen has really bland furniture, strange lighting and that photoshopped
    part on bottom totally destroys the scene by making everything else really low level

    The second looks a lot better, but there is so much noise. Noise from your renderer and noise from your objects, visual noise. Theres too much going on. And if you take such close shots, dont make hard edged rectangles as objects

    third and 4th have problems aswell, the roof, the water thing , the scale of the bath, the photo background

    You make some places really intense dark which is really hurting the images in general and makes my eyes hurt, dont abuse the contrast too much with this black and ultra glary white

    Best example is that outside shot, the sun would never ever let something like that happen , or the inside of the car

    Also why make the interior things so edgy, if you do such high poly models then dont spare those 50 polys for that stuff if you plan making close up shots

    Leave the last image out and do a new render of the bike, it drags you down else
    The cars look really nice and your materials are pretty good i have to say
  • peanut™
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    peanut™ polycounter lvl 18
    cool stuff, i like.
  • dfinlay
    Shrike wrote: »
    The first screen has really bland furniture, strange lighting and that photoshopped
    part on bottom totally destroys the scene by making everything else really low level

    What part do you say is photoshopped? The work in progress shot, right? Everything in there is modeled and textured. Just minor CC in Photoshop..And I haven't added any furniture to the first shot yet..It's just an empty kitchen right now :)
    Shrike wrote: »
    The second looks a lot better, but there is so much noise. Noise from your renderer and noise from your objects, visual noise. Theres too much going on. And if you take such close shots, dont make hard edged rectangles as objects

    Noise noted ;)
    Shrike wrote: »
    third and 4th have problems aswell, the roof, the water thing , the scale of the bath, the photo background

    What problems do you see with the roof. I'm assuming you mean the roof render that's 700 triangles? Or do you mean the ceiling of the bathroom renders? Water thing? Not sure what you mean here, other than possibly the sink in the bathroom renders or the faucet for the bathtub? Oh, and the bathtub is scaled correctly with the room. The windows are just lower than normal and the ceilings are tall, which kind of dwarfs the tub in some respects. It does match up to the photo I was trying to re-create so I am happy with it, scale-wise that is. As far as the photo of the trees in the background goes, I see what you mean. When I did this render I did not have a library of trees. Now I have Forest Pack Pro, so I should probably go back and make that update to the scene :)
    Shrike wrote: »
    You make some places really intense dark which is really hurting the images in general and makes my eyes hurt, dont abuse the contrast too much with this black and ultra glary white

    I tend to add more contrast than desired. I am working on breaking this habit :)
    Shrike wrote: »
    Best example is that outside shot, the sun would never ever let something like that happen , or the inside of the car

    Are you still talking about glares here? Not quite sure what you mean here.
    Shrike wrote: »
    Also why make the interior things so edgy, if you do such high poly models then dont spare those 50 polys for that stuff if you plan making close up shots

    What interior things? Interior pieces on car interiors or environments?
    Shrike wrote: »
    Leave the last image out and do a new render of the bike, it drags you down else
    The cars look really nice and your materials are pretty good i have to say

    You don't like the 1098?! :P Oh, and just to clarify, it's just a Maya viewport screen grab. No rendering on this one.

    Thanks for the crits, Shrike!
  • Shrike
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    Shrike interpolator
    sorry for not being clear enough about the subjects

    I mean the floor looks photorealistic while the rest doesn't, and that drags down the credibility of the rest

    I meant the ceiling, but in general the lighting is really strange , the faucet looks really unrealistic per example and your wall texture is like just white, and the transistion between the ceiling and the wall doesn't sell

    For the outside shot, you have this really insane black shadow which is something the sun would never create, and you use way too dark shadows on your other images aswell. Same with the brightest spots, they are totally overtoned.

    The car interior with the round peripherals has really obvious edges. If you do an offline rendering, then make these round atleast

    The model of the 1098 looks good but if you put a screengrab among renders you drag all the rest down with it
    The skyline interior would need an overhaul aswell, its really not on par with the rest lighting wise
  • dfinlay
    Shrike wrote: »
    sorry for not being clear enough about the subjects

    I mean the floor looks photorealistic while the rest doesn't, and that drags down the credibility of the rest

    Gotcha. I will make sure to improve those areas as I finish them. I appreciate the feedback, man.
    Shrike wrote: »
    I meant the ceiling, but in general the lighting is really strange , the faucet looks really unrealistic per example and your wall texture is like just white, and the transistion between the ceiling and the wall doesn't sell

    What makes the faucet look unrealistic to you? It's supposed to be a brushed nickel. My wall is just a white vray material with a very low reflection glossiness to give me very broad, general highlights. I do not have a subtle bump on the walls, which I guess could be something to add to it just to give it a little more texture. Is that what you were thinking?
    Shrike wrote: »
    For the outside shot, you have this really insane black shadow which is something the sun would never create, and you use way too dark shadows on your other images aswell. Same with the brightest spots, they are totally overtoned.

    Yea, this one I went a little overboard on in regards to post work, heh. The raw render had blue shadows, but I see what you mean. I will fix this when I get to it. Thanks
    Shrike wrote: »
    The car interior with the round peripherals has really obvious edges. If you do an offline rendering, then make these round atleast

    Gotcha :thumbup:
    Shrike wrote: »
    The model of the 1098 looks good but if you put a screengrab among renders you drag all the rest down with it
    The skyline interior would need an overhaul aswell, its really not on par with the rest lighting wise

    Gotcha. Thanks, man :thumbup:
  • Drav
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    Drav polycounter lvl 9
    excellent website man, good colour combos.

    The work is awesome too, been watching your wireframes for years!

    however Id agree that if youre making game res cars, present them in a game engine somewhere in the detailed breakdown pages.

    Oh just one more crit, I think the vehicles are MUCH stronger than your enviros....the uncanny valley was a brilliant phrase someone used.

    Cool site tho, thanks for showing :D
  • David Wakelin
    Wow great collection there;

    I myself have also modelled an S7 - may i ask what materials you used for that nice render? Ive only used mental ray so far and the difference between your vray render is phenomenal!
  • dfinlay
    Drav wrote: »
    excellent website man, good colour combos.

    The work is awesome too, been watching your wireframes for years!

    however Id agree that if youre making game res cars, present them in a game engine somewhere in the detailed breakdown pages.

    Oh just one more crit, I think the vehicles are MUCH stronger than your enviros....the uncanny valley was a brilliant phrase someone used.

    Cool site tho, thanks for showing :D

    Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate the compliments as well :)

    Your GP Bikes screen shots look great, by the way :thumbup:
  • dfinlay
    Wow great collection there;

    I myself have also modelled an S7 - may i ask what materials you used for that nice render? Ive only used mental ray so far and the difference between your vray render is phenomenal!

    Thanks, David. It's all just basic shader setup for a majority of the pieces. It's just in a studio lighting setup with one light pointing "into" the interior (for specular highlight purposes).

    Thanks again!
  • Dibbz
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    Dibbz polycounter lvl 4
    I'm interested in those Vray renders. Is the foliage yours? If so that is some awesome work.
  • dfinlay
    Dibbz wrote: »
    I'm interested in those Vray renders. Is the foliage yours? If so that is some awesome work.

    The trees are from the library that comes with Forest Pack Pro. I have a few freebie trees too, but I'm not sure if those are being used in there or not. I don't think they are..
  • dfinlay
    You worked on Red Dead. Great Job!

    Thanks, man. Even though I only worked as a terrain artist on Red Dead, I still learned a lot from it and would definitely recommend working for Rockstar. It can be a grueling job, but it's worth it just seeing the game on the shelves in stores :)
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