Porfolio work question

# 1 29-05-2009 , 04:30 PM

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HI guys, Heres my dilemma so to speak. Right now im using softimage mod tool7.5. Now mental ray renders have a watermark on them, can i still put those in my portfolio? I dont have the money to buy a commercial versoin whether it be maya or sofimage. Im also no longer a student so getting the educational version is out of the question. And pirating the software is also out of the question, not saying anyone here would suggest that

So i guess what im asking is it ok to use my work in a portfolio even if it has a watermark on it? If not do you guys have any suggestions? thanks in advance user added image

Well would guys reccomend houdini appretice HD, its only 99 dollars, no watermark i thin i can afford that. I also checked out blender, and i cant stand the interface. Though im willing to spend up to 500 dollars, and that is even stretching it

Last edited by WynterNyght; 29-05-2009 at 05:18 PM.

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# 2 29-05-2009 , 05:37 PM

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Re: Porfolio work question

Originally posted by WynterNyght
HI guys, Heres my dilemma so to speak. Right now im using softimage mod tool7.5. Now mental ray renders have a watermark on them, can i still put those in my portfolio? I dont have the money to buy a commercial versoin whether it be maya or sofimage. Im also no longer a student so getting the educational version is out of the question. And pirating the software is also out of the question, not saying anyone here would suggest that

So i guess what im asking is it ok to use my work in a portfolio even if it has a watermark on it? If not do you guys have any suggestions? thanks in advance

Well would guys reccomend houdini appretice HD, its only 99 dollars, no watermark i thin i can afford that. I also checked out blender, and i cant stand the interface. Though im willing to spend up to 500 dollars, and that is even stretching it

Originally Posted by

Man, thats a nugget. Well, I guess it depends. You would show your skills and that you, even if you cant afford the commercial version, you are doing your best. But as a side effect, any prospecting employeers may think it is 'unprofessional', I wouldn't, but alot of the people hiring are, oh, Jerks?

Now, Blender is a GOOD PROGRAM. And it is Free, I can understand that you dont like the interface, I hate it aswell, but it could be a good option for you, maybe reconsider and try to accept its poor interface and deal with it anyway?

500 American dollar are not much money, thats for sure. But seriously, If I would be in your predicament and the program itself is not an issue (ie biased towards a specific product, like me) I would try to bite the dust and work on becoming really good at one of the free programs.

Remember, just because it costs alot of money does not make it superior, its a matter of what you need as well as your own skills and desires. You got plenty of really good free photo editing programs instead of Adobe Photoshop, which is almost 90% dependent on Plugins, and yet seen as 'the best', I would never cash up money for that program because if you 'need it', means that you are not very skilled in that department anyway.

Of course, you could mention it to mom, dad and grandma, pointing out your future embarkation in the Graphical Industry and how rich you gona be, If you only had That program... (That program would be MAYA, BUY MAYA.. MAAAAYA)..

Or LightWave, the Modeler is the best, hands down.

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# 3 29-05-2009 , 06:18 PM

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Thanks for the advice! Well parents relatives etc arent an option we dont have that kind of money, plus have about 160k worth of student debt over my head. Plus i cant seem to nab a job for the life of me no matter what it is.

Oh yeah i agree with you blender does look like a good app, esp for it being free. I just think i might have to bite the bullet and come to grips with the interface.

Most of the programs i use are free like gimp, scribus for desktop publishing, open office. I also bought artrage 2.5 for natrual painting and drawing, great software.

As for modeling i can just screen capture, so im not to concerned with that. Its just the watermark on render. Thanks for the reply! user added image

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# 4 30-05-2009 , 02:32 AM

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Well ive spent the day going over blender tuts, and houndini tuts. SInce i can get the appretnice HD version for 99 dollars im giving it a shot. So far even with blender tuts, i feel like slamming my head into a wall haha. While houndini is alot less stress and i feel im actually making progress and not fighting with it.

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# 5 30-05-2009 , 07:39 AM

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Re: Porfolio work question

Originally posted by WynterNyght
So i guess what im asking is it ok to use my work in a portfolio even if it has a watermark on it? If not do you guys have any suggestions? thanks in advance

Originally Posted by

As far as I know, the EULA allows you to use those renders in your portfolio as long as you don't use it for commercial purposes. However, this may be different with the mod tool, than from, say, maya ple. I would suggest you look over the mod tool's EULA, and see what it says.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

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# 6 30-05-2009 , 04:18 PM

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Thanks for replying nextdesign!. Well it not a question of is it legal to put them on my portfolio. Its more of will companies look down on my work because theres a water mark on them, or will i not get a job because my work has a water mark on it. Will my portfolio be seen as unproffesional in the industry due to the images have a obtrusive watermark on them

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# 7 30-05-2009 , 05:01 PM

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I wouldn't think so. The employer would be looking at your work for your talent, and technique, not on how much you shelled out for a license. Plus, it may even show the employer that you are honest, as you didn't go out and pirate the software.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

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# 8 30-05-2009 , 05:37 PM

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Join Date: Dec 2007

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TBH I think different people will take it different ways
some people will think it show commitment, because wven though you cant afford the software you still stuck at it
others may take it the other way and think you dont have the commitment to shell out for the software
this month 3D world did a feature on what to/not to do in a showreel. they didnt mention either way.
I would suggest asking recruiters what they think
although as long as the work is good it wont matter if its watermarked

https://users.ecs.soton.ac.uk/as28g11/

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# 9 30-05-2009 , 06:34 PM

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thanks for the responses guys user added image

On one hand learning another package is always a good thing, but on the other hand if i were to not want any watermarked images on it, i have to waste alot of time learning another package and redoing the work. thanks guys, i think ill just stick with what im doing, and use the watermarked work. And in the free time try to learn blender (bangs head against wall).

Along the same lines i have another question. Since i cant afford the software, could that limit me getting work? Say if a job wants 3ds max experience, but i dont have any because i cant afford it, or there is no free version

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# 10 30-05-2009 , 07:14 PM

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Usually most jobs just prefer that you know the techniques, not the software. I only knew Maya when I started my last job, and their pipeline was very Max oriented. It took a week or so to get used to it. Definitely, the more software packages you know, the better, but it isn't a necessity.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

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