[Portfolio] Gavin Stevens, Texture/Model Design

[o'dium]

[shameless copy/paste from Polycount, if this doesn't belong here please feel free to go fu... I mean, remove it, thank you please.]

Hey guys, first of all let me just say that I've kinda avoided a portfolio for a while now as I've never really thought my work was much good, and while I still don't exactly have faith in my skills I figure its time to actually knuckle down and get a portfolio online.

Can you give it a look over, and see what you think, both in design of the site as well as the content?

Also, a quick point I sadly feel I have to make... You will notice a light water mark on some images. A lot of the art is over a year old, and all of it is what I've created for the OverDose project. Now, let me just say I HATE stealing art, and people that do it. Can't stand it. If you want to design something from scratch based on something else, cool, but don’t just steal the assets, that’s wrong. Because all the media is on our public SVN, a lot of it has... How can I put this... "Walked about"? I'm not the best artist, granted, but that doesn't mean it doesn't annoy me when I see somebody else had stolen my work And I've had to send a few mails off before to people who have done such. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is all my art you see here is 100% from scratch, nothing is anybody else’s work, so if you spot something and think "I've seen this before?" and it’s the same asset then please let me know, thank you. (Does that make me sound like an asshole…?)


Anyway enough blabbering... Here’s the link, flame away!

http://www.teamblurgames.com/odium/portfolio

[Fjoggs]

Looks good. I'd suggest replacing the picture of you with a more passport-ish photo. Just a straight face with a smile. Think it will look more professional that way.

Just my cent!

[Silicone_Milk]

Agreed on the photo thing.

Also, spotted a typo on the main page. Should be "bred" not "bread".

Goddamn dude that's a lot of textures and models.

[o'dium]

Thanks for the typo, well spotted.

Thats hardly anything, I didn't want to put too much on there.

I've made 1,678 Textures and 776 models for OverDose alone... lol. EDIT: At last count last week... *cough*

[Scourge]

Odd signature.

[AEon]

Some thoughts:

• For folks like me who are still confused about what exactly Overdose is, you might like to clarify this, especially since you did so much unique work for it. It's an idTech4 TC?
• Showing only your best textures was the idea behind the selection of textures you presented? It would be good, IMO, to sort your other many textures by theme, placing them in a "collage" of sorts (overview images showing them at full quality). This should not be too much work and will show just how much work and bandwidth your texture-work has. The present selection is very neat, but feels a bit "clinical". The more you can show the better, IMO.
• Did you do any sketches, inspirational "art", "paintings", something artsy like that? E.g. for a map concept that you then turned into a reality or sketches for texture designs, or variations on a a model etc? Does not matter if this is not a game related. It occurred to me after looking at Tabun's site tabun.nl. I ask because I very much admire anyone's artistic work.
• The environment shots are very nifty, again it would be nice to have some more shots for them, e.g. closer up on some details in those shot from different perspectives. This would show off your modeling in more detail and in context (differing from the more "clinical" model shot in front of 1-color backgrounds as in the model section).
• Pardon my asking: Did you create Q3 or maps for other games (not Overdose)? If so, it might be good to mention those as well, e.g. download of the maps, and some screenshots. Your "Environment" section already shows that you can create "everything" from scratch, but a few "older" things might be also good, i.e. demonstrate to the authors "artistic" progression.

I don't really know what port folio for an artist would look like, though I have seen a few, so the above is possibly more what I'd find interesting additionally. Maybe the suggestions help.

Very elegant presentation.

[sock]

If you are looking for professional contract work you have got to present your best work as the first thing anyone visiting your site will see. Even thou a picture of you and ton of text is informative it is not 'arty'. Infact a good art site has little or no words! they seem to be allergic to them.

Here are two example 'art' people that IMHO are amazing at presenting themselves:

Benoit 'bal' Stordeur - http://www.born-robotic.net/
Robert 'bja' Hodri - http://www.bja-design.de/

I recommend you get on linkedin if you want to gain employment and get in contact with people and recruitment companies. Yes a portfolio site is good but you got to get networking if you want to get work.

You are entering a very tough market 'art asset contracting' and you really do have to present your work better. When I visit your site I have got to say 'wow, I want to hire this person to make my game assets!' This means you got to present your work better, show model sheets, poly counts, construction etc. Present your work in scene's that are jaw dropping amazing, at the moment you are showing 3 rooms with props. You need to design a scene, a location, a place where something could happen. For example, take a picture of a location, an old factory or canal scene (I am thinking of stuff that might be local to you) and create the whole thing in 3d with max or maya or a modern day engine like for example UT3. You can get the whole development UT package for free nowadays.

Also, a quick point I sadly feel I have to make... You will notice a light water mark on some images.

You have got get over this, we live in a modern world where stuff is re-used and stolen from the internet. You got to think of it this way ...

People only steal stuff that is good or worth something! So even thou you have had your stuff stolen over the years, it is because it is good and just move on and do other stuff. Getting protective and hording your stuff will do you no good at all. If you release stuff on to the internet and it is not part of a professional product, expect it to wander, everywhere!

Anyway good luck with your portfolio and job hunting.
Simon OC

[jal_]

The modelling section firstview is a bit ackwards. When I opened it my first thought was something like: "oops, wrong link, this is more of texturing". The thing is: What you see in the previews in firstsight are the normalmaps. You have to click on the previews to see the actual models. I'd suggest to use a simple pic of the model in the preview and reserve the skins from the inside.

I loved the presentation of the textures. I always have serious troubles to take 2d pics of materials that look like the real thing ingame.

[o'dium]

Can't say I agree with a lot of whats been said, however I have changed both the texturing and modelling layouts so they display less content but also in a better way. Also loads up Texturing first rather than about as thats the area I work more in.

[o'dium]

And as for the stolen stuff, everything I do is available on the SVN for download any time. The only issue I have with work is I had hundreds of megs worth of media stolen and SOLD in a retail game the other year and because he was Russian I could do sod all about it. So a tiny, tiny water mark on the textures is nothing.

[jal_]

Models page is definately much better now.

[AEon]

o'dium,
on the modeling page:

• "Modelling" was that BE spelling? Here the folks use "Modeling".
• "Modelling is something I've been doing for good few years now, although my modelling skills sadly have yet to catch up to the level I am with texturing."
  You are trying to sell yourself, your skills - in your own eyes - may not bet quite there yet, but they seem a *lot* better than most, so IMO you should avoid "degrading" your own talents. The folks looking at the page should make up their own mind, and decide. If you tell them the modeling is not yet there, they'll be more likely to drop looking at your work more closely.

Hope I could make the "mind set" clear that you should be going for. If you expect to "fail" (by showing less than complete conviction or self-accursedness) others will start to see you that way, as in a "self-fulfilling prophecy".

Sorry, if I sound arrogant, or too smarty-pantish... but that's the way the industry usually sees things.

[seremtan]

there's some nice work on there; just need to work on the presentation. but why so flash? especially when the textures open in the same tab you're browsing the main site in (i assume we're all grownups here who use FF...)

however if it helps, you can console yourself with the knowledge that whatever you do, it will still be 10,000x better than anything mazda has ever come up with

[Hipshot]

Hmm... you're selling yourself in all the wrong ways... I mean, let's say that a company doesn't really like your texturing and you writing that your modeling "is far worse"... What you should write is - writing nothing at all about how good you are...

Actually, when I sum down all text in the site, it all comes down to how good you are... not good... wrong focus.

..//.. Since then, I've begged, borrowed (but never stole) ..//..

Why do you have to write that? Who assumes that someone steals their assets? You have a thing for this right, seeing how you feel the need to watermark everything... you assume that people steal or think that others steal?

..//.. OverDose project with Team Blur Games for next gen gaming machines and PC, something which I have a lot of interest and love in.

What does this mean? Which are these next gen gaming machines you are speaking of, xbox360 and/or PS3, Wii? If you have some kind of knowledge about development for any one of the three next gen consoles you probably would wanna write that in a proper manner...



I would be nice to see your CV, that is not this portfolio...

[urgrund777]

what you've got there is more than enough to secure a junior/entry level modelling position - with the 3D examples, try to include wireframe/flatshaded as it's important to show you understand stripping (for older console tech) and general neatness with polygon layout, especially if some form of vertex lighting will be used (which it is even today... we used it on Assassins Creed 2) - so being able to create contiguous meshes, quickly, is important.

do you have any past work experience? i was trying to see where you've worked before, but there's no resume, so to speak? even some experience in a studio working under deadlines and budgets is a huge plus - maybe dot point the responsibilities you take on at Team Blur? Keep it up!

my 2c's!

[wattro]

Lots of good feedback in here.

urgrund raises a good point about the position you are seeking. While I'm not an artist within the industry, it's important to showcase your work to the desired level you are seeking.

Sock and other's also have made lots of good points about presentation which may or may not apply to your portfolio, but should be considered by anyone applying for a position. My opinion is that, should you keep the website the way it is (I looked the other day, but damn if I can be assed to remember the details), it might be good to splash bits of your best pieces of work throughout the pages (entice me, make me want to see more).

Lastly, getting connected is a huge boon. Do eet!

Good thread. =)

[Anthem]

I just want to add that by reading the text on your website you don't sound overly professional. Some of your choices of words could be changed, and try to tell the reader what is going on. Anyone who is interested in viewing your portfolio is probably experienced enough to know what a texture is.

I do, however, like your layout. It showcases your work well and if you added some wireframes it would just be that much better.

Goodluck with your resume! Hopefully someone will notice you.