Demo Reel - Klemen Lozar

Hey everybody!

I'm graduating from college this year and I want to break into the 3D industry so here's my first ever Demo Reel. This is just a temporary edit that I'm posting only here to get some feedback from you guys. I want you to be brutally honest and tell me what works and what needs to be changed. As you can see it's a visual FX reel but I also have some more general 3d work in there because I want to show that I'm well versed in other aspects of 3D too. I made sure to put the good stuff in the front.

- Recommended - 73 MB

- shittier quality, please watch in HD

Also what do yout think about the content of the reel? Do you think I have a shot at this?


Klemen

Just a quick one Klemen... take out the castle attack and the 8 ball smash, move the burning house down in the order a little. The tank explosion is awesome, as is the car smash at the end, you could move these earlier I reckon.

Awesome work man! Do you use Maya? If so I can pass on your reel to the CG team here

Thanks Global! No unfortunately I'm a Max user

Could you maybe elaborate on why you would take the castle attack and the 8 ball out?

I've never reviewed a reel in any sort of professional capacity, but based on what I've read and heard I think your reel might be a bit too long and slow moving. I've heard many suggestions that about 1-1.5 min is the sweet spot length and "less is more." With that in mind, here are my suggestions...

You could make it shorter by removing some of the weaker shots (such as the eight ball) or shots that are too similar. Also, you could probably trim quite a few of the retained shots to show only the best or most important parts. For example, you really don't need to show the water bottle swaying before it falls and you probably don't need to linger on the flowers for so long in the end. You could probably use jump cuts or time-remapping (set to the music?) to strip out less interesting portions in the middle of some shots (maybe parts of the first can robot shot). Find a stellar reel that does this well and figure out how to pull it off without it appearing unnatural.

As I mentioned in your castle siege post, I think you should either polish a shot all the way or pare back the non-essentials so that it's clear what you are trying to show, i.e., the effects work. The castle walls and environment do not look good and they take up the vast majority of the frame. If you pare them back (e.g., remove the texture, though maybe not the displace) it becomes clear that they are secondary to the effects and that their crudeness is a choice. Conversely, if you leave the castle walls as they are, it gives the impression that you think they look good (they're in your reel!) and that they can be taken as a reflection of your other 3D skills as well as your aesthetic sensibilities.

Anyway, that's my two cents. You have a lot of great work. Trim the fat and you'll have a great reel.

-Kieran

Thanks Kieran, that was very helpful!

I've taken all your and Global's suggestions into account and made a new edit.

Here's the new temporary demo rell:

- 50 MB

I've made some more changes to my demo reel to make it more dynamic. I've also changed and added a couple of new shots while still keeping the reel relatively short.

I'm quite happy with it right now...please tell me what you think

- Recommended - 73 mb

- make sure to watch it in HD

Much better I reckon. Could maybe push the trimming/timing/editing a bit more (using some really awesome reels as reference), but that's just a matter of preference (don't want to over-edit things either). Anyway, hope the reel is successful for landing you a job! Good luck.

-Kieran

Thanks Kieran!

I tried making it even faster but it got kind of jumpy and over-edited as you mentioned.

looks really nice. it might be a good idea to put the programs used at the end in the screen with your name. what did you use for the liquids, realflow?

Thanks BColbourn, yeah I used Realflow for all the liquids.

Very, very nice! Good luck!

Very much agree with this " take out the castle attack and the 8 ball smash, move the burning house down in the order a little. The tank explosion is awesome, as is the car smash at the end, you could move these earlier I reckon."

Also, I would still shorten the realflow plant grow shot and maybe show a non-textured castle shot instead. Excellent work!

Cheers,
Josh