Helpful Tips

[Animasta]

Not to sound rude, but if I were you I'd forget about putting together a reel right now and instead work on your modeling. Also, I'd overhaul that website of yours. It takes way too long to load (on a 26mbps connection).

Also, grammar.

[Soon2bAnimator]

I have none of the modeling work i've worked on in about 3yrs up anywhere so yes that was very rude if you dont know the answer dont post up

[Soon2bAnimator]

can some one close this thread? i remember why i dont post up here anymore (i can never get a straight answer)...I'll just get my answers at deviant art, cg hub or aniboom...thanx anyway :(

[Animasta]

can some one close this thread? i remember why i dont post up here anymore (i can never get a straight answer)...I'll just get my answers at deviant art, cg hub or aniboom...thanx anyway :(

Translation: I don't like the truth.

[Nyro]

Be patient, Sunday is a slow day :)

You will get more answers over the next couple of days.

[Zickar]

Why not do a video edit ... Take a few shots of your model and edit them in a video editing program with some music .... The results could be quite good

[Psyk0]

Simple and efficient:
http://www.selwy.com/2008/digital-sculpting-reel-2008/#showreel

(scroll down to the bottom of the page)

[CapnPanic]

I don't know what Animasta's issue is, but, with a bit of patience, you can get some actual answers on here.

Things that I personally look for on modeling reels:

- slow turntables (but not too slow) + a few stills of details if you want to point out good stuff that is hard to see in the turntables.
- WIREFRAMES!!! Any schmoe can turn a crap mesh into beauty in zbrush or mudbox if they have a good eye. That eye is useless if they don't have the technical chops to produce a clean mesh that can actually be used in production.
- flattering lighting. It doesn't need to be art, but some ambient occlusion, and a few soft spots can do wonders for a model.
- If you aren't also applying for texturing and shading work, and you aren't 100% confident in the shade/paint work, then simplify and use a grey/white material with just a little soft spec. Bad shading or textures can really detract from a model.
- If the model is from a project, it can be good to give a little context by showing some images from that project, maybe a little picture-in-picture, etc.

Overall, just remember the old saying: Your demo reel is only as good as the worst thing on it. Don't pad it out because yuo want it to be longer. A 1 min reel with nothing but good stuff is much better than a 3 min reel with 2 mins of filler.

If it's any help, I've got my 2008 reels (one of which is a modeling reel) online here:
http://www.hello-napalm.com/gallery.html

[Animasta]

I don't know what Animasta's issue is, but, with a bit of patience, you can get some actual answers on here.


My issue? I give him solid advice based on the work he has posted and the work he has on his website (which he is no longer linking to), and apparently it's no good.

[CapnPanic]

I give him solid advice based on the work he has posted and the work he has on his website

He asked for general advice on what a modeling reel should be.

Based on the number of modeling reels, good and bad, I have seen, this is a completely valid question, and one that many people have chosen to answer many different ways. Instead of either a) helpfully answering his question to the best of your knowledge or b) deciding not to answer the question and moving on, you instead took it upon yourself to offer an unsolicited critique of his (obviously out of date, based on his web site dates) work.

Add on to that a few jabs at his site construction and grammar, and it was not only rude, but served to chase off someone who was just looking for some simple friendly advice.

All in all: Not cool.

[Animasta]

He asked for general advice on what a modeling reel should be.

Based on the number of modeling reels, good and bad, I have seen, this is a completely valid question, and one that many people have chosen to answer many different ways. Instead of either a) helpfully answering his question to the best of your knowledge or b) deciding not to answer the question and moving on, you instead took it upon yourself to offer an unsolicited critique of his (obviously out of date, based on his web site dates) work.

Add on to that a few jabs at his site construction and grammar, and it was not only rude, but served to chase off someone who was just looking for some simple friendly advice.

All in all: Not cool.

Hey, I was only trying to help him out in the long run, not trying to chase him off. Having decent grammar, and a website that loads at decent speeds is a good thing. His website takes roughly a minute to load, which is not a good thing for someone looking for work. And what's wrong with a critique of his work? If someone is in need of an improvement in an area in order to get work, I think it's a good idea to let them know so that they don't end up getting turned down constantly.

[RageOfAges]

Animasta you weren't rude you were a complete dick and did not address soon2banimator's questions. Just drop it and stop posting. You are making this thread about yourself.

Soon2bAnimator: My suggestion to you is to look at as many modeling reels as possible. I am going through the same thing you are, and I've put together a hefty collection of Reels that I liked. You can do a search on vimeo or youtube and you get a lot of results. Some reels aren,t very good, but they can have that ONE element, be it technical or artistic, that makes you go "I want to do something like that for my reel". And one thing I've learned the hard way: Show your best pieces first.

What I plan on doing is composing my Reel like a symphony, albeit a very short one.

An overture, which will quickly display all of the pieces I am about to showcase. I am imagining about 5-10 seconds for this.

The body, which will then showcase the pieces themselves. Some I plan to have turntable style, others to be moving stills, and others simple stills.

Finale, which will recap the models yet again, even quicker than the overture, and which will finish off with my name, what I do, and how to reach me.

Hope this was useful information. Good luck.

-rage

[Animasta]

Animasta you weren't rude you were a complete dick and did not address soon2banimator's questions. Just drop it and stop posting. You are making this thread about yourself.



No, you guys are the ones being dicks and making this thread about me. The whole "holier than thou" attitude coming from some of you is just plain pathetic.

[gnjili]

the thing is, with some people that kind of this kind of critique actually pushes them to do more
but for some people its shattering. probably an ego thing.
but i guess if you want to do the best thing you should avoid being too open in a forum environment obviously because you have no clue as to the profile of the person your dealing with. its a pedagogy thing. ( dont know if i got the spelling right there? :curious: )

im no expert but my advice would be that you start checking up as many showreeels as you can. and set yourself a target as to what you wish to achieve. then start working on it till your fairly satisfied.

[Nyro]

Don't want to play the mediator here, but this looks like it's getting out of hand. I surely don't want to take any sides...

That said, Animasta, I guess the issue that pricked so many nerves here may not simply be what you said, but rather how you phrased it.

I've not been active on these forums very long, but as soon as I started to involve myself I noticed one thing that really set apart this community from lots of others I've looked into so far: the fact that almost everyone tries (and I mean really go out of their way sometimes) to put their critique and negative posts into words that actually sound encouraging.

I believe this is what makes cgsociety so special. It doesn't matter if an utter newbie is discussing an issue with some distinguished artist from a major studio, everyone is treated the same. There are no ranks, only the common goal to make things better; either by solving a problem, praising artwork or carefully explain to someone what might be wrong with what their doing/saying/creating.

Another thing to note (and this also concerns everyone who took an issue to Animasta's post): starting a fight, rant or any kind of subjective, personal debate on a medium such as this is pointless; you can't win against an intangible foe, which, in the end, everyone of us here represents. There are no real consquences to the things you write or say, thus there is no need to 'fight fair'. Any personal issue will only get messy if pursued in a public (and ultimately anonymous) manner like this.

Criticizers did the same to Animasta as they criticised him for in the first place; Animasta, your best bet would be to back down gracefully (i.e. retaining as much dignity as you can).

Since the OP seems to have left the debate anyway, there is absolutely no point in further discussing the issue. Forget it happened, find someone in need (plenty of those around here) and work together to solve new problems. It's fun, it's rewarding, it makes you feeld good :)

:beer:

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