need advice please

[PaulG21]

I'm just about to start making a demo reel to apply for a job at a game company as a junior artist. I just want to know what sort of stuff to put in it.
would the following be suitable:

1. Some 360 spin rounds of low and high poly characters (in wireframe as well).

2. some basic animations e.g. walk cycle, run cycle, lifting a heavy weight.

3. some other modeling e.g buildings, cars etc.

also, if i'm no good at texturing (which i'm not) is it better to leave my models untextured?

thanx in advance.

[Goig!]

"1. Some 360 spin rounds of low and high poly characters (in wireframe as well).

2. some basic animations e.g. walk cycle, run cycle, lifting a heavy weight.

3. some other modeling e.g buildings, cars etc."

All three... and show what you´re best at; if textures are not your forte don´t try to make it look as if you really now the stuff; put more modelling and animation material.

All of the above. Make sure you tailor your reel to present your best stuff. If your animation is not so good, leave out the walk cycles & stick to spin rounds or if your modelling isn't great, keep the models simple but really bring them to life with the animation.
A good model with bad animation may not get you a job & vice versa - play to your strengths. If you can competantly model and animate, only then do both.

If your texturing is not so good, definately leave the models blank, but always make sure you show smooth shaded, faceted & wireframe version so the interviewer can see poly placement & how well you used the polys available.

Generally the more variation in your models, the better. Some companies employ character modellers, whereas some just employ 3d artists & everybody does everything. The more things you show you can model (cars & other vehicles, buildings, characters etc,) the better.

Be aware that tailoring your reel to each company is not a bad idea, although a fair amount of work. If a company is doing a fantasy style game, push any fantasy stuff you have. If it's a racing game, push your cars.

It should be the case that companies look at what you have & should be able to guess at what you might be capable of. For example if you can competantly model a realistically proportioned human, then you should be able to model an orc, but often unless it's in front of them, companies don't think like that. Don't be surprised if you get a no thanks from a company that is making a racing game because you sent them wizards & orcs...

I'm not trying to discourage you, but rather trying to help you understand that companies are often looking for a specific skill set to fill a role & if you show them what they want to see, you're more likely to succeed.

Now all I need to do is follow my own advice...

[rob_beddall]

Hey!!
at uni we get visits from a bloke from CodeMasters and he reckons that what you need on a demo reel is.......

1. good quality open gl Animations or screen grabs. (quality modeling not 33400000*23230000 renders)

2. A selection of drawings to shw that you can draw. ( apparently if you gey an interview you have to pass a drawing test before you get a job.)

3. Work on optimizing your workflow. ( they say that their modellers can model a good low poly car/ face in bout 3-4 hours.)
That doesn't seem that fast to me but there you go.

Well thats about all i know.
cheers!!

[PaulG21]

thanks for the advice everyone, really helpful. one more thing though, i was just wondering what the average salary is for a junior artist? I know it would depend on how good you are, experience, company etc but what would you say is the average?

I'd say £15 - 20k, depending on area & experience.

[Torlok2002]

thats roughly 33,000 US $. I had to go look it up


For us yankies!

[il_paulio]

lol and somewhat €30000 for the eu dudes around here

[lillypusher]

u have to admit that 140,000 NIS sound the best.
140,000. has a nice ring to it.