University Exit Plan

For the final post on my PPD blog, I will go through some of the points of what I will be looking to do after leaving university, to give me the best chance possible of getting a job.

The first step will be to create a genuine showreel to show off some of my best work. The most important thing which I will need to do to make this happen it continue working on my modelling abilities outside of university.  This will also allow me to build up a portfolio of hopefully high quality finished work which can then be used as part of a showreel. The example showreel which I created as part of this module can easily be used as a template for creating a final version later on, as the shots of my new work can be easily substituted in. Once I’ve created this new showreel, I will most likely upload this showreel to two different websites in order to get it seen by as many people as possible. These will be Youtube, as this is the video website with by far the most internet traffic meaning it is more likely to be seen by more people, and Vimeo, as while this website has fewer users there is also a smaller selection of videos which makes it much easier for a high quality portfolio to be found.

Perhaps the most important thing I will need in order to show off my work is a website which will act as my online portfolio. Ideally, I would like to create my own bespoke website based off of the mock-ups which I created for this module which I could then continue to expand by adding new projects to it. Unfortunately, due to the time which would be required to create it and the costs involved with running and hosting a website, it might not be possible to create my own website immediately. Instead, it may be easier for me to create my online portfolio using a website which allows people to create websites based on pre-existing templates. The two most likely options for this are ArtStation and CarbonMade. While these would allow me to have an online portfolio with little effort, ultimately I would still like to create my own bespoke website.

The final step for giving me the best chance of attracting potential employers is to increase my online presence. I will look to do this by creating professional profiles on a number of different websites, which will allow me to show off my work to and get in contact with as many people within the industry as possible. I will create professional profiles on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube which I will use to show off finished pieces of work, as well as works in progress which show off my own workflows. By having profiles on as many websites as possible, I stand the best chance of attracting the attention of a potential employer. I have already created a profile on the website LinkedIn. This will hopefully allow me to expand my contacts within the industry to create as many connections as possible, giving me a strong chance of finding someone who can help me progress my career.

By following all of these steps, I should hopefully give myself the best possible chance of getting a job in the industry after leaving university.

Finished Showreel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGhO9XhH5WY

This is my finished showreel for this module. I’ve chosen to gear the showreel more towards environment and prop modelling as this is the area that I’m going to be focusing on after uni. As this showreel doesn’t need to include finished pieces of work, I’ve included shots from my second year Circus Tent and Mad Max environments as well as the Le Mans cinematic which I’m currently still working on. I’ve tried to make sure that while creating my showreel, I included some of the good things I found whilst reviewing showreels which making sure to avoid some of the errors. I created some high quality graphics, including a bar at the bottom of the screen and information boxes. I also kept the length of my showreel within the boundaries I worked out earlier, at exactly 2 minutes long.

After showing my unfinished showreel to a few people, there was one change which I had to make based on the feedback I received. During the Mad Max environment section, most of the people who watched it said that it was unclear what was actually happening when it faded between the shots of the full scene, and the shots of just my props. To remedy this I made two labels, one saying Full Scene and one saying My Props which change based on the shot being shown. This makes it much clearer what is being shown during this section of the showreel.

Showreel Graphics

Along with the mockup website pages, the other deliverable for this module is an example showreel. The purpose of this is to give an idea of the showreel which each of us would create as part of our portfolio after leaving university. This showreel doesn't need to feature shots of finished work, it just needs to show how you would roughly want it to look. This includes the graphics used, the way information is displayed and any editing techniques used to make it more interesting.

The first thing I did was create the graphics which I would use of my showreel. I decided that the best thing to do in terms of the style was to create graphics which match the design I used for my mockup website. I used to the same carbon fibre texture for the background of each graphic, along with a light grey outer glow and light grey text.

The two simplest graphics are the Opening and End screens. These are essential for any showreel to make it look professional. I've kept the Opening screen simple, featuring just my name, email and a description of what the showreel is mainly focusing on. The End Slate includes this same information, but also has addition contact details shown. At the very bottom I also decided to add the logos of the programs which I used to create the work on show. Hopefully this would allow potential employers to see which programs I am currently capable of using as part of my workflow.

In order to make my showreel even more interesting, I took inspiration from a couple of the showreels I reviewed earlier in the module. The first additional graphic is a bar which will be shown along the bottom throughout the showreel. This bar has my email address on it which ensures that any potential employers will be able to contact me at any point, which will be useful if they're viewing multiple showreels and don't have time to watch them all through to the end. 

The next graphics as information boxes. I saw these being used on another showreel and feel that they really add something, by giving out information about each bit of work being shown. The information I've chosen to include is the client, the project overview and where required my personal role with the project. I've made individual information boxes for each environment, which include the logos I created earlier for the mockup website.

Reviewing Showreels

For this task, we had to find a selection of showreels online and review them to determine what makes each one either good or bad. This would mean that when it comes to creating our own showreels, we would have a better idea of what things work and what things need to be avoided.

The first showreel, found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEWD7oYyhK8, is split between character modelling and environment modelling. The way the modelling work is shown off in this showreel is one of the best examples I’ve found. Mostly, it is done by showing a clip of the model in situ in a film clip, before showing a 360° of the untextured model. For a couple of the models this 360° also shows the wireframe. However, there are also a couple of examples of a slightly more interesting editing technique. For one of the character models and a couple of the environments, the movie clips fade directly into the models themselves. This perfectly shows how each of the models actually fits into the finished scene. Aside from the modelling shown, the rest of the showreel is very simple, with no real graphics other than the opening and closing screens. The biggest issues with this showreel are the limited contact details shown at the end and the overall running time. At 4:49 this showreel does drag on towards the end and would likely be much easier to watch all the way through if it was cut down.

The next good showreel example, found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeoKBjJuvhk, also uses the editing technique whereby a clip from a film or cinematic fades into the untextured model or vice versa. This showreel is also the first one to use captions to describe the work which is being shown. However, these captions don’t give any real information, other than saying modelling, texturing etc. There are a couple of ways where this showreel is noticeably better then the first one I looked at. The end slate includes an extensive set of contact details, as well as showing the logos of the programs which were used to create the work being shown. Having logos for the programs used on the end screen is something which I will likely use on my own showreel. Another improvement over the first showreel is that this one is 2:11 in length, which makes it much easier to watch all the way through.

I also viewed a couple of other good showreels with certain elements worth mentioning, as I will likely try and include these in my own showreel. The first, found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bhEdB-352U, is a showreel for animation and visual effects. Overall the showreel is good, but the main feature which I will look to use is the information boxes. These pop up for each of the clips and give out basic information amount the client and the details of the project itself. Having these information boxes gives the viewers a better idea of what exactly they’re being shown. One other good feature which I will use for my personal showreel is demonstrated here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jOkEPdLULs. This is one of the only showreels I found which uses a bar at the bottom, which displays an email address throughout. Having an email address visible the whole way through the showreel is in my opinion a good way of ensuring that any potential employer viewing the showreel has access to contact details at any time.

While reviewing these showreels, I found some a number of errors in the poor quality examples of showreels. One thing which immediately makes a showreel seem less professional is poor quality graphics. This can be seen in this example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM7OX9PPkrQ, where all of the graphics feature nothing more than a basic font. Poor quality graphics give a clear sign to anybody viewing the showreel there hasn’t been enough time spent creating it. Another error is having a showreel where the opening or ending screens last too long. When these screens are shown onscreen for too long, it takes up time which could be better used showing off more examples of work. A final major issue which I found are showreels which are far too short. This example, https://vimeo.com/142782045, is only 29 seconds in length. With a showreel this long, it doesn’t matter how good the work on show is, there would be nearly enough time to show off enough pieces of work and certainly wouldn’t be enough time to give out contact details at the end.

After reviewing the various showreels, I have chosen some of the most important points which I will need to pay attention to or include in my own showreel to make it as good as possible. The most fundamental point is to do with timing. After viewing a number of showreels, which ranged anywhere from 4 minutes 40 to 29 seconds in length, I’ve worked out that the optimal length for a showreel is between one and half and two and half minutes long. Most of the good examples of showreels fitted into this length bracket. If the showreel is any longer than two and half minutes long it quickly begins to drag on, which may make some people lose interest. This could be an issue if the viewer is a potential employer because it may cause them to stop watching before the end which is most likely where your contact details will be shown. If the showreel is any shorter than a minute and a half then there either isn’t adequate time to show off enough work or the work is shown in a rushed way which doesn’t give the time required to view it properly. By making sure the length of the showreel is within this bracket, you are able to get a balance between showing off plenty of work and keeping it interesting throughout. For my showreel I will also be using some of the examples of graphics which I found. These include the bar which displays the email address throughout at the bottom of the screen, and the information boxes for each project shown. I will also make sure to put plenty of time and effort into creating all of the graphics I use as having high quality graphics as part of my showreel is a good way of setting it apart from any other showreels with similar quality work shown in them. 

Mockup Website Part 2 - Finished Website Pages

As one of the three main deliverables for this project, I have created a mockup of a website. These website pages have been created to give a basic idea of the style and layout which I would like to use when creating my actual online portfolio. I have taken many of the design cues from some of the high quality portfolios that I found for the portfolio review task, while making sure to avoid some of the common mistakes which appeared in the bad portfolio examples.

During the research into existing portfolios I found that one of the most effective ways to make the website look tidy and professional was to use a style which featured either very little or no colour outside of the white to black gradient. Websites featuring either a white or a black background, with all of the text in shades of grey helped to keep them from looking overly cluttered or amateurish. For my website I chose to use a dark background, with a lighter shade of grey being used for any text or borders. After initially trying a plain dark grey background I decided to change this to a simple carbon fibre texture, just to make it look a little less bland and to separate it from the numerous other portfolios out there with similar designs. Another reason for having a simple, dark house style is that it means the eye is always drawn towards the work itself rather than getting distracted by any other area of the page.

Along with the background, every page on the website will also feature the navigation bar shown on the left. There is a heading at the top of the bar with my name, along with a subheading stating what sort of work is featured on the website. Below this are the links to the three main sections of the portfolio, the homepage, the about page and the contact page. At the bottom of the navigation bar, I have chosen to add my email address. Whilst this email address is also available on the contact page, having it shown on every page just makes it much easier to find for anybody interested in contacting me. For the actual website, I would want this navigation bar to stay in the same position while the rest of the page scrolls (demonstrated on the Mad Max page shown later) as this makes the entire website much easier to navigate.

The Homepage is the first page of the website that anybody will see, so I’ve made sure that the work is immediately accessible from this page. I have used the small versions of the custom banners I created earlier to create a list of each project. These banners are clearly visible on the Homepage, which I believe instantly separates this from many other portfolios out there by showing an extra level of attention to detail. The page can easily be added to, only requiring a new banner to be created for each new project I want to include.

Home Page

Clicking any of the banners will take you to the individual page of each project. Each of these pages includes the larger version of the custom banner at the top, with a number of renders of each project below. At the bottom of each page I will include a paragraph of text about the project. In this I will give details about the project brief that was originally given for it, an overview of the reasoning behind the theme and a summary of my personal responsibilities for any projects which were done as part of a group.

For the Mad Max page, I have shown an example of how the navigation bar on the left hand side will stay in position whilst the rest of the page scrolls.

Circus Environment Page

Le Mans Environment Page

When reviewing other portfolios, I found that one area which was commonly not up to standard on the bad examples was the About page. Many of the worst portfolio examples had About pages with featured nothing more than a name and possibly a location, whilst the best portfolio examples had extensive About pages which included the persons interests, past work experience and education history. For my portfolio I’ve made sure to include plenty of information about myself on the About page, although what I’ve put on the mockup is only a sample of what I would like to include.

About Page

Another common error I found with poor quality portfolios was a lack or even complete absence of any contact details. Regardless of whether or not your work is good, if it’s not possible for an employer to easily get in contact with you then there’s no chance of them offering you work. Along with the email address displayed on every page, I’ve also created a Contact page. This page is easy to access, with a link to it on the navigation bar, and includes numerous ways to contact me which I have made up examples of for the purpose of the mockup.

Contact Page

Overall I think the house style I have created for my website works well, looking highly professional whilst also ensuring the website doesn’t look cluttered and without drawing attention away from any of the actual modelling work on show. I have addressed a couple of the major issues that I found while reviewing bad portfolios, a lack of content on the About and Contact pages, as well as including a few design ideas inspired by some high quality portfolio examples, custom banners and navigation bar, to create a professional portfolio which I feel would give me the best possible chance of attracting the attention of possible employers.

Mockup Website Part 1 - Custom Banners

As part of this module, I’m going to create a mockup of a few pages of a website. The purpose of these mockups will be to give an idea of the overall style which I would like to use when it comes to creating my own online portfolio. I’ve taken my inspiration for these mockups from some of the better portfolios I’ve found during my research into them.

One of my favourite elements I’ve found on someone’s portfolio is the use of custom banners and graphics on the website found here, https://sharonsmith.carbonmade.com/. On most of the portfolios I’ve viewed, the banners linking to each section of work featured one of the work screenshots with just some basic text on top. However, on this portfolio, custom banners have been creating using a better quality render of the work with custom text, often with a genuine film or company logo used. These banners look so much more impressive than those found on other portfolio pages and instantly tell anybody viewing it that plenty of time and effort has been put into the website to make it look as sleek and professional as possible. When one of these banners is clicked, it takes you to a page dedicated to that particular project of work. At the top of each page there is a larger version of the banner which is used on the homepage.

I’ve decided that these custom banners are one element that I definitely want to include on my own portfolio so I’ve created a few simple banners for pieces of work I’ve done in the past. All three feature a scenic render of the environment and custom text over the top. For the Mad Max and the Le Mans environment, I’ve actually used the official logos of both in a similar way to the portfolio I took inspiration from. I’ve created two banners for each project, a small one which will appear on the homepage and a larger version for the top of the individual work pages.

The three thinner banners which will be put on the homepage. I've made sure to position the text consistently so that it all the looks the same when shown together on the same page.

The three large banners with the text repositioned to individually compliment each render as well as possible. The top two feature the official logos, combined with the text I'ved added.

I’ve also begun work on the style of the web pages. The style I’m going to go for will feature a dark gray or black background, with the text and any other features likely to be in a lighter shade of grey. The theory is that this more refined style will help the website to look professional, and also push the emphasis onto the work itself. 

Job Opportunities In The UK

After earlier looking at possible job opportunities in and around Lincoln, I’ve decided to look at 3D modelling jobs throughout the UK.

While looking for video game modelling jobs in the UK, I found that the main jobs roles available are for environment or character modelling. As I will most likely be looking for environment or prop modelling jobs, I’ve chosen a couple of the best to look at.

The first two jobs opportunities I found are in Edinburgh. Beside the two I’ve chosen, there are also a number of other modelling roles available in the Edinburgh area. This shows that in this part of the country, there is clearly a growing video game industry which is likely to expand even further in the future. 

The first job, found here http://gamesjobboard.jobthread.com/job/environmemts-artist-social-mobile-games-united-kingdom-scotland-interactive-selection-1cddc2cba0/?d=1&source=site_recent, is for an environment modeller at a company creating games for mobile platforms. Whilst modelling for mobile games isn’t something which I had considered, getting an entry level job at a company in a city with an expanding video games industry would undoubtedly be beneficial for my career. Another job opportunity currently available in this area, found here http://hire.jobvite.com/CompanyJobs/Careers.aspx?k=Job&su=f3Q9VfwH&c=qYo9Vfwa&j=oCCbZfw8&s=Indeed, is for a junior prop artist at Rockstar North. Rockstar North are one of the largest games companies in the company, so getting a job here definitely offers the possibly of a successful career. As this job would also involve modelling for games designed for next gen technology, I feel it would be much better suited to the work I want to do.

Moving slightly further south, there is a job opening, https://uk.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/74939528?trk=jserp_job_details_text, as an environment artist at Ubisoft in Newcastle. Ubisoft are another huge company, with a long history of successful games. Whilst this job role is aimed more at an intermediate level, in the requirements it does say that while industry experience is a bonus but ultimately a high enough quality of work could be enough.

The next job opportunity, https://cloudimperiumgames.com/jobs/48-Environment-Artist, is for an environment artist in Manchester. The company is called Cloud Imperium, a company who have only been going since 2012. As they are a much newer company than the other companies currently offering jobs, they are still going through a period of rapid expansion. Getting an entry level job here would give me the chance to be a part of this expansion which would no doubt help to improve my CV if I later went looking for another job elsewhere.

The final two jobs available, both as environment artists are at Rockstar Leeds, http://hire.jobvite.com/CompanyJobs/Careers.aspx?k=Job&su=faQ9VfwO&c=qYo9Vfwa&j=oM9tYfw6&s=Indeed, and Creative Assembly in Hosham, http://careers.sega.co.uk/careers/creative-assembly/environment-artist-0?source=Indeed.com, Both of these jobs are for entry level positions at some of the largest UK based video games companies. Getting jobs here would not only allow me to expand my skills and create the sort of high quality assets I’m aiming to make, but as they are such big companies, job experience here would likely allow me to get any high level job I applied for in the future.

The UK currently has a massive video game industry, which is ever expanding. There are numerous jobs available right across the country at companies ranging from rapidly expanding indie outfits to huge, world renowned video games studios. The video games industry how now become on the UKs success stories, with this trend of expansion likely to continue giving me a great chance of a starting a successful career after leaving university.