I need portfolio help for college admission.
interpolator
The time has come where I finally post my portfolio. Just a little background, someone was concerned about how I was progressing in game art. I promised him/her that I would show that I'm serious about getting into the game industry and thus I would have a portfolio by the end of the last year.
Anyway, I've applied to 2 different programs at a college I really want to get into. One is a 3 year animation course, the other is a 1 year dedicated modeling and visual effects. I really want to do the 1 year modeling but will still take the animation course if I get it.
The 3D animation course has these requirements:
-10 or more art pieces
-A short essay about why you want to do the program
The 3D modeling has these requirements:
- 8 - 10 pieces of your best artwork (digital or traditional).
-A link to a portfolio website
-A Demo/Showreel. via email, website, or DVD
Now here's the portfolio I made:
http://jordannelson2.weebly.com/
Some notes:
-I put "3D and 2D artist" down just for the portfolio. I know portfolios are suppose to specialize in a field (i.e environment artist/prop artist) but it wouldn't make sense when I have stuff like the characters in there. The rest of the website also looks very simple because I'm still learning Weebly.
-The models have no textures. I originally planned to texture them all but it's taking too much time to learn UV mapping so I decided I wont bother for now but instead, work on new art pieces
-I'm constantly updating the portfolio. I actually updated my cartoon goblin 5 times because every day I learned something new and wasn't satisfied.
I don't want to make the same mistake I did before where I didn't get help with my portfolio while applying to college. So now I've come to polycount to get aid.
Anyway, I've applied to 2 different programs at a college I really want to get into. One is a 3 year animation course, the other is a 1 year dedicated modeling and visual effects. I really want to do the 1 year modeling but will still take the animation course if I get it.
The 3D animation course has these requirements:
-10 or more art pieces
-A short essay about why you want to do the program
The 3D modeling has these requirements:
- 8 - 10 pieces of your best artwork (digital or traditional).
-A link to a portfolio website
-A Demo/Showreel. via email, website, or DVD
Now here's the portfolio I made:
http://jordannelson2.weebly.com/
Some notes:
-I put "3D and 2D artist" down just for the portfolio. I know portfolios are suppose to specialize in a field (i.e environment artist/prop artist) but it wouldn't make sense when I have stuff like the characters in there. The rest of the website also looks very simple because I'm still learning Weebly.
-The models have no textures. I originally planned to texture them all but it's taking too much time to learn UV mapping so I decided I wont bother for now but instead, work on new art pieces
-I'm constantly updating the portfolio. I actually updated my cartoon goblin 5 times because every day I learned something new and wasn't satisfied.
I don't want to make the same mistake I did before where I didn't get help with my portfolio while applying to college. So now I've come to polycount to get aid.
Replies
Realistic Eye and Tonia appear like 3-minute drawing. Get rid of em. Drawing of hand is kind of in-between. If you have bunch of hands (like 10 hands) in the same picture, you can call it 'hand study'. 1 hand is kinda meh. Keep the guns.
I'm indifferent about Other/Photography. They don't look nicer than loads of photo everywhere on instagram. Ask others about this.
Well it seems like a decent start, but I do not know which school you are going to. Some want super experienced people others (the most) teach you from start.
But to say upfront, 1 year in 3D modeling is not gonna cut it. You can pull it off if you work really hard in your free time. Being an artist for the CG Industry is a really contested position and you have to excel.
From what I see in your portfolio, if you want a really fast quality boost, look up smoothing groups, they improve your shading a lot - you can even use auto smooth 50 (polygon selection, select the whole mesh and press auto smooth on the right) that will make nearly everything fine with just a press. Currently all your models are smoothing into round shapes.
Also do not write such things in your about page. You clearly do not have those skills described and it makes it look silly.
Write something like "I am jordan from X and I enjoy X and are dedicated to achieve X by doing Y" Something like that.
Also cut the car, the hand, the eye and the deo, the 2 new axes aswell, theyre the worst pieces, and you will be judged by the worst ones. The photo section does not really help either. The 3 last photos are good to show however (achitecture)
Aside, stay active, look up a lot of art from others and check out tutorials like no tomorrow, and it will turn out in your favor
It was 3DS Max.
I only used a standard diffused material and took a screenshot. I imagined the lines were just aliasing.
Do you know any good tutorials for UV mapping? I've gone through 5 so far and I still find it difficult.
I'm applying for Humber College.
I was actually taught in another program to set smoothing groups to one, but I'll try the auto smooth method instead.
For your 3D models, you've only done the first - and easiest - part: creating the model. Applying texture coordinates and then creating proper textures are a critical stage you seem to be skipping. Start with a simple object - crates & barrels are favorites - and create the entire object from model to final render. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it should show a basic understanding of shape, color, and presentation. From what you have, the cabinet would probably be the easiest to map and texture.
Many of your models have serious problems with normals - you can see anomalous dark lines at many points. This is generally caused by bad smoothing groups or extra vertices hiding somewhere.
Some of your basic shapes are off, probably from using a single reference image. On the plane especially you need to understand that neither the leading nor the trailing edges of airfoils are flat & thick. For a very low-poly wings, you can start with a 4-sided cylinder with one point at the leading edge, one at the trailing edge, and the remaining 2 at 25% of the distance between the leading & trailing edges. Increasing the cylinder to 6- or 8-sides and spacing the points out appropriately will create a pleasing shape for aircraft in the 1k-4k range.
Your photographs could use some cropping to help with the composition. The squirrel is a prime example where the primary subject is lost; simply zooming in on the rodent and placing him near the top-right would help focus the image.
Your about section is also too general. There are very few artists who are truly good at everything, and that quality only comes from a combination of innate talent and years of hard work. Figure out what you'd like to do, and focus upon that; once you've mastered that, then you can move on. For now, however, pick ONE thing...
Also, when you claim a skill, make sure you have a sample demonstrating that skill in your portfolio. For UDK, for example, you need to show something you have created in game,
Better. Now, you might want to decide on what to focus on. It helps if you know what you want to do. Usually, it breaks down to (depends on who you ask/talk to. It will vary a bit).
1. Characters
2. Hard-Surface
3. Props
4. Environments
#2 and #3 sometimes overlap each other. But usually that's the guideline I use.
Now, most of your 3D stuff are props, or hard-surface(like the car)(but you're not really there yet). Many of your 2D stuff are characters.(goblin, head plane, pixel art, and Tonia you had before). But most Others you have are Environments (buildings.)
You're spreading too thin right now. Each of those require different skill sets. And you don't have enough time to master them all. Should you focus on anatomy and how joint deforms, or how materials appear in different lighting. Etc. Etc.
If you're interested in characters, then make more 3d characters.
When I didn't know how to do uv mapping or colorize or sculpt, this is what I did with box-modeling. And it's still useless because it's not 'finished'. Don't want you to repeat my mistake.
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/56/43/b5/5643b5110624f7491d2bcaa9afacf34f.jpg
skype : mindgame_z
hope you do well!
I'd disagree with this when it comes to college portfolios. Most colleges want to see that you have a strong foundation in the arts that they build upon; they don't necessarily expect you to be particularly advanced in whatever you're planning on specializing in.
Now portfolios for job applications are a whole different animal.
In addition to what Meloncov said, I'd suggest you add a bit of information about your process for creating each item. You're going to be up against kids with entire books full of working drawings that they've done in whatever the highschool arts and graphics classes are called in your area. If you're going to learn some new things like uving and texturing, write about how you went about that, your trials and tribulations and any working images you can add.
Having been in your shoes before, I feel like I should share my advice in hopes it helps you on your journey. First off, someone mentioned a 1 year program is not going to cut it. That's just silly. I'm an example of that statement being false. However, it was a 1 year program and about 5 years of non-stop self-improvement and dozens if not hundreds of No's before I finally got my first break. Are you up for that? Make no mistake, you have to want it. Bad. Getting a job in the game industry is hard, and keeping that job is damn near impossible now days. Layoffs, studio closures, the big fish eating the small fish. It's not the most stable industry to be in right now. However, if you want it bad enough, if this is your passion, no matter what piece of paper you receive upon graduating, it's all up to you to make this happen. If you're not in this for the long haul Jordan, don't do it. Save your money. A degree or certificate of completion does not automatically equal a job unfortunately.
Assuming you ARE in this for the long haul, I can tell by your portfolio that you are waaaayyyy ahead of me when I was enrolling in a game art program in BC in 2006. I was clueless what I was getting into. Never heard of Maya, never touched Photoshop. And my portfolio submission? So weak. However, if your school is like the one I went to, all they want to see is that you have the basic artistic background needed to complete the course successfully. Meloncov is spot on. I'll add that you also need the character, and the desire to learn. They will teach you the skills you are seeking.
My best advice for you, and a mistake I kept making by thinking too big, keep it small. Simple. Start basic. Start with a wooden crate. Model it. Do the UVs. Paint the texture. From start to finish. I promise you you will learn more by doing this, instead of jumping right in and modeling cars and planes. Once you nail down the workflow, then you start getting into more complicated models.
In your current portfolio, I would toss the car. If you can fix the shading issue on the plane, keep it. GO for quality, not quantity. Like with the photography, the first image is cool. The rest look like basic photos. See if you can get more interesting shots and replace the other four.
I understand UV's are an issue for you. There are a ton of tutorials out there. You use Max but Uving in Max and Maya are similar enough where you can get the basic idea behind it. Try this one as he explains it clearly. I like to look at UV's as a puzzle to make it more fun as it can get pretty mundane sometimes.[ame="
That's all I have for now Jordan. Sorry I wrote so much but your story was similar to mine so I wanted to share a bit of my experience. Best of luck to you. Don't hesitate to come back to Polycount to show everyone your progress.
While I've been waiting to get in to college, I've also been applying to local restaurants. None would take me. The competition is just as bad, maybe even WORSE than the game industry, yet those are jobs that requires less skill than modeling or creating textures.
If the game industry gets me more jobs than all the times I've tried applying to a McDonald's (which has been A LOT), that's just a bonus to me.
I'd also say the situation goes both ways regarding Studios. Studios close but new ones pop up all the time. Especially with the new consoles, you have Microsoft/Sony investing new teams and Veterans too from other parts of the industry are forming new studios. It doesn't have to be a grim picture.
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As for the photographs, I actually do have more interesting shots. The problem is though they come from a regular digital camera as opposed to the ones currently posted in the portfolio that are from a DSLR.
When you press f9 again you will get a much cleaner and nicer looking result for all of your models. This is a pretty basic setting for rendering objects but it does greatly help when presenting your work. You could still include the wireframes in a separate picture to show your polycount and stuff like that too, but showing these renders will really show you take time in preparing your work for show!