Portfolio Building

[KravenArk No.480837]

So, I'm currently a junior in High School. My dream job would be to be a Game Designer and so I've been putting together pieces for my portfolio(I've been looking at Ringling for college but still not sure). I was wondering if you professionals could give me constructive criticism on this piece(picture attached). Pros and Cons? Anything to work on. This was made in Maya entirely, it's supposed to be grunge/dark image of a metro

[Anonymous No.480838]

asking 4chan is your first mistake. second is believing you need a degree or to go to school in order get into the industry. the biggest thing i see with your picture is that its completely fucking boring. look at this metro 2033 image. it is interesting. yours is not. learn from what the industry puts out and compare it to your own

[Anonymous No.480839]

>>480837
I go to ringling
it's a fine school, not a scam or anything, IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT-- there are tons of other options
Better options too, depending on what you want to do.

[Anonymous No.480844]

>>480839
and also my #1 advice is to learn how to draw, so many 3D artists learn the software but don't understand appeal + design

[KravenArk No.480846]

Thanks for the feedback, I was trying to make the image void and lifeless(that's why it doesn't have anything). I post on 4chan cuz people aren't afraid to speak their mind. As well, I can afford the school so Ringling isn't a problem I would love to hear more about it. I can draw very well but compared to my cgi, my drawing is a toddler's sketchbook

[Anonymous No.480849]

>>480846
Yeah if you/your family can afford it, art school is not a bad idea, cause being around other artists + making connections always helps.

The reason I say learn to draw (or paint) is because you'll learn general artistic appeal, design, etc. I see people who only know 3D, and a lot of the time their stuff just looks really bland/with bad taste. It's clear from your scene that you don't have a sense of composition or drama or lighting.

FYI the first year at ringling you don't even use maya, ue4, etc, it's all foundation stuff, drawing, sculpting.

I can't say too much stuff in detail about the game program because I'm an animation student. Some of the work is shit of course, but there is good work too.

If you want to be a modeler it looks like better stuff comes out of Gnomon.

[Anonymous No.480856]

>>480838
Not Op but making all the assets, textures and decals in the screenshot you posted and make them game optimised would probably take way too long for a single person, not to say a full game, even if it's just some walking Sim. (nevertheless Op should be able to make quality game assets)

I would recommend making single game assets and character models, making full detailed hame ready scenes is probably not your best bet. Rebuilding your room in your favourite 3d application or engine, working on it for over a year or so and posting your progress in WIP threads won't get you anywhere and doesn't impress anyone in your portfolio.

[KravenArk No.480860]

Again, thank you so much for the input. BTW I visited Ringling for the tour and I know that the first year you don't use cgi but it's much better than wasting the first 2 years of your schooling in a state school learning philosophy and literature. OFF TOPIC but has anyone checked out Champlain College? it's in vermont and I visited(GREAT SCHOOL). What is the best thing for a student to do when he wants to show off in his portfolio? What types of art should you include when you're going for Game Art/Game Animation

[Anonymous No.480862]

>>480856
Idk, for someone who wants to be an environment/level artist, its going to be key to have some full scenes in your portfolio. It'll show modeling/texturing ability, as well as competence with regards to lighting, composition and overall visual design that would be relevant in game building.

Characters are a separate specialization completely. It takes so much time and effort to be good at either that it's rare anyone would do both at the same time. Better to have one good scene or one good character than shitty versions of both. And with characters especially, if it isn't AAA-tier work, it's shit.

[Anonymous No.480863]

>>480860
I have some friends who went to Ringling, they liked it and were able to get work afterwards (though this was like 10 years ago). I guess its more of a traditional school with 4-year programs etc.

For modeling for games specifically, I would maybe look more into Gnomon if you can float it (sounds like you can). Gnomon is more focused directly on game/vfx art, so you wouldn't be spending as much time doing stuff that isn't related to what you actually want to get good at. Its also in LA, which is much much closer to more game jobs, being on the West coast, than Ringling is.

[Anonymous No.480869]

>>480860
yeah what I'm saying is that first year learning foundation isn't wasted at all because the stuff you learn doing traditional really does show in cg stuff. I know a dude who can't draw at all who transferred here, and even though he knew his way around the programs quite well his 3d stuff was simply unappealing because his traditional skill was shit so he didn't understand appeal, gesture, how to push forms, that kind of thing.

in terms of portfolio, it's pretty similar. if you have okay fundamental drawing skills you will get in, it's not hard to get into art school. Doesn't really matter what art style you do if you show fundamentals.

>>480863
this is true, we have a good amount of recruiters & connections that visit, but things are made slightly difficult because of the location. That's part of why I said check out gnomon. It's probably a better option if you have a specific idea of what you want to do, like if you just want to do character modeling for intsance. It's easier to specialize in that way at that school as far as I know. Ringling tries to touch on more bases which can be a good and a bad thing.

[Anonymous No.480884]

make it look like this, give the lighting depth instead of having it flat across the whole scene, this is what my lighting teacher taught me when i went to VFS for game design, he was a senior lighter in many games. also add some specularity to the scene since it seems everything has only bump/diffuse :p andd yea idk what else but heres an example its a tadd too dark in mine but yea u get the idea. also add more debris

[Anonymous No.480889]

>>480884
why does yours look darker than OP's? it's less flat but you can still barely see anything and it looks black from the thumbnail

[Anonymous No.481032]

>>480889
i photoshopped it..? LOL..

[Anonymous No.481036]

>>481032
I'm not asking what you did to it I'm saying it's not really an improvement because the image is still fundamentally flawed

[Anonymous No.481044]

>>481036
and i said mine was still a tadd too dark if you read what i said at all? im saying the lighting needs more depth because its too flat all around, especially if u want to make it look more interesting. add pools of light you want a foreground midground and background in scenes or else it looks too blended together

[Anonymous No.481251]

way too dark, op

[Anonymous No.481253]

>>481251
also needs something to draw focus of the viewer. like red eyes or something. now we're talking focus we might as well add some dof

[Anonymous No.481260]

I'm a CS major and it bores the shit out of me ...

I'd prefer a job in environment/level design or maybe just straight up 3D modelling. Its something I did as a kid and probably gave me more enjoyment and satisfaction than anything else. I kinda stopped doing it because I ended up wasting more time playing games and being hyper critical of anything I produced.

With the right portfolio and a ... pretty much unrelated degree - is there any chance of getting a job in the aforementioned fields?

tl;dr for OP - If anyone tells you to study something because it pays better, or has a guaranteed job: Ignore them.

[Anonymous No.481277]

utter shit

im not a robot

[Anonymous No.481287]

>>481260
yeah if your portfolio is good it won't matter. actually a cs background is a plus because coding skills are a valuable asset.

[Anonymous No.481288]

>>481287
nope. Cs doesnt mean shit unless you've made and shipped a well known, liked program.

[Anonymous No.481291]

>>481288
I'm not saying he'd get a technical position based on it. I'm saying it could potentially be a bonus asset if he learned some relevant scripting. That at worst his cs degree would be irrelevant, and at best it could be a slight plus in an interview.

[Anonymous No.481297]

>>481291
if you have a cs degree, it could be a detriment. This happened to me. I told them that I could code and they brought in someone who tested my knowledge of 3d coding. The types of questions where you need technical knowledge. Needless to say I failed and left knowing I had fucked up. Now I'm just another failure.

[Anonymous No.481315]

>>481297
that sucks
you could've said that's your background but you don't have much knowledge in 3d coding
what were you interviewing as?

[Anonymous No.481318]

>>481315
Paid intern for modelling and normal mapping.

[Anonymous No.481386]

Stay the hell away from "game design" courses. Or really any school that teaches 3D. Colleges don't know/care how to properly teach 3D. A lot of For-Profits out there trying to sucker idiots into paying them for a course that does fuck all.
You're best learning from websites, online training is helluva lot cheaper. You also got Blender, which is free, and Autodesk offers FREE student licenses to all of their softwares too.

Check out sites like DigitalTutors, GnomonWorkshop, and UArtsy. Also Youtube will be a great resource too of course. If you live in the Seattle area, Futurepoly is also a great no-bullshit place to go to, and offers some online courses too.

If you want animation, then AnimationMentor is a great place too.

Post your work to communities like Polycount, CGSociety, or you could post here if you want your asshole torn open. Hell, even Tumblr has a small 3D community going you could check out, some people there offer tutorials.

The thing is, no one in the 3D industry gives a flying FUCK about your degree or where you went to school, so you're basically flushing money you may or may not have down the toilet.

[Anonymous No.481391]

>>481386

Gnomon's 3 year course would be pretty good to attend to no?