Final block out show reel, This is the last part for my personal portfolio development one, hand in copy will be better quality video unlike seen in this video. as it is a block out show reel I only wanted to capture what I intend to show on my actual show reel set, so using concept art and block out models to show camera movements. For this short camera movement I used UDK Unreal editor, as you can see the movement can be quite jittery at times for my final show reel these will be smooth camera actions, using set camera animation which I need to further my knowledge in to really show of my chosen environments, For the Turn tables I used Marmoset I found this is a great tool to see my assets in real time without having to export and upload various file types into a game engine this allows me to see wire frame, real time lighting and also allows me to apply all texture maps develop, I will continue to use this in my final show reel as the simplicity and ease of use allows me to show the viewer my asset breakdowns from textures to overall geometry creation.
Final Exit Plan
Short term - Time at University
This will be a short overall plan on what I hope to accomplish in the time I have left before I finish university, I will cover short term to long term design and development process' these will vary depending on time constaints and actions took.
As previously noted during my blog my last and next semester I will be working on two projects both which are give me a chance to work with 3D environments and enhance my overall skillset, So I will keep development of these two to the fullest of my ability as I hope to use these in my portfolio.
Both project should increase my skillset and give me more of an understanding of 3D environments the development of both will be consisted over this semester but for myself personally I want to focus overall on my actual degree and make sure I come out with the grade intended.
During my Christmas break I will be working on written work for my independent studies project in the hopes this will give me much more time to focus on the actual 3D aspect being the environment. I will also try to design a simple starting point for my online portfolio (Website) having this in place will also give me more time to focus on my 3D work.
Long Term - Post Graduation
Once I have finished University I plan to take one year out to focus on my portfolio, As I current stand I am not fully confident within my work and want to better myself before attempting to join a studio, as said before I will try and produce two very good environments from my last two projects, as I want to focus on the overall degree, this may not be to the quality a studio will look for, Taking a year out and just developing my already skillset will give me a better chance of having work of value. I will continue to refine my online portfolio to a state of professional standard.
Curriculum Vitae
I will work on a CV which is suited to my chosen job role (Environment Artist), Presentation should be easy to read while being informative, the reader should clearly understand what I plan to accomplish and my objective this will allow them to fully understand my specialist skill and what art department I should be working in.
I will make sure not to overload the reader with useless information and only priorities my skills and experience relevant to the company/studio in questions, speaking about personal experience and how it could help the chosen studio, All skillets and programs should be listed allowing the reader to take note of my capabilities e.g. 3D modelling, high poly, lighting.
This will be a short overall plan on what I hope to accomplish in the time I have left before I finish university, I will cover short term to long term design and development process' these will vary depending on time constaints and actions took.
As previously noted during my blog my last and next semester I will be working on two projects both which are give me a chance to work with 3D environments and enhance my overall skillset, So I will keep development of these two to the fullest of my ability as I hope to use these in my portfolio.
Both project should increase my skillset and give me more of an understanding of 3D environments the development of both will be consisted over this semester but for myself personally I want to focus overall on my actual degree and make sure I come out with the grade intended.
During my Christmas break I will be working on written work for my independent studies project in the hopes this will give me much more time to focus on the actual 3D aspect being the environment. I will also try to design a simple starting point for my online portfolio (Website) having this in place will also give me more time to focus on my 3D work.
Long Term - Post Graduation
Once I have finished University I plan to take one year out to focus on my portfolio, As I current stand I am not fully confident within my work and want to better myself before attempting to join a studio, as said before I will try and produce two very good environments from my last two projects, as I want to focus on the overall degree, this may not be to the quality a studio will look for, Taking a year out and just developing my already skillset will give me a better chance of having work of value. I will continue to refine my online portfolio to a state of professional standard.
Curriculum Vitae
I will work on a CV which is suited to my chosen job role (Environment Artist), Presentation should be easy to read while being informative, the reader should clearly understand what I plan to accomplish and my objective this will allow them to fully understand my specialist skill and what art department I should be working in.
I will make sure not to overload the reader with useless information and only priorities my skills and experience relevant to the company/studio in questions, speaking about personal experience and how it could help the chosen studio, All skillets and programs should be listed allowing the reader to take note of my capabilities e.g. 3D modelling, high poly, lighting.
Show Reel Story Boarding and Development
This is my final part before my actual block out show reel, I decided to make a quick plan of what I intend to convey within my show reel, I will be using concept art which I plan to use for my final year projects as spoke about previously, As these are planned for future development there is not anything of physical value to use within my block out show reel but this will allow me to produce exactly what I intended when I have finished development for these projects. All images will be annotaed explaing camera shots and angles, alongside basic description on timing and the overall duration per scene.
Environment timing
My show reel will consist of two environments, both from concepts art whcih slight variations depending on project, for the timing of the environemnts I plan to display each one for no longer than 40 Secs this will vary on overall size and time needed to show detail, the larger environment will run looking as the smaller will run less, I plan to be consistant with what environment I show at that time, I will not be mis matching during display time only what is revelent will be shown. My first environment will be depicting a scene from The Last Of Us this project it for my independent studies where I choose this scene and research into the development on art style I will be using the art style from the median of Comic books, The scene will be outdoor environment but will be very compact, show lighting skills and a more close up of textures, My second environment is based upon Ubisofts Assassins Creed 4 : Black Flag, this will be the smaller environemnt also outside but allowing for a more wider range of focal points, I plan to use concept are and re-create an small deserted tropical island, this will depict foliage and real time water techniques using shaders and more organic modelling techniques.
Turntables
My show reel will consist of two turntables one per environment, the first as its from a city scene some kind of car (vehicle) will be within the scene, this will be the first turn table lasting for a total of 15 seconds, Ive broke this up into three parts each getting 5 seconds each this will go across both turntables, the first 5 seconds offering the 3D asset spinning at an average speed, first in Low poly mode with wireframe to show model development, part 2 will consist of the high poly version, then it will end with Bakes low poly with texture in real time lighting. The second turn table will consist of the same timing and breakdown this will keep the overall continuity I want, The turn table will depict parts of the scenes foliage as this is a tropical scene, A small group of palm trees surround at their feet with small foliage such as grass.
Showreel Storyboard
Fig.3 showing camera destination with boarded sections, Moving across the environment showing off shaders and textures, As the camera reaches destination, the camera will then turn around for the next move.
Environment timing
My show reel will consist of two environments, both from concepts art whcih slight variations depending on project, for the timing of the environemnts I plan to display each one for no longer than 40 Secs this will vary on overall size and time needed to show detail, the larger environment will run looking as the smaller will run less, I plan to be consistant with what environment I show at that time, I will not be mis matching during display time only what is revelent will be shown. My first environment will be depicting a scene from The Last Of Us this project it for my independent studies where I choose this scene and research into the development on art style I will be using the art style from the median of Comic books, The scene will be outdoor environment but will be very compact, show lighting skills and a more close up of textures, My second environment is based upon Ubisofts Assassins Creed 4 : Black Flag, this will be the smaller environemnt also outside but allowing for a more wider range of focal points, I plan to use concept are and re-create an small deserted tropical island, this will depict foliage and real time water techniques using shaders and more organic modelling techniques.
Turntables
My show reel will consist of two turntables one per environment, the first as its from a city scene some kind of car (vehicle) will be within the scene, this will be the first turn table lasting for a total of 15 seconds, Ive broke this up into three parts each getting 5 seconds each this will go across both turntables, the first 5 seconds offering the 3D asset spinning at an average speed, first in Low poly mode with wireframe to show model development, part 2 will consist of the high poly version, then it will end with Bakes low poly with texture in real time lighting. The second turn table will consist of the same timing and breakdown this will keep the overall continuity I want, The turn table will depict parts of the scenes foliage as this is a tropical scene, A small group of palm trees surround at their feet with small foliage such as grass.
Showreel Storyboard
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| Fig.1 |
Fig.1 showing my title page which will be placed at the start of my showreel will last for 5 seconds then transition to my first environment scene, I wanted to keep the title very clean and professional I felt that this works very well, Also showing the logos of the programmes from my current skillset allow the viewer to understand what programmes I am capable of using.
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| Fig.2 |
Fig.2 Start of first environment, The camera will pan foward while leaning to the right hand side for more dynamic viewing angles.
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| Fig.3 |
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| Fig.4 |
Fig.4 Showing destination from previous camera angle, allowing for both sides of the environment to be shown, both with varied lighting this will show how I can adapt my lighting to fit unique enviornemnts. Ive placed the arrows to show camera rotation Arrow 1-2 will show camera rotation to each side, once this is done the camera will pan towards the car/light (Arrow 3.)
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| Fig.5 |
Fig.5 Will be the end of this environment, showing the final set piece being the car/vehicle in its bright light this will be parked in a dead end, I do not want the camera to be completely static so slight movment will be added before the transtion onto the next part of the showreel.
The transition will bring up the turn table of the vehicle showing polycount,texture maps, low and high poly model with final textured asset.
Fig.6Showing my second environment this is from my assassins creed 4, I have to work from a piece of concepy art, Althought this concepts art is a bit adventrouse, I hope to recreate the Island and sea, (Ignore Boat) once transition begins This will be showing of the whole environemnt as seen here from a dynamic viewing angle showing lights and water effets, destination Pan in towards Island.
Fig.7 Showing close up of small Island most distictive of Palm tree and water effects, The camera at this point will roate around the palm tree area and aim towards the bigger tree. as seen in Fig.8
Fig.8 showing bigger tree the camera will rotate around the tree this will show light seaping through the tree leaves showing lighting technique while ending on the distant sea. This will then transiton to the final Turn table will will consist of the foliage, Trees and grass also will be accomapnied with the rocks as this sets of the island concept.
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| Fig.6 |
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| Fig.7 |
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| Fig.8 |
Fig.8 showing bigger tree the camera will rotate around the tree this will show light seaping through the tree leaves showing lighting technique while ending on the distant sea. This will then transiton to the final Turn table will will consist of the foliage, Trees and grass also will be accomapnied with the rocks as this sets of the island concept.
House Style - Showreel/Image
As said previously in conjuction with the colour scheme for an 3D artist we produce 3D assets which are develop using various programmes and techniques and when presenting these 3D assets its good to add some sort of lable allowing the viewer to understand what programmes were used etc. also displaying information such as texture maps, poly count and wireframe this is very important to the viewer, gives them a more indepth understanding on how the asset in question was designed and developed this shows of your personal level of skill always show breakdowns when needed.
Presentation of images/renders
When presenting still renders keep in mind some kind of template in which you will always follow showing consistancy across various work, for example the positiong of the programmes (used) lables make sure in each still shot that they are placed in the same place, alongside artist name and other informations, this keep its constant and professional. For example as seen below from fig.1-3 the first two both offer the same position in information which keeps a very professional and clean concise feel, where as when looking down to fig.3 the quick change in the postion can really put of the viewer giving the asumption I just quickly placed this information in the last render.
Image information
You can add much more details regarding 3D assets as seen in Fig.4 but this can become over powering, this is a old piece of work which I created when first using UDK Unreal engine and first trying to produce an presentation shot, I think looking back this shot is displaying too much information and over powers the model, I found as Ive come on in understanding how to present my work, this model would work so much better if presented within a turn table, which would then allow me display infromation during the time table using fade in and out which would keep the main focal point being the 3D asset.
Presentation of images/renders
When presenting still renders keep in mind some kind of template in which you will always follow showing consistancy across various work, for example the positiong of the programmes (used) lables make sure in each still shot that they are placed in the same place, alongside artist name and other informations, this keep its constant and professional. For example as seen below from fig.1-3 the first two both offer the same position in information which keeps a very professional and clean concise feel, where as when looking down to fig.3 the quick change in the postion can really put of the viewer giving the asumption I just quickly placed this information in the last render.
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| fig.1 |
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| Fig.2 |
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| Fig,3 |
You can add much more details regarding 3D assets as seen in Fig.4 but this can become over powering, this is a old piece of work which I created when first using UDK Unreal engine and first trying to produce an presentation shot, I think looking back this shot is displaying too much information and over powers the model, I found as Ive come on in understanding how to present my work, this model would work so much better if presented within a turn table, which would then allow me display infromation during the time table using fade in and out which would keep the main focal point being the 3D asset.
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| Fig.4 |
Although this shows the information which is over powering there are also casing where as no information at all makes for a very bland presentation shot as seen in Fig.5 no information but the artists name and email address this comes across very arrogant not showing a break down of the models no matter how good personally this how I see this it may differ to employers but empolyers are looking for someone who can work well in a team and not just be looking out for themselves.
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| Fig.5 |
House Style - Introduction and Colour Schemes
House Style
House style is a preferred way of presentation and layout for the artist, from design and the layout theme used for graphical presentation, in terms of a portfolio this applies to all graphical aspects from renders (Images), Video presentation (Fly throughs, Turn-table) to the colour schemes and overall atmopshere representated, Finding your own house style allows your portfolio to be more unique and keep an overall consistency, to keep this consistency will be represented mainly within the colour schemes chosen but also with how your work is displayed postioning, software information and technical details such as poly count and wireframes, keeping a consistant house style displayed through out the portfolio shows your overall professionalism this is increased by focusing on the art and work and not trying to over do the surrounds, making things bold allows for easier understanding of the work.
Colour Schemes
While researching into portfolios I found that they prefered the clean and professional look, colour schemes consisted of variations of black and grey as seen in Fig. 1-3, all use this kind of bold colour scheme, I found that this helps highlight the actual main pieces being the work becuase of the light colours displayed within the work on this bold backdrop really helps push forward the images and allows them to stand out more, this show that the artist has full confidence within their personal and professional work which to a possible future employer will be reconsied instantly.
House style is a preferred way of presentation and layout for the artist, from design and the layout theme used for graphical presentation, in terms of a portfolio this applies to all graphical aspects from renders (Images), Video presentation (Fly throughs, Turn-table) to the colour schemes and overall atmopshere representated, Finding your own house style allows your portfolio to be more unique and keep an overall consistency, to keep this consistency will be represented mainly within the colour schemes chosen but also with how your work is displayed postioning, software information and technical details such as poly count and wireframes, keeping a consistant house style displayed through out the portfolio shows your overall professionalism this is increased by focusing on the art and work and not trying to over do the surrounds, making things bold allows for easier understanding of the work.
Colour Schemes
While researching into portfolios I found that they prefered the clean and professional look, colour schemes consisted of variations of black and grey as seen in Fig. 1-3, all use this kind of bold colour scheme, I found that this helps highlight the actual main pieces being the work becuase of the light colours displayed within the work on this bold backdrop really helps push forward the images and allows them to stand out more, this show that the artist has full confidence within their personal and professional work which to a possible future employer will be reconsied instantly.
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| Fig.1 |
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| Fig.2 |
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| Fig.3 |
Self-Promotion
Website Promotion
I will research into various way and tools to help promote myself as an artist, this is a massive aspect of being an artist not only does it help others see our work, but it helps future potential employers reconise our work as artists.
Websites are the main resource artists have to promote themselves, There are many types of websites resources we can use this will vary depending on the artist and what we need to promote ourselves, I have the option to fully design my own uniqe personal website which may be very effective as a final produce but this can take time and when promoting yourself time can not be wasted as potential jobs are being lost, there are many website in which allow the user to create there own site such as Weebly although some of the sites simillar lack the tools to fully edit the personal page this is still a starting point to get promoted, So I will look into various sites which offer easy and free set up website but also which are better in overall interface and which offer the user for a more unique experience for the user to customise the website to their own personal tastes as artists we like to make things our own and unique.
Weebly Is very simple and the overall interface it speaks for itself very easy to use, very clean and precise presentation with easy tools for customisation although it could offer a lot more in the sense of customisation, offers text,video and animation to your website.
Wix is very simillar to Weebly in a sense yet its much more customizable and proffesional and yet keeps its simplicity, they offer a wide range of customization from text, picutres, videos layouts and even backgrounds, they also offer a dedicated app which is optimized for smartphones allowing you to edit and customize on the go.
Social Networking
Many online portfolios offer links to their various social networking these range from facebook to the more proffesional sites such as Linkedin, I assume the generic sites such as facebook offer a more professional feel than personal, Social networking allows users to share and follow which can lead to being noticed by the right people, although such things as facebook and twitter can become off putting as they come across unprofessional, Also not social networking can be seen in massive communities based within forums such as Poly count, Epic games community forum and 3D motives these offer all kinds of artist to critque work and help each other out, as many people from the industary use these this is a great entry point for any starting artisit.
I will research into various way and tools to help promote myself as an artist, this is a massive aspect of being an artist not only does it help others see our work, but it helps future potential employers reconise our work as artists.
Websites are the main resource artists have to promote themselves, There are many types of websites resources we can use this will vary depending on the artist and what we need to promote ourselves, I have the option to fully design my own uniqe personal website which may be very effective as a final produce but this can take time and when promoting yourself time can not be wasted as potential jobs are being lost, there are many website in which allow the user to create there own site such as Weebly although some of the sites simillar lack the tools to fully edit the personal page this is still a starting point to get promoted, So I will look into various sites which offer easy and free set up website but also which are better in overall interface and which offer the user for a more unique experience for the user to customise the website to their own personal tastes as artists we like to make things our own and unique.
Wix is very simillar to Weebly in a sense yet its much more customizable and proffesional and yet keeps its simplicity, they offer a wide range of customization from text, picutres, videos layouts and even backgrounds, they also offer a dedicated app which is optimized for smartphones allowing you to edit and customize on the go.
Social Networking
Many online portfolios offer links to their various social networking these range from facebook to the more proffesional sites such as Linkedin, I assume the generic sites such as facebook offer a more professional feel than personal, Social networking allows users to share and follow which can lead to being noticed by the right people, although such things as facebook and twitter can become off putting as they come across unprofessional, Also not social networking can be seen in massive communities based within forums such as Poly count, Epic games community forum and 3D motives these offer all kinds of artist to critque work and help each other out, as many people from the industary use these this is a great entry point for any starting artisit.
Showreel Plan
Indepent Studies - Environemnt
For my show reel I plan to incorporate various work produced during my time at university, the main set pieces I plan to use will be produce during my independent studies where I will be designing and developing an environment inspired by the critically acclaimed The Last Of Us, I will produce a scene directly from the games prequel comic book series, Using the artistic style from Telltales The walking dead which is known for its comic book art style.
As the Environment is yet to be developed for my show reel plan I will produce a block out show reel using various concept arts used for The Last Of Us, this will allow us to see what I plan to accomplish, As I want to plan fly through for my show reel to really show of my finished Environment, So for my block out show reel I will use an environment produced in my second year of university This will allow me to show how I plan to use the fly throughs, although its not my finished scene the technique will be the same.
An example for my independtent studies I will take a scene to create
from here, using the comic book style, this will be within my show
reel, showing off modeling techniques aswell as a unique style of
texturing. (Environments may vary to indoor to outdoor depending on chosen scene. This environment will be developed during my independent studies.
Skills Shown
Steps for showreel
Advance 3D - Environemnt
During my last semester alongside working on my independent studies, I will also be working on another project (Advance 3D) where I have to create another environment, I have to choose a piece of concept art anything I want then try to my hardest to replicate the chosen concept art.
This will be dipicted in my show reel, I am yet to choose a concept art, I am planning to choose a smaller environment as this will give me the time to focus on smallers details, I plan to develop from an outside environment with Tree, foliage and water. I hope to gain more skills in this section as this will allow me to strive as an environmental artist.
Steps for showreel
Skills shown
My next post will include images that will be used within my block out show reel, with captions of what I finally intend to design, doing this will not only show my understanding this will allow the viewers to understand how I have worked and how I've planned to design my show reel.
For my show reel I plan to incorporate various work produced during my time at university, the main set pieces I plan to use will be produce during my independent studies where I will be designing and developing an environment inspired by the critically acclaimed The Last Of Us, I will produce a scene directly from the games prequel comic book series, Using the artistic style from Telltales The walking dead which is known for its comic book art style.
As the Environment is yet to be developed for my show reel plan I will produce a block out show reel using various concept arts used for The Last Of Us, this will allow us to see what I plan to accomplish, As I want to plan fly through for my show reel to really show of my finished Environment, So for my block out show reel I will use an environment produced in my second year of university This will allow me to show how I plan to use the fly throughs, although its not my finished scene the technique will be the same.
Skills Shown
- Demonstrates how I can work from a piece concept art.
- Demonstrates working in various art styles this offers out my skillset.
- Showing polycount, represents how I can develop my 3D assets, also shows how I can optimise.
- Showing texture maps and their resolution
- Showing Wireframe mode with no texture allowing for breakdown of my scene/assets.
Steps for showreel
- A fly through will be incorperated witin my show reel showing off all scene sections.
- Slow down time to show more unique assets.
- Still Shots from dynamic angels.
- Possible unique assets on turn tables show all angles in textured mode and untextured.
- 3D assets creation
- Texturing skills in varied visual styles (Including diffuse, specular and normal maps)
- In-game engine skills, Showing martials including Shader setups (Using UDK Unreal engine)
- Demostrates good sense of lighing techniques, including light maps.
- Examples of high poly to low poly work.
- Examples of outdoor/indoor environments
- Showing overall skillset within Game engine (UDK, Unreal)
Advance 3D - Environemnt
During my last semester alongside working on my independent studies, I will also be working on another project (Advance 3D) where I have to create another environment, I have to choose a piece of concept art anything I want then try to my hardest to replicate the chosen concept art.
This will be dipicted in my show reel, I am yet to choose a concept art, I am planning to choose a smaller environment as this will give me the time to focus on smallers details, I plan to develop from an outside environment with Tree, foliage and water. I hope to gain more skills in this section as this will allow me to strive as an environmental artist.
Steps for showreel
- A fly through will be incorperated witin my show reel showing off all scene sections.
- Slow down time to show more unique assets.
- Still Shots from dynamic angels.
- Smaller environment on turntable
Skills shown
- 3D assets creation
- Texturing skills in varied visual styles (Including diffuse, specular and normal maps)
- In-game engine skills, Showing martials including Shader setups (Using UDK Unreal engine)
- Demostrates good sense of lighing techniques, including light maps.
- Examples of high poly to low poly work.
- Examples of outdoor environments
- Showing overall skillset within Game engine (UDK, Unreal)
- Animated textures (Water)
- foliage modelling techniques
- Possible post-processing techniques
My next post will include images that will be used within my block out show reel, with captions of what I finally intend to design, doing this will not only show my understanding this will allow the viewers to understand how I have worked and how I've planned to design my show reel.
Showreel, What to do
Presentation
Presentation is key to selling yourself first things first think about who is viewing your portfolio, what sector are you aiming towards is it the game or Film industry very similar deepening on what your aim is, when you send out your portfolio to studios and companies various people may see your portfolio they can range from Human Resources to artist to even the producers and management so keep in mind who is viewing your portfolio, present yourself well don't clutter and keep clean and understandable as said before maybe someone who does not know the art will be viewing this portfolio.
Keep it simple
Keep your show reel simple clean and precise, make sure each shot has slow and smooth camera movements this helps the viewer take in the detail, Make sure the shots are not cluttered the scene should have only what is needed to make the scene realistic and believable don't over complicate your shots.
Camera and time
Camera and timing plays a vital part of the showreel production, camera movments should be very precise when showing of portfolio work, when using fly throughs within the show reel I need to make sure that its very smooth and not sluggish this could really hinder my work, also the speed of the camera needs to be the perfect amount of time used to show of certain points of the chosen environemnt this allows the view to take in the extra detail, panning shots work very when needed to focus on certain details, If working with characters turn tables are pefrect for showing off the character in question, make sure that the character is posed in a realistic way and not just in standard T-pose this helps your character come to life and show personality.
Work in game engine
showing of work in a game engines does not only enhnace the quality of work but shows the viewer that you have the capabilites of working within game engines, this can really help their overall decision.
Style
Personally the style choice is dependent on the designer I can't see there being a style which we should all pursue the style is our own, It boils down to how we indiviually present our style, it should represent us as whole and above all keep the style consistent across the show reel otherwise this can cause confussion towards the viewer.
Sound
Sound can be a massive issue, Do not make your show reel around the sound, you need to make sure your show reel works without sound, although it can bring life to your show reel, for example if you have a environment scene maybe atmospheric sounds will help define the environment but background music of actual sounds or something similar doesn't really work well and can come across over dramatic, when all you need to do is fully capture the scene as itself. Also if you create your show reel based around a song or music, the viewer may not be able to hear the music which makes it irrelevant and may make the show reel inadequate.
Work within show reel
All the work depicted within the show reel should be own developed work, unless stated otherwise this may be for example someone who has woked in the industary and worked on a game which other artists have worked on, make sure the work is rendered with the best light to show of the assets and the detail. Do not just show models without textures this can be used but make sure you should textures, as an artist we have to produce both 3D assets and the textures relevent to those assets, Some people would argue that any one could learn to model 3D assets but to texture takes that little bit extra skill and is why we are known as game artists, so make sure eveything is textured.
Presentation is key to selling yourself first things first think about who is viewing your portfolio, what sector are you aiming towards is it the game or Film industry very similar deepening on what your aim is, when you send out your portfolio to studios and companies various people may see your portfolio they can range from Human Resources to artist to even the producers and management so keep in mind who is viewing your portfolio, present yourself well don't clutter and keep clean and understandable as said before maybe someone who does not know the art will be viewing this portfolio.
Keep it simple
Keep your show reel simple clean and precise, make sure each shot has slow and smooth camera movements this helps the viewer take in the detail, Make sure the shots are not cluttered the scene should have only what is needed to make the scene realistic and believable don't over complicate your shots.
Camera and time
Camera and timing plays a vital part of the showreel production, camera movments should be very precise when showing of portfolio work, when using fly throughs within the show reel I need to make sure that its very smooth and not sluggish this could really hinder my work, also the speed of the camera needs to be the perfect amount of time used to show of certain points of the chosen environemnt this allows the view to take in the extra detail, panning shots work very when needed to focus on certain details, If working with characters turn tables are pefrect for showing off the character in question, make sure that the character is posed in a realistic way and not just in standard T-pose this helps your character come to life and show personality.
Work in game engine
showing of work in a game engines does not only enhnace the quality of work but shows the viewer that you have the capabilites of working within game engines, this can really help their overall decision.
Style
Personally the style choice is dependent on the designer I can't see there being a style which we should all pursue the style is our own, It boils down to how we indiviually present our style, it should represent us as whole and above all keep the style consistent across the show reel otherwise this can cause confussion towards the viewer.
Sound
Sound can be a massive issue, Do not make your show reel around the sound, you need to make sure your show reel works without sound, although it can bring life to your show reel, for example if you have a environment scene maybe atmospheric sounds will help define the environment but background music of actual sounds or something similar doesn't really work well and can come across over dramatic, when all you need to do is fully capture the scene as itself. Also if you create your show reel based around a song or music, the viewer may not be able to hear the music which makes it irrelevant and may make the show reel inadequate.
Work within show reel
All the work depicted within the show reel should be own developed work, unless stated otherwise this may be for example someone who has woked in the industary and worked on a game which other artists have worked on, make sure the work is rendered with the best light to show of the assets and the detail. Do not just show models without textures this can be used but make sure you should textures, as an artist we have to produce both 3D assets and the textures relevent to those assets, Some people would argue that any one could learn to model 3D assets but to texture takes that little bit extra skill and is why we are known as game artists, so make sure eveything is textured.
Portfolio Research
These posts will focus on online portfolios which have caught my eye for either bad or good reasons, I will compare them and note the pros and cons of each and how they can help my own development when producing my own online portfolio and show reels. The portfolios I will be targeting will be solely Environment Artists, as this will relent more to me, I will not be subjective towards the actual 3D work only the design and presentation of the portfolios and show reels if reverent.
http://www.michaeldunnam.com/index.html
Michael Dunnam environment artists, I really like the home page it stands out and really pushes his work in the viewers face but in an elegant way, Its not cluttered and its very clean and professional and it seems he know hows to highlight his best work.
As looking further in-depth into his portfolio I found that some of his assets allow the viewer to highlight over the asset and it changes the asset to untextured which looks very nice but I feel that he should of added wire frame overlay so then that gives us the visual feedback of how he constructed this asset. Also it seems that only a select few images are enabled to have a size increase when clicked, I feel that having a more detailed render should include a higher resolution and size image, which is not offered below only the full size asset image is enabled to do so.
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| Fig.2 |
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| Fig.1 |
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| Fig.3 |
http://timspanjer.com/index.html
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| Fig.1 Homepage |
Tim Spanjer is also a 3D environment, as with the previous portfolio this one is very straight to the point,clean and precise, As he has added renders of the wire frame as said previously this allows us as the viewers to understand how they developed their assets.
The below image is the project section on this portfolio, I really like this layout But I feel this layout works better if it was the set homepage and these links then bring you to the individual assets images, aside from the overall presentation of each piece of work is perfect in my opinion each image shows of the assets I feel the lighting and the viewing angle really work on here.
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| Fig.2 Projects section |
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| Fig.3 |
Neither of these offered a Show reel, I feel this would really push their work especially their full environment work and allow the viewer to get a real feel and atmosphere in their developed environment.
Bibliography
Tim Spanjer, Environment Artist - http://timspanjer.com/index.html
Michael Dunnam, Environment Artist - http://www.michaeldunnam.com/index.html
Games Industry Job Requirements
Game Studios And Their Requirements
Crytek - 3D Artist
Responsibilities:
Crytek - 3D Artist
Responsibilities:
- Creation of 3d art assets to demonstrate the power of CryENGINE.
- Assists production of Technical Demos and SDK projects.
- Advocates the needs of licensees' requirements toward internal technology development projects and ensures tech development supports the needs of engine clients.
- Work with programmers to develop tools, scripts, plug-ins to streamline the animation workflow for different software packages (3ds Max, Maya and/or SoftImage XSI).
- Prepares teaching material for training both internal teams and external partners.
- Contributes to documentation related to asset creation.
- Additional tasks in the area of training.
- Additional tasks in the area of a technical support.
- Show a strong passion for customer service and satisfaction.
- Directly responsible for adhering to all company policies and procedures.
- Takes initiative and is willing to expand own horizon.
- Safeguard company assets including source code, art work, tools, game design information and technical know-how.
- Strong knowledge of Photoshop and at least one of the following software: 3ds Max, Maya, SoftImage XSI
- Excellent problem-solving skills.
- Adopt existing development processes and look for improvements.
- Be proactive and self-motivated, work without direct supervision.
- Willing to travel
to meet the demands of the engine business.
Sega Europe - 3D Artist
| Job Title | 3D Artist |
|---|---|
| Job Description | As one of the leading interactive entertainment companies, SEGA
cultivates creative talent worldwide with offices in America, Japan and
our European HQ in London. Our acclaimed UK based studios include Sports
Interactive and The Creative Assembly who are responsible for
award-winning titles and iconic franchises such as Football Manager™,
Aliens™, and the Total War™ series. Hardlight is the newest UK studio in the SEGA family - we are the team behind Sonic the Hedgehog™'s latest adventures on mobile platforms Sonic Jump™ and Sonic Dash™. SEGA's much loved blue hedgehog mascot is a true global brand crossing over from video games into toys, stationary, apparel and much more. We are located in a brand new, open plan office in the heart of Royal Leamington Spa - a thriving town with a bustling game-development scene. A small dedicated bunch with drive, passion and creativity – right now we are looking for a few key people to come and join us on our next exciting games. SEGA has a leading benefits package and flexible working environment that make this a relaxed and friendly place to work. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. ROLE OVERVIEW This person is responsible for general 3D art production on a variety of different game projects of varying different genres and styles. They will be working within a small team and be responsible for a large amount of environment and asset construction pipeline including, modelling, texturing on both 3D and 2D game titles. DUTIES • Work with the art production team across various projects showing a diverse style and high level of quality • Model, Texture and Render 3D models to meet the requirements of the projects artistic direction • Assist other team members in a diverse environment including crossover with other art disciplines where needed. PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES • Pro-Active, Self-driven individual with good organisation skills • Able to work well in a team while standing out as an individual • A good communicator and keen ideas person. ESSENTIAL SKILLS & EXPERIENCE • 3+ Years experience with 3DS Max and Photoshop • 1+ Shipped titles on Console or Mobile Platform • Excellent modelling and texturing abilities delivering performance and quality • Diverse portfolio of game designs including both 3D and traditional 2D work • Able to demonstrate Character rigging and show basic character animation skills. SUGGESTED PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE (NON ESSENTIAL) • Extensive knowledge and experience using Unity Engine a big plus • Developed 3D models on a variety of mobile platforms • Development from pre-production through to Beta • Use of ZBrush or Mudbox for detail map generation • Maya, XSi or other 3D packages a plus. |
Tackling an Interview
During a lecture as a group we split up into teams of three and we had to interview each other, we had to rotate and take on each role as the interviewer, interviewee and the note taker, this was a really good way for each of us to understand how an interviewer thinks and how us there interviewee should act during and interview.
Key elements needed during the interview
Being Passionate and confident shows that you have the ability to trust yourself and what you know a company/studio would not want to hire someone who isn't confident in themselves, showing how passionate you are will really shine through to the interviewer.
Keeping eye contact and being generally friendly breaks the ice with the interviewer straight away allowing for a smoother experience during the interview which can then lead to the interviewee's calmness, pushing forward your own ideas really shows how passionate and creative you are things like this interviewers will remember.
Keeping up your overall presentation to really sell yourself plays a massive part of the interview, be engaging and speak clearly.
Things not to do during the interview
Being nervous is okay as no matter who you are when going for an interview they will always be nervous but being overly nervous to the extent where it freezes you up and stops you from talking this is really when being nervous can ruin your chance of a job.
Being over confident can also ruin your chances, you can come across very arrogant and working in the games industry you will always be working in a team so you have to be a team player, being arrogant and acting like they need to hire you will look as if you only care about yourself and would not be very loyal to the company and the team you could potentially be working in.
Key elements needed during the interview
Being Passionate and confident shows that you have the ability to trust yourself and what you know a company/studio would not want to hire someone who isn't confident in themselves, showing how passionate you are will really shine through to the interviewer.
Keeping eye contact and being generally friendly breaks the ice with the interviewer straight away allowing for a smoother experience during the interview which can then lead to the interviewee's calmness, pushing forward your own ideas really shows how passionate and creative you are things like this interviewers will remember.
Keeping up your overall presentation to really sell yourself plays a massive part of the interview, be engaging and speak clearly.
Things not to do during the interview
Being nervous is okay as no matter who you are when going for an interview they will always be nervous but being overly nervous to the extent where it freezes you up and stops you from talking this is really when being nervous can ruin your chance of a job.
Being over confident can also ruin your chances, you can come across very arrogant and working in the games industry you will always be working in a team so you have to be a team player, being arrogant and acting like they need to hire you will look as if you only care about yourself and would not be very loyal to the company and the team you could potentially be working in.
The UK Games Industry, Then And Now
The United Kingdom is where I would persoanlly be based so most of my industry research will be more relvent to the UK.
1970s is where the video games industary first began with the first release of the arcade genre, in 1971 Atari released the first commercially successful video game which was Pong which sold over 20,000 arcade cabients of thsi version. one of the most noted sales occued during 1978 when Space invaders first launchedit went to sell over 350,000 arcade cabinets worldwide and buy 1982 generate a revenue of $2 billion this increased in the1980s known as the golden age of video arcade games, the arcade machines/cabinets in America increased from $50 million in 1978 to $900 million by the time of 1981 this was a massive point for the video games industry, the most successful video game to be released within the 1980s was Namco's PacMan massivly known even now which sold over 400,000 arcade cabinets at this point in time video game arcade cabinets were still a massive part of the games industry.
The 1980s saw the first home computer ZX80 which was priced under £100 within the United Kingdom, it brought forward the home computer industary massivly, sales of the ZX80 hit about 50,000 which was massive as this never happened before for previous home comptuers, this was because it was set at a very affordable price at that time, Next was the ZX 81 which was very successful and sold over 400000 units. The introduction of coloured home computer system was seen in 1982 from the ZX Spectrum which was developed by Clive Sinclair, over 5 million were sold this encouraged other various compaines to produce home computer such as the BBC this made for a bigger industtry and then led to small companies which were just starting out to produce software.The 1990s the video games industry saw its first massive technological advancement which including the first Cd based storage and software which was avalible, 3D graphics adapted within the video games alongside advancment in GUI based operating systems, We also saw the first time we had mobile gaming although it was very basic, its where it bagan and now its one of the most popular and most accessible gaming options for consumers.
The Games industry Here and now
The United Kingdom is Europes leading video game market and is the third largest in the world regarding our overall success, America and Japan are the top to largest in the video game market sector, In 2009 the UKs profits grew to a massive extent where they exceeded that of the film industry, The UK as a whole offers over 7000 jobs within the UK industry, there are many well known fanchises which have been are are being developed within the UK, in-turn this will bring foruth more job oppotunities. Canada overtook the UK with empolment growth in 2010. Tax breaks the UK games industry will hugly benefit from a 25% corporation on the tax relied rate.
The industry in its current state seems to be growing and growing espeically with the growth of Indie studios developing more and more games with the help of the Next generation of console gaming witht he Xbox One and Playstation 4 we should see an overall increase in software and jobs within the UKs games industry.
Introduction Personal development
Professional Portfolio Development
During my personal portfolio development I must demonstrate a full understanding of my chosen Job role within the Games Industry in doing so I will gain confidence and knowledge ready for when graduate University and start pursuing my career.
I will discuss and research my chosen job role in depth looking at the needed skill set process' as well as choice of technology which could further the quality of my work, this will help my future employers realize the potential I have and what I can offer their company as an artist.
I plan to research the Games industry within the UK to find out what they expect when it comes to portfolios and during interviews this will allow me to understand what is expected of me once I have graduated During this first part of this module I have to produce an Show-reel plan which will be the result of my research through the weeks also will be a representation of myself as an artist.
My Personal Aims and Objectives
To help me further I produced a list of my overall aims and objective in-which I want to accomplish during my portfolio development, as I am not always connected to the internet I will be working with Microsoft word then uploading what I've researched.
1. Career choice
This post will consist of my knowledge and research within my chosen job role that being Environment artist, although I could take the time to research into all main jobs roles within the game industry I think its in my best interest to focus on what career path i intend to follow, As i am currently in my third year of university I have had the opportunity to dive into various aspects of the games industry skill set from animation to 3D modelling so I have basically knowledge of what is needed from me as I've chosen to follow down the path of and environment artist this will be my main focus.
2. UK Games Industry
This post I will follow the games industry from where is first began to current day, this will help me understand the advances within the years of the games industry and how new technologies improved the Overall UK games industry in sales and overall user experience.
3. Looking into Portfolios
This section of my blog,will consist of my research into various online portfolios this will help me understand what I should consider when producing my portfolio I will add links and images with captions explaining why (Portfolio A.) is good and why (Portfolio B.) is bad, To a certain degree this may boil down to my overall personal preference but I hope this will lead in the correct direction when planning my portfolio and show reel.
4. Interview Practice
During our lectures we will team up and practice interviewing on another as if we want a job within the games industry this will help as understand what we should and should not do during an interview and how we should present ourselves.
5. Job role requirements and skill set
This post I will go and look into various companies/studios and look for what they require to take on a environment artist and what skills are needed, this will get me ready to understand what they want from me as an artist, I will copy and paste their requirements directly from their recruitment page.
6. Improvements I can make
This will be my reflections on what I've researched so far, I will gain an understanding of that I should and will do if I want to accomplish my job role and land in the industry, I will look into new programs which can improve my work and increase my skill set.
7. Show Reel Storyboard and overall plan
This is the main part of my Personal development and future portfolios, Show reels are very useful to getting the attention of the viewer and less tedious than having them click through many images, although I will still have that option for them to view higher resolution images on my environment/assets for a more detailed look, As this is block out show reel I will use images and reference to portray what I want to accomplish, For the sake of fly through during the show reel I will rewind to a previous project where I created a environment this will allow the viewer and myself to understand what kind of viewing angles and fly through I want and how they will connect within the show reel.
During my personal portfolio development I must demonstrate a full understanding of my chosen Job role within the Games Industry in doing so I will gain confidence and knowledge ready for when graduate University and start pursuing my career.
I will discuss and research my chosen job role in depth looking at the needed skill set process' as well as choice of technology which could further the quality of my work, this will help my future employers realize the potential I have and what I can offer their company as an artist.
I plan to research the Games industry within the UK to find out what they expect when it comes to portfolios and during interviews this will allow me to understand what is expected of me once I have graduated During this first part of this module I have to produce an Show-reel plan which will be the result of my research through the weeks also will be a representation of myself as an artist.
My Personal Aims and Objectives
To help me further I produced a list of my overall aims and objective in-which I want to accomplish during my portfolio development, as I am not always connected to the internet I will be working with Microsoft word then uploading what I've researched.
1. Career choice
This post will consist of my knowledge and research within my chosen job role that being Environment artist, although I could take the time to research into all main jobs roles within the game industry I think its in my best interest to focus on what career path i intend to follow, As i am currently in my third year of university I have had the opportunity to dive into various aspects of the games industry skill set from animation to 3D modelling so I have basically knowledge of what is needed from me as I've chosen to follow down the path of and environment artist this will be my main focus.
2. UK Games Industry
This post I will follow the games industry from where is first began to current day, this will help me understand the advances within the years of the games industry and how new technologies improved the Overall UK games industry in sales and overall user experience.
3. Looking into Portfolios
This section of my blog,will consist of my research into various online portfolios this will help me understand what I should consider when producing my portfolio I will add links and images with captions explaining why (Portfolio A.) is good and why (Portfolio B.) is bad, To a certain degree this may boil down to my overall personal preference but I hope this will lead in the correct direction when planning my portfolio and show reel.
4. Interview Practice
During our lectures we will team up and practice interviewing on another as if we want a job within the games industry this will help as understand what we should and should not do during an interview and how we should present ourselves.
5. Job role requirements and skill set
This post I will go and look into various companies/studios and look for what they require to take on a environment artist and what skills are needed, this will get me ready to understand what they want from me as an artist, I will copy and paste their requirements directly from their recruitment page.
6. Improvements I can make
This will be my reflections on what I've researched so far, I will gain an understanding of that I should and will do if I want to accomplish my job role and land in the industry, I will look into new programs which can improve my work and increase my skill set.
7. Show Reel Storyboard and overall plan
This is the main part of my Personal development and future portfolios, Show reels are very useful to getting the attention of the viewer and less tedious than having them click through many images, although I will still have that option for them to view higher resolution images on my environment/assets for a more detailed look, As this is block out show reel I will use images and reference to portray what I want to accomplish, For the sake of fly through during the show reel I will rewind to a previous project where I created a environment this will allow the viewer and myself to understand what kind of viewing angles and fly through I want and how they will connect within the show reel.
Job Role, Environment Artist
Chosen Job Role
Environment artist is my chosen job role, I've always been more interested in the environments of games than anything else, The environments are the aspects of games in-which pull the players in, I think its the one thing when developed perfectly really grabs in the player,making memorable scenes within games can enhance the player experience allowing for more immersive game-play.
Environment Artist
Originally when I thought of an environment artist I just assumed the artist would only be producing direct environment assets, for example a city the artist would have to develop buildings but this job role contains so much more responsibilities which I never knew of there is the obvious previously said creative side but there is also a technical side to being an environment artist.
What I already know
Design
As an environment artist it is my job to produce environments and props from concept art and real world reference this varies depending on the lecturer property if the environment or prop is more unique e.g. fantasy, scifi its more likely to be designed from concept art unlike a generic table asset there will be much real world reference for the artist to produce this kind of asset.
Even in some cases the environment artist will contribute highly towards concepts as the artist will physically be producing these concepts in 3D form, the concept may be UN-realistic in the sense of developing the final product the environments artists can make adjustments to the concept.
As an 3D environment artist, 3D is not the only aspect of our job we design 3D assets but these are not instantly game ready, we have to produce Texture maps for each asset, these include a Diffuse, Secular and Normal Map (More depending on asset) these are the industry standard for texture maps. There are certain programs available to help the artist produce various texture maps I will look into these more in depth as I progress through my research. So this is a massive 2D aspect to the design process of an environment artist, The textures produce define the asset more so than the actual 3D model, brings life and depth to the overall asset.
Technical
Although an environment artist is known to only produce 3D assets and environments, this job role requires the artist to work with various parts of the game engine being used such as game systems, scripted events and particle effects, I'm sure there are many other technical skills needed within this job role I will research this job role into more depth so that I fully understand the skills I will need.
Environment artist is my chosen job role, I've always been more interested in the environments of games than anything else, The environments are the aspects of games in-which pull the players in, I think its the one thing when developed perfectly really grabs in the player,making memorable scenes within games can enhance the player experience allowing for more immersive game-play.
Originally when I thought of an environment artist I just assumed the artist would only be producing direct environment assets, for example a city the artist would have to develop buildings but this job role contains so much more responsibilities which I never knew of there is the obvious previously said creative side but there is also a technical side to being an environment artist.
What I already know
Design
As an environment artist it is my job to produce environments and props from concept art and real world reference this varies depending on the lecturer property if the environment or prop is more unique e.g. fantasy, scifi its more likely to be designed from concept art unlike a generic table asset there will be much real world reference for the artist to produce this kind of asset.
Even in some cases the environment artist will contribute highly towards concepts as the artist will physically be producing these concepts in 3D form, the concept may be UN-realistic in the sense of developing the final product the environments artists can make adjustments to the concept.
As an 3D environment artist, 3D is not the only aspect of our job we design 3D assets but these are not instantly game ready, we have to produce Texture maps for each asset, these include a Diffuse, Secular and Normal Map (More depending on asset) these are the industry standard for texture maps. There are certain programs available to help the artist produce various texture maps I will look into these more in depth as I progress through my research. So this is a massive 2D aspect to the design process of an environment artist, The textures produce define the asset more so than the actual 3D model, brings life and depth to the overall asset.
Technical
Although an environment artist is known to only produce 3D assets and environments, this job role requires the artist to work with various parts of the game engine being used such as game systems, scripted events and particle effects, I'm sure there are many other technical skills needed within this job role I will research this job role into more depth so that I fully understand the skills I will need.
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