Evaluating Student Demo Reels

I just want to emphasize a couple of things and add a couple of suggestions.

Only include your best work. The choice to include weak work indicates that you don't know the difference.

Make more than one reel. The reel for an animator or effects person is different from a reel for a modeler or texture artist. Familiarize yourself with what the employer requests on the reel for the particular position you are seeking. Apply more than once if you are interested in two different positions.

Include images from your very best work on the DVD sleeve. It makes it easier to find a good reel in a big pile. I've retrieved more than one reel from the reject pile because I could identify it easily.

Make if obvious what to select first. Don't make me guess. One, I'll be frustrated and two I might pick the wrong thing.

Add teapots, checkered floors and tutorial results to the list of things not to include. We've seem them all.

If you are looking for a job as a modeler, show a turntable of the finished and textured model, but also show a turn table (at least 8 images from all sides) of the model with wireframe on shaded. It's the best way for someone to quickly check to be sure that your topology is good.

Avoid flythroughs unless there is a really compelling reason to use one. We've seen way too many of them and lots of them give us motion sickness. If you don't know much about editing, stick with short clips so you don't make it obvious that you don't know. Likewise if you are not a good animator, stick with stills. Even if the models are great, it's hard to get bad animation out of your head. On the other hand, showing that a model can move and deform properly is also useful, but can be done with simple motions.

Character animators are generally only about 4-5% of a team and the folks who get those jobs are really good at it. The bulk of most teams is made up of modelers, texture artists, lighters, programmers, etc. Consider what you are really good at and go for that job, you'll have a much better chance of getting it. Once you get the job, if you really want to be a character animator, you can work your way into the position by proving yourself as a good worker and team player who has skill in that area. Once people get to know and like you they will usually offer you lots of help to get to where you want to be if you put the work in to show that you are serious.

Don't animate you name or credits flying in at the beginning of the reel unless it's amazing and you are looking for work doing Motion Graphics or Station IDs. That might be all the reviewer sees. Keep is simple and leave it on the screen just long enough to be read.

It doesn't hurt to include extra outstanding work. Make sure the reviewer knows what to look at first (I repeat) and how long different elements are, particularly if they are particularly long.

School is only a first step, you will keep learning as you work.

- Marla

For 3D students; there are three things that are verboten, forbidden, the kiss of virtual death: Cars, Mecha/robots and Space shots.
Yawn. Seen a million of 'em and every last one is boring shit. Do something else.

Ken, I agree whole heartedly with most of your advice but I have to stand up and disagree with your "no Cars, Mecha/robots and Space shots rule."

Speaking from a decade of experience in the Vancouver VFX Community, there are a LOT of projects that involve all three of those components.

Unfortunately quite a few students have created some poor imitations of production quality work and as a result this genre has received an unfair rap...

If you are one of those die hards that MUST break Ken's rule then please do your research and make sure you create a portfolio that does you proud, you won't be disappointed and neither will your future employers.

Cheers,

M

We don't evaluate demo reels per se afaik...it's more a course about how to put one together and I think it's evaluated on technical aspects BUT for me, not being the DVD authoring instructor I stress quality over quantity. Put your best scene first and your second best last and all others increments between. I personally tell them to have the scenes chaptered so the screener can next ahead. I also think it's ok to have seperate buttond for seperate animation media e.g.: Classical, Flash, CG, Gallery/portfolio etc. especially if there are a couple minutes each. If it's only a couple minutes of everything then one button for everything.

Again another personal feeling is that time has become negligible with the advent of DVD demoes. It was an issue when screeners had to FF through tape to get to the next scene but I think it is less of an issue as long everything is qulaity.

Y'know...the best one to answer your post is probably someone out in the industry screening animators.

This is a good topic. I don't have any advice since I'm a student too, but I would put this topic in a higher traffic area like the cafe.

-moot

I've reviewed demo reels both as an instructor and as an employer, I'll give you my thoughts:

Think carefully about what you put in the thing.

I see students get worked up into a lather about putting EVERY frame of film they've ever worked on on the reel--but what's the point?

Why put a ordinary walk cycle on?
What does it say? That you can move something over and over again?

How about a head rotation scene, with the head spinnin' 'round for about 30 seconds. WTF? It doesn't tell anyone ANYTHING other than you did the assignment, LOL! Seriously, big whoop!

The demo reel is meant to showcase your abilities, so if your skills favour character animation, put the animation with the strongest personality to it on the reel.
If your forte' is effects animation, put that on to showcase that material.
If you do a walk cycle that has personality, has some peculiar aspect to it that makes it unique for that character, THEN put the thing in. Otherwise, its needless baggage on the reel.
The unfortunate thing about adding all kinds of stuff like that is the students academic life-path is there for all to see--mistakes and all.

Spare yourself and the reviewers that, please!

A demo reel that's 15 seconds long, featuring only the best parts of the best clips of the best work you've done, will be what gets you a job.
The rest of the crap on there will curse you.
No-one........repeat NO-ONE will sit thru a 3-5 minute reel unless its VERY GOOD material. After about 30 seconds, they will have made their evaluation on your skills as an animator.

-If your student film has weak parts in it, use only the good stuff and call them "excerpts" from your film. Do NOT include weak sequences--no-one will care if it forms a complete story.
If the employers wants to see the whole thing, they will ask you.
If they want the whole story, include the storyboard for it ( and make sure the 'board is presentable)
-If your entire student film is strong, put the whole thing in there, BUT respect the time on the thing.
If your opus magnus MUST be 5 minutes of anime meets Tex Avery-fer skippy's sake, throw in a six-pack and some nachos ( I like cookies)for us so we can make it to the end of the thing alive!!!
-Keep the damn thing short and smart--you'll have lots of time to make epics another day.

-A 15 second film, that gets its message across, and is simple and polished works better than a unfinished lushly animated pencil test of a film.

-Make sure viewers know what the piece is with a header before it runs.
A film with 90 seconds of credits and 30 seconds of body to it is dumb, imo.
Keep the credits short--if someone wants catch a name or credit on the thing--that is what the pause button is for.

-Put your effort into the most sensible work. If you've got a character piece, but the best thing about it is some kind of fancy camera move--big deal. Strive to impress only with the things that are supposed to be impressive.

I remember seeing a guy applying for an effects job, who just animated a atomic explosion; mushroom cloud, shockwave and all--the whole thing wasn't 10 seconds long at best. He got hired because of that.

If you are trying for character work, put some PERSONALITY into the animation. Show a character thinking, emoting--not just moving. If you are striving for funny, it should make us laugh. Doing something unusual, but doing it well always seems to get people's attention.

--If something in the film needs tweaking, see if you can get some extra lab time after the fact and tweak it. Any flaws will stand out. Always include a paper portfolio with your reel, showing still samples of your work, and shots from your film. That's in case your disc media somehow doesn't work on their computers. You MUST have some kind of direct eyes-on material to showcase your work, a disc that you cannot access--for whatever reasons--is useless.
No--scratch that, they have a use. They make great coaster for a coffee mug....

--NEVER, EVER send the original dub; tape or disc. Always send copies.

For 3D students; there are three things that are verboten, forbidden, the kiss of virtual death: Cars, Mecha/robots and Space shots.
Yawn. Seen a million of 'em and every last one is boring shit. Do something else.
If you are doing 3D modelling, don't put that stiff on the disc, use still images on paper.
No-one will care you perfect rotate a model of a Porsche 911. However, if you perfectly animate a crash test of said Porsche, people will sit up and take notice. Again the same guidelines apply as per above.
If you are running the camera through a 3D environment, make sure its an INTERESTING place. A basic street doesn't stand out---move the camera through something dynamic and different.

Common sense should apply.

Does that help??

Wow, this is some great advice Ken. I have one thing to ask about organization, though.

Making my demo reel, I was thinking of including one maybe two minutes max worth of animation on the reel itself, but then having my individual films in a subsection on the DVD menu. I feel that way, if the reviewer is interested is seeing more of a certain thing included in the reel, they can find the film in on the DVD itself.

Do you recommend including your separate films on your portfolio DVD if your reviewers wish to see them? You know, set up your DVD with side features other than your demo reel?

-moot

Wow, this is some great advice Ken. I have one thing to ask about organization, though.

Making my demo reel, I was thinking of including one maybe two minutes max worth of animation on the reel itself, but then having my individual films in a subsection on the DVD menu. I feel that way, if the reviewer is interested is seeing more of a certain thing included in the reel, they can find the film in on the DVD itself.

Do you recommend including your separate films on your portfolio DVD if your reviewers wish to see them? You know, set up your DVD with side features other than your demo reel?

-moot

Sure, that gives the reviewer a choice. Even call them optional extras if you like ( View with nachos and six-pack).

It was hard for me to create a quality demonstration video, so I decided to write the essay myself. For the last year I've been studying ecology in my country, more specifically air pollution from cars. I got the idea for this essay from this website. In the end I managed to write an excellent and high quality article. Thanks for the inspiration to this resource!