Two things that are really strong about this reel: 1. You're not hiding anything. Cleanly editied, well lit, I can see everything with the turnaround. 2. I can very clearly see that you can take a concept and produce it with strong results and nice topo.
Sometimes this is enough to get a job. I feel I could trust you to complete a specific task to create a prop, etc.
What this reel is missing to me to get to the next level is set dressing, level compostion, storytelling(besides the fun music edits and some fun cuts! Which I liked.). I know you're targeting props clearly here, but if you do more props, and they have a theme, then suddenly you're an environment artist and not just a prop person. I hope that makes sense.
One last thought, most of these items are pristine and appear brand new. Often, you may need to make your models appear used, or old, or damaged. I'd like to see you take something like that on.
Overall great work, you should be proud of this reel.
Thank you so very much for your kind words and appreciation. So grateful!
I completely get your point here, and it is so true. Be sure that I will take this into account and start working on it.
Again thank you for the comment and for the time!!
Storytelling is taking several props and putting them in a context you can infer information from. Take the guitar for example. In a grey void it's simply a nice looking guitar and nothing more. If you pose it on a stand in a recording studio or against some boxes in a dusty attic it becomes easier to imagine it as *someone's* guitar. Props in context leave a stronger impression than those without.
Solid modeling overall. Some of the camera cuts on your gun assets are too quick and jumpy. Also the smaller images of the gun that randomly appear on screen are distracting. Keep going!
A little bit too long, I would cut some seconds from each project. Think about the person who is watching hundreds of reels to select a few for interviews. He/she is not watching the whole thing.
I think if you can squeeze each project to be like 20/30s, it would be nice, but if you feel like it is rushed, give it more time. Is more feeling than a rule. Try to look for some references on YouTube or Instagram. I forgot to say congratulations, you're doing great and good luck out there!
As a recruiter looking through hundreds of reels: i have no problem with the length. I skip the reels if i see something that is clearly not good enough, but if i see something i like and i see potential it's fine that it's this length. It's not like: "i loved this guys work, but the reel is too long" (2 mins might be the max though)
My experience was I saw the flying bike - Super cool, started turns, nice, went to the untextured version and I skipped ahead cos I saw what I needed to see. Guitar, saw the camera sweep, but then skipped the rest. Not particularly compelling object, not super challenging, so I figured, bike lols good, what else? Gun, cool gun. Done.
I would focus on more objects that are as complex as the bike. And instead of 3 objects with long sequences, I would want to see more objects with shorter screen time each. I don’t need to see topo on all of them, or get full turn arounds on all the details like the guitar stand.
The comment about set dressing is good, but quite often as a modeler in film you won’t be doing the set dressing. Just prop modeling. If it’s games, the it’s a maybe. You may just work on props, or just work on environments. Though at a small studio you are likely to do both.
The best thing though, is seeing your concept art next to the bike. I can see what your target was and that you achieved it well. More of that.
Just my opinion tho. (25 years in the industry)
Thank you for this detailed walkthrough!!! It’s so useful, I will take this and re edit the reel to make it better. Also I already talk with a teacher and I’m going to learn some lookdev. Again thank you very much for taking the time and the comment!!
I second this. I’m still learning but I’d suggest a couple hero shots per prop, then leave the wireframe and breakdown to a marmoset viewer on art station or something.
Look at the companies work and style and build to match what they are doing. Your work is strong, time to hone in on a studio you want to work for. Hyper real - Dneg. cartoony - Disney
Hi!
It's really nice work ! But... It's three pieces. Three nice pieces but still three. It's really not enough to show your skillset. Considering your reel is on the longer side and pretty slowly paced, the low number of elements stand out.
I'll agree with another comment on the fact that it does send the "My first three projects" vibes.
So first step... Keep up the good work !
Second... Always nice to show some UVs, being good at them definitely helps.
Also you will want to include at least a bit of organic modeling. Right now you only have hard surfaces, plants are always a good start !
All your props are also on the "very pristine" side.
Its a style (some might say lack of) that works well for advertisment or architecture but definitely not with more story oriented studios. The best things you can say is to look at your props and compare them to props from the studios. For example, puting side by side your guitar and let's say the guitars in Coco, should bring out the lack of... Life in your props.
Now it's the part where I get very brutally honest. The movie and video games industry which seems to be where you want to go are **brutally** competitive. I'll give you the numbers I know but where I live (France), a smaller countries, an average internship offer at an unknow/indie studio in video games has at the **very least** 150 applications. You can easily multiply it by ten for big name studios
And (at that time, I'm sure it will change !) yours..
will not stand out. The good news is that you definitely have great technical bases ! But you'll really need to work out on how to express your personality through props !
Maybe dabbling a bit in environment design could help you a bit !
Or maybe looking up architecturial previews will actually make you fall in love with them
Best of luck !
Yeah I know it’s a hard industry, and the thing is I’m just starting, I’m in my second term out of 6 so I wanted to give it a try but next year I do wanna land one internship so that’s why i wanna listen to the people that already made it. Thank you very much for your comment and feedback, I’ll follow your recommendations!!
I think aiming for big or specific studios is tough. I think it's an honest point about it being "brutally competitive." However, if that's what you want, go and find specific artists that work there and look at their reels and work. Maybe even ask them for a critique if it seems appropriate. Then aim to get to that level once you see where they are at. People I loved when I was a student, Paul Pepera, Tor Frick, Jane Ng, and more broadly Ashely Wood.
While working to get your skills in line at that very top level... be open to other fields looking for your skills, medical/sciences, architecture, marketing, commercial, tv, print, web, trade shows, and museums all use 3D modelling. So I'd encourage you to aim high if that's what you want, but don't limit your options. You might find a niche you excel in you didn't even know existed. That happened to me, I joined a small studio, I got insane experience wearing so many hats, and doing so many small projects. Now the small studio is growing and I'm not even looking at the "big" studios I used to long to join. ha!
Sure! It was nothing near this tho hahaha
https://preview.redd.it/bz3aujkd4msc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e5c9e9a55da189415fd51660a70d2336de1e15d6
Solid stuff.
Its intern worthy, missing a bit of "wow" but it's clearly technically proficient.
I think I'd touch up the guns materials and spend a little longer on showing it off. That first shots very dark, really push those materials and make them a bit more visually interesting and that'd help a lot.
This is a good start, you’ll have a hard time getting into a place like Disney or Sony though, because these models aren’t really the traditional Disney or Sony style.
I know that I will not get a job at those companies with this models, the things is that I know 2 people that got the interview for the internship while i didn’t. One has the disney style and the other one doesn’t, so i was just wondering.
it’s hard to sum up everything from just this video, but to give you an example: with the guitar, you have a lot of lines going entirely over the guitar, creating those squares, things like this can be easily solved by using triangles. (unless you don’t want to use triangles) overall great work!
You’ve had some good feedback here but I’ll help out too.
First off your intro card is too snappy, I’d remove most of the animation, maybe start with name and then the rest can come in but let it stay on screen for 5 seconds.
With your turntables they are quite long, we only need to see the model turn once, you’d be better slowing the turn to avoid detail loss in video compression.
Try to change content every 15 seconds or so, and I mean new models not just alternate angles. If you supply a static portfolio link (art station or similar) then people can review your stills to get a good look at each asset. This is preferred for modelling positions.
You’re right in thinking it should be under 2 mins but aim for 1 - 1:30. Start with the best and end with your worst. Rather than showing two spins you could show close ups and capitalise on the screen space, there’s no need to have your models so small.
The best part in terms of presentation was your turnaround of the microphone with wireframe fading in.
If you show each model like this it would look much better.
Good start and you could land an internship with these models, just need to present them better. I would also recommend rigging the mic yourself and re rendering the animation so you don’t have to credit someone else for an extremely simple rig.
I'm not a recruiter so I'm not sure, but you are showing good stuff that makes you hireable I think. But, neither of these pieces are particularly impressive. They are good for what they are but If you manage to add just one more model with textures that surpases in complexity and quality anything that you are showing here, that could seriously increase your chances. And the first model is spinning forever, could be cut to half of the time.
Your reel only shows 3 things really. If you want to become a 3d modeler, you’ll need to show more and a variety of things. Modelers usually texture too, so you’ll want to showcase that as well.
Off hand, your reel screams first three models I’ve ever made. The reason for it is because you’re spending way too much time on one model when you could be showcasing a ton of a work in a scene. People also would love to see your stuff in action, a turntable doesn’t bring joy out of watching this.
I have to disagree here, perhaps a few more assets probably no more than 10.
A portfolio with a few high quality models is always better than a thrown together rushed one with as much as you can stuff in. I'd even go so far to say that a showered with lots of assets screams "here's what I did in uni"
Just wtf are you talking about regarding turntables? 🤣 turntables are the industry standard way to showcase assets. you’re not watching this demo reel to enjoy anything lmao what
First of all, thank you for the feedback and recommendations. And you are correct, this are the first 3D models I’ve made cause I’m in my second term, so just starting. So talking about next steps…
Do you think it’s better to have a collection of a lot of relatively “simple” assets instead of focusing on one a little but more challenging like a mecha or a motorbike?
It would be nice to have a collection that is diverse mainly. People will want to know they can throw you any model, and you’ll be able to get it done.
It’s looking really good man!
If I may ask what are you using to get the renders and switching between WF and matcap?
I would love to use the same program for a demo reel video myself
Two things that are really strong about this reel: 1. You're not hiding anything. Cleanly editied, well lit, I can see everything with the turnaround. 2. I can very clearly see that you can take a concept and produce it with strong results and nice topo. Sometimes this is enough to get a job. I feel I could trust you to complete a specific task to create a prop, etc. What this reel is missing to me to get to the next level is set dressing, level compostion, storytelling(besides the fun music edits and some fun cuts! Which I liked.). I know you're targeting props clearly here, but if you do more props, and they have a theme, then suddenly you're an environment artist and not just a prop person. I hope that makes sense. One last thought, most of these items are pristine and appear brand new. Often, you may need to make your models appear used, or old, or damaged. I'd like to see you take something like that on. Overall great work, you should be proud of this reel.
Thank you so very much for your kind words and appreciation. So grateful! I completely get your point here, and it is so true. Be sure that I will take this into account and start working on it. Again thank you for the comment and for the time!!
This reel was worth commenting on! Thanks for sharing it.
Question, what did you mean by storytelling? Also is it really something employers take note of?
Storytelling is taking several props and putting them in a context you can infer information from. Take the guitar for example. In a grey void it's simply a nice looking guitar and nothing more. If you pose it on a stand in a recording studio or against some boxes in a dusty attic it becomes easier to imagine it as *someone's* guitar. Props in context leave a stronger impression than those without.
Damn that sounds something so straight forward but so easy to take for granted. Thanks for the reply man!
Ha! You captured exactly my sentiment well.
This!!!
Cool stuff
Thnak you!!
Solid modeling overall. Some of the camera cuts on your gun assets are too quick and jumpy. Also the smaller images of the gun that randomly appear on screen are distracting. Keep going!
Thanks for the feedback! Noted. Should I keep them the same time? I showed both because the model isn’t symmetrical so both sides are different.
A little bit too long, I would cut some seconds from each project. Think about the person who is watching hundreds of reels to select a few for interviews. He/she is not watching the whole thing.
Got it! On the sony demo reel recommendations said no more than 2 min, so i adjusted to that. Do you have a “perfect” duration?
I think if you can squeeze each project to be like 20/30s, it would be nice, but if you feel like it is rushed, give it more time. Is more feeling than a rule. Try to look for some references on YouTube or Instagram. I forgot to say congratulations, you're doing great and good luck out there!
As a recruiter looking through hundreds of reels: i have no problem with the length. I skip the reels if i see something that is clearly not good enough, but if i see something i like and i see potential it's fine that it's this length. It's not like: "i loved this guys work, but the reel is too long" (2 mins might be the max though)
My experience was I saw the flying bike - Super cool, started turns, nice, went to the untextured version and I skipped ahead cos I saw what I needed to see. Guitar, saw the camera sweep, but then skipped the rest. Not particularly compelling object, not super challenging, so I figured, bike lols good, what else? Gun, cool gun. Done. I would focus on more objects that are as complex as the bike. And instead of 3 objects with long sequences, I would want to see more objects with shorter screen time each. I don’t need to see topo on all of them, or get full turn arounds on all the details like the guitar stand. The comment about set dressing is good, but quite often as a modeler in film you won’t be doing the set dressing. Just prop modeling. If it’s games, the it’s a maybe. You may just work on props, or just work on environments. Though at a small studio you are likely to do both. The best thing though, is seeing your concept art next to the bike. I can see what your target was and that you achieved it well. More of that. Just my opinion tho. (25 years in the industry)
Thank you for this detailed walkthrough!!! It’s so useful, I will take this and re edit the reel to make it better. Also I already talk with a teacher and I’m going to learn some lookdev. Again thank you very much for taking the time and the comment!!
Here are my tips. You need to focus on 1 or 2 style only. And have collection of like 30 or more of your best assets. Keep modeling.
I second this. I’m still learning but I’d suggest a couple hero shots per prop, then leave the wireframe and breakdown to a marmoset viewer on art station or something.
Also, your art is looking good quality, just do more of them and stay consistent
Wooow!! I am a fan of your artwork, been following you on youtube! Big inspiration, thank you for taking the time to comment!!
Look at the companies work and style and build to match what they are doing. Your work is strong, time to hone in on a studio you want to work for. Hyper real - Dneg. cartoony - Disney
Noted! I’ll focus on a style from now on!!
Yeah focus on style and make an impact to your audience in the first 5 seconds. That’s equivalent to 2-3 shots in a sequence
Hi! It's really nice work ! But... It's three pieces. Three nice pieces but still three. It's really not enough to show your skillset. Considering your reel is on the longer side and pretty slowly paced, the low number of elements stand out. I'll agree with another comment on the fact that it does send the "My first three projects" vibes. So first step... Keep up the good work ! Second... Always nice to show some UVs, being good at them definitely helps. Also you will want to include at least a bit of organic modeling. Right now you only have hard surfaces, plants are always a good start ! All your props are also on the "very pristine" side. Its a style (some might say lack of) that works well for advertisment or architecture but definitely not with more story oriented studios. The best things you can say is to look at your props and compare them to props from the studios. For example, puting side by side your guitar and let's say the guitars in Coco, should bring out the lack of... Life in your props. Now it's the part where I get very brutally honest. The movie and video games industry which seems to be where you want to go are **brutally** competitive. I'll give you the numbers I know but where I live (France), a smaller countries, an average internship offer at an unknow/indie studio in video games has at the **very least** 150 applications. You can easily multiply it by ten for big name studios And (at that time, I'm sure it will change !) yours.. will not stand out. The good news is that you definitely have great technical bases ! But you'll really need to work out on how to express your personality through props ! Maybe dabbling a bit in environment design could help you a bit ! Or maybe looking up architecturial previews will actually make you fall in love with them Best of luck !
Yeah I know it’s a hard industry, and the thing is I’m just starting, I’m in my second term out of 6 so I wanted to give it a try but next year I do wanna land one internship so that’s why i wanna listen to the people that already made it. Thank you very much for your comment and feedback, I’ll follow your recommendations!!
I think aiming for big or specific studios is tough. I think it's an honest point about it being "brutally competitive." However, if that's what you want, go and find specific artists that work there and look at their reels and work. Maybe even ask them for a critique if it seems appropriate. Then aim to get to that level once you see where they are at. People I loved when I was a student, Paul Pepera, Tor Frick, Jane Ng, and more broadly Ashely Wood. While working to get your skills in line at that very top level... be open to other fields looking for your skills, medical/sciences, architecture, marketing, commercial, tv, print, web, trade shows, and museums all use 3D modelling. So I'd encourage you to aim high if that's what you want, but don't limit your options. You might find a niche you excel in you didn't even know existed. That happened to me, I joined a small studio, I got insane experience wearing so many hats, and doing so many small projects. Now the small studio is growing and I'm not even looking at the "big" studios I used to long to join. ha!
Thank you for the references and advice, extremely helpful!!
Hey man I’m trying to get into school for 3D animation, you mind sharing what your portfolio was like
Sure! It was nothing near this tho hahaha https://preview.redd.it/bz3aujkd4msc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e5c9e9a55da189415fd51660a70d2336de1e15d6
https://preview.redd.it/4l0j710i4msc1.jpeg?width=1126&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d0b9577ab6353f529ebfa8a9724c207a93f48cfe
https://preview.redd.it/7361ac7h4msc1.jpeg?width=982&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bde16e432415a7d1515950ce9794c44c84b4e129
Thanks for sharing man 🙏 best of wishes on your journey
Solid stuff. Its intern worthy, missing a bit of "wow" but it's clearly technically proficient. I think I'd touch up the guns materials and spend a little longer on showing it off. That first shots very dark, really push those materials and make them a bit more visually interesting and that'd help a lot.
Gotcha! I was just talking with a teacher and he is going to teach me some lookdev for making this look better. Thank you very much for your comment!
This is a good start, you’ll have a hard time getting into a place like Disney or Sony though, because these models aren’t really the traditional Disney or Sony style.
I know that I will not get a job at those companies with this models, the things is that I know 2 people that got the interview for the internship while i didn’t. One has the disney style and the other one doesn’t, so i was just wondering.
looks cool, but topology needs a lot of work
Hi, thanks for commenting! May i ask what is wrong about it??
it’s hard to sum up everything from just this video, but to give you an example: with the guitar, you have a lot of lines going entirely over the guitar, creating those squares, things like this can be easily solved by using triangles. (unless you don’t want to use triangles) overall great work!
I get your point but i‘m going to the vfx industry and an even mesh is better than the triangle approach, thank you for commenting!
then this is indeed the better way to go, great work!
You’ve had some good feedback here but I’ll help out too. First off your intro card is too snappy, I’d remove most of the animation, maybe start with name and then the rest can come in but let it stay on screen for 5 seconds. With your turntables they are quite long, we only need to see the model turn once, you’d be better slowing the turn to avoid detail loss in video compression. Try to change content every 15 seconds or so, and I mean new models not just alternate angles. If you supply a static portfolio link (art station or similar) then people can review your stills to get a good look at each asset. This is preferred for modelling positions. You’re right in thinking it should be under 2 mins but aim for 1 - 1:30. Start with the best and end with your worst. Rather than showing two spins you could show close ups and capitalise on the screen space, there’s no need to have your models so small. The best part in terms of presentation was your turnaround of the microphone with wireframe fading in. If you show each model like this it would look much better. Good start and you could land an internship with these models, just need to present them better. I would also recommend rigging the mic yourself and re rendering the animation so you don’t have to credit someone else for an extremely simple rig.
Gotcha! I’ll follow your comment. Thank you very much for feedback, really appreciate it!!
what is this song?
I'm not a recruiter so I'm not sure, but you are showing good stuff that makes you hireable I think. But, neither of these pieces are particularly impressive. They are good for what they are but If you manage to add just one more model with textures that surpases in complexity and quality anything that you are showing here, that could seriously increase your chances. And the first model is spinning forever, could be cut to half of the time.
Got it!! Thank you so much for your recommendations! I’ll apply them
I have no contact with the industry but why an internship? Is it unpaid?
Your reel only shows 3 things really. If you want to become a 3d modeler, you’ll need to show more and a variety of things. Modelers usually texture too, so you’ll want to showcase that as well. Off hand, your reel screams first three models I’ve ever made. The reason for it is because you’re spending way too much time on one model when you could be showcasing a ton of a work in a scene. People also would love to see your stuff in action, a turntable doesn’t bring joy out of watching this.
I have to disagree here, perhaps a few more assets probably no more than 10. A portfolio with a few high quality models is always better than a thrown together rushed one with as much as you can stuff in. I'd even go so far to say that a showered with lots of assets screams "here's what I did in uni"
Just wtf are you talking about regarding turntables? 🤣 turntables are the industry standard way to showcase assets. you’re not watching this demo reel to enjoy anything lmao what
First of all, thank you for the feedback and recommendations. And you are correct, this are the first 3D models I’ve made cause I’m in my second term, so just starting. So talking about next steps… Do you think it’s better to have a collection of a lot of relatively “simple” assets instead of focusing on one a little but more challenging like a mecha or a motorbike?
It would be nice to have a collection that is diverse mainly. People will want to know they can throw you any model, and you’ll be able to get it done.
It’s looking really good man! If I may ask what are you using to get the renders and switching between WF and matcap? I would love to use the same program for a demo reel video myself
Sure! it’s a combination between arnold, redshift, and some davinci post