Demo reel advice

# 1 25-02-2003 , 04:40 AM

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Hello all,

I'm planning to start putting together a demo reel when I get a handle on animation however I have a few questions that I think some of our more experienced members could answer.

One what is a good length of a clip for a demo reel? How many clips would make for a good demo? Also if I create a clip of an animation, say a CG recreation of a piece of the Matrix for example, or use a piece of copyrighted material, such as a song to enhance the scene, could I get in trouble or be breaking any laws? A lot of the scenes that I think about would go well with music that I listen to but if simply using the music would get me in trouble just for putting it on a demo reel I would like to avoid that.

Any advice or tips would be greatly welcomed.

~GateKeeper
Not really certified not really new!

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# 2 25-02-2003 , 06:33 AM

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First thing would be to keep it short. Most people reviewing reels determine whether or not to continue within the first 30 seconds. If it's not good, it gets chucked. If it looks worthwhile, they'll watch the rest of the tape. Even then, keep it under 3 minutes.

It terms of an animation reel, audio is secondary unless it's obviously lipsync work. I know several people who watch reels with the audio turned off. Good animation is good animation regardless of the music accompanying it.

If you do decide to go with music, be very careful of your choice in musical style. It's very hard to predict the musical tastes of people reviewing your reel. If you choose some sort of electronica/techno piece and the reviewer hates that type of music, that's already one strike against you (techno was entirely too common in demo reels during the 90s). Whatever music you choose, make sure it is appropriate for the animation and serves to complement it.

Copyrighted music is ok, IMHO, but I would avoid anything that's extremely popular, common, or over-played. People hear those songs and immediately have preconceptions about the song. Again, regardless of the style in music, make sure it's appropriate for the animation.

Hope this helps!

Danny Ngan
Animator | Amaze Entertainment
my website | my blog | my job

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# 3 25-02-2003 , 03:52 PM

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Hey Gk,
I too am in the process of constructing my next demo reel. What Danny said is right on the money, I'll just add my experiences as it may help you and others regarding demo reels.

Length:
As Danny said, keep it short. My first demo reel(which was awful) was 4min long. When I see now, it was way too long, and it seemed longer because it was soo bad user added image

As I began planning my next demo reel, I was thinking of making it 2.5 mins long, but once I started on projects, even that seems like a lot of time. My demo reel will now be between 50-80 seconds. Here's an old saying that definetely applies here... Quality over Quantity. If you only have 30secs of good animation, then only show 30 secs, don't add an extra 2mins of tutorials you might have done to make it longer. That won't help, instead it will hinder you.

As to clips, and how long each clip:
Well, I'm planning on doing 3 clips. One 20sec, one 10 sec, one 25 sec. I have two others that are about 15sec each, but I'll not do until the first three are done in great quality animation.
Even now, I feel some of these clips might be too long...

Take a look at these great animators and see how short their clips are, but with great quality animation in that short span.

https://www.cameronmiyasaki.com/Anima...n_frameset.htm

https://carlos.mclinn.net/animation.html

https://www.keithlango.com/

Keep it short, keep it short, keep it short. I still need to remind myself of this.

Re-creation:
I'm an avid Star Wars fan. I've asked about my demo reel having a sw theme kinda thing, but most frown on that. Mainly because it's been overdone, might show lack of creativity, it'll be compared to the films, so then must match the quality which won't be likely since it was done by a group of professionals user added image

With that said, if you're still set on having a Matrix theme to your animations, try hard to make it your own, and not a part of the movie. Like the animatrix flims, they have the matrix storyline, but not exact from the film. Put your story to it.
I might throw in a light saber in my demo reel user added image

Music:
Like Danny mentioned, a lot of people turn off the audio, especially when looking at animation demo reels. If you think about the old black and white films like Charlie Chaplin, that's what they want to see. Your animations being able to express feelings/moods/weight/acting without the aide of sound. If you can do that, you're in. Hehehe, again with that said, good choice in music may help your creativity... Just make sure it's in good taste, doesn't take away from the animation, and like Danny said, make the music Secondary.

Final note:
To make sure you get the best quality out of your animations, it's a good to keep hanging out here at simplymaya.com. As I'm sure you know, lots of great people that can help you with any questions you may have, and also critique your animations for positive feedback to insure that quality.

For more info on demo reels/3d industry, check out these tips from
Jeremy Cantor/SONY PICTURES IMAGEWORKS animation supervisor:
https://www.zayatz.com/pages/tips.htm

Hope this helps,
God Bless,
George

God Bless you and 3D

Last edited by GCastro; 25-02-2003 at 04:03 PM.

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# 4 25-02-2003 , 06:08 PM

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I can't thank you guys enough for you advice. I was thinking that I needed something insanley long like 10 pieces of animation shorts about about 2 minutes a piece. (Guess you can tell I'm really green when making a demo reel.)

~GateKeeper
Not really certified not really new!

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# 5 25-02-2003 , 06:16 PM

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sorry if this intrudes on your post gatekeeper, but I was wondering the same thing. Most of my clips are around 10 sec. Right now, my reel is about 1 min long. I am deciding weather or not I want to add stuff to lengthen it. Also, all of it is camera tracking stuff, and I was wondering if I should have just cg stuff in it as well?? What do you think? Most of you have seen the type of content that is going to go on my reel, and I would really like to just get your opinion before it is in stone. Thanks,
Brian

Please check
My (old) website!

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# 6 25-02-2003 , 09:41 PM

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Hi,

I don't know much about demoreels, and so far I haven't made any... but I found this demo reel, when I was looking for something else, but damn it looked great...

it is from Konstantin Promokhov... -->
https://www.fxanimator.com/
and if you don't want the "popup"... -->
https://www.fxanimator.com/newreel/newreel.html

regards

Strarup

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# 7 25-02-2003 , 09:58 PM

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NICE comments and pointers guys!

The ONE thing I can say is like CGcastro said, keep it short, and make SURE it ONLY contains your best quality work...

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

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# 8 25-02-2003 , 10:55 PM

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Brian,
Your stuff is truly great! Some stuff i have not been able to view because I'm on a mac, but what I have seen has been tremendous user added image

In your case I guess it depends what you want to do. With the stuff you have, it's obvious you're not going for a character animation position like me...

What position are you looking for? Modeling? compositing? texturing? Jack of all trades?

Say you were going for modeling... I'd put all your stuff like you say you have it with the compositing.. then at the end, show some turn tables of your models in wireframe or untextured. Something like that...

Again, just remember to put only best stuff.. Best Stuff only! If it's a minute long, then it's a minute long. Only add to it if you feel you have something really great to show, that you think will add to your chances.

I read somewhere that you'll be judged by your worst piece in your demo reel, don't give'em a chance to find a worst piece, or make sure your worst piece is pretty darn good user added image

Hope this helps buddy,
George

God Bless you and 3D

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# 9 25-02-2003 , 10:59 PM

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lo all

i havnt posted for a good few months now, but im coming back into the maya scene and as it happens i saw this amusing yet handy article today...

https://www.ideasfactory.tv/film_tv/f..._feature11.htm

user added image

hmmm...

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# 10 26-02-2003 , 03:46 AM

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Lemmy, that is great! Thanks for the link!

Danny Ngan
Animator | Amaze Entertainment
my website | my blog | my job

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# 11 26-02-2003 , 06:32 AM

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heh heh, my first reel was guilty of a few of those. ;p

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 12 26-02-2003 , 01:33 PM

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Brian: I don't really feel like this is "MY" post so I don't think you're intruding at all. I wanted honest advice from those you have gone before me so to speak. If other people need help on the way well... The more the better I say.

Having just started in Maya about seven months ago I feel I'm nowhere near ready to put together a demo reel capable of blowing people away and landing a job modling/animating. However a demo reel is something I'm very curious about. I guess I'm just thinking ahead so I can plan accordingly.

However with a little help (Read books/simplymaya) I think I'll be able to bring some wonderful things to life. And that is my ultimate goal.

~GateKeeper
Not really certified not really new!

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# 13 27-02-2003 , 03:30 AM

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If I may something about the audio.......to me audio is key but not essential in the digital world of animation. This is due to the fact that you can overlay anything to your animation. If I was watching a demo reel.....I would grade for one Quality, as Danny said if the first 30secs don't grab me...I go onto the next reel.

I would watch them in this manner:

I would play the first 30 seconds and decide on if I want to continue. If I do decide that this is worthy of my time....I would rewind it and play the music.....just to see the mood that develops. The one thing I have learned from giving advice to my artist friends is that my own personal tastes do not play a part in it.....I have to give good opinions and why.....not just 'I don't like it because I hate yellow'.

The music should fit the scene.....try out several tracks. To give an example look at the movie 'The Matrix'....notice when the bullets are moving in slow motion.....so does the sound....it's not crazy techno at 190bpm.

Anyway as you can see for me to grade something, everything about the reel has to function as one unit....and of course be top quality user added image