Cool 3D portfolios?

[Frosty]

I think Ernest is bang on the money with his comments. Architects, generally, will not spend any time waiting for the info and a 30 second wait time is death. I clicked on a couple of the above mentioned links and didnt get past the "intro".

The point about not being able to copy paste is huge and an even large problem with flash galleries is not being able to copy/paste a link DIRECTLY to a gallery image. It may be a junior person in the office searching you out and needing to send the link to superior. "Click on this button, then that button..." doesnt work.

 

I'm not completly against flash as you can open some amazing possibilities with actionscript, but be aware of its pitfalls. And although aesthetics DO matter, serve up the content as fast and painlessly as possible.

[RyanSpaulding]

So why is 30 seconds so long? Why be so impatient that you cant wait 30 seconds for an improved look and feel?

[William Alexander]

So why is 30 seconds so long? Why be so impatient that you cant wait 30 seconds for an improved look and feel?

 

 

Not being argumentative in anyway, it's the way people doing the recruiting hiring look at....

 

"They don't have anything to capture my attention in the first 5 seconds why wait 30 for what most likely will be just more flash crap...yawn stretch yadayadayada...move on to someone or some other site that does"

 

It's similar to having a JoeIdiot@hotmail emial address for your proffessional portfolio. You don't have your own domain WTF are you doing in computer graphics. The people who work and hire AKA the ones with the money are very ridgid and intense with the "Filtering Process". ROTFL they have less patience than very young children.

 

Not trolling....just the way it is, sorry

WDA

[Ernest Burden III]

Why be so impatient that you cant wait 30 seconds for an improved look and feel?

 

Can you hear that? It's Mr. death creeping up on us. He's walking slowly, but his patience is not infinite. Oh, no! He's closer than I thought! Wait, Mr. Death, I just want to get off one more useless forum post. Where did the time go, I just got started doing good work!

 

No, I suppose you can't, you're 25. Enjoy it, live, live, live, and never waste 30 seconds waiting for some un-necessary Flash thing to load.

 

 

EDIT: Just to punctuate the point, just now RadioParadise played Johnny Cash's "When the Man Comes Around".

[Frosty]

Ryan, rather than continue rattling off all of these negative points of using flash to build your portfolio, I'm going to point in a direction that is, I think, more constructive.

http://www.mooshow.eatpixels.com/

http://smoothslideshow.jondesign.net/

http://smoothgallery.jondesign.net/

http://jquery.com/demo/thickbox/

http://www.myhaxxxor.de/?open=about&lang=en

 

I'm sure there are a bunch more links that could help as well, but these are fairly easy to use PHP, CSS and JS files that let you do some pretty cool stuff and avoid flash. Take from it what you will.

[Sindala]

Hey Ryan, I've spent a few years moonlighting as a webdesigner while i worked in architectural offices, and the thing we started every site with is clearly layout what we want the site to do and what the audiance's view is of the compagny and make the website do this as fast and efficient as possible while also affirming with the design that this is the right place.

I would love it to be different but i think most of the arch-vis clients arent really aware of the creativity, or the need of any, that we 3d guys have. So if they're looking for a compagny that knows how to 'make computers make nice images' they really don't want to see a creative guy who may have an opinion about anything. More likely they're looking for an extreme CAD monkey and loads of good images done for important developers and architects. What can these guys do and with who have they already done it and should we be a part of this. Also keep in mind that most of the people that make the decisions to pay you or the other guy to do the work are busy people and probably want their info fast and want a fast result from you.

 

If you want your website to get more clients then you have to make google your best friend, and he's very picky. Lately google does read the text in flash sites but not very well so its difficult to get a good ranking. A fancy site with no visitors is worthless.

 

On the other hand if you want to have a creative oulet with your website or if you're looking to expand into new and exiting fields go for it, but keep in mind that you'll also get clients that are as overly ambitious as you are. Not the best clients imo.

 

I do believe there is a is market in the future for interactive 3d websites but i would put it as a project in your portfolio, also saves a lot of hassle if you want to keep your portfolio up to date.

 

http://www.rasterwerks.com/ I am quite impressed with this online 3d shooter, this one is worth the wait.

[Matt McDonald]

My background is Industrial Design with a fair amount of Human Factors and Usability training. The key to usability is focusing the in goals and objectives of a user. Goals are intangible items such as user A wants to get a sense of the organization's professionalism and objectives are specific tasks such as user B wants to get the main phone number for the organization. Determine the users of your web site and begin defining each users goals and objectives. As you develop your site you can test it to see if these goals and objects are being met.

 

Maybe a special interactive experience is what one of your users is looking for, maybe not.

[jackb602]

It's been a long time since I tried to learn the basics of Flash, but haven't there been some advances in making it more usable? For example, I had heard that it's now possible to bookmark specific "pages" in a Flash site. I care a lot about usability and clarity, but I also like the control that Flash gives me over how my work is presented. I'm glad this discussion has started now because I have been thinking about updating my own site, and I'm not yet sure which direction to take it.

 

I think that good design is an important aspect of how you present your work, especially in a visually oriented field like arch viz or architecture itself. A good rendering is the result of a great deal of care and attention to details, and these values can be reinforced in your portfolio, website, or demo reel. In this regard, a 30 second "loading" message is poor design, no matter how great the Flash stuff that's loading, because it's creating an obstacle for the user. And then you have "clever" interfaces that require the mousing skills of a sniper.

 

I think one of the most compelling arguments for the value of good graphic design is the work of Edward Tufte.

[Justin Hunt]

What fasinates me is how many web site tuck their contact details away, making it very diffecult to find.

 

If you think of your website as a resume, your contact details are one of the first things you show.

 

JHV

[Justin Hunt]

Let me give an example of a website from an office that does very good work but has an atrocious website interface.

 

http://www.dboxstudio.com

 

(i think they so much work that they don't care but this is a good example of a bad website for attracting new clients)

 

I went there and had to try 6 simes before I worked out how to use the site. The works good but the site comes across a pretentious. This is a great example on how not to do it

 

JHV

[RyanSpaulding]

I think a lot of these issues can be alleviated with careful planning on how to keep load time down, make sure your contact info is evident or there's an easy way to forward/copy this info. It'd be interesting to take a tally on what it is people DON'T like about Flash...

 

Also, I'm not looking toreally attract clients with this. I work for a small gfx company and don't make that much ($35k, no insurance ) but we just got booked for the next 4 1/2 months of non-stop animations for a $1.2 billion dollar project in Madagascar. Maybe I can grab some sort of bonus I will have made the company over $70k by June....

 

Point being, I'm looking for a cool way to show my multi-faced talents...not necessarily gain clients as any general CG artist who looks at my page wouldn't necessarily be wowed by my bare-bones arch viz page setup.

[Ernest Burden III]

($35k, no insurance

Maybe I can grab some sort of bonus

I will have made the company over $70k by June....

 

The standard multiplier for a business over employee compensation to cover benefits, office space, equipment used by that employee is 4x. Now until June is about 1/2 year, or $17.5K, multiplied by 4 = $70,000.

 

I'm really upset about all the artists I know in the US who live without health insurance. Its a disgrace, and I don't know what to do about it. Your numbers do suggest that your employer could afford to cover you, but isn't. Forget the bonus, get health insurance out of them. Or work on your resume instead of a Flash gallery.

[RyanSpaulding]

Forget the bonus, get health insurance out of them. Or work on your resume instead of a Flash gallery.

 

Workin on it. He bitches a lot about how much health insurance would cost him since they're not allowed to band together with other small companies for a better plan. Bear in mind, we're a company that is 4 deep.

 

Owner gets insurance from his wife...so does his partner...and so does my co-worker. Me, the only non-married person, suffers. However, there is an upside. The gf I'm going to marry is a supervisior at an insurance company.

[3D_IC]

This is one of the best navigations for a ceative studio i've seen.

Love the music too.

 

http://www1.mug.pl/

[Brian Smith]

This is one of the best navigations for a ceative studio i've seen.

Love the music too.

 

http://www1.mug.pl/

 

Just my opinion but i couldn't disagree more. I hate splash pages, intro pages and anything that forces me to spend time watching stuff like that. Once i made it into the main interface, i tried for over a minute to see a gallery and couldn't find it.

 

I'll go for simple over complex any day. Good work speaks for itself and you get a visitor to see good images within a few seconds of clicking on your site, you're not going to lose their business because your site wasn't fancy enough. On the contrary, you are far more likely to lose a client because they can't see your work soon enough.

 

I have spent many, many hours looking for sub contractors to help in production over the years and i have visited hundreds of websites. When i look on someone's website and can not find what i'm looking for within 5 secs, i move on. People judge a book by its cover and i'm as guilty as anyone...i want to see good work on the cover...not go on a treasure hunt to find it.

[3D_IC]

If everyone agreed then this forum would be a dull place.

 

I was refering to the navigation on this site. The way in which you walk around the office, using the different areas instead of just buttons for about us, contacts, gallery etc.....The sony style web page is another great example.

 

This is a web design company, not a 3d visualisation company and so the technique could be incorporated into a site of 3d work.

 

Whats more this site is fully 3d which sells your 3d on a second level. Not only is the viewer able to see your work, but also walk around a space you created and even designed to sell your gallery.

[Brian Smith]

If everyone agreed then this forum would be a dull place.

 

I agree. I was just throwing out my opinion...no one has to agree with me. In fact, i think it's better when we disagree, because we have a better opportunity to learn. I learn all the time from people i first disagree with on this forum.

[Nils Norgren]

I thought I would throw my 2¢ in here, I think as with most debates the truth lies in the eye of the beholder. Our website:

 

http://www.neoscape.com/

 

Sometimes a little cumbersome and our sales guys complain all the time about how hard it is for clients to get to the portfolio, on the other hand we have a specific image we are going after. We recently finished some work that included a website, which I think shows that some developers are looking for some flashy, young, hip, web design. Our web designers who are much younger than me, banged this one out of the park in my opinion.

 

http://www.l5vegas.com/

 

Although it does go against much of what has been said in this thread (most of which I agree with I must say). I just wanted to interject that there are situations where both philosophies are applicable.

 

Interested in thoughts,

 

-Nils Norgren

Neoscape

[eksg]

It was amusing just to read your post here guys,and its all just about a portfolio.

 

My suggestion to you is to have it in printout together with your resume.and make one impressive resume together with that printout.got it?right now,I am also preparing my resume together with my portfolio,but i have spent at least a week to finish my resume,and about an hour to print a few samples.(resume presentation differs on different countries).the thing is,the big boss wont have to go to the internet and to look for your site,its a waste of time for them.they'll look briskly on all the candidate's resume and sample of work,...that's it.they dont go to websites and say,"Oooh wow...what flashy stuff,neat....geee,I wanna hire this guy!"nope...they wont do that.they'll just pick up a number of papers on the pile,and have his secretary call them up for interview.

 

But preparing a flash,interactive portfolio is a good trick.the truth is i have mine done by my friend who is a graphic artis.but i am reserving this one for my interview.i wont upload it on a site or somethinging.im having it played on my interview,to have it as a background while presenting myself and what i can do.actually,even an almost obsolete powerpoint presentation is still fine,it just have to be presented nicely,and it will gives you the power to control the timing.

 

and just remember,sometimes,when you do flashy stuff,the boss would expect a lot from you.you should be able to impress him,or her, in the least way you could,and that is on the quality of work you have..and if it doesnt seem to work,at least you still have a couple of tricks hidden under your sleeves.

[Ernest Burden III]

We recently finished some work that included a website, which I think shows that some developers are looking for some flashy, young, hip, web design. Our web designers who are much younger than me, banged this one out of the park in my opinion.

 

Yeah, its good. My first thought was in seeing the shiny 'floor' that Vegas is a dusty desert. But the building is nicely done, the site loads quickly and is all attitude, which must have been what the client wanted, so the site serves them well. My sister used to live in a building right across LV Blvd from there--its not exactly a glitzy area...yet. Its a good move by your client.

 

 

Our website:..

Sometimes a little cumbersome and our sales guys complain all the time about how hard it is for clients to get to the portfolio, on the other hand we have a specific image we are going after.

 

I've thought the same thing about your site, too much that isn't your work. But what is it instead? It starts out about the studio and the people. That is something that the larger studios have to offer clients that small-fries like me cannot offer. It really should be a selling point that there are a bunch of talented people sharing a work environment feeding off eachother's artistic input. All of us who participate in forums like CGA can see why that's valuable. So I see why that is the first thing you notice about the Neoscape site. And when you get to the art its good.

 

But all the bigger studios--Neoscape, StudioAMD, Paradigm, 3DAS, dBox, Smoothe, etc. do great work. I suppose when you reach a certain size and reputation you can move beyond just showing your renderings and animations and feature what makes your business special--like a great studio full to overflowing with talent.

 

Small studios have to rely upon the work first. What else do we have to offer? Big studios are more likely to be 'available' (often in the NYC market clients are calling all over town just looking for a renderer who is able to take their project on). So we have to lead with our best stuff. Some clients insist I go into their office before they'll hire me. They want to meet the person. Having a website that is layers deep might send an impersonal impression, put off clients.

 

And whatever skills you want to show prospective clients, you are always best served by portfolio examples--real projects for real clients--over stuff you built in your spare time just to show it. Your images are important, but your client list is equally important, maybe more-so.

[vizwhiz]

here is a cg/arch viz website That i like (a lot)

 

http://www.3designarchitect.com/

 

easy navigation, great content, easy To look at & some screen movement

 

does require Flash, but it is not Too Flasy

 

Thanks

 

Randy

[sketchbook]

I agree, that is a well done flash website. no waiting around for things, and the work is presented pretty well. maybe a bit too much moving around on top, but whatever.