PDA

View Full Version : FX, Lighting, and Comp Reel.

strobe
10-17-2009, 05:24 AM
www.vimeo.com/robindutta (http://www.vimeo.com/robindutta)
or
www.clumsyme.com (http://www.clumsyme.com)

Hey everyone. I've got a new show-reel up for you all to see.
I'm primarily a Softimage user and have mostly been doing fx on fully 3D productions for the past few years, but I'm hoping to move into film fx in the future.

To that end I begin my reel with a fluid dynamics shot that I did as an exercise in creating something approaching photo-real quality. I used a high density mesh created in Real Flow and rendered in Softimage Mental Ray with global illumination. Really, it's mostly an exercise in resource budgeting to get it to render.

The rest of my reel is a mash-up of some various fx, lighting, and comp work I did at Mainframe and Rainmaker.

I'm freelancing right now, but am looking for some contract or full-time work.

If anyone is looking for an advanced Softimage or Shake user, please get in touch.

I've edited my main reel down for conciseness.
DoubleSupercool
10-17-2009, 05:35 AM
Hey Robin, there's some nice stuff there and you have some professional work to showcase, which is great.

In terms of tips, can I suggest:

Shortening the entire reel. 4mins is too long. 2mins is about standard for reels these days (from talking with a lot of guys and suggestions here on CGTalk). Try and keep it punchy and show only your best stuff.

Cut the intro down. It is 35seconds before I see any work . . . 1/4 the length of the ideal reel.

Trim a lot of the breakdowns. You probably don't need a breakdown for a realflow sim. Same goes for the Shake breakdowns for the CG robot shots. To be honest, I am not sure why the shakescript is that big for the end result. Maybe just a before and after of the plates.

Best of luck.
strobe
10-17-2009, 09:25 AM
hey, DSC, thanks for the comments. I agree it's on the long side. Editing is not my strong suit. ;) Actually, what I was thinking is that I would consider it to be kind of like 3 reels in one. I've made a DVD with menus and I've got it broken up in to sections so when i'm applying for a compositing job, say, i'll direct them to that chapter.

Another reason was just that i dug the song and I wanted to make a music video with the imagery following the timing. The intro is part of that.

I guess I should have mentioned that the shake scripts are so big because they are from a production with a super short cycle, so to save on render time the lighting model was being controlled from within the comp. Not all the branches are being used all the time, but having it set up that way makes it easier to maintain continuity and have the flexibility to change the lighting without re-rendering.
ndeboar
10-17-2009, 10:50 AM
I had to wait till around 30secs before your reel actually started, ive seen some brilliant reels that are 30 secs in length, so shorten it all down to a minute max.
CGTalk Moderation
10-17-2009, 10:50 AM
This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.