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About the Author
Bart Veldhuizen
I have a LONG history with Blender - I wrote some of the earliest Blender tutorials, worked for Not a Number and helped run the crowdfunding campaign that open sourced Blender (the first one on the internet!). I founded BlenderNation in 2006 and have been editing it every single day since then ;-) I also run the Blender Artists forum and I'm Head of Community at Sketchfab.
22 Comments
Good length, but poor execution. For impact concentrate on one thing rather than jumping around all over the place.
I agree. I like the overall feel and length, but before I can really absorb what I am seeing it is already move on to the next thing. There is a lot of great stuff there and this video leaves me feeling like I just missed it all.
i don't know but i feel you guys are getting too much into a critique point of view.. because instead of make me feel like i missed something, it makes me feel like everything looks great and wanna see more of his work. Great job Sam, it's an excelent show of your work
I agree with Jordan and Mal, and additionally feel a small sample of the work looks more like tests than production work.
@84b1956b45f0f1184d7d0a8c3f79edfa:disqus it's more a critique of the reel than Sam's actual work, while we like the work, we feel the reel could be better. A better reel leads to more job offers and this directly benefits Sam. If we didn't care, we would probably just think to ourselves meh, and move on.
IMHO, the pace looks just fine compared to other reels I've seen. And I'm not talking about Blender reels, I'm talking about SHED, The Mill, Post Panic, RumbleFishVFX, etc. Some of their reels go into a little behind the scenes, but the time per shot (as opposed to a segment) is roughly the same. It does feel a little abrupt having some cuts right before I can read the text - but I realize you have music syncing to worry about.
You (complaining readers) may want to appreciate the entire process and productions, but a prospective employer doesn't want to spend more time than they think their time is worth, especially if they have to go through quite a few of these from quite a few people (there's a reason resumes and cover letters are usually only one page) - so putting savory scenic shots as opposed to proof of skill for motion design and technical/artistic expertise seems wasteful - especially if it's not your focus. Again, humble opinion.
I'm not sure what demo reels you've seen lately, but most I've seen have been quite like this one (even those of professionals already with major past work under their belt).
While someone can have a good demo that focuses on one thing (or at least, something a little more slower paced), demo reels are a dime a dozen, so it's quite common to have a demo reel that displays a wide range of the past work in a short and snappy way rather than focusing on one thing, and perhaps most of all, it helps to have a style that'll capture their attention as well. (A demo reel is a competiting for a job, after all.)
Sam's style was well-organized, his work was varied, and his presentation was snappy--I personally think Sam's got a reel that's eye-catching. He's likely to catch someone's attention. I'd imagine that if they want to see slower paced example of his work, they can further inquire him for it. But the demo would be the first step that'd get him that far.
Also, I would say that given the way media is going today, this is just about the right pace for companies used to this kind of snappy pace anyways. I was able to follow along, so imagine a professional who sees these kinds of demo reels all the time. So demonstrating such a fast pace just might help him even more--he's displaying where media's at today.
I completely agree that it is very eye catching and has great music to keep attention. Like I said in my past post, I like the overall feel and look. It just left me wanting more and feeling like I missed something. I would have to watch it a few times to really absorb everything. Perhaps even pause here and there to get a better look.
As PixelEuphoria stated people put together different reels for different purposes, just like a resume, and I think you have to really consider the market you are applying for when you put something like this together. And as you, Brian, point out, a snappy pace may actually be better in today's media market.
@Akiara Kalchek: as pointed out by Wasa, a critique stating "great job, looks great" doesn't help anybody improve their work. Imagine if you put together a resume and sent it to somebody to take a look at it and their response was "looks good." That doesn't help anyone. I think that if something is posted to a community like this we should give credit where it is due and provide constructive feedback when appropriate that can help the artist and community as a whole.
Um, it's a reel guys, not one animation. Check out other reels and you'll see the same pace.
Great Reel, Sam! Actually I would like to see here more of your short pieces. Yeah, it's fast paced and you want to see longer of every little piece... But I know that it's related to the primary reels' aim - show to your potential customer what you've able to do best and this must be not too long.
The point is how it was executed this what a client look for in a show-reel. Great job Sam! It have style.
Always great to see your work, Sam!
I agree with onjoFilms. I think it's a great reel! Reels aren't supposed to show entire pieces of work...they're supposed to show a variety to get you interested in the artist's skill set...
I feel that I don't get any skill depth "show off" in this reel. It covers a lot of topics, but maybe not deep enough. If I was hiring I would like to see some kind of speciality skill from the reel. And I think the colors change to extremely from scene to scene. But it's great work!
Chris, when you hire someone, usually you want someone that be great no something... as i could see this reel shows Sam is great on most aspects of blender... not just a modeler without animations skills.. or an animator without model skills.. (when you hire someone, you want someone that can make everything for less price than hiring many people doing every single part of the whole proccess) .. lol.. yah.... i still think the reel is great and i belive.. according to what i see.. that if i have to hire someone wokring on 3D, this reel will be a great one.
Wow, about the color changing... yah... is extreme!!... cool huh? even fits the music!... which is not usual on 3d artists... maybe the only suggestion i may say in my personal opinion could be... umm.. how about experimenting some transitions between some scenes?... it may make the video feel more "connected" between scenes.. but as i said... it's a really great reel
I liked it. Nice Job!
Bad! Very bad! You didn't credit the music. I hope you at least licensed it from Mush Records. Doubt it, though.
Nice demo reel, man. :)
That looked really amazing. I'm presuming you're Dutch then XD. Appelmoes :P
It looks good, but i think sometimes the cuts are to fast. May be a slower cutting rate would be better, but it´s ok. Good job.
No bad. some good clips in there. Some could be removed as they were not up to the standard of the other shots, like the space shot of the earth with blue explosions. The last shot is a bit long. The overall length is good. I would remove the shots of you name and just have you name burnt in on the bottom or top of the screen out of the way of the action. Well done.
Sweet. I really dig the motion graphics cuts. Nice music selection too. :)
I don't see what the problem is. It looks like a great motion graphics reel to me. It all depends on what kind of work you're looking for. If you want a job in games, you show your low poly models and texture maps...if you want a comping job you show how you achieve your shot. If you want something in motion graphics, you make cool visuals and sync it with audio.
I worked with a guy who did this kind of stuff and he was getting jobs all over the place.