CG programing reel?

#1

Any ideas in the content of a demo reel in computer graphic programing?
thanks in advance

#2

Concentrate on getting something mind boggling awesome done. A programming show reel with lots of simple demos done averagely is nowhere near as interesting as one with a single thing done to an extremely high standard. I want to know that a candidate can tackle a complex problem, can do it well, can document it, and can iron out any major bugs and usability issues.

Things you definitely don’t want:

  • A tool lacking undo/redo.
  • Strange camera controls / hotkey combinations.
  • Things that crash.
  • Tools that aren’t obvious to use. (i.e. favour easy to understand menus rather than ‘type this mel command into the script editor to make work’ interfaces)
  • Obviously plagurised work. (I’ve seen a couple of demo reels with plug-ins on them that I wrote! Same goes for David Gould’s samples… )
  • Badly documented code.
  • Untidy and inconsitent code.

Things that can make you stand out…

  • A bit of artistic flair helps.
  • Original presentation also helps! (A demo reel once landed on my desk when I was working at a games company a few years ago. The cover was made to look exactly like a playstation game, with the title “Out of Work Game Programmer II”. The game booklet was simply amazing… It was basically a CV & Covering letter, as well as a guide to the demos on the CD… all done in the style of a PS2 game. Needless to say, he was an instant hire!).

A final point. Get all the demo’s on a website as well (and include a link to it on your CV/covering letters). It’s SOOOOOO much easier for a bunch of devs to have a look at your website, than to crowd around a PC to look at a show reel).

#3

Bit late on this, but maybe it’s still of use:

For what market?
In film I don’t remember having ever seen pure RnD staff ever having a demo-reel, except maybe some clips for those that had visual centric projects done in uni or something like that.

Normally CV + experience, or degree, and references in general, are what drive recruitment in film centric RnD depts. At least that’s been my experience.

Games, I hear, differ. A lot.

#4

I was thinking a CUDA MonteCarlo GI implementation, Renderman shaders, HLSL, maybe some CUDA Maya plugins and something relate to animation like a IK system.

Thanks for your post,
Alexis

#5

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