Ok I doubt this will be read by anyone but hey I'll give it a try, I would love to be a character artist working in games right so I figure to start of as low poly as possible make some decent low poly models then move up.
So I have be working on a low poly character and needed advice as to redering and presentation, I was then advised to show my work as screenshots rather than straight renders. What to Australian games company look for? what would look better on a showreel?
So the character is a 620 Tri model with 1 256x256 diff and a 256x256 opac
or
It would probably be good to
It would probably be good to have some animation on it, even if it is quite simple. That would show that you know where the polys are needed.
Hmm, I think there are a
Hmm, I think there are a couple of things. Wireframes are good. Models that look like they are going to deform properly are good (Of course rigged characters with strong poses are even better). Multiple characters in your portfolio as evidence that you can consistently perform is good too. Additionally, characters rendered in hardware with normal maps etc will sell you as a person who knows a little something about modern game assets.
Hmm, what is the 256x256 opac in that character?
I would say try not to let the low poly drive your character quality. Those hands look as though they could use some meat, while still being cheap on the triangles. It's a puzzle, all in the art of low poly modeling!
Good luck!
Firemint session
In case anyone is interested, I've just uploaded the Firemint presentation that Ronald Haupt, Producer at Firemint, did which I referred to in the previous message.
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=EG-db54v3Ro
Question asked at the beginning was what skillsets Firemint look for in artists.
Well, I didn't think anyone
Well, I didn't think anyone was goin to reply so thanks heaps for your information. I had a brief spurt of time off and made a couple of characters some of which I've posted here, the manchu character I'm not real happy with but the others I think are ok.
I'm working on a new character at the moment that still needs a fair bit of work that I'll post in the near future. I'll keep your comments in mind.
as for the opacity map and whatnot that was for the gun and hat, the hat didn't look so good as the opacity sort of had a falloff on it and blah blah blah. But I will rig this character and and pose him up.
The only question I've asked that wasn't answered was go with the a cat-mull render or screenshot, or doesn't it matter so much, also should I show a Hi-rez versions of a character which of course will make errors more predominant or go with a render size that I'd expect the charcter to be seen in or both.... I think I just answered that last bit with both.
Anyway Thanks a heaps, as I'm sure you guys know this is means a lot, I'll get cracking.
Cheers Rubes
Go for flat shaded view in
Go for flat shaded view in your viewport, 100% illumonation because thats how they are pretty much going to me shown in game. Good luck and keep it at.
Yes I'd second that about
Yes I'd second that about self illumination, avoid messy shading situations such as the one appearing on your characters hands at the finger tips.
Some character modelers like to use the old turntable animations, usually going from grey shaded, then wireframe, then textured. It makes it better if they are in an interesting pose. This should accompany front, back, side, and multiple perspective render as images as well, showing that you are not being lazy with the polys.
Are you looking to work in the mobile games field?
I don't have an answer for your question, but for low poly work for mobile games, it looks like the perfect question for Firemint. I've been encoding and uploading Game Connect: Asia Pacific sessions to our youtube channel, and I've just done encoding the talk that Ronald Haupt from Firemint did - near the end someone asked about artist jobs there. Ronald spoke a little about the type of CV's they receive that show high-res models and textures which just wouldn't work for mobile games.
Just a little bit of trivia for you, I remember way back in 98 or 99 when Tantalus was advertising for an artist opening on their website. You had to model a car using less than 200 polygons! Back then they had the Tantalus guy featured a bit on the site with a comic on him and his adventures. :D