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Artist portfolio questions

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Submitted by souri on

I have a set of questions that I will be sending out to Art Directors, Creative Directors, Lead Artists etc in the local games industry, so those who are building a portfolio have some good advice and tips. These are the questions I will be sending out - if there are any questions you want answered, let me know in this thread and I will add it to the list. I'll be sending this off at the end of the week... Questions should be 3d modeller and concept art related..

Slight introduction about yourself.
What is your preferred way of receiving a portfolio? CD, Video, Website?
What do you NOT want to see in a portfolio?
What kind of skillsets do you like seeing in a portfolio?
What sets apart a good portfolio to one that you'd toss to the side?
What are the common mistakes that applicants make in their portfolios that you have seen?
What is the general opinion of the standard of work sent in from applicants? What areas do you think need general improvement?
What tips can you give for applicants?

Submitted by inglis on Fri, 06/02/04 - 7:19 AM Permalink

off the top of my head:

- flying spaceships
- mech warriors/tanks
- checker patterns
- bouncing balls
- default textures
- bouncing lamps
- flashy transitions
- all 360 degree turn arounds

..and if youre applying to blizzard..orcs.

Submitted by tbag on Fri, 06/02/04 - 7:43 AM Permalink

Just ruin it for all of us Inglis! [:p].

Actually i suppose your list does make sense.

How about Orcs in spaceships shooting bouncing balls at Mechs/Tanks with default textures hiding behind/in a checkered landscape with bouncing lamps with some flashy tansitions?

Submitted by inglis on Fri, 06/02/04 - 7:49 AM Permalink

i think you would be blacklisted across the whole industry....

Submitted by tbag on Fri, 06/02/04 - 8:05 AM Permalink

quote:Originally posted by inglis

i think you would be blacklisted across the whole industry....

Now heres a man who can tell the future [:D]. So basically whenever you see a game with the worlds worst concept, it was me or Bill Gates.

Whens Billy Gatesy coming out, does anyone know? You know, its that game where you go from a private school kid to a billionare forming a product called Linux. Yes people thats how crap the concept is.

NOTE: By reading the above you either have to much time on your hands, your subscribed to this thread or i just made you really stupid and confused. By reading the above all your plans for hate mail and threats are/must voided, or a platoon of tea bag's will destroy you. I have control, thank you have and have nice day!

PS: Damn i must be bored...

Submitted by smeg on Fri, 06/02/04 - 8:29 AM Permalink

inglis: you forgot teapots and lens flares. Very important.

Submitted by inglis on Fri, 06/02/04 - 9:00 AM Permalink

cant say ive ever seen the max teapot in a reel before. but yes- a no go there.
and lens flares- well... use only when needed i say. not all lens flares are bad.

Submitted by Blitz on Sun, 08/02/04 - 4:43 AM Permalink

I can make teapots!
CYer, Blitz

Submitted by MoonUnit on Sun, 08/02/04 - 8:07 AM Permalink

i used the teapot handle as a nose in my very first project (it was a robot). i just lodged it in his head with the handle sticking out :D

Submitted by souri on Thu, 01/04/04 - 10:27 PM Permalink

It's taken 4 months but I'm finally going to have this article up by this afternoon/tonight! [:)]

Submitted by Morphine on Thu, 01/04/04 - 11:34 PM Permalink

quote:Originally posted by smeg

inglis: you forgot teapots and lens flares. Very important.

So no transformer teapots? [:D]

Submitted by MoonUnit on Fri, 02/04/04 - 1:58 AM Permalink

omg woooo! i thought this thing had withered and died or something *anticipates*
oh wait, ive got a big UT2k4 match tonight, bother!

Submitted by tbag on Fri, 02/04/04 - 2:10 AM Permalink

I've got a big play at 7:30pm so what are you worried about? [:p]

Actually i thought this had kind of died as well but we will see... if the article is up when i get back home that is [:p].

Submitted by bullet21 on Fri, 02/04/04 - 3:50 AM Permalink

Wow that was really insightful, if only i was looking for a job right now :), i'm sure it will help me when i am. I think the main thing i gathered where, Variation, Specialisation and not to use flash menu :P

Submitted by Aven on Fri, 02/04/04 - 4:55 AM Permalink

That has some really cool info in there Souri. It was a great read :)

Submitted by Red 5 on Fri, 02/04/04 - 6:09 AM Permalink

Well done Souri, a great resource for future game job applicants.

Submitted by MoonUnit on Fri, 02/04/04 - 9:20 AM Permalink

thats great, that helps me and so many others so much, thank you souri!!!

Submitted by Barry Dahlberg on Fri, 02/04/04 - 9:35 AM Permalink

Great advice, I wonder what they'd say about programmers? Hard to make a code portfolio.

Submitted by Kalescent on Fri, 02/04/04 - 8:35 PM Permalink

thanks souri, your a champ - really insightful, amazingly enough though when you read articles likes that its funny how alot of it is pure commonsense - yet for some reason the eager game artist within us all seems to rear its multicoloured head and quickly we loose site of whats really important :D

Submitted by Aven on Fri, 02/04/04 - 9:50 PM Permalink

Actually. We should probably thank all of the industry reps that donated their time as well :)

I have to admit that I enjoyed reading Daniel Vogt's (Smeg), Roy Tessler's/Steve Middleton's and Alister Lockhart's responses. They really seemed to put a lot of time and effort into answering those questions as well as they could.

Submitted by Makk on Sun, 04/04/04 - 8:17 AM Permalink

This is a great resource. Big thanks to Souri and all the art directors who took some time out to fill out the questions :D

Submitted by spageto on Sun, 04/04/04 - 8:45 AM Permalink

Thanks to Souri and the games company reps for this invaluable guide to what to do/not to do when applying for a job.

Submitted by tbag on Sun, 04/04/04 - 9:34 PM Permalink

Big thanks go out to me for being the greatest! Just kidding [:p].

Helpful article, interesting read. The do's and dont's of the game industry artists (Sort of...)

Submitted by Morphine on Tue, 06/04/04 - 12:36 AM Permalink

Souri, thanks for the low-down. Very informative. [:)]

Submitted by racrevel on Thu, 26/08/04 - 3:12 AM Permalink

quote:Originally posted by Souri

It's up!!!

http://www.sumea.com.au/sart8Artist.asp

Hi, is the link broken?, I can't find the article. arrrgh, I just read over four months posts and got as excited as everyone else waiting LOL

Submitted by tbag on Thu, 26/08/04 - 5:06 AM Permalink

It seems to be broken, lets hope Sumea just doesnt fall apart now [:p]

Submitted by Skribble on Sat, 28/08/04 - 7:00 AM Permalink

Souri!! ur a legend. Thanx for all the info

Posted by souri on

I have a set of questions that I will be sending out to Art Directors, Creative Directors, Lead Artists etc in the local games industry, so those who are building a portfolio have some good advice and tips. These are the questions I will be sending out - if there are any questions you want answered, let me know in this thread and I will add it to the list. I'll be sending this off at the end of the week... Questions should be 3d modeller and concept art related..

Slight introduction about yourself.
What is your preferred way of receiving a portfolio? CD, Video, Website?
What do you NOT want to see in a portfolio?
What kind of skillsets do you like seeing in a portfolio?
What sets apart a good portfolio to one that you'd toss to the side?
What are the common mistakes that applicants make in their portfolios that you have seen?
What is the general opinion of the standard of work sent in from applicants? What areas do you think need general improvement?
What tips can you give for applicants?


Submitted by inglis on Fri, 06/02/04 - 7:19 AM Permalink

off the top of my head:

- flying spaceships
- mech warriors/tanks
- checker patterns
- bouncing balls
- default textures
- bouncing lamps
- flashy transitions
- all 360 degree turn arounds

..and if youre applying to blizzard..orcs.

Submitted by tbag on Fri, 06/02/04 - 7:43 AM Permalink

Just ruin it for all of us Inglis! [:p].

Actually i suppose your list does make sense.

How about Orcs in spaceships shooting bouncing balls at Mechs/Tanks with default textures hiding behind/in a checkered landscape with bouncing lamps with some flashy tansitions?

Submitted by inglis on Fri, 06/02/04 - 7:49 AM Permalink

i think you would be blacklisted across the whole industry....

Submitted by tbag on Fri, 06/02/04 - 8:05 AM Permalink

quote:Originally posted by inglis

i think you would be blacklisted across the whole industry....

Now heres a man who can tell the future [:D]. So basically whenever you see a game with the worlds worst concept, it was me or Bill Gates.

Whens Billy Gatesy coming out, does anyone know? You know, its that game where you go from a private school kid to a billionare forming a product called Linux. Yes people thats how crap the concept is.

NOTE: By reading the above you either have to much time on your hands, your subscribed to this thread or i just made you really stupid and confused. By reading the above all your plans for hate mail and threats are/must voided, or a platoon of tea bag's will destroy you. I have control, thank you have and have nice day!

PS: Damn i must be bored...

Submitted by smeg on Fri, 06/02/04 - 8:29 AM Permalink

inglis: you forgot teapots and lens flares. Very important.

Submitted by inglis on Fri, 06/02/04 - 9:00 AM Permalink

cant say ive ever seen the max teapot in a reel before. but yes- a no go there.
and lens flares- well... use only when needed i say. not all lens flares are bad.

Submitted by Blitz on Sun, 08/02/04 - 4:43 AM Permalink

I can make teapots!
CYer, Blitz

Submitted by MoonUnit on Sun, 08/02/04 - 8:07 AM Permalink

i used the teapot handle as a nose in my very first project (it was a robot). i just lodged it in his head with the handle sticking out :D

Submitted by souri on Thu, 01/04/04 - 10:27 PM Permalink

It's taken 4 months but I'm finally going to have this article up by this afternoon/tonight! [:)]

Submitted by Morphine on Thu, 01/04/04 - 11:34 PM Permalink

quote:Originally posted by smeg

inglis: you forgot teapots and lens flares. Very important.

So no transformer teapots? [:D]

Submitted by MoonUnit on Fri, 02/04/04 - 1:58 AM Permalink

omg woooo! i thought this thing had withered and died or something *anticipates*
oh wait, ive got a big UT2k4 match tonight, bother!

Submitted by tbag on Fri, 02/04/04 - 2:10 AM Permalink

I've got a big play at 7:30pm so what are you worried about? [:p]

Actually i thought this had kind of died as well but we will see... if the article is up when i get back home that is [:p].

Submitted by bullet21 on Fri, 02/04/04 - 3:50 AM Permalink

Wow that was really insightful, if only i was looking for a job right now :), i'm sure it will help me when i am. I think the main thing i gathered where, Variation, Specialisation and not to use flash menu :P

Submitted by Aven on Fri, 02/04/04 - 4:55 AM Permalink

That has some really cool info in there Souri. It was a great read :)

Submitted by Red 5 on Fri, 02/04/04 - 6:09 AM Permalink

Well done Souri, a great resource for future game job applicants.

Submitted by MoonUnit on Fri, 02/04/04 - 9:20 AM Permalink

thats great, that helps me and so many others so much, thank you souri!!!

Submitted by Barry Dahlberg on Fri, 02/04/04 - 9:35 AM Permalink

Great advice, I wonder what they'd say about programmers? Hard to make a code portfolio.

Submitted by Kalescent on Fri, 02/04/04 - 8:35 PM Permalink

thanks souri, your a champ - really insightful, amazingly enough though when you read articles likes that its funny how alot of it is pure commonsense - yet for some reason the eager game artist within us all seems to rear its multicoloured head and quickly we loose site of whats really important :D

Submitted by Aven on Fri, 02/04/04 - 9:50 PM Permalink

Actually. We should probably thank all of the industry reps that donated their time as well :)

I have to admit that I enjoyed reading Daniel Vogt's (Smeg), Roy Tessler's/Steve Middleton's and Alister Lockhart's responses. They really seemed to put a lot of time and effort into answering those questions as well as they could.

Submitted by Makk on Sun, 04/04/04 - 8:17 AM Permalink

This is a great resource. Big thanks to Souri and all the art directors who took some time out to fill out the questions :D

Submitted by spageto on Sun, 04/04/04 - 8:45 AM Permalink

Thanks to Souri and the games company reps for this invaluable guide to what to do/not to do when applying for a job.

Submitted by tbag on Sun, 04/04/04 - 9:34 PM Permalink

Big thanks go out to me for being the greatest! Just kidding [:p].

Helpful article, interesting read. The do's and dont's of the game industry artists (Sort of...)

Submitted by Morphine on Tue, 06/04/04 - 12:36 AM Permalink

Souri, thanks for the low-down. Very informative. [:)]

Submitted by racrevel on Thu, 26/08/04 - 3:12 AM Permalink

quote:Originally posted by Souri

It's up!!!

http://www.sumea.com.au/sart8Artist.asp

Hi, is the link broken?, I can't find the article. arrrgh, I just read over four months posts and got as excited as everyone else waiting LOL

Submitted by tbag on Thu, 26/08/04 - 5:06 AM Permalink

It seems to be broken, lets hope Sumea just doesnt fall apart now [:p]

Submitted by Skribble on Sat, 28/08/04 - 7:00 AM Permalink

Souri!! ur a legend. Thanx for all the info