- This topic has 30 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 19 years, 8 months ago by
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Hi guys,
My girlfriend is about to start putting her portfolio together and she was wondering what programs are best for doing this. She was going to use Director I think, but was wondering if something else would be better. Suggestions welcome.
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Director is a very good choice. Nothing really out there that is better at what it does.
I would go with that. -
Cheers, just need to get my hands on a copy now :)
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Director might be overkill for a simple portfolio. Flash could arguably do everything you require, without having to get knee-deep in ‘Lingo’.
I did my showreel in Flash, it autoruns from a CD very nicely, and includes full interactivity, audio, imbedded video and dynamic text.
Lewis
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Director might be overkill for a simple portfolio. Flash could arguably do everything you require, without having to get knee-deep in ‘Lingo’.
I did my showreel in Flash, it autoruns from a CD very nicely, and includes full interactivity, audio, imbedded video and dynamic text.
Lewis [/quote:dc6d5a7b24] I’d agree with Lewis…. learning curve for Flash is significantly shorter than Director – plus the plug-in is more ubiquitous, not to mention the free add-ins and extensions available from the user community on the Macromedia Exchange site
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I was under the impression that she knew how to use director. But obviously if she has never used director before, then yes, flash is definitely the better choice.
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“You assume too much Queen Amidala”
Time for a new picture of the Falcon Dave? It must have been a whole day since the last one? ;)
L.
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Why I oughta……..
Although you’re right, here ya go!
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*groan*
good one, but *groan*
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You’re right Noopt. I said to her Director or Flash and she said she knows director and doesn’t know flash.
Director it is.Thanks again.
Actually one other questions…would you concentrate on one area or show proficiency in several areas ??
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just make sure she installs the plug-in on the CD (assuming that’s how she’s distributing it). Nothing more annoying than receiving CD portfolio and having to go looking on the Web for a plug-in to view it
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I think that the main school of thought on that Omen is that you should concentrate your portfolio on a particular area, seeing as graphics jobs are usually specific to certain skills. For example with regards to 3D graphics you’ve got Character Modelers, Enviroment Modelers, Animators, Texture Artists etc. So basically, you should pick what your best at/enjoy the most and go with that, producing a reel which concentrates on that one area so as not to dilute your portfolio with work that might not be up to par with what your best at.
In my opinion, the portfolio should include samples of all your skills, but definitely you should concentrate on one or two skills and bring those aspects to the fore. For example, someone might want to concentrate their portolio on character modeling and animation, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t include any other impressive work they have done(eg: a nice plane or something) somewhere in portfolio!
So it comes down to this, try to target your portfolio at what you want to achieve, job wise. If you want to be a character animator for example, then concentrate on creating a portfolio which brings these skills to the fore. But rememeber also, that it depends on what type of companies you are applying to. Smaller companies tend to look for people with much broader skill ranges then larger companies, as they need people who can do multiple jobs.
My two cents on it anyway….
Edit: Tony, yeah…it’s a bad joke…..but it HAD to be done, i couldn’t resist it…. ;)
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I’ve seen a fair few showreels in my short time and to be honest I prefer 2 folders (jpegs and movies) and a CV. Not that the effort that goes into making a nice flash presentation won’t be noticed, of course it will, but nothing beats the simplicity of browsing a folder of jpegs in ACDSee or running a binked avi off a cd.
Purely a personal point of view.
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Bink video is sweet as a nut alright. No nonsense with codecs or anything. You can just do all the video editing, compositing etc in Premiere, After Effects or whatever and then export the sequence as bitmaps, export the sound, then mash them together in Bink.
At first I wasn’t really liking bink, but its really grown on me. Fantastic piece of kit. -
Let’s not downplay Flash’s ubiquity here people. You’re talking about a player that will play video without the need for downloads on over 95% of desktop machines. Bink is cool though.
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I suppose its just based on personal preferance with regards to browsing someones portfolio. I am going to be redoing my online portfolio using Flash(which should be fun seeing as I haven’t used it in years!).
But for my CD portfolio, I am just going to do what Pete said: Bung all the files into relevant, organised folders. -
Yeah, I guess Pete has a point, but, of course, an advantage to creating a Flash (or Director) autorun CD is that you can lead the User Experience in exactly the way you want – including music, multi animations etc, especially if, as is my case, you want to showcase your Flash skills at the same time.
In my portfolio, I created four simultaneous windows which could show videos of the same asset as the same time (for example, a wireframe camera orbit, a basic model orbit, a textured model orbit, and the texture map).
Naturally, I put a prominent QUIT button, AND include all the files in seperate folder, for people like Pete :)
Whatever she feels most comfortable with, and suits the target audience / nature of the work.
L.
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an advantage to creating a Flash (or Director) autorun CD is that you can lead the User Experience in exactly the way you want – [/quote:6277cc1e33]
Good point. It does allow the artist to lead the show, as it were.
Once the option is there to browse through the CD easily, ie: it has a coherant folder system.For example, with magazine CDs/DVDs like 3D Totals cover CDs, I never use the autorun thingy. I always browse into the CD myself……and copy out/view what I want…..
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I’ve seen a fair few showreels in my short time and to be honest I prefer 2 folders (jpegs and movies) and a CV. Not that the effort that goes into making a nice flash presentation won’t be noticed, of course it will, but nothing beats the simplicity of browsing a folder of jpegs in ACDSee or running a binked avi off a cd.
Purely a personal point of view. [/quote:00b4bf9548] I’d agree with you, Pete… Quick easy access and no bells and whistles is preferable in my opinion when viewing CVs & showreels. You have to remember that the person you’re sending this too may have dozens of these to go through – they won’t thank you for putting obstacles in their way no matter how artistic/ creative/ luvverly your snazzy interface is
As someone who has received and reviewed literally thousands of job apps at this stage, here’s a few tips which you can feel free to take or leave:
– never, ever put music on your showreel (unless, of course, your audio skills are part of what you’re pitching)
– show a few samples of your supplemental skills, but focus 80% (min.) of your showreel on your strengths/ strongest skill
– unless it’s adding significantly to your presentation or its a skill you’re actively pitching, don’t bother with a fancy Director/Flash interface; help the reviewer get to your stuff in the quickest, least fussy way possible
– if you absolutely HAVE to do a snazzy interface (or are showing mixed media) include the plug-ins on the CD; if a reviewer receives a CD minus essential plug-ins (and they’re not already installed on the reviewer’s machine, of course) your slaved over showreel goes in the bin… -
I’m now so glad I’m a programmer and don’t have to worry about things like this…
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Thanks for the tips Tony, good stuff! :D
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Some excellent advice all round!
I think Tony makes an interesting point about music in showreels. From what I’ve seen there’s a split opinion on this. Some think it adds to the reel while others think it’s an annoyance that’ll just be put on mute. What have people here gone with?
I’m now so glad I’m a programmer and don’t have to worry about things like this… [/quote:65203f66ce]
It’s all part of the fun! -
Yeah, I see Tonys’ point about the music.
If I was looking at a reel and the soundtrack comprised of Nelly Furtado I would turn it off…….
So probably better off not using music which the viewer might end up not liking, thus detracting from the reel. -
If I was looking at a reel and the soundtrack comprised of Nelly Furtado I would turn it off…….[/quote:388a48841d]Hey, I like Nelly Furtado!
So probably better off not using music which the viewer might end up not liking, thus detracting from the reel. [/quote:388a48841d]exactly
Also, sound is such a huge part of an interface (as any of us can attest), that getting it almost right is as bad as getting it completely wrong… And just because you can doesn’t mean you should
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Hey, I like Nelly Furtado![/quote:7f657f0077]
Me too, but I also like it when someone pushes an angle grinder against some sheet metal right beside my head, whilst simultaneously sticking a cattle prod up a cats arse…….
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Me too, but I also like it when someone pushes an angle grinder against some sheet metal right beside my head, whilst simultaneously sticking a cattle prod up a cats arse……. [/quote:6db9bbaded] LOL
jaysis, the humour award nominations for next year are stacking up fast and early
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There is something to be said about limiting the assault on the senses with a portfolio. I find that a lot of audio demo reels(especially from pro studios etc who have a bit more budget) bamboozle you with their interface, and the audio (what they are actually trying to ‘sell’ you) gets lost cause of bad design or you you simply don’t listen to it properly ’cause your using your eyes and your ears.
So equating this to an art portfolio: don’t do music. If you have to, keep it very, very simple and very low. Use simple unintrusive sounds for menus (nice to know that a selection has been made) and that should be all you need. Obviously, any AV stuff should be as good as possible, simply cause bad audio will weaken the impact of your visuals and that is never desirable when trying to sell your stuff… so again, if it aint right go without audio.
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For me music in a demo reel can add so much. It can bring a good reel to life and make it great. It adds an extra dimension and gets your heart racing and excited about the prospect of creating something equally as stunning. For that I’ve always thought I’d add music to my reel when I make it.
However.. as has been pointed out, crap music can really ruin the whole thing. It’s not even about the quality of the music – It’s what the viewer thinks of it personally.
All in all my opinion has been changed. Right now I wouldn’t add music unless I was convinced it added to the reel. Even then I’d have you guys act as my test monkeys to see if I should use it or not. :)
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You have to also think that whoever might be looking at it, won’t have audio on their machine. I only have audio when I need for what i’m working on.
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I quite a like a bit of music on a showreel. It requires a lot of thought and work to sync and edit visuals to an audio track and the end result can be well worth it if executed properly. I do hate dodgy compressed foley library sounds downloaded from the web and added to animations though.
C’mon, the world can always use one more showreel with a Rob Dougan or Rage Against The Machine soundtrack!!
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obviously it’s different strokes for different folks… err on the side of caution and provide a ‘mute’ or ‘audio off’ function… the only other advice i’d give on this one echoes Pete’s above – if you’re going to do it do it well or don’t bother… the last thing the world needs is another portfolio being browsed to a badly compressed MP3 of Vangelis’ Chariots of Fire (true story)
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