I am looking for 3D Artist job in US (and, who isn't?)

[mikewebb]

:buttrock:Please post feedback on portfolio site. I would like to get feedback from the game industry. What would make this a better portfolio??? I am still looking for 2D/3D artist position.

Mike Webb

[mikewebb]

Bump:arteest:

[Corpu$]

I think u must update your portfolio.

[mikewebb]

I am not sure what you mean. I posted a new work in progress image on the home page. I am working on a couple of other images that I will be uploading in the coming weeks. Could you elaborate a little.

Mike

[Asorson]

Originally posted by mikewebb
:buttrock:Please post feedback on portfolio site. I would like to get feedback from the game industry. What would make this a better portfolio??? I am still looking for 2D/3D artist position.

Mike Webb


I think you need more game art. Try this:

1 First Person Shooter Character Model (approx 3,000 polygons, 2 512x512 textures)

1 Low Poly Character Model, prefferable something creative, not a generic realistic human. (approx 1,000 polygons, 256x256 texture)

1 Low Poly Vehicle Model (1,000 polygons, 512x512 texture)

1 Low Poly Environmental Model, such as a building or some level objects (less than 1,000 polygons)

You've got the last two already covered but I'd still do a couple more. The examples you have are decent but they aren't really spectacular.

[mikewebb]

Thanks Eric.

I will be working on these shortcomings in the immediate future and will use your suggestions as a basis for development of new material. I am currently spending all my free time trying to get my modeling skills up to par. I really want to get ready for Siggraph coming up in July or August and I should have an updated web site in a couple of months.

I do have one question for people in the industry. Which tradeshow is most productive for recruiting? Siggraph has a great job board which I have used in the past. I didn't find last year's E3 very helpful. Recruiting was almost non-existent. Those are the only two that I have personal experience attending.

Thanks again.

Mike

[The Magic Pen]

At E3 people are to busy getting drunk and shmoozing to care about your portoflio and your job needs...sigraph is much better ...maybe if you could find some people bored at there booth and you happen to have a lap top ready to rock and role and show your demo right there and you know it's awesome ...you need to get some 5 star stuff put up in the finished works gallery( Here at cgtalk ) before you even attempt something like that though or it will be a waste of your time . If you are getting 5 stars on yours works that means you have pro industry skills and your stuff is ready to show to art directors

[fandalis]

i wish i had his years of experience. :rolleyes:

[mikewebb]

Hi Fandalis and The Magic Pen,

Experience is a good thing but in these tight times people want specific experience. It makes it hard to do a career change. Even a small changes like mine (from multimedia development to game development) gets looked at critically. That's why I am looking for feedback from the game industry. I might be thinking about going back to school and getting a Master of Arts degree if that would help. My problem is that I have been a generalist in art my whole career. Any project my art directors threw at me I would do. It didn't matter if it was 3D animation, interface design, print design, or "prettying up" a Power Point presentation for upper management. (Now there is a good use of my skills.)

I think I am going to try Siggraph again this year. I enjoy the conference and the job board is quite good. Last year the job postings were quite light. I hope this year will be different. Being closer to LA might help.

Oh well, thanks for the comments. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. If you have any comments about advanced degrees and this industry, please comment.

Mike

[mark_wilkins]

Great site!

The biggest weakness of your presentation is that your resume does not list exactly for whom you freelanced.

Also, many companies will probably ding you for not showing recent work more prominently than older work (though I've never quite understood this.)

-- Mark

[mikewebb]

Thanks for the complement.

[mikewebb]

Hey mark_wilkins

Thanks for the complement. :bounce:

The best known company I did freelance for would be Hallmark, the card company. The remainder of my gigs would be with smaller multimedia and video consulting firms, dealing with their clients. I am wondering if I should include a list of their clients, project by project? Or, should I just make a list of all the companies I have dealt with over the years. (One long list of clients.)

As for recent work... I have heard that your best work should be displayed first. I do use recent work for the home page illustration (updated every so often.) but when it comes to displaying my portfolio material, I try to show off my best work first. I might have to weed through my portfolio a little more and get it down to a more manageable amount. But, when people pick a section in my portfolio they get my opinion of what my best and most appropriate work (for that section) is first. At least that's what I am trying to do.

Thanks again

Mike

[mark_wilkins]

Yeah, your best and/or most recent work should be shown first. Thing is, if those two criteria are severely out of whack with each other, many employers will wonder why your most recent work is not your best...

Of course, navigating that is usually an issue for most people...

-- Mark

[mikewebb]

Haha... :D

Recent work = best work.

I wish I had more control in how appropriate my recent work was to the job I am going after. But consulting work for an artist being what it is, some of my most appropriate "best work" comes from creative projects I had 5 or 6 years ago, or longer. Most of my 3D work does in fact come from this last couple of years, but I am proud of some of my earlier work and I was lucky enough to work on projects that allowed me a great deal of creative freedom. I got to experiment with 3D graphics and animation (not VRML) as interface design and did some character animation test with Microsoft "Agent" technology which incorporated digital video. All pretty much, cutting edge at the time. Most projects turned out quite well. I did a lot of R&D work back then. It seems like that was when the multimedia industry was most fun. The Internet boom really limited the projects we got after that.

Anyone need an artist that works well in a multimedia R&D environment?

Mike

[mikewebb]

Working on updated demo reel. Should be ready with in a week. I am getting ready for Siggraph.

Any prospective employers of 3D artists attending Siggraph? Let me know soon and I will send you a demo reel ahead of time. Maybe we could set up a meeting there. (I know it's early but I will be repeating this message a few more times between now and then.)

Still looking for full time work. Freelance is ok but full time is what I would like. :beer:

After demo reel is complete I will update my web site. (http://www.suba.com/~mikew)

More later. Thanks.

Mike

[qwertyhuh]

dont go to siggraph. you just missed GDC www.gamasutra.com they had a lot of companies there in a job fair area. :p
wait till next year.. and make those model that one guy suggested. and take out all those early models!

[mikewebb]

Thanks qwertyhuh,

So GDC is the conference to go to. I will have to take a closer look at it as I tried E3 and was disappointed with the recruiting efforts. Siggraph is usually pretty good although it's turnout was quite light last year. I think I will plan to go to both GDC and Siggraph and improve my chances even more.

My portfolio is going through some dramatic changes and some of the dead wood (old models) will be removed. I have been working a lot on new stuff and look forward to posting it on my site ASAP.

Thanks again.

Mike

[mikewebb]

Updated my web site! :bounce::bounce::bounce:

Portfolio web site (http://www.suba.com/~mikew)

Still looking for full time modeling and/or texture artist job leads. Let me know if you, or someone you know, is/are hiring.

Also, let me know what you think of the site.

email me! (mikewebb1514@hotmail.com)

Enjoy.

Mike

PS. Demo reel is finished. (I've been busy the last few weeks.) Let me know if you are interested in a copy.

[mikewebb]

Updated a few images. More to come.
Still looking for fulltime work.

Enjoy.

Web site (http://www.suba.com/~mikew)

Mike

[mikewebb]

How is the market now? Any better? I just finished a short freelance job and would like to continue my search for full time work in the US.

Thanks

Mike:bounce:

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