Portfollio Review

#1

Hi, I am a recent graduate and want to work in the gaming industry. I have been applying for jobs but all I get is NO, with no proper feedback. Sharing my portfolio, hope to get ideas on what to improve.

rajat-pande-render-2
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Portfolio Link: https://panderajat.artstation.com/

Thank you.

#2

From looking at your artstation its immediately apparent you are a graduate. A few reasons why:

  • No clear focus if you are interested in characters, props, environments.
  • Anatomy on characters need lots more attention if you are interested in character work (even monsters need structure)
  • Lighting, lighting, lighting. Students need to pay lots more attention to lighting as this is what generally lets their portfolio down, I know its hard to learn everything so quickly but its very important for displaying your work.
  • Focus - if you want to focus on environments - remove everything else. Showcase your environment skills.
  • Now add detail. All you work may be technically accurate, unwrapped, good poly count, able to be sub-d but it doesnt show. Show you can go the extra mile, add lots of grime, details, show close ups and break downs of how you did these images, how you unwrapped each item, layered your channels, the more you show how much work has gone into the details shows how much you are willing to do in the studio.

If you have great technical knowledge as well as execution, you will be a great candidate to mold in the studio. Final words: Give a good breakdown for each image, remove all the images you think are not great. In fact the next 2 years after graduating you will probably throw all of this out and replace with images that will land you job after job. Focus on high quality materials, textures, lighting, composition. Everything that is worth 2nd place or less - put it into your personal portfolio (not online) for you to look at later in life and remember from.

#3

From looking at your artstation its immediately apparent you are a graduate. A few reasons why:

  • No clear focus if you are interested in characters, props, environments.
  • Anatomy on characters need lots more attention if you are interested in character work (even monsters need structure)
  • Lighting, lighting, lighting. Students need to pay lots more attention to lighting as this is what generally lets their portfolio down, I know its hard to learn everything so quickly but its very important for displaying your work.
  • Focus - if you want to focus on environments - remove everything else. Showcase your environment skills.
  • Now add detail. All you work may be technically accurate, unwrapped, good poly count, able to be sub-d but it doesnt show. Show you can go the extra mile, add lots of grime, details, show close ups and break downs of how you did these images, how you unwrapped each item, layered your channels, the more you show how much work has gone into the details shows how much you are willing to do in the studio.

If you have great technical knowledge as well as execution, you will be a great candidate to mold in the studio.

Final words: Give a good breakdown for each image, remove all the images you think are not great. In fact the next 2 years after graduating you will probably throw all of this out and replace with images that will land you job after job. Focus on high quality materials, textures, lighting, composition. Everything that is worth 2nd place or less - put it into your personal portfolio (not online) for you to look at later in life and remember from.

#4

Hi James,

Thanks for reverting me back, this now gives me an idea of what my next steps would be. I would also like to know if I plan on being a 3D Generalist, how should I approach it? Should I start with just the environments or characters, or everything at once as I am doing now but with more details and improved lighting?

Thanks for being such a help. Really appreciate it. :slight_smile:

#5

Generalist usually requires a moderately high skill in lots of fields, characters, environments, compositing, rendering, lighting, etc… This usually takes quite some time but you will find most archviz people are basically generalists with a specific focus on one area (vegetation, people integration, fabric, camera skills etc). This takes time, this takes a lot of practice and real world production skills (client interaction, photography/done matching etc).

My advice is if you wish to be a generalist at this stage, you should master each skill and demonstrate it specifically. For example, if I were to give advise to myself 10 years ago I would say, do a good camera match with 1 chair, light the chair really damn good, give it some fur or realistic type material (check bertrant benoit for an example of a simple chair - which is not so simple.) integrate it with the camera/environment so it looks flawless.

http://bertrand-benoit.com/blog/the-fabric-of-reality/

Then move on to a plant, find out the qualities that make a plant look realistic, the SSS involved in leaves, the different types of genus, you will quickly see how much plants vary from other plants and how intricate the modelling, texturing and ‘growing’ required for this type of work is.

Characters/Humans, this is an entire field of its own, I would advise as a generalist you pick a path for your first 5 years, either environments or characters - whichever takes your interest. These are very different beasts. Characters require… ‘character’, topology, sub-d workflow, in most cases PBR workflow, anatomy, the list goes on. Im not a character artist so Im not entirely qualified to give you more information you would really have to study this field - or ask artists here who are skilled in this area - but I assure you its another 5 years minimum, in fact I would say more if you dont have a formal art background or a knack for this field.

Once you know where you want to start thats the best place to be, then find artists you really appreciate and copy their style of work, eventually you will get to their level (yes, it might be 2-3 years and you are behind but that doesnt matter, the value of what you learn will be worth it later as you excel). As Jordan Pearson says “its amazing how efficient, efficient people can be, its off the charts how efficient they are…”.

#6

Thank you so very much, James. This is very helpful. I would definitely start focusing on what you said and will make every last effort possible. Appreciate the advice and feedback. Thank you once again.