Advice for a 3D architectural visualizer

[sherifelshorbagy]

Hi all,

This is my first post here at this great forum seeking advice at this early stage of my career as I am a 26 year-old artist. I concluded all my questions and thoughts at the following points:

1) what should I focus more or emphasize in my portfolio when applying to jobs ( like the outstanding realism, or many interiors, or large residential compounds, etc.. ) ?!

2) How should I present my work and my skills ( like include wireframe versions, or grayscale version, or anything else ) ?!

3) if most of my work in my portfolio is done for studying sake; not for companies; would it be acceptable when applying to jobs ?

4) is my portfolio good enough to get me a job in Europe for example, or Australia? here is my portfolio link: https://www.behance.net/SherifElshorbagy

If there are any other common tips for a better portfolio, and when applying for jobs sure that would be very appreciated!

Hope someone could help me in this, and many thanks in advance

[nejck]

Hello, Sir! Boy that is a good set of questions. I can try and give you my opinion but then again consider it just that. Hopefully some other guys will have a say in this and you can get a median going...

 

1) I think you should put focus on quality rather than quantity. You want to impress and show that you didn't lay a golden egg, more like you lay golden eggs on a weekly basis. Besides, with that said, I've heard guys here talk about how you want to impress with quality rather then how many projects you've done...

 

Naturally, I think the best portfolio is a diverse one so that it shows you are not a one trick pony (for example, rendering interiors only). Not that there is anything wrong with that but you do want to be viewed as an employee than can help with everything.

 

2) I guess that would be the creative part. You can do like full images per PDF page and then just insert some half wireframe half full renders beneath it. I mean the possibilities are endless but personally, if you show me a really great render that you've made all by yourself then I'd just sit there all impressed - without the need to see wireframes.

 

3) Dude, thats perfectly fine. Personal work, commercial work, working for a friend... Anything goes

 

4) I digg your portfolio, it looks very good imho. There is of course a lot of room for improvement and like you said, you are a Junior still so ... Have realistic expectations. You are not the "best", you ain't the "worst". Keep improving, I am sure a lot of people will say your portfolio is good for an entry role at a studio. Keep on grinding and the results will follow!

 

Like I said, this is just my opinion. I have no experience in employing people but as a business owner I can really relate to how I would approach this and what I would look for in candidates. I guess thats what you need to do, put yourself in the shoes of studio owners (or the guys that do the job applications) and think about how to write it all up and present yourself. I do feel like quality should be before quantity. And that saying also goes something along the lines of "you are as good as your worst piece in the portfolio is".

 

Now, If I may serve a little piece of an unsolicited advice... Keep grinding but don't forget - it is an art form, it is a job but there are other (more important) things in life besides it

 

Let's see what other people have to say!

Edited January 5, 2016 by nejck

[atiqursumon]

Welcome to the forum. Your answer is here

 

1. You can focus your skill in various ways like using social media Facebook twitter etc.

2. You are artist, so you should have be job a photography company

3. At first you should complect the study, then going to the job.

4. Please do no share any link at first post

 

I think my advice can helpful to you. If you have a good attention. If it is then shared my site clippingpathspecialist.com we are online based remove background (image) service provider

[sherifelshorbagy]

Nejc K ! thank you so much for taking time to write that precious advice, really appreciate. The thing that is still confusing me as you checked my portfolio and found it good enough to get me a job; is I always get rejections from companies !! no single interview... I can not really define where the real problem is ! but anyway sure I will take your advice into consider and continue grinding.

[Scott Schroeder]

Where are you applying to? Visualization firms or architects? Your portfolio is comes across as a 3D generalist who dabbles in architecture and that can be off putting to companies, especially architects. The cars and basketball player, while they show off some of your skills, add little to an architecture portfolio.

 

You have to remember that sometimes, an HR person or principal architect who do not always have the best sense to judge 3D skill is the first person to look at your portfolio. They may not be able to understand that car modeling skills can translate well into architecture. They just see a car and say, "Oh, we make buildings and cars are not relevant." and pass on checking you out further. Architects in general have a hard time connecting things together. If they are a commercial architect and you have a residential heavy portfolio, then they can't make the connection. If you have a lot of exterior renderings and they do most interior renderings, again, they can't make the jump. Sometimes it is worth tailoring a specific portfolio to a place, send them 2-3 samples of your best work that closely matches their work and just include a link to your online portfolio. That way, your work that closest matches their work gets in front of them first.

 

It is also worth remember that getting rejected isn't personal nor is a necessarily a reflection on your skills. Most places get tens if not hundreds of applicants for the same job. Sometimes you are first to be reviewed, sometimes last. Sometimes not at all. Just keep applying and do not let it get you down. After the collapse in 2008 when I was laid off at the studio I was working at, it wasn't uncommon to send out 20-25 applications before hearing back from just one place.

[nejck]

Nejc K ! thank you so much for taking time to write that precious advice, really appreciate. The thing that is still confusing me as you checked my portfolio and found it good enough to get me a job; is I always get rejections from companies !! no single interview... I can not really define where the real problem is ! but anyway sure I will take your advice into consider and continue grinding.

 

No problem dude. It's just me thinking out loud.

 

Sir Scott said it best, don't give up as it is nothing personal if you don't hear back from companies.

 

Continue grinding but don't forget to live as well

[sherifelshorbagy]

Sir Scott, I apply through sites that companies post their jobs on like this site for example, or search on google for companies seeking artists. But yeah you made it way more clear ! this could be my problem. I should take that into consider. Thank you so much for such an important tip, really appreciate.

Edited January 9, 2016 by sherifelshorbagy

[Angel Villacis Cusme]

Hello!> sorry for the late Reply but i am new to the Forums,

as far as hiring from neck of the woods or any studio in general, the portfolio has to represent the specialty you are looking for, in this case architecture.

i saw your vintage image and although it has all the right elements the cropping hurts the image more than it should, try to show the space as a whole, don't get carried away with all the little details but work your camera to show space in relationship to everything that is in the room. The same can be said with exteriors, try and get inspire but some of the work on the gallery and see how they treat those spaces, see how they place the camera, lighting etc.

although your cars are really good models i wouldn't send those to an visualization studio, mostly due to the fact that that is not the skill set they are looking for, among the things they want, is someone who can read an Autocad plan and take it all the way to execution and represent their vision, from material, lighting, etc. although some studios might be more specialize than others you should always be ready to deliver the best representation of a space, not just in realism but accuracy of the model, surrounding and interaction with the environment, in other words deliver a project from beginning to end while keeping the standards .

residential work is just one aspect of visualization, there are many to choose from and i suggest trying to show the best representation out of the ones you feel comfortable with, and yes you need to focus on quality if you can delivery a good visualization out of one you should be able to be consistent and deliver the next one at the same quality if not better!> it will make it easier to hire someone like you and it will give you flexibility to work for different people, i would simplify the portfolio and only keep content related to the studio you are applying to. look up any of what big studios are pumping out and follow those standards and body of work so you can be a better match and be easier to hire overall,

 

best

 

Angel

[sherifelshorbagy]

Thank you Sir Angel for taking time to write all this precious advice, and welcome to the forum . I really have already started focusing on the content that suits more architecture firm, as well as taking leading artists' work as an ispiration to me; and hopefully I might achieve what I am looking for one day

[andreaavery]

Here are some videos, definitely you learn something new about architectural visualisation.

http://h4group.com/cgi-animation-and-flythroughs/