Looking for a project to take part in.

edited in Projects
Hi guys I am brand new to the local gaming industry but I am super keen to get involved. Im currently in my second year at The Animation School in Johannesburg and I love games too much... Im looking for project that I can take part in as a learning experience as well as and entry into creating assets, textures, materials, animations or what ever for games. I am currently using Maya but I learnt almost everything I know on blender. Here is some of my work if you are interested
http://jamesrayrenders.tumblr.com/

Please contact me if you are interested in helping me help you :D
Regards JamesRay

Comments

  • Hey James. Your work quality is really great! I feel that you have realism down, however I would love to see what you can do in another style. Whether your own, or just a mimicking a general fantasy or cartoon style could be interesting. And I also feel it would be valuable if you want to get a job in the gaming industry someday, to be able to do a few different styles. Even if there is one you specialize in. (I would say I am massively experienced in this department, but this is my take on what I've seen and heard [and can remember ;])

    I don't have anything at the moment for you but looking forward to see where you take things.
    Thanked by 1JamesRay
  • Hi Vince, Thank you for the Kind words. I haven't put much thought into "syles" and now that you have brought it up I realise its something that is quite important, I will defiantly do some experimentation and studies. Once again Thank you for the advice.
  • edited
    Hey James, I'll give you my 2 cents on your portfolio ;) I only have 2 years experience in gaming but I have studied design and worked in design for 8 years.

    If I was hiring a game artist (which I'm not) then I would look for someone who had actual in-game graphics as part of their portfolio. Your modelling skills look great - those can be transported into gaming easily - but on the rendering side it's a different art to learn how to make things look good in-game. You're limited by real-time rendering - which means less lights, less reflections, limited ambient occlusion and anti-aliasing, and possibly baked lighting too (all of that is assuming the game needs to run on a mid-range graphics card). Textures and UV mapping play a much bigger role in game design than they do in product or architectural rendering - learning how to create great textures is also an art in itself.

    I would focus on trying to create scenes in a game engine that can run at a high frame rate that you could even post online as a live demo. I don't know where you're at with your game creation skills, but if that sounds intimidating, it's really not, it's just a matter of bringing in your models and playing around with lights and cameras, you wouldn't necessarily need to touch code.

    Hope that advice is useful to you. Like I say, I'm not hiring, so maybe I don't know what other people are looking for, but that's just my opinion.

  • @jamotaylor I agree.

    @JamesRay, when I bring in additional help for modelling occasionally, I always run into the problem where some of the artists' portfolios are full of architectural scenes or extremely detailed high polygon modelling. It's clear the artist is very competent, but it's hard to tell if those skills will translate into modelling for games.

    For example, I need to know if the artist is used to working with PBR materials, and specifically in the context of Unity. Can this artist create normal mapped low/medium polygon real-time models from high polygon modelling tools, etc. So having some kind of demo scene constructed for Unity and UE, and backing it up with a cool showcase video, that would be really helpful to instantly sell your game modelling skills.
    Thanked by 2critic JamesRay
  • It also depends on the play style you want your game to look like, because look at our game : Survival of the Hobo, Its basically cartoon theme, with a hint of funny. You have to do the same models constantly. Otherwise they game will look confusing if something looks realistic and the rest is cartoon styled. I would say make a few game assets and show them off.
    Thanked by 1JamesRay
  • Thanks for all the advice. I will definitely do more research on workflows for gaming and specifically make some models or scenes for Game Engine use. I have started using substance designer for texturing and materials but I'm yet to implement any of that work into my projects. Once again thank you for the positive responses and honest opinions.
    Thanked by 1critic
  • Hi James,

    I’ve got a small team of programmers (all of us engineering and computer science students), who are looking for artists. We’re working on games and have a passion for gaming. We have some great, achievable concepts and need an artist to help us bring it to life. If you’re interested in earning some royalty, please contact me at pauldando21@icloud.com.

    Regards,
    Paul
    Thanked by 1[Deleted User]
  • edited
    Where you based?

    Go to one of the GGJ sites! That's the best place to start. I joined the games' industry at GGJ 5 years ago. :D

    Also, I'd be down to protoype/jam something in 3D. So, hope to see you at some of the jams through the year.
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