Animation: Demo Reel...

[ja3d]

Good work and composition.

[sforsyth]

Thanks ja3d. No other comments though? Is it just boring?

[webfox]

The modeling is pretty good, but the presentation is sorta hard to watch.

The music is way too overpowering and the constantly changing camera moves make it hard to appreciate your work. Every different camera approach requires the viewer to reassess what they're trying to see. This causes you to lose valuable time during your presentation as the viewer has to work too hard to make sense of what they're first viewing.

Try showing the model moving slowly, in full, then show a detail pass, then move on. And *do* show the details with simple, elegant passes. As it is, models spin one way, then another, then the camera spins, then the camera zooms... it's just disjointed.

And, I'm not a prude, but the drawing pass to the wrinkled butt and then fading to the penis was just ugly. Those are not attractive individuals and these are not the areas you should be trying to leave burned into the viewer's mind. Show your artistic skill and understanding of the overall masses of the human form. Show the whole compositions. It's ironic that you emphasize the details of your sketching skills which you're not trying to sell so much, and don't show the detail on your modeling skills which you *are* trying to sell.

Lastly, consider keeping all your 3D models together, too. Don't split them up with the sketches and then return to a bunch of them later. I'd even suggest that you reorganize your presentation to start off with a strong piece and end with a strong one. Maybe your chrome statuette should open, show your other models, show your animated things, end with the angler fish, fade to the sketch of it, show your other sketches, and them go to the last sketch of the skull and end with the 3D skull. Fade to just the red dots, then to black, and then to your contact info printed easily to read. You could leave in your three-toed mascot character's growl and spittle, but lose the weird jump and the splatter.

And, seriously, please find different music. I found myself scrambling to turn the sound down, and then off while I watched your piece.

Just as poor lighting can ruin a perfectly decent model, a confusing presentation approach can hurt your ability to promote your work. Your models are good. Some are very good. It would be a shame to see the presentation get in your way of a job.

I hope these suggestions help.

[sforsyth]

Damn! That's some constructive criticism! Cheers! :thumbsup:

I agree with 95% of what you said, but just couldn''t see it myself until it was pointed out to me. I've been looking at it too long I guess to make impartial judgements about it.
I mean, I had my suspicions about things, but never really admitted them to myself, so this is cool.
I've been playing around with the order of things in it for some time, and alot of it is now just legacy stuff, it is where it is because I never bothered to change it. (originally I sort of split it into two categories, realistic modelling and cartoony stuff, divided by the 2D sketches. Worked out a bit, but not enough, so I dropped it - forgot to change the position of the 2D stuff I guess - although it's hard to find a place to put it) I might put in other pieces instead...
All in all, thanks a million for taking the time and efffort to write such a constructive critique. You've given me a lot of work to do, but I think it'll be a better reel for it, and ultimately that's what matters. Thanks again man. Glad SOMEONE got back to me. It can be a little disheartening not hearing anything.

[LordDubu]

Sean, are you hoping to be just a modeler? Or do you want to do animation as well?

The reason is I ask, is because I assume (yes assume) that your average guy responsible for reviewing demo-reels probably sees hundereds a day.

If he works the way the submissions guys in the comic industry do then he's going to give you two chances. The first is to wow him initially. If you fail that test, then its over. If you pass then his second test is to see if you actually have mad skillz.

The way you present your reel, it begins with a very long static "business card". You're already eating into his initial "wow" test time frame.

Then you move on to the 360s... I think this is a mistake. This kind of detail might be better at the end of your reel, once you've passed the "wow" test. Start off with your absolute BEST animation. Once you've hooked him, and you're sure he'll watch the whole demo, then you can say "check out my wireframes"

Again I know nothing... it's just an observation that could be completely off.

[webfox]

That's some constructive criticism! Cheers!

I'm glad to help. I was afraid you'd be pissed off for all the new work I was suggesting.

The following is a modeler's reel that was posted to these forums. This guy has a pleasing approach to his presentation. (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52035&highlight=pablo)

Just beware. He's in the top 0.5%, so don't go getting all depressed when you see his work. Just look at how he approached showing his things.

(I know I was depressed when I saw his stuff, until I realized, "Hey, he doesn't live around here!")

Keep at it, man. Good luck. :beer:

[sforsyth]

Cool, this is excellent.

Lord Dubu: I have to admit, I don't get a chance to do much animation, so don't feel that that's my stronger area yet. I basically model for simple scenes, light, render, move on to the next, model, light, render - going through several scenes a day.
I don't get to do animation, except in my spare time, and that's very limited. I'm afraid I don't have anything "wow-factory" to put at the start... I agree with what you're saying, now if only I had something decent to put there... I'm actually doing this reel to try and get into a job somewhere where I CAN get a chance to do some animation, as I'd love to spend more time on it. It really intrigues me. Thanks for the advice. I'll be re-arranging the order of things anyway, and have in fact already started on that. Hopefully the second version will be a little easier on the eye.

Webfox: No way man, I ALWAYS appreciate constructive criticism. In fact, I have a hard time getting it, so it's even more appreciated than you might think.
I'm downloading Pablo's reel now, and it bodes well for a nice reel. That's the thing, when you've got so much good content (as this guy seems to), it must be nice to put these things together.

Helluva download at 4.5k a second though...

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