Portfolio Review #1

[craigmonroe1]

I come from a gaming background (BFA, Game Production) and like doing it sometimes BUT... It turns out that my passion is arch vis. I've been at it for a while now and I realize that it's time for me to take another leap in skill level.

 

Here is my site: http://www.craigmonroe.com/home.html

 

Also, what do you think will help me get my skills up? I'm a 3DS Max and V-Ray user.I know I need to learn the graphite modeling tools, organic modeling and more about post-production Photoshop work. On Polycount I wasn't generally well received and some users baasically said I'm very amature-ish. What do you think?

[Scott Schroeder]

I don't think anyone said you were amateur-ish.

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1953683

 

You just have a lot left to learn, that's all. You have a very basic set of skills and your images come off as very basic. You have simple shapes and forms, simple lighting, simple materials, and pretty standard camera views and even the 100% I'm just a student security camera view in the bathroom.

 

It's a lot like every portfolio I've been sent to review from someone who is starting out in this industry. You have way too much going on. I understand you want to show off you have many skills, but that also comes off as you don't fully know anything either. You show a lot of okay work, but nothing outstanding. Focus on getting that one outstanding piece, the Sydney Opera house you talked about. It's tough, but I do think you need to filter your portfolio. When I'm hiring someone for architecture, I only want to see their architecture skills. To take a step further, since we do mostly arena's and other sports complex's. I really want to see your large scale projects. I'm not overly concerned about housing, unless it's a custom home that has a lot of intricate shapes and detail going on. That certainly doesn't mean I wouldn't hire someone if they had an awesome residential portfolio. However if the decision came down to two candidates with equal skills, we'd take the one with the more experience with larger scale projects. You just have to know your target audience.

 

As others have said, I'd kill the WIP section. If I check back in 2 months and that hasn't changed, it shows me you are not working. WIPs are just generally bad for portfolios. Not being able to save your images is big too. When we review portfolios, we make a folder with the top candidates and we include a few selected works so everyone else can review your work without having to go to your website.

 

I'd focus on your lighting, your camera composition, your color balancing, textures, materials, modeling, and so on. You've got a good foundation to find work at a smaller shop, but you still need to continue learning and improving.

 

For your portfolio, what I would do is clear anything that isn't architecture. If you find yourself applying for a job that has product viz, then send them a resume and pdf portfolio that has more product stuff on it. But make your online presence the backbone of your passion.

[Chris MacDonald]

Can't fault what Scott has said really. Totally agree.

[craigmonroe1]

I appreciate the feedback. Can you be more specific as to what needs to be done to the texturing and materials? Also, do you think the Sydney Opera House would be good to model? If not, can you recommend an interior or exterior?

 

http://freshome.com/ is a great source of inspiration for me, and I'm considering re-creating one of the many projects they feature.

[benjaminbogaert]

Since i'm quite new in the bizz myself I thought it might be useful on things i'm doing now. In order to compete with the competition.

 

Spend some monney on real tutorials, there are some really good free ones, like on mimvitz workshop or viscobel.

 

Watch a lot of making of ( Ronen bekerman; Benoit, Peter Guthrie ) these are filled with information and really interesting to look for a general workflow. How other people do it.

Also, experiment with materials, Benoit has a free scene to test out materials - very awesome to have.

 

Reference -Never work from the point of view how YOU think how something looks/feels. Use reference, never stop using it.

 

Also buy yourself a premium membership at cgtextures

 

And for me the best way to advance is find a building you like and copy it. Every single detail. You will find problems and you'l force yourself to find an answer thus learning. When you do free modelling you will automatically take the safe side and make something you know you can.

 

Some things I noticed looking at your renders :

 

Bump - your bump settings are way too high. In every render they jump out. A bump is part of your material so you want it to blend.

LWF - Linear workflow is a must if you want to sell your work.

Overall your renders are over-saturated. Try some softer colors.

 

And some final words

 

Recheck your scene, right before your about to hit render - Double/triple/quadruple check.

 

Since i'm fairly new in the bizz I don't expect the more elderly members to agree with me but this has helped me a lot, might help you to

 

Oh and make it a habit of checking the forum and looking at other people's problems lol.

 

Kudos, and see you around!

[RyderSK]

And for me the best way to advance is find a building you like and copy it

 

I consider this to be the best exercise one can do. Find excellent photography set of beautiful building and study everything about it, from architectural details, to styling, to everything about light and composition and general look of the photography. Such project was worked with atleat 2 (up to 4) professinals: architect, interior designer and photographer, maybe even stylist. For Vizualization, you require something from the skillset of all these, + CGI, which comes last.

 

The end result isn't about photorealism (although that is perfectly valid as well), it could be interpretation in illustrative manner, but it should hold up in quality of the original, as close as possible to one's reach.

 

 

On personal level:. Don't take it badly, seems you shouldn't, because you already took in some from Polycount, which is like...the NICEST place in the interwebz universe. No one will be that nice to you in critique like on Polycount :- ) If they describe it as "amateurisch", they're being pretty kind but they are also right. It's not an insult though, and should be taken rather as motivation if you feel up to challenge. The reality is so much harscher than Polycount..

 

So with that in mind, I think your current portfolio should not be used in trying to get work. Quantity or broadness should not be considered a good trait if quality is missing. All you need is ONE GREAT project, and you're set for years. Literally. So I would spend your energy there. Good luck !

 

And get as close as possible, you will always be able to place it side by side and compare how much you're off.

[craigmonroe1]

Watch a lot of making of ( Ronen bekerman; Benoit, Peter Guthrie ) these are filled with information and really interesting to look for a general workflow. How other people do it.

Also, experiment with materials, Benoit has a free scene to test out materials - very awesome to have.

 

Can you point me in the direction of Benoit's free scene? I'd love to play around with some lights and materials.

 

And thanks to everyone for the feedback. If it's not too much, can some of you guys share stories about starting out and learning? What helped you advance your skills? What are the most common tools of the trade?

[marius e]

Just take Scott's advice and dont start with this massive project liek the oppera house.....take a model that you have and fix it up to 100% spec. Look at photos of bathrooms etc and make your tiles, vanity, wood, reflections, lighting etc etc look like the photo. Taking on a big project is not going to make your work look better.

[CliveG]

What helped you advance your skills? What are the most common tools of the trade?

 

All of the above +

 

Time

 

Patience

 

The guys on this forum

 

Oh and for the free scene... it's on here somewhere - http://bertrand-benoit.com/

 

Good luck.

[marius e]

Just take Scott's advice and dont start with this massive project liek the oppera house.....take a model that you have and fix it up to 100% spec. Look at photos of bathrooms etc and make your tiles, vanity, wood, reflections, lighting etc etc look like the photo. Taking on a big project is not going to make your work look better.

 

I find that to many people starting out use the forums for a quick fix instead of reading books and tutorials on the subject first. First use tutorials and work with it together with the forum, YOU CAN ONLY LEARN THROUGH TRIAL AND ERROR!

 

I bet if you do a poll on the subject that 100% of pro's will say 'THROUGH TRIAL AND ERROR'............the forums are great and an amazing tool, but when starting out use it and dont abuse it for a quick fix. We are all here to help and learn and we all still do. There is no quick fix to this industry many think they can just jump on the forum and get answers from what has taken others years to figure out. Not reffering to you, just in general.

 

Books

free tutorials

forums

copy photographs

look at other peoples work and compare to yours

start small and get the work down

observe the real world

[Scott Schroeder]

I find that to many people starting out use the forums for a quick fix instead of reading books and tutorials on the subject first. First use tutorials and work with it together with the forum, YOU CAN ONLY LEARN THROUGH TRIAL AND ERROR!

 

I bet if you do a poll on the subject that 100% of pro's will say 'THROUGH TRIAL AND ERROR'............the forums are great and an amazing tool, but when starting out use it and dont abuse it for a quick fix. We are all here to help and learn and we all still do. There is no quick fix to this industry many think they can just jump on the forum and get answers from what has taken others years to figure out. Not reffering to you, just in general.

 

Books

free tutorials

forums

copy photographs

look at other peoples work and compare to yours

start small and get the work down

observe the real world

 

Perfectly said.

 

What helped me learn my current skills was failing, seeing where I went wrong, learning from it and trying again. No one can really recommend an exact scene for you to learn. You have to want to create that scene or you'll never get that into it or even finish it. If you do tackle a large project like the Opera House, do it in chunks. Don't worry about creating the entire thing at once. Focus on the lower walls, the celebrate your progress. Focus on the windows, celebrate your progress. And so on until you work your way up to a finished rendering. Having many mini milestones will keep you motivated more so than just, "I need to get this done."

 

The common tools are Max, Vray/Mental Ray/Corona/etc, Photoshop, Mudbox/Zbrush, MD.... But they are just tools. They won't make great looking renderings. It's the artist using the tools. When I taught a lighting course, my students had the idea that if they just learned Mental Ray they could make great renderings. It wasn't until I told them that Mental Ray is just a tool. You first need to understand camera composition, color theory, lighting studies, material properties, and telling a story with an image. Only then can Mental Ray make a great looking rendering.