Awesome! Cool! Happening! Demo Reel Critique!

[travishowe]

Hi Justin,
First of all, for only having done this for about a year, I'm very impressed with your work. The fact that you have a demo reel already put together says a lot about your commitment. However, I think there are some things that should be addressed:

1. Find a focus. I know your reel says "generalist," and someone else can chime in on their opinion of this, but in my experience, 9 times out of ten they're looking for someone with a specific skill. When I first started out, I fell into the same trap of wanting to show everything I could do in CG. My first demo reel was very similar to yours in that it had a little of everything. The main problem with this is that when you're spending time trying to get good at everything, you're not getting GREAT at anything. I don't mean to drag you down, but nothing on your reel is particularly strong. It feels like you've learned HOW to do a lot of stuff, but haven't yet taken the time to become strong at any of these things. Believe me, it's a hard-learned lesson to stop trying to make the next Pixar short and just focus on becoming better at whatever it is you want to do.

2. As an animator, I'll critique the animation. Someone else could probably give better critique on the modeling (although the model at the beginning is definitely not your strongest piece, so I'd move that somewhere else in the reel- or just take it out; we see him enough as it is).

-The launching ship thing at the beginning could use some love. Whe the jets ignite, it doesn't react at all (and, if it's heavy enough, it might not), but then suddenly, as if weightless, it launches into the air. Give it a bit longer (a lot longer, actually) to get into the air. It should feel very heavy.

-There's a jarring movement when the bee looks at the camera. It pops very quickly to the front.

-The dance needs a lot of weight fixing. Everything seems to just move from point A to point B, without any slow-ins, slow-outs, or arcs.

There's a lot that could be fixed up, but I'm at work, so I'd better get going. Don't let any of this discourage you, I think you're off to a good start. In my opinion, your strongest stuff is your non-organic modeling (especially the guitar and drums). Perhaps this is the direction you should head. For a great example of some non-organic models, check out http://www.nicolasdunbeck.com/demoReel.htm His organics (though good) are not as strong as his non-organics. Another good example is at http://www.3dmai.com/

Anyway, good luck to you, and keep updating!

Travis

[Goulash]

Hi Travis -

Thanks for having taken the time to look over my reel and give some constructive criticism. I've been digesting what you said. Maybe if I respond to your points, people will have a better idea of where I'm coming from in order to steer me in the right direction.

1. The generalist bit. From reading different resources (this forum for example), I've gathered that most artists in this industry specialize in a certain skillset. The problem with this for me was that since I had no experience with anything having to do with 3D, I really had no idea what I'd be good at, or even like doing (like, would you buy a Chevy without test driving a Ford first?). So I thought it'd be useful to try a bit or everything in order to see what I wanted to do. Plus, too much knowledge is never a bad thing. In my world, I'd be a specialist in some domain who can help out in other areas when needed. I still don't know what I want to do, although I'm pretty sure I don't want to do lighting, because I just don't have that sense of subtlety (I'm a drummer, after all). ;-)

2. The animation. You're right about the animation not being very good, but the stuff here is the first actually animation I ever put together. I can see how the VTOL and bee's movements are kinda slapdash, but I actually thought my robot dance was ok. Can you (or anyone else) give me some more specific advice on making him look more lively? I'm aware of fundamental concepts like squash and stretch, but I'm still quite poor at putting them into practice. Regarding the turntable shot at the beginning, it's only there to serve two purposes. The first is to give the impression of how that model might look in a properly lit environment, since even if I were good at lighting, I wouldn't be able to do the renders on this laptop :-/. The other is to show that I took the time to create blend shapes for the eyes (since this character doesn't have a mouth, his eyes would have to be extremely expressive). If you look, he blinks (on the beat, might I add).

I suppose I wanted this demo to show more that I'm motvated and capable/willing to learn than anything else. Hopefully this sheds a bit more light on the subject. Thanks again for the feedback....it's extremely useful (although a tad humbling, which is something I needed :-)

- Justin

P.S. - Is anyone ever hired to do purely inorganic models? And can these people do their own texturing? I think this stuff feels more natural to me having worked with AutoCAD.

[travishowe]

Hey Justin,

I certainly didn't mean for my comments to make you feel humbled. As I said, my first demo reel was quite similar to yours, and to be honest, I'm still embarassed every time I show my current reel. You've only been at it for a year, and in that time I think you've made very impressive progress. All of this stuff just takes a lot of time to really get great at.

I know what you mean about trying out everything to figure out what you really wanted to do. I think everyone goes thru that same phase in CG. It's sort of an exciting time; discovering everything you're capable of doing. The creative floodgates open wide :)

In terms of whether someone gets hired specifically for non-organic modelling... not officially, no, but it's all based on where you are applying. For example, that guy I pointed out, Nick Dunbeck, is now working as a high-rez weapons/vehicles modeler at America's Army. All he ever models there are guns, tanks, turrets... that kinda stuff. Mai Van, who I actually don't know personally but she's a friend of a friend, work(s/ed) for Digital Dream down in L.A. where they do a lot of cg models specifically for compositing... I'm not sure what she worked on, but a friend of mine who also worked there was mostly modeling non-organics, such as trains and cars. He was something of a generalist, too. He did a shot on Wild Hogs where there's a bug stuck to Tim Allen's goggles. He modeled, textured, and animated it. He's, overall, a modeler, and is fantastic at it, but sometimes he does have to wear a few hats. So yes, it is possible to do that, but he never would have landed there as a "generalist." His modeling reel was VERY strong.

In terms of your dance, it was quite good for where your at in the long run, but it would not land you a job. Don't take that too harshly, it all comes with time. I actually am very impressed that you've accomplished all of this in a year, so don't be discouraged by criticism. If I didn't think you could make it I wouldn't waste my time, know what I mean?

The opening turntable: I can't download it on my current connection so I'll have to wait until monday to get a better look at those blend shapes. I hear what you're saying about "showing them you took the time to do those things," but showing blend shapes on a turn table isn't the best way. Show it DURING an animation, kill two birds with one stone. Come up with a shot that would emphasize this feature, some kind of close up. When industry vets see a turntable, they think of the hundred other modeling reels they saw that same day, so they're not exactly thinking "Everyone watch the eyes to catch the blend shapes," you know what I mean?

In terms of rendering, this is where figuring out what you want to do will come in handy. A friend of mine in college could not figure out what he wanted, and in the end, his demo reel was extremely hard to follow, and when you watched it, you had no idea what kind of job he was shooting for. A benefit of animation reels is that they can be all playblasts and still show the movement just as well. Every other kind of reel, besides rigging reels, requires a lot of rendering.

I hope this helps. Keep up the good work, and keep us posted!
Travis:scream:

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