New Grad needs a Demo Reel Critique!
 

Hi,

I just graduated from UCSD with a degree in computer arts. Ive been working in 3D for my last few quarters at school and I have just put together my first demo reel.

I would really appreciate it if anyone could take a look at it and give me some feedback on my reel or on the work itself. Any suggestions, ideas, comments would help a lot since I am new to this field!

Would this be enough or is it good enough to land me a job anywhere?

you can view my reel here:
http://www.edmondbina.com/demo.php

Thanks again!

-Edmond

Hmm..

1) Too dark. At least the subway station is. I can understand wanting to light it as being dark, but for an evaluator to really SEE it, you might want to provide shaded views and/or wire-on-shaded views. What I could see seemed very game-res. If that's what you're going for, that's fine. But I couldn't see the textures very well.

2) Too much emphasis on the train station. The video was already half way through and we're still focusing on the first presented piece. Don't focus on a single project for longer than you really need to.

3) More variety! Whether you're going for a game artist job, or a film job, I'd definitely like to see more than the 2 projects. If one of the two really blew me away, it might not be necessary... unfortunately, that didn't happen.

4) For the 2nd project, if it was done for a game, and you're wanting to get into games, you'll want to inform the viewer of the polycount. Probably also a good idea to show wire/shaded views.

I'd assume you're going for an environment artist, as that's what's on your reel. If so, I'd suggest more environments... maybe an outdoor environment? Sci/fi and fantasy? That kidn of thing.

If you aren't necessarily just wanting an environment modeling gig, you'd need to show more of whatever else you want to do, be it characters, animation, etc.

The best I can think I'd personally do, is give you an art test after seeing this reel and your website's gallery to get a better sense of what you're capable of. I probably wouldn't hire you outright.

Good luck!

Nice web site, btw.

Thank you Mike for your help!

When you say shaded view, do you mean a version that does not have any textures on it? How can I render that in Maya, also how can I render it with a wire-on-shaded view?

When you say you would give me an art test, what does that mean? What would I have to do in an art test?

Thanks again for your help,
Edmond

Yes, shaded means without textures. Easiest thing to do would probably be put the default Lambert1 on everything and render it with some brighter lights. For Wire-On-Shaded, could use a playblast or apply your UV snapshot as a texture.

An art test is an evaluation that the majority of studios give applicants to test them on a job-like project. Usually, this is something that is NOT in the game or whatever, but is something similar to what the artist would do on the job.