An update of the portfolio

I decided that I need to start work on actually adding things to my portfolio to give an impression of what it will look like. I decided to upload a gallery of my props for the supermarket level and my playblast of the Prometheus as well as an introduction. I found that, annoyingly, whatever you upload it always gets a link to the home page which renders the other pages pointless somewhat, it only categorizes the galleries so they're easier to find which is again a bit pointless as you can customize the thumbnail of the gallery to some text overlay of a model. It just seems a bit silly that the uploaded gallery always gets linked to the home page. I added my software proficiency and skills to my resume page as well as a summary about who I am, what I am currently doing and also the AGAP project I worked on and sold. I was debating whether this was a good idea as we only had student licenses to complete the project. I will get some advice on this as it is easy to remove. I thought it might be a good idea to add it in as it is quite impressive feat to sell a project from in the 2nd year of uni as well as how much we sold it for. I thought this was also a good idea as we could have sold it for only £100, as we sold it for £4,500 I think that will certainly raise a few eyebrows. 

Under the list of pages I've added some links to Linkedin, Facebook and my email. There is also a link to my website on there for a reason I'm not quite sure about. On the whole I think my website is coming along well. I am hoping to quickly finish one of my projects so I can add that to the vehicle section and add something more impressive to the site instead of just place holders like my show reel.

The logo ideas

I had a look on Artstation to try and find some logos for peoples sites. Overall the pictures tend to be either personal pictures or an image of a nice piece of the work and very few had actual logos. Even so I picked some of the ones I liked after my designer friend asked me to get some references to help her create a design I might like.

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 Looking at all logos I found I discovered that most of them are simply the names or initials of the person in a nice font and personally I find this quite an appealing idea. Logos need to be something you can quickly look at and immediately recognise as a brand. Symbols are good however people need to be very aware of them so they can make the connection to your brand, because I don't have a recognized brand my initials or name would be a good idea. However I found that very famous (mostly concept artists) don't even have logos and just their name but as I am starting out I think a nice simple logo of my name and/or initials is the best way to go.
Something I am a little unsure about after looking at various logos were symbols used by some people as I had no idea why they used it or what they represent and I'm quite sure the yellow and black square is a copy of an AMD logo.
As for colour schemes I think the ones with dark colours work best and the ones I like the most are 7, 8 and 10. For 7 I quite like the light grey green colour of the logo but, like the logo, it needs to be subtle not overpowering and I think the colours compliment each other quite nicely however I still have no idea what it is or what it represents. Number 10 also looks quite good and I like the dark blue background with the light blue outline drawing but I still don't know what it represents which is a little disappointing. It is almost like people are trying to get their logo well known before they are so it sort of works against them. For my logo I will definitely go down the name as a logo route with a dark background and probably a light grey text. The light grey/green colour scheme of logo 7 however this seems more of a military feel to it and as I don't have military vehicles and no other greens in my website I think it would clash or at least look strange with the mostly white background.

Good and bad showreels

As I intend to go into vehicle and prop modeling I have decided to focus on those types of show reels. While I could get some good information by looking at other examples I personally feel that I could benefit more from focusing on that type of show reel.

The first show reel I want to look at belongs to Ridhwan Borha who has created several cars for a game called TrackVerse. He has 6 cars, 2 cartoon, 2 futuristic and 2 urban themed ones. As expected they are all on turntables and are all on the same base with the same lighting rig. Just to look at it I think it looks a little unprofessional. They also take a full 15 seconds to move onto the next and the rotation speed is quite fast at 7 seconds so 2 rotations is not really necessary when it really could do with some other shot. I think the lighting rig hampers the model and it gives the cartoon models a very strange glossy look which makes it look almost amateurish. The only models that slightly get away from this are the final urban style cars but they still have a strange gloss to them which wrecks the look of an otherwise OK model. The transitions are also very basic and very common. The wireframe faded in over the model and then fades out along with the tri count in the top left and it's all very run of the mill. One thing I really dislike is a semi transparent TrackVerse logo in the background. It is very large, constantly present and very distracting and actually, considering it is semi transparent, clutters up the reel quite a bit. I also find the music too loud, obnoxious and doesn't fit the overall look and feel of the show reel and further lets it down. The contacts section at the end of the reel is actually very odd. Nakama Studios which feature as a logo both in the corner of the whole reel and on the contact page seem to make 2D artwork and I can't seem to figure out what they have to do with either Ridhwan Borha or TrackVerse. His blog does hold an answer to his work but raises a few more. It seems, looking at his blog, that he is mostly a character artist as he has quite a few impressive looking models dotted with the odd environment and this show reel in the 2010 section. On the whole I don't like this show reel, the models are alright but let down by over glossy textures, bad lighting, boring turntables, boring base, cluttered screen and obnoxious over loud music.

The second show reel by Anarhiya is to show off his Audi R8 model he created in Max. I personally quite like most of this show reel which starts with some beauty shots of the R8 in a parking lot scene. Just some standard flybys and close ups but then something unusual happens. He has animated a full driving about sequence in the parking lot and doing donuts. This really impressed me as not only were the engine revs and tire sequels in time but it was surprisingly well done and was definitely a shake up of the usual formula which usually has the car on a pedestal, trying to emulate Gran Turismo or Forza. The light was very well done as well unlike the previous reel. The R8 was still shiny but it was a much more believable shiny, like a freshly cleaned car rather than a dodgy lighting rig. I do have a few complaints though. The cameras in the flybys need work as they sometimes get too close to the model and forget to show it off and it goes at some very strange angles so your cranking your neck trying to get a clear look at the model. The driving about does this too and it does get a bit tiresome. If they were fixed and it was made a little longer to make it about 1:30 - 2:00 minutes I think this would be a very decent show reel. Again though the music was off. It was too loud and didn't fit with the reel at all, I personally would have used something from the menu music of Forza as they have some nice un-intrusive music. The one massive problem I have is the ending. This has the worst ending I have seen in a show reel, there is not contact information and instead of showing logos for the software used to make he creates a 'cast list' where he lists the programs and what he did on the model, which was everything and the whole time there is a small spinning wireframe model of the R8. This, I feel, is an abysmal use of space and time. What he should have done is have a quick shot of the wireframe with polycount and possibly a small shot of the maps he used and then afterwards a contacts section. You can save the list of what you did and the programs you used for a blog if you have one or in the description of the video, there is no need to waste valuable space and time on a silly idea in what is essentially a decent show reel. This is a bit of a let down as the ending for it is so bad but the overall quality of the model and animation swings it for me.

Neerachar Sophol's show reel is a bit of a strange one and I can't decide if it's good or not, or even if I like it which is probably a problem in itself. To start there are only pictures of the models and not any 360 degree views of them which is a little unusual as most reels have the 360 view but I found that as I looked at the rendered images I kept thinking 'what are they hiding?' Later on there is a rotating Buddhist temple which has a bizarre diagram of the breakdown of what parts of the model have been modeled, or textured, or where the reference has influenced the model I honestly can't tell and there is even an image of a drop down menu from Maya or Max with links to the pictures. This is completely out of place and quite pointless as you can't read it, so it just clutters up the scene and confuses the viewer. The temple goes through the usual turntable no texture, wireframe then texture which is unusual as it is the only one to do so as there are some nice looking props and buildings which would really benefit from being shown in a 360 environment. They would have also benefited from having a poly count too as they are only pictures of fully textured models with no wire frames so there is no telling how heavy they are on the polys which is something people would like to know. To finish up the building and prop there is an animated scene with the temple with wipe through effects of the various stages finishing in the final render shot and to their credit it does look OK. The next part is the character section which starts with a very nice diagram of the character they intend to model which fades into a wireframe shot of the character and her weapon, the untextured with rigging controls and finally the finished model and a detailed look at the face controls but again they have added what looks like a tiny shot of the hierarchy in front of the hypershader  and underneath that are what I assume is various shots of different facial movements but they are so small that it's completely redundant and uses up space. There are some nice images of various action shots and facial expressions in the next part so it makes me wonder why the small shots were included before when these are perfect for showing the facial movements. The bi-plane after this seems a little out of place even though it is quite well done and I do feel that it would have been better suited before the character showcase or not at all as it really contrasts with the oriental style of the props and buildings and the amazonian style of the character, as does the second character bust that I believe is the pilot for the plane which is also quite well done, as is the animation of her flying the plane short as it may be. To finish up the is a very brief look at some sort of sci-fi robot with a diagram, a front shot, 3/4 shot and what I think is a gantt chart but again it's too small to make any sense of so there is no point in showing it and confusing the viewer with unnecessary information and cluttering up the space. This part could also do with being longer as you see a total of 5 seconds of the model which for a character is far too short especially as other models have much more time spent on them and it seems a bit of a waste of a nice model. As for the whole show reel I quite like the background as it is subtle and non intrusive however some contact details are very much required. The music is OK however I think it's a little loud in parts but aside from that I think it compliments the model well and doesn't distract from it. Overall I can't decide if I like the show reel. It's good in parts and bad in others and frankly a little confusing and cluttered. If I had to say whether I thought it was good or bad I would have said it was bad with alright models,t here is certainly room for improvement like removing the images and replacing them with quick looks at model and get rid of the silly pictures of irrelevant information like what groups you have in your model and the gantt chart. If you absolutely must put them in then at least make them big enough to read so they look like they serve a purpose rather than an strange looking background and confuse the viewer.


Videos;

1: Ridhwan Borha - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pylqrz3Kv0M
2: Anarhiya - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjBd0wbKCTc
3: Neerachar Sophol - https://vimeo.com/35741186

Business card designs

After looking at Vistaprint I found this template on the Deluxe section which is a little thicker and glossier than standard, it just makes it a little more professional looking. This template is perfect for what I want and is actually exactly  what I had in mind. The gold strips on the front could be changed for either blue or grey however I felt the gold colour to really contrast with the black and grey background and really underlines the title. The layout of the information is also very nice and the font is what I wanted. They had the option to add an address to the card however as I have temporary accommodation for university and my only permanent residence is in Wales and is unpronounceable to most people so I felt it would be a better idea to just not have it on there and instead make space for my portfolio website.

The front of the card is also quite nice and I like the striking gold background. One thing I will be changing is the logo which is currently the default one. I will hopefully be getting one designed by a graphic designer friend. If not then I will move the title and description up to the middle. Whatever the situation with the logo might be I am very happy with these cards. I think they look professional, give all the information an employer could want and having a card attached to a CV is a good way to make yourself that little bit more memorable so I think they will be a great investment and will help me quite a bit to stand out.

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Careers meeting

Today I went to visit the HUD in the university atrium to talk about writing my CV and I got some very interesting advice on work and internships from Mark Saunders.
A big piece of advice he gave me was to phone up a few large, medium and small studios and simply talk to them, ask questions and possibly get a face to face talk and maybe get a look around the studio. He told me that most of the phone calls end with a 'I look forward to your application' and that it's a good way to become memorable as they can put a personality to a face which would help. He also recommended that I look for internships and shadow jobs that I could do during the year to get contacts within the industry.
Mark liked my idea of attaching a business card to my CV if I send them in through mail. I intend to create them through Vista Print and I will ask a graphic designer friend to design a logo for me. I did previously mention that I thought a logo was a waste of time however business cards have a limited space to them so a logo would be the best way to go. The idea I had was to have my logo on one side and 'Alex Lawson 3D, Vehicle and Prop artist' and my contact details on the other side. I would like a black and grey, possibly carbon, background however I will have to look at the designs Vista Print has.

In regards to the CV Mark was very useful and gave me lots of tips for creating a skills based CV. He was quite impressed with the selling of the racing level and said that should definitely be put in the CV, which I was going to do anyway as it is a big achievement of mine. He also gave me lots of guidance in creating the CV and made me feel very confidant in being able to create a decent CV that will show off my abilities and skills to the best.

After talking to him for nearly 45 minutes I have a good idea on what my options are and the best ways to get noticed and increase my chances of getting employed.

Different portfolio creators

After creating a Facebook page, Alex Lawson 3D, I decided to ask professionals and freelancers on two Facebook groups I am a part of namely Ten Thousand Hours and Next-Gen Hard Surfaces what they used to create their portfolios. The members of The Thousand Hours were incredibly helpful and I got lots of different opinions and sparked a small debate.
The overall opinion was that Artstation was the site to be on right now and I also found out that you can embed the Marmoset 2 viewer into it so the person viewing it can control your model in full 3D and get a real look at it which I think is a fantastic idea as it allows people to see every part of the model so you can really show off your skills. After setting up an Artstation account I found that the UI is pretty easy to use however editing colours and such is done through a separate menu so it's hard to tell what part of the page your editing however this isn't a problem for me as I actually quite like the color scheme I have. Another nice touch is that you have two pages, a website and a community page. Most of the portfolios I have seen using Artstation have been links to the community pages which are a little hard to navigate but the website is very easy to use and has a default layout which I quite like, you can see in the picture below.

Artstation was the overall winner from the commentators however some people suggested other sites like Wix, Grandyo, Squarespace, and NameSilo. Some people even suggested creating my own website. This met with mixed responses from the group, some people said it was a good way to stand out and create something completely unique that employers would appreciate while some said they are expensive to make and maintain and pointless when free sites that look better are available. I did take a look at Grandyo however it seems to be a slightly confusing clone of Artstation so I will rule that out. I will also rule out Weebly which was another site that was recommended as I have previously used Weebly and found it to be confusing, hard to use and quite cluttered. Squarespace has some nice looking templates but none of them look like they would suit a portfolio for 3D artwork. NameSilo seems to be a site just to buy domain names however I already have one given by Artstation so this is not needed.
My personal favorite is Artstation as it has a community portfolio as well as a professional website giving you double the chances of being noticed, either through the community or through your website. The site also has a job page and for individual jobs or companies listing their openings which I personally like. I also love its option to include the Marmoset viewer which is a touch clearly designed with 3D modelers in mind. I will be keeping my Facebook page up to date with mostly WIP pictures and also to increase my presence and make people more aware of me.

Links to the pages.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Alex-Lawson-3D-1654769461472299/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Artstation: https://lawson3d.artstation.com/

Job searches

I am currently searching for jobs in two stages. The first stage is searching around Derby for temporary jobs for a year or so and the second stage is a more long term job in or around Huddersfield which I will be moving too for personal reasons.

I have been looking at jobs in and around Derby and have come up with several indie companies that seem promising however none of them are hiring a vehicle or prop artist which I am gearing my career towards as this is where I have the most experience  and I find it the most enjoyable area to spend time on. I will however send them emails expressing my interest in working for them in either a job or internship role and hopefully one of them will reply although I highly doubt it. Strawdog studios do offer internship roles for a year which would be perfect for me so I will be more direct and go straight for the internship. This will give me good experience of all aspects of the studio and the Placement and work experience section does say that the role is very hands on and expectations are high but I believe I can live up to and possibly exceed their expectations. I was also looking for jobs in Nottingham which proved a little more promising than Derby but again these studios are either not hiring or hiring for positions that would be unsuitable for me and my skill set. One company that sounded interesting was Lockwood publishing, they created a mobile MMO game called Avakin Life. This would be an interesting experience and I think I would learn a lot especially about the work flow of MMO's and how they managed to create an MMO on a phone. Learning how to create decent looking assets with a low poly count would be a challenge for me and something I think would be useful to me.

For the second stage I have found a few studios in and around Huddersfield. One studio, Hypersloth, are based in Huddersfield and made the game Dream but they are not recruiting. I will still send them and email expressing my interest and hopefully they will keep me apprised on any jobs that become available. The other local studio was Creative North Studios however their website seems to have disappeared and after researching what games they created in the past it seems obvious why they no longer have a website as they created Super Kicker 2007 and World Rugby 2007. I assume that they have probably closed their doors by now. Searching further afield I found most of the jobs to be in Manchester. One of particular interest to me is for Cloud Imperium who make the game Star Citizen. The job for 3D vehicle artist sounds like a perfect job for me as I would be creating detailed star ships like these

                                   

so for me this would be a dream job and something that I will really try hard to get, failing this they do have a prop artist job on offer which I would also love to go for as I really do adore the company and the work they do.

As for freelancing I feel that I would not be suited for it. I don't have the connections that would be needed because I would have nobody to recommend me, I also feel that a few years in industry would give me better experience that I could use for freelance work. Freelancing would also be an option if I were to leave the industry and I could give a list of the games and companies I have worked on and for which should impress potential employers.

Inspirations for my portfolio

After looking at numerous portfolios I found the running theme for colour is a dark one, usually a combination of black and grey or another dark colour. Lonewolf's page however features a top down render of a pistol and 2 bullets either side of the content. This would be a fantastic look for mine as I intend to have props on my portfolio as well as vehicles and I could do the same effect, having a top down view of a scene with a gap in the middle for content. The main problem with this for me is my models are not as high quality as Lonewolf's are as they have been created specifically for showing off whereas mine are for in game. I think it could work if I were to created a diorama dedicated to the background of my portfolio however I don't believe I should do it as it places a lot of pressure on my modeling skills and currently I don't have the time or skill to be able to achieve a satisfactory result for something that would feature so prominently on my page. For that reason I think a two tone colour scheme would work better to my advantage. I would like to have a 'carbon texture' header with a main background of black to show off my work on and a thin medium grey line separating the two.

For the work layout I think the show reel will come first. That will show off the model to it's best and give the overall feel of the scene. Below them will be stills of the model to show off various angles of the model that might not be shown in the reel. It will also allow the viewer to see details that could be missed. Below them would be an untextured wireframe and the tri count for the main model and the scene. I would keep them separate to distinguish where the tris have been 'spent' in the scene and finally below that would be the texture sheets used, each overlaid on the other with a diagonal cut so you can see all the maps on one sheet. They will also have the sheet sizes on them.

I will have 4 pages on my header that will be present on every page for ease of access in an attempt to keep people interested and not get annoyed by constantly switching to the home page to get to another one. I'll have a home page, a vehicle, prop, about me and contact page. I decided not to put a resume page like most other portfolios as I have nothing to put in it. I have not worked for any companies or on any projects so it would be pointless doing one however once I have, hopefully, worked on a few projects I can add a resume page a list the games I have worked on and what I did on them. I can however add what programs I have worked with to the about page and adding my location should be useful but only really to employers near me. Employers further afield might go for someone closer too them so it will be a little bit of a risk. For the contacts page I will have my email address plus the logos of the various sites I am on such as Linkedin, Facebook or YouTube as well as any blogs I may have created to display work in progress.


Before I finalize what I want my portfolio to look like I want to look into how to various sites I can use to create portfolios and what default schemes they have as I might find something I like more or find a layout which compliments my work more. I will also look at how easy the sites are to use as I personally find that Weebly is hard to use and a little confusing. I think this will become a hindrance once I start adding more pictures, videos and text as the page gets more cluttered and confusing while I am editing the pages. I will look at forums and ask around in Facebook groups what sites people recommend to make a portfolio with or if it's best to create your own from scratch.

What makes a good portfolio?

Creating an online identity is one of the most important things a portfolio can do. Your work, colours and style need to be consistent so that people can take one look at a render posted on a website and instantly recognise that it is your work, even if you are not referenced.
Starting on models creating an identity can be as easy as simply using your own lighting rig to light your model or using a certain background or texturing style, unless you wish to show off versatility by having a selection of photo realistic and stylized with real and hand painted textures. Using colours on your page can also be defining although this is not always required. In the case of Torfrik he can very little on his portfolio save his work and contact details as he is well known in the industry and therefore people already know about him, he doesn't need to advertise as people go to him. However his portfolio is a little hard to navigate but if you are already on his portfolio then chances are your already going to employ him. Less well known people will do better having a very easy to navigate portfolio like Clinton & Crumpler. They have a much easier to navigate portfolio as the page tabs stay on the left hand side of the site no matter where you are on the site, you always have easy access to the rest of it. The bottom of the page select has links to various social media pages which increase awareness of the page increasing the chance of getting noticed by potential employers. The colour scheme is also smart and professional looking and compliments the pictures rather than distracting from them like in the presentation done by Martinet Romain. When it comes to logos I believe that they are a waste of time. Logos are supposed to be something everyone can look at and immediately identify what they represent. Having a logo for a new portfolio with little industry experience will be pointless however well know modelers like Torfrik often don't need them as they are so recognizable anyway, defeating the point of having a logo. Unless you represent a company making your portfolio to advertise a company then a logo is pointless.

Showing off your models is obviously a requirement but the best portfolios often have the finished render, a wireframe and preferably a shot of it within the game, if it has been included in one and the textures used, usually in a combined overlay cut away of the texture sheets used. It can also help to add pictures of the construction of the model. Usually this can be done on a blog with a link to it on your portfolio. The tri count and texture sheet size should also always be shown. The work shown should always be your best though, the portfolio shows what you can do so adding work from when you first started modeling will be detrimental. Setting up your own lighting rig would also help show off the model to its full potential and this can also be part of your own distinctive style if it is done well.

Personally I find simple, easy to use portfolios with a dark colour scheme most appealing. A few very well done models with lovely lighting and a contacts page that isn't personal. I personally find a contacts page where people talk about themselves unappealing, I feel that should be kept for the first line of a CV instead of the portfolio. The portfolio is supposed to entice and sell people with the work, the CV is for selling yourself to the employer. You might have a wonderful portfolio but if your CV is bad then they still might not employ you. For the actual models a character, prop or vehicle should be preferably have a turntable animation with several still images and for environments there should be a slow fly through giving some focus to main hero models in the environment and a general look of the area to show off the environment.

Derby university GRIP fair

I had a trip to the GRIP fair at uni today to have a look around and try to make some contacts. Unfortunately I found that no games companies had turned up however the day was not a complete waste. I found the Games Workshop stand and got to talking with them and found that one of the jobs on offer was Miniature Design which I took as 3D modeling job. This would be an interesting avenue to explore as the models are very detailed and it would be fantastic to model all the little details. While it is mostly characters there are also vehicles and props that would need modeling too so I could still specialize in vehicles and props but still get the intricate details in.
After looking on the website I found that there was no information as to how they design the models. Sending an email will probably be the best to get more information on this subject although this is only an option and I would prefer to go into the games industry.
There were several construction firms there as well however the software they used for their companies was CAD which I have very little experience with and the experience I do have was bad so I highly doubt I will be pursuing those jobs.
One company called Gradlancer was there and I have to say they have a fantastic idea for graduates and free lancers. What they do is take some information and send some job adverts for part time, full time and work experience all of which are paid and they will even go so far as to contact the company's on your behalf and even contact company's that aren't on their lists if you find a job there. This is all for free too and is one of the best ideas I have ever come across. This is a perfect resource for any student looking for work and the website itself is very easy to use and much more user friendly than other sites in the same vein and I would highly recommend this company to any student.
Gradlancer was the best thing I got out of the GRIP fair and I will certainly be making use of it to find games industry jobs.

Branching out job prospects

As I have decided that I would like to focus on vehicle and/or props I decided to branch out and look for jobs in film. From what I can find it seems there are few 3D artist jobs going and the ones that are require experience in software I don't know or general experience in the industry. This could be because films outsource to companies and I haven't been looking for them however they should come up on job sites if they are indeed hiring, it is also possible the go around games studios trying to catch people who leave them.

Either way I still want to keep that avenue open along with the games industry and possibly teaching too however I think that would be highly unlikely but still an option. I'll keep looking for vehicle/ prop jobs for both gaming and film industry's and see which ones seem plausible and obtainable for me.

I'll also look for volunteering jobs to hopefully gain some experience which I could really do with and would help me get my first job. 

Good and bad presentations

As a supplement to the group work I will be looking at 4 portfolios I found.

The first one is from a man called Martinet Romain. Overall I think this is a good portfolio, the front page clearly states that he focuses on animation, rigging and skinning and the tabs at the top are clear  as to what pages they are. His Freelance 3D page has a nice sliding slideshow of various renders of an architectural leaning. This is quite out of place as he specifically says that he is an animator, rigger and skinner. While it is out of place it does show he is versatile which could give him an edge in being chosen although it seems pointless as people who may come across his page would see he is an animator and if their looking for an artist it is unlikely they would see his architectural shots. His animation page is where he does shine. Four videos with short animations of both 3D and 2D work all of which are high quality and very nice bits of work all neatly laid out and easy to see and more importantly they work. He also has a page dedicated to various rigs he has made. One video of 3 very complex rigs he has created, each rig has a demonstration of all it's controllers clearly showing off the effectiveness of his rigs and the easy to use controllers. The first rig of a highly detailed robotic dog also has it's own demonstration of it's leg piston to show the level of detail he has gone into. There are a few issues with the page however. His news page seems completely redundant as it hasn't been updated since February 2014 and it just seems like wasted space. My one major problem is the background on all the pages. It is a very confusing combination of screenshots from Maya which completely contrast with the content making a confusing blend of the background and content making it hard to pick out tabs and distinguish the content from the background. It is also quite an eyesore and ruins and otherwise decent portfolio.

The front page

The second portfolio is from Stuart Wilson who is advertising as a 3D artist. I consider this to be a bad portfolio, it is unremarkable, very basic and probably would be over looked by most employers. Again this page also has extra unneeded content as he has some rigging videos. This is a very small video and is hard to make out details and the video itself is a 3 minute unedited play around with the rig. It could have been edited to take the run time down and also make it look more professional rather than an amateur YouTube tutorial. His 3D model pictures are not bad, they are very small and it would have probably worked better they expanded when you clicked on them but there is a little slideshow showing the wireframe and texture maps but the images are so small it almost makes no difference, there are numerous pictures of props, characters and environments but it is hard to see any detail on them. His environments however look very nice, there are 2 videos of different environments he has created and even with the small video sizes it's still possible to see detail and the quality of the models and lighting which does make up for his pictures somewhat. Getting to a contact page however is hard. There is only an email on his page and in order to get to a resume you have to click on Artstation logo, click on My Artstation site then click resume. This is frankly too many clicks. It should be on one page with all necessary information so the viewer doesn't have to trudge through 3 pages to find it, this combined with the small images and general unprofessional look of the portfolio would probably turn people away. He does have another page on Linkedin which has more information as well as a Twitter and  YouTube account. This is actually better as there are larger pictures and videos which are much easier to view but that seems pointless as they should be on the main portfolio page, the viewer shouldn't have to go looking for them.

The third portfolio is an Artstation one by Nana Nymann. This is a nice porfolio. It's simple and easy to use and has all the pictures at hand with a clear description that she is a 3D generalist and also web-integrator and she also gives a list of all the programs she is proficient with which is useful for employers to know. Getting to the resume is only a click away and it also has her demo reel as well as the list of programs. This is a nice portfolio as it is simple and relatively easy to navigate  and gives all the information a potential employer could need. One of the important things the others have neglected is that she has her location which would be important to employers as they need to know how plausible it would be to employ her. A company from England would probably not want to employ her when there are people closer. Her demo reel features only one model but is well done and has renders and turn table videos however no wireframe model or texture sheet which would be preferable. Overall I think this is a decent portfolio, it is nicely laid out, easy to navigate and has good content that is easy to view.

The final portfolio is from a man called Chris Cusac and I believe this is the best one. It has a very professional look to it, the tabs are neatly laid out and easy to see and most importantly he has a page dedicated to models done for games. This is a big selling point for employers as they know Chris has worked in industry before showing that he has experience working in groups and to deadlines which is very important in industry. He also has pages for high poly models and professional work which appears to be making 3D printable models for clients, one of which provided a picture after he received it. It does show his versatility. The images for all the pages are large and very easy to see all the details on the models which is good as his models are very well made and look very good and most of the game models have the important things of the model, wireframe, texture sheet and tri count. His page about him is very concise and clearly states the programs he is competent with and his qualifications. However he states that 'It is my dream to one day create such amazing and inspiring games as the ones that have inspired me' and I wouldn't have worded it like that. My personal opinion is that 'dream' isn't a very professional word, goal would have be better or maybe even target. Nevertheless it is good that he has stated his goals and shows that he has aims and will more than likely put in a lot of effort to achieve those goals which is what an employer would want. He also has his CV on his page without having to go looking for it which is very important. The other portfolios do have CV's on their page but you have to go looking for them where as Chris has a tab called Resume and there is his CV. It's a simple, professional looking portfolio with all the information needed and then a little extra to make sure your interested.

Portfolio links
Martinet Romain: http://www.martinet-romain.com/#!animations-3d/ciub
Stuart Boyd Wilson: http://www.stuartboydwilson.co.uk/
Nana Nymann: https://www.artstation.com/artist/kadi/profile
Chris Cusac: http://cpcusac.wix.com/digitaldropbox#!contact/czpl