Hi! I’m new to the site, so sorry if this question has come up and been answered before.
I’m coming out of university, and have been involved in 4 small productions over the past couple years in a role that seems very much like a Tech Artist’s (coding tools, crafting shaders, setting up character and object physics, reviewing tech and training artists in it’s use, and generally being go-to guy for any pipeline or software questions). I found I have a passion for cool tech and creating tools and shaders and this is what I want to do as a career. Now as I’m about to jump into the job market, I’m wondering what would be the best way to present myself and my work in a portfolio. Specific questions I’m stuggling with would be:
Is it best to shoot for a specialized position (i.e: shader artist) or for a more general one?
Is it better to show a reel with my work applied to assets, or a document explaining my workflow and showing tool / shader / problem-solution in more detail?
Is there a point in showing standard shaders or should I just dive in and show the more complex/esoteric/case-specific ones?
Will anyone traverse a real-time reel (such as in unity web player) or should I just make a video?
Any and all tips would be really awesome!
Thanks for your time!