Ashley Brownlee

Lead 3D Animator on SMITE. My tweets are my own :-)

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

@jcdafonte Love it!! Great job John! 😍

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

@babywondy So GOOD lady! (Sniff) So proud!

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

@SculptKid You can certainly list it! I wouldn't include flash animations in your demo reel, but you can totally list all the things you know in your resume!

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

An awesome rig for a complicated god! Smite rigger Jeff Raines did such a good job, and worked hard to get us such an unusual rig! He also has great communication with the animation dept, and makes our lives easier! 💜

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

@ChrisDAnimation Eh, I was trying to be generous 😜. I personally don't mind watching something a bit longer IF it's full of Amazing Very Good Stuff, but it's better in general to keep them short. Around 1 minute sounds good.

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

As 3D Animation Lead on Smite, I've been reviewing a lot of demo reels lately. I thought it might be helpful to put together a 3D Animation Demo Reel pet peeves list, plus my favorite things to see in a reel.❤️ (A thread) #gamedev #animation #3Danimation

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

@SeenCapone https://t.co/CCDi92fJz0 🙂

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

@boosssmmaaannn I personally listen with sound, although if it's too distracting I'll turn it off. It's not a huge factor for me, but any music that is quiet enough that I can hear lip sync over is good. It's fun when the beat semi matches the animation, but not necessary

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

Oh! One more:
11) Hand keyed vs Mocap. Please indicate which one it is (or the specific mix) on the shot, or in the breakdown. It is also good to focus on what the company does. For ex, we on Smite only do hand keyed, so a mocap only reel won't properly show off your skills.

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

My favorite Demo Reel things
-A DIRECT link (that isn't broken, with correct password) to your reel, no matter where it's hosted (oh you beautiful thing)
-Curated reel for games
-Under 3 min
-Clear to see animations

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

I'd love to hear what other professionals look for in reels, or what they would like not to see!

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

@kudrago Adding creature acting pieces would be great! It also depends on who you are applying for. If they only do creatures, sweet, but if they do other things, adding other type of animations will really help. I recommend adding examples of your people animations as well.

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

9) Double, triple check your password and link to your reel! The incorrect password, or the link is broken, might mean your work is never seen.

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

8) A reel with too few animations on it. You need to show your range of ability, and too few anims do not give the reviewer enough information about what you can do.

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

7) A reel from years ago, or an un-updated reel with old work on it. I'd like to see your current skill level - we all know how much we grow in even just a year!

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

6) An animation that says WIP on it. Companies judge you based on your weakest piece, so all animations should be your Best Work, never work in progress.

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

5) A playblast with the controllers still on. It makes the animation look unfinished, plus the controllers can be distracting and hide some of the motion.

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

4) Video Game specific: Nothing but lip sync for acting pieces where they stand/sit there. A reel should be curated for the type of job you're applying for. Video games = action, running, jumping, fighting, loops.

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

3) Lots of camera movement, or slow motion, or heavy FX. It's difficult to see your animation with too much of any of those, plus historically their overuse has been a way to cover animation imperfections.

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

2) A demo reel is hidden somewhere in those individual art clips, and I have to search for it. It’s best to not make a reviewer search for anything, in respect to their time. Plus, we may not even see it’s there.

[Ashley Brownlee @asherline]

1) No demo reel, just a bevy of individual art clips. I have a lot of applicants to go through, so it's difficult for me to spend time clicking through each one, rather than a curated, condensed version of your best work. I am becoming a not-fan of Artstation for this reason.