jsmith3rdyearportfolio

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

Portfolio Project Weekly Summary 008

This final week i’ve put the most effort into finishing my showreel, and putting together my final CV Design. I’m really proud of how my showreel has turned out, especially compared to previous years. I’ve created a colourful reel of models with a wide array of styles, and it’s a great showcase of my skills and style. Id also like to think that it shows off my personality and approach to my work as well, with a much more bubbly and positive outlook than i used to have. My CV isn’t perfectly designed, and given more time i would have tried to lay it out a bit nicer, and take some better cues from the research i did last week on different CV’s. i may improve it after hand in, but for now, it does the job ok and isn’t too bad to look at. its not overly messy or too cluttered, and all the information i need is there.

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

Theres a few improvements i would like to make to this to kind of finalise it before its sent off anywhere, but it still does the job well. Its got all the information i need, and is stylised in a way that i feel suitably presents who i am. I’ve used the hexagonal design cues from my website, and utilised it to present the software i am confident with. I’ve also included some simple images of work that i’m particularly proud of, though i dont know whether to place these on all of the hexes or not. regardless, i feel it looks reasonable and conveys what it needs to successfully.

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

My final Showreel, with a wide range of my work from the past year or so. I’m quite happy with the quality of work in it, though i feel perhaps i should have ordered it a little differently, as much as i love the manta ray i made, i feel perhaps placing some of my other better environment work earlier would have been better. Furthermore i’m still not sure if the intro is right, but i like it as it’s quite a nice way to sort of start the showreel on a quiet note with my colourful logo over a darker background, then showing the range of more colourful work in a sometimes rather dreary world. I’ve not focused too much on timing it with the music, but figured the ending would be fun to jump through scenes with the music. I also learnt how to create the colourful speed lines effect thats running around the back of the final end card using an after effects tutorial, and its definitely made me realise just what is possible with after effects, and i definitely need to use it more.

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

I decided to try and create a new render of my delorean model with the scene around it, and to do this i again took it into unreal, and actually ended up with a far better result than i expected. this comes in part due to the over the top reflections on the glassy base of the model, which was in part an accident, but looked rather impressive, and really sold that kind of 80s glow, making the model really stand out. i also discovered how to change the colour of the sky in unreal, allowing for a more bluey purple which was far more appropriate. I spent a while adjusting the materials, and while they still aren’t perfect, they’re still quite satisfying to watch how the light reflects off the metallic car body, and the car reflects nicely on the base. The camera work definitely isn’t perfect, but i can improve this in a future render when i have more time available.

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

Portfolio Project Weekly Summary 007

This week i’ve made a major effort on finishing up my website and starting to put together my showreel. My final render of my animated sequence was done in unreal and it made things so much quicker and more convenient. I made use of its light shafts and static lighting to produce a high quality render, thats optimised and super quick to render. Making an isolated environment and trying to put together the pieces in a natural and effective composition. I’ve also made an effort to produce nice smooth pans across my old models in unreal, meaning i have a wide array of content to use for my showreel. I was concerned i’d only have static images for it, or playblast turnarounds, but Unreal has allowed me to produce much higher quality renders. I’ve also taken on Peters feedback about my CV, Cover letter, and my website. I was chuffed to hear they were already pretty decent, but understood that i needed to focus my cover letter on a specific business, and that my CV was in desperate need of some improved design. I’ve already adjusted my Cover letter, and will be sorting out my CV in the coming week. My website seems to be looking good, but still needs a photo on the about page, and needs my showreel uploaded too. otherwise it has a varied range of work with some of my best pieces, and some bits to show improvement. 

https://aswift.com/jobs/environment-artist-cambridge-uk/ - Environment artist job at Aardvark Swift

http://jobs.jobvite.com/careers/creative-assembly/job/oYtH9fw1?__jvst=Job+Board&__jvsd=Indeed - Trainee Environment artist job at Creative Assembly

https://www.creative-assembly.com/home - Creative assembly site

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

Creative Assembly

 25/04/19

Dear Mr/Mrs

As an avid CG and Digital artist both as a student and for freelance work, I am interested in the position of trainee environment artist. I am a recent graduate of Norwich university of the arts with an eye for colour and composition, and focus on creating diverse and natural environments in a variety of styles. I’ve explored many worlds through the medium of games and film and want to help in the production of these immersive and wonderous locations. I was drawn to this position and your studio via a listing on indeed, and knowing you as the developers behind Alien Isolation, making fantastic use of atmosphere and isolating environments to create a deep horror experience that I love, I was thrilled to see you had a position available. I also adore the art direction within the total war series, particularly the eastern influence that naturally comes with Total War Shogun. I feel my persistence, determination and enthusiasm would benefit the studio. Equally I feel working with a team of experienced artists and producers could help me progress my career and improve far beyond my current abilities.

Within my portfolio is a range of work, including various rendered props and environments, alongside a number of animations and other technical work I have done within CG animation. I have experimented with a few different styles, but have developed an approach using bright and eye-catching colours and shapes, keeping things clear and easy to understand but with depth and story that can be understood when viewing some of my more detailed pieces. Within the animated examples I have also shown my composition and editing skills, and a clear understanding of the rest of the pipeline I would be working within. I currently work primarily within Maya, but am flexible and have a knowledge in a range of software, including photoshop, substance painter and some in Z Brush as well. I feel that I could learn a lot from this position, as well as use my current skills in new and more refined ways.

I am also very interested in Virtual Reality and its advancements in recent years, within both the games and film industry. I feel whilst It may not be ready for mainstream consumption, it holds a new level of immersion and can provide a deeper way to explore the environments within all mediums of entertainment. And ultimately, let viewers trade this world for another, even if only briefly. It’s an area I would love to step into, if the opportunity ever arose.

Many thanks for taking the time to read, and should you wish to contact me for any further details, please don’t hesitate to do so using the details above.

Many Thanks,

Josh W Smith

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

I found Creative Assembly however are looking for a trainee environment artist, the team behind the total war games and Alien Isolation. whilst i’ve played few of their games, im familiar with them and the work they do, and know their kind of ethos and content well enough. I’ve tried to build my Cover letter around that and hopefully i’ve done a decent enough job. They’re very talented and well known, and create some really immersive environments, especially in the case of Alien, where for a horror game you really need to believe that world feels real to make if feel more authentic and scary.

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

I first found an environment artist position in cambridge, offered by Aardvark swift, however i couldn’t find much about the actual studio or what they had worked on in the past. it made it more difficult to potentially tailor my cover letter for the position, especially considering the lack of knowledge on their content. not only that, but they’re looking for 3DSMax users rather than maya, of which i never liked using Max at all. I’ve decided to research further to see if i can find a job more suitable for me to target my cover letter for.

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

I looked at a few cover letters to get the idea of how they should be laid out, how to open one and what sort of content should be contained within them. it also helped me more specifically target mine to a specified position and studio. It also helped me ensure that my letter was written in a reasonable manor, and was formatted as it should be expected. It’s helped me recognise where i can be a little too rambly as well, and hopefully i’ve improved upon this and made it more fluid and easy to read.

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

Looking at some other artists CV’s looking for a kind of aesthetic i can work with. I have a hexagon theme going on anyway that i’ll carry over, but i’m trying to find a way to make quite a positive and fun CV, without it being too messy. Its almost a mix of the geometry and organization of most CG artists, and the more experimental and pretty looking 2D art CV’s. I love the kind of controlled chaos of Izzy burtons, but its a tad too messy for my CV and i feel its a little overbearing. Jack Yangs is interesting, but feels just a bit too plain. the slant is kind of interesting though, maybe i’ll use that. I like the clean feel of Kia Lewag, but its perhaps more colourful than i might want to go with. Sara dilleys is very simple, but its quite effective. i like how the text works around the image and i feel it helps shape the CV a little.

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

I also took the model i made of a front end loader in a small construction site and tried my hand at making a little turnaround type thing, with a fair amount of reflectivity added to the vehicle paint and windows, and adding roughness to some of the dirt and wood to make it feel less smooth and flashy. I feel like it might be a good idea to try texturing this further and try my hand at giving it more detailed normal maps and UV’s to improve upon the flat colours used currently. I also want to add more depth to the crates so the wood looks more natural and fits properly rather than the planks kind of just merging as they do right now. regardless i feel it makes a nice showreel piece, and one that i made with little reference more than a picture of the digger.

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

I’ve decided to go back and render a number of my old models in unreal, to get some nicer panning shots with improved lighting and shadows. I’ve also added reflections to the windows, though they’re not particularly noticeable in this render. Either way it’s definitely brought some new light to an old model that i was particularly proud of, and has helped me learn how the material editor works in unreal, as well as how to produce nice reflections and set the light shafts to a suitable setting depending on the time of day. Here it’s sort of sunrise, so the light shafts are a little more intense than usual, as the light passes through the trees, giving a more notable change in the light between them.  The model is an old 3D interpretation of the first town from the mostly 2D pokemon diamond and pearl, as close as i could. however i want to build upon it in future and see if i can make it feel less like a direct copy and more of an improved and revitalised location, with more detail for the grass, and more diverse foliage, with more little props littered around the environment.

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

Concerning the Island model

I still want to further develop the crystal island model i made before, however it was unlikely i’d find a suitable way to render it in time, nor animate the boat and camera in a way that felt as fluid as i’d like. after working on the cafe model it felt like such a step up after understanding some of the mistakes i made on the island, that it almost felt like i’d be better off trying to perfect the cafe and get a really nice render from it. ultimately i’m not sure how well this will roll, but i feel its a more well composed and modelled piece, and it’s far easier for me to sort out a render for it, as it was actually possible to send it to unreal, unlike the rediculously huge island.

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

For the above room turnaround, i took a lot of design inspiration from the pokemon mystery dungeon games (made by Spike Chunsoft), for the design of some of the props, to the colour and material choices, and some of the smaller details. the curtains being like tribal banners and the vines, foliage, rocks and cobble stone scattered in the scene are big nods to the environment design within PMD, and i really like the more natural approach to this interior. it gives it a strange rustic feel, but is livened up by all the greenery.

however, it’s important to note that the scene is heavily based on some fanart by Kori Arredondo. I loved the little cafe pictured above, and figured i’d try to replicate it in 3D, and finish off the walls that aren’t seen within the image. furthermore i wanted to give it my own spin, and see how i could take a 2D design, and turn it into something in 3D. It was fun to try and work out the composition of the room and its various props, and giving it some extra atmosphere. I didn’t want to replicate the scene perfectly, but i may have stuck too much to the source material. regardless its made for a nice piece, and has definitely shown that i can take a design that was initially 2D and turn it into a 3D model. In an actual pipeline the concept art would be handled by someone else, then passed to the modeller to develop into a 3D environment, and sometimes you have to make some creative decisions in doing so, to ensure it works in 3D.

The unreal render of the cafe. I’m rather happy with this and i learnt how to implment light shafts using the video above. It adds just a nice little extra bit of atmosphere. I’m really happy with how the colours have come out and how the lighting appears.I do feel like i slightly rather the more toony shading that the playblast gave off, but the smooth lighting does give a nice kind of varied atmosphere with some areas feeling lighter and darker. I also added a simple ceiling in unreal using its basic geometry, which served its purpose quite well. Its a nice little portfolio piece im very proud of that taught me a lot about how to create atmosphere with an environment, and how to make it feel natural.

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

Website design and navigation Improvements

I’ve started making some simple design improvements to my website to make sure its easier to navigate and overall understand what each area of the website is focused on. I’ve added the software icons to the website in the about me page, as well as a mail icon on the contact page. this of course is made to fit in with the rest of the aesthetic of the website. furthermore, i added labels to the front page, so it’s easier to understand where each of the buttons take you to, as they aren’t exactly made to show you by image, they’re a neat way to show off my work and attract viewers to various parts of the site. Having the text there improves navigation and ensures any visitors know how to view whatever they need.

[jsmith3rdyearportfolio]

Feedback on my CV and Cover Letter

Upon speaking to peter, he told me that my CV was actually not terrible, especially for one made to be generic by design. He advised that i search for a suitable job and try and apply it specifically toward that position, and tailor it so that it feels more natural. it was also suggested that i try to add more detail about my skills and specifically the skills relevant to the position, so as to make the letter a full A4 sheet, as it’s the standard length for a cover letter. Upon looking at my CV, of course it needed some neatening up and some graphical additions to improve it overall, but i was also advised to save space by simply writing “12 GCSE’s including maths, english and science” as whilst gcse’s do still have some importance, they’re less interested in your specific grades and more in that you have basic subject knowledge on the most important subjects. Furthermore i should reduce the length of my profile paragraph, and keep it less rambly, so that its just the more important details. Also to include more transferable skills such as cooperation and resilience, working under pressure and responding well to feedback.