3. Curate Your Best Work

Your portfolio should be a curated selection of your best work rather than a comprehensive collection of everything you've ever done. Focus on quality over quantity. Here’s how to select and present your work:

• Highlight Key Projects: Include 3-5 of your most impressive and relevant projects. Make sure these works showcase a variety of skills and techniques.
• Showcase Different Skills: Display a range of abilities such as modeling, texturing, rigging, and animation. This demonstrates your versatility and competence.
• Provide Context: For each project, include a brief description outlining the project’s goals, your role, the tools used, and any challenges faced. This context helps employers understand your thought process and problem-solving skills.

4. Focus on Presentation

How you present your work can make a significant difference. High-quality visuals and clear presentation are essential:

• High-Resolution Images: Use high-resolution images to display your work clearly. Ensure that textures, details, and nuances are visible.
• Showcase Process: Include before-and-after images, wireframes, and breakdowns to illustrate your workflow and creative process.
• Create Showreels: A well-edited showreel is invaluable for showcasing animations or interactive 3D elements. Keep it concise, with a duration of 1-2 minutes, and highlight your best animations and effects.

Speaking of presentation,

using cavity effects, whether through texture maps or screen-space post-processing effects, is a great way to accentuate the intricacies and geometric details of your 3D models and make your final renders look better than ever.

Learn About Our Compositor Cavity Effect for Blender

Slide the divider to compare the render with and without the cavity effect.

Learn About Our Compositor Cavity Effect for Blender

Don’t forget your tonemapping solution is a critical piece to the puzzle of creating great-looking renders. Make sure tonemapping is enabled in your 3D software unless your scene has a narrow dynamic range. In Blender, the default AgX view transform is a solid option. Consider using a more versatile adjustable tonemapper that delivers superior visual quality, our tonemapper AgMax.

5. Demonstrate Technical Proficiency

Employers look for technical skills that are crucial in the 3D industry. Make sure your portfolio reflects:

• Proficiency with Software: Display your skills in industry-standard software such as Autodesk Maya, Blender, 3ds Max, ZBrush, Substance Painter, and Unity or Unreal Engine.
• Realistic and Stylized Art: Showcase both realistic and stylized 3D models to demonstrate your adaptability to different artistic styles.
• Attention to Detail: Ensure that your models have clean topology, well-unwrapped UVs, and optimized assets that can be used in various applications.

6. Include Personal Projects and Collaborations

Personal projects and collaborations can highlight your passion, creativity, and ability to work in a team:

• Personal Projects: These projects allow you to experiment with new techniques and showcase your unique style. They can often be more impressive than work done on client projects.
• Collaborations: Include work from collaborations to show your ability to work within a team and contribute to larger projects. Highlight your role and contributions in these collaborations.