Another week, another post. Managed to finish the Ice effect in three days. You can check it over here. I received some feedback from it and I’ll add it whenever I can.
The following day, I started working on the fire slash. I’ll show here some advance:
My next step would be to flesh it out by trying some other textures and playing with the erode amount but so far happy with the results.
I made this thumbnails and played with color palettes in order to have some idea of what I wanted. I’m happy that I did this because it was useful to have a reference and pick up some colors.
I’m doing a tetris plus project with a team and I’m in charge of making the VFX too. I made the following animations in order to have some idea what I wanted to do. I need to learn Unity so I can make them but nothing that I can’t handle. Thumbnails for clear the line on tetris
To be honest it was a great idea to start working on my portfolio and applying the things I’ve learned. I’m liking a lot making stylised VFX. In regards to the VFx pipeline I find that I spend a lot of time trying things that I discard. I always find a solution. However, I want to reduce the time I spend trying to fix something… I’ll figure out a way. Also something that I’ve noticed working on this VFX it’s that sometimes I’m editing some values from other niagara system so I’ll be mindful in the tab I’m working because I almost break down something that was done.
Managed to get the handle on Unity and start working on the VFX of the cracks. I decided to advance it as much as I can after finishing the electric VFX. I feel it’s a bit of a waste of time switching from one thing to another.
In regards to the electric effect, I managed to advance it. On Tuesday I tried to decide which VFX I should add to my portfolio. I was checking this resource: Building a Great VFX Portfolio
I decided to give myself a little bit more time to do this sketch and started blocking out the VFX. So I started blocking it out on Wednesday and you can see the progress.
I wasted like 3 hours of work trying to implement the projectile using blueprints. Because I wanted to copy it. Lesson learned, you need time to copy it, understand it and then change it for your needs and debug it.
I keep working on Thursday and friday.
So on Thursday and Friday I advanced it quite a bit. You can see the progress respectively.
I’m planning to apply some feedback and start posting my work on art station and LinkedIn. I might plan to spend more time using Unity and make a VFX with it. Also I would love to review some stuff from the course. I’ll consider learn Houdini, Embergen, and HLSL in the future.
Funny how my stress for making VFX disappears the moment I start building my portfolio. Just me and doing the VFX. Finally, after so much time I don’t have unreasonable expectations for myself while doing art.
I finished the electrical effect. Here is the end result. I’m quite happy how it turned out.
Worked on the VFX project on unity and I worked on it as much as I could. I let in a state in which I cannot work further without feedback.
After that I started working immediately on the thumbnails. I’ve decided to do a small environment and try to run everything through the materials. I’m trying to make it a little bit challenging.
Next day I made this concept and I liked it more. I gathered a ton of references and started to work on it. I found this amazing reference making the fall foam using a mesh and offsetting the vertices. Check it here the art station project. There’s another link in it showing the process on this web page. Here is that link.
Managed to finish the portal VFX. Turned out pretty well. You can see the end result here.
I couldn’t do anything else because I got busy. I just decided that I would do one last VFX. After that I’ll start working on polishing all this VFX and add them to the portfolio.
Hope you had a nice weekend.
PS: this is the six month mark. I migh need an extra month in order to get better pieces.
I’ve finished the buff effect which you can check over here.
I’m not super excited about the end result. I’m happy that I managed to finish on time.
I’ve decided that I’ll start polishing my previous VFX. I was given some feedback and I want to apply it. I’ve decided that I’ll try to polish them in a given time. I’ve given myself a time constraint of two days for all of them except the waterfall. So in about 2 weeks I’ll have all the past VFX that I’ve been working on ready for uploading into my art station.
I’ve decided to apply the feedback and then I’ll work on the posts and the reel. The reason why it’s that in case somebody gives me a good piece of advice I want to have the chance to change it before it’s published… Also, I believe that I’ll be faster at posting online if I do them all together.
In any case, you can check here what I’ve fixed so far. Next week I’ll try to polish the slash effect and the projectile.
In regards to my current state, I’m happy with the results I’m getting out. I still feel like there’s way more to learn. I want to apply more techniques that I’ve learned from the past courses and learn HLSL… I firmly believe that I have a nice level so far considering how much time I send on learning VFX. I think the next steps it’s making more VFX and experimenting with techniques. The more I practice the better I’ll become I guess.
Have a nice weekend ^^
PS: Here is the final thumbnail for the potion buff.
Writing this today because tomorrow I won’t be able to do so.
On monday I keep fixing the Ice VFX and on tuesday it was done. I set a deadline of 2 days but needed one more. Yesterday I finished polishing the slash VFX so I’m on schedule hehe. You can check the ice attack here and the slash attack here. Worth checking out both, they turned out very well.
Today I decided to start creating the posts on art station. It took me a while deciding what I should post and how. I only managed to upload the video and the process video…
I’ve decided that for the Ice Attack this would be the structure:
High quality video
A video showing the work in progress
A video breaking down the radial effect
A video breaking down the hand particles
Screenshot of the shards material
Screenshot of the textures used
References
A video of the same VFX but uploaded on youtube.
I would do more or less the same for the slash VFX . But adding the thumbnails that I’ve done.
I don’t have a clear idea on what would be the best way to showcase my knowledge. I’ll do my best and then ask for feedback. XD As I did until now.
Anyway, I also submitted for a challenge, something that I did in less than 10 min because I wanted to summit something. Behold, my best piece until now:
I’m very excited. When I finished publishing my artwork I went directly to send my CV to 2 companies. Would they reply? I really don’t know. I’m just happy that I finished my portfolio (my first round hehe).
Next week I’ll start working / organize myself / decide what I want to showcase next but for now I’m going to enjoy this weekend and rest a ton.
I applied for a couple of jobs, sent my portfolio to some places and polished my LinkedIn.
In addition, I posted my portfolio in some discord servers so I might get some views.
This week was mostly for networking and take things slowly. I felt like I needed a break from making VFX. Next week I’ll start working on the next piece. I would try to make some hand drawn flipbooks. So I can show my drawing skills.
Considering to join the Houdini challenge so I can get a free version of it and start playing around.
I also have 2 workshops this week. One about networking and another about using UE for animation pipeline. It was quite interesting.
Twenty-nine Week
Good news. This past Tuesday I received a freelance position for a videogame with a style like Genshin Impact. They asked me to make a VFX simulating blood in an anime art style. The actual VFX was kind of like an art test. I started working this past Wednesday and today I finished it up. It turned out pretty well. (To be honest, yesterday I was very stressed out because I didn’t know how to direct myself and what I should add. Turned out that I started working on it and Ideasy immediately came up.) They liked it and I’m waiting for the response.
Today I finished uploading my pieces from my VFX portfolio on YouTube and scheduled 2 posts on LinkedIn so everything that 's on my portfolio it’s on that website too.
I was considering doing a demo reel but I’ll wait until I get more VFX done.
Plans for next week are to continue working on my portfolio and applying for studio positions. The current opportunity helped me to put myself into working on an actual project and building up the materials so they’re easily edited.
I believe when I get my first full time position in a studio I’ll stop posting here.
Turned out it was a scam. Lol.
Posting today because I can’t on friday.
Basically I started working on making 2D VFX in 3D environments. Check it here.
In addition I started this course: 2DFX Animation with Joey Mildenberger. So far quite useful. It seems it’s an intermediate course. So far I can understand everything.
Today I learned something new about Sub UV Blending. Seems like the higher the number of frames the more it has to blend on. I was using a 4 frame flipbook and even if I had it enabled it wasn’t making any perceivable difference for my eye at least.
I sended my portfolio to 3 job openings. Hope to get some response.
I’ll be working on this new VFX next week and polish the one that I made for the scam XD.
Got 2 collaboration offers but decided to decline them (one via Blue Sky and other though art station). If I change my mind I’ll contact them back. Both of the appreciate my honesty.
My plans now areeeeeee a bit messy. This phase with the first portfolio badge feels kind of like a plateau and I’m waiting for a response to the job offers that I applied for. I need to figure out how to manage to put my portfolio out and at the same time continue working on my stuff. I believe I need to lower my expectations and make my mind to accept that now we have these other tasks in order to get a job.
I might get another planification or something. My goal for now it’s to make some pieces of portfolio that show my animation skills and my drawing skills so I can create something more hand made and then I might step on something more realistic to show my range and show that I can adapt.
In any case, thanks if you read until here and see you next week.
Take care!
So what I said. Got a portfolio review from an Art Director. She was very kind and give me nice feedback such as: adding some screenshots of my materials and change some shots from my VFX.
I’ve been working on the blood projectile and the scene from the picture.
I totally forgot that I was checking this VFX library ref to expand my imagination. I got a teacher at uni that told us that the imagination it’s all the images that you have stored in your head. Therefore my conclusion of this definition it’s that in order to solve something either you make it up with your current image library or watch another person work so I might find a solution to the problems I’m gonna face.
In any case it was a slow week and I hope the current one (the one I’m editing this) I get the scene done, or at least the lava geyser.
This is great stuff! I’m traditionally trained as a character artist but have wanted to get into VFX for ages. Just started recently - have a lot of catching up to do, very nice work
Forgot to write this on friday. Anyway, so basically this week managed to “”“finish”“”" this project that I uploaded for a challenge. Tried to make a lava geyser animated in 2D in a 3D environment. Needs some polys obviously that I would make the following week.
I also need to polish the blood projectile that I was doing. Need to add something to the beginning but it’s almost there. So I’ll focus on finishing up those 2 VFX and both of them on art stantion.
Then I might add some extra info to my existing projects. Like screenshots of my materials (so I can show that I know how to make themes) aaand my references… I’ll keep applying to jobs and such.
After that I’m going to polish a mobile project that I published a while ago. So I can add to my portfolio that I have actual games published. I do have experience making games both for PC and mobile but I have no pieces of VFX art because in those I was mostly working as a 2D artist… So what I would do it’s make some extra VFX for the mobile project and then I might add some 2D art in order to show my other skills.
Some good news, I got approached by another studio this monday. They wanted me to freelance. I asked them to give them an answer the following day so I could think about it. I declined the offer mostly because I’m looking for contract work. They told me that they found me through BlueSky so my promotion strategy worked somehow.
I basically setted my bluesky to follow mostly game devs and artists. Everyone that I see it’s a game dev I follow them. Mostly through their likes and reposts. My thought it’s that my public should be game dev because they are the ones that can hire me. I don’t think that a regular person would use any of my services so I don’t need thousands of followers but some dev followers that actually repost my work. Also ¡, got time to remind anybody reading this, if you see artwork from other people just like it and repost it. Costs you nothing and this mindset from Des Walsh helped me to grow my account and connect more game devs. So yea some work it’s from my part but it’s also nice to get some help from other people when literally costs you nothing to like my work and repost it.
Following another rant, yesterday I decided to chill and I started re-watching the remaining VFX references that I mentioned last week. Only 900 references to go. I’m discovering lots of artists and resources to gather references from so that’s always useful. I love the UI VFX that some people do. It’s sooo coool.
I don’t have anything else to mention. Have a nice weekend. ^^
Lava pool is almost finished. You can see the actual progres here. I love so much how the fire flipbooks ended up. Same for the smoke VFX the 2D course it’s paying off. hehe
I spent the entire week polishing flipbooks or making them from scratch. Smoke the bubbles and now the fire. It comes all together. For each one I made 2 versions. In the case of the bubble bursts I reused some frames and reanimated them so I make little changes without spending too much time.
Then I crompresend them I’ve got 2 textures in R and G and I use a
If node:
A=0,5
B= it’s connected to a dynamic parameter scalar to randomize which flipbook to use.
I don’t know it you do optimize anything but anyway. I used this so I give some variation to the particles. So I got in total 4 different particles because I randomized the horizontal flipping of the texture…
I’m thinking of making a small video explaining more or less the tools I’ve used to make the lava geyser animation. I’ve written down the process I’ve used so I don’t forget about it.
In any case I’m going back to watch more references because I still have a ton to watch and my eagle free licence expires in 14 days…
I also joined the houdini challenge to try to learn a little bit of houdini (I know I don’t need it but almost every offer I see it’s “houdini” and I’m a bit frustrated).
