PORTFOLIO CONTENT
Formatting to Optimize the Portfolio Review Experience
The recommendations below are gleaned from common advise received from many professional studio sources. Student's portfolio works can and do come from all of our courses. We each need to ensure that we are outlining formats in our syllabi that will function well within the typical hiring process.
Interactive Works:
File Names: Students should include their full first and last names on their project folders. No spaces are allowed. This two things will greatly streamline the process of getting student works onto the Kendallweblab site as well as the creation of compilation reels for the Senior show and other important promotional purposes.
Size: Should fit in 1024x768 browser. That is a 950 pixel x 550 pixel max. viewing area.
Load Time: No more than 30 seconds ( at 200k/second). Load times longer than 10 seconds should be accompanied by a load screen that says something about the artist/designer or project.
Motion Graphics: Should be integrated if the designer/artist is looking for work (in whole or in part) in the animation, motion graphics or multi-media industries. The ability to create 'Rich Media' is the main differentiating feature between our students and a graphic designer that can 'do web'. The exception to this would be Interactive design II where HTML and CSS are taught.
Navigation: Should be very straightforward to navigate. Game play should be very simple and quick to learn (maximum playing time should be about 2 minutes with 1 minute being ideal). The hiring user experience is not an entertainment user experience.
Compatibility: Should be tested in Safari, Windows Firefox, MAC Firefox, and Windows Explorer at minimum. We have 4 copies of Fusion software installed in every classroom that can be used to test websites in Windows.
Still Image Files: 2D & 3D illustration as well as graphic design layouts
File Names: Students should include their full first and last names. No spaces are allowed. This two things will greatly streamline the process of getting student works onto the Kendallweblab site as well as the creation of compilation reels for the Senior show and other important promotional purposes.
File Prep: Color-prepped for both print and web in Photoshop. The default being the web version with adjustment layers that can be turned on for the print versions. Susan has created a detailed blog to help you and your students set files up with the proper color management and instructions on calibrating displays to printers.
http://digitalcolorsettings.blogspot.com/
or kendallweblab.com > resources > worksheets > digital color settings
Layout: For both web and printed portfolios, detail views should be created to ensure a good look at the work. Layouts with multiple views or works on a single page should be avoided. Each image or view should have its own page. This will extend the amount of time a reviewer will spend looking at each project.
Format: Fit on 11" x 17" paper at 150 pixels per inch or letter size (8.5" x 11") at 250 pixels per inch. This are standard sizes that can be printed from the lasers at school. File resolutions greater than these can significantly slow down the printing process and cause serious backlogs.
Video and Animation Files
File Names: Students should include their full first and last names. No spaces are allowed. This two things will greatly streamline the process of getting student works onto the Kendallweblab site as well as the creation of compilation reels for the Senior show and other important promotional purposes.
Format: 720p or 1080p High Definition Format is generally too large. I would recommend working at a downsized 16x9 format (854 pixels x 480 pixels). There are no bonus points awarded during a portfolio review for using a lot of pixels. This is important because student production can be slowed significantly when working in these formats, especially on their laptops. Keep in mind that about 90% of the portfolio reviews will take place on their websites, where the files will be compressed and downsized significantly. About 5% will take place in a face to face interview and 5% from viewing a standard definition DVD. DVDs should not have a paper label or really any artwork on them at all. Studios simply want the applicant's name an contact info clearly written directly on the DVD.
Output: Quicktime format Using either the Apple Animation or Apple Pro-res compression setting. These are loss-less (quality) formats. These files should be referred to as "source" files and contain the word "source" at the end of the file name. All other compressed files for web, hard drive or DVD delivery will be created from this source file. The source file is the file that you submit for inclusion on the Weblab and other promotional purposes.
Compression: Use the Quicktime publishing guide to create Hard Drive, CD-rom and Web versions. Students should get practice doing this in every animation and video course. These versions should have these suffixes: 'HardDrive', 'Cd', 'Web'.
http://www.kendallweblab.com/weblab2/resources/worsheets/QuicktimePublishingGuide.pdf
Kendallweblab.com > Resources > Quicktime Publishing Guide
Length: A student reel can be no longer than 2 minutes. most of them will be around 1 - 1.5 minutes. Any individual work longer than 2 minutes will likely not be watched in its entirety during the portfolio review process. Ideal lengths for animation and video are from 5-10 seconds (logos/titles) to 30 seconds (advertisements/lead-ins) to 1 minute (short narratives). This ensures that the student will have time to advance and rework the projects for maximum quality. There are absolutely no points awarded for length during a portfolio review. Note: group projects can be a little longer, especially if they cross over several semesters.
Sound (stand-alone) Files
File Names: Students should include their full first and last names. No spaces are allowed. This two things will greatly streamline the process of getting student works onto the Kendallweblab site as well as the creation of compilation reels for the Senior show and other important promotional purposes.
Format: AIFF, 44.1 khz, best quality, stereo
Compression: None required except for Web. For Web it will typically be IMA 44.1 khz, medium quality (128 bitrate), stereo
Length: Ideal lengths for stand-alone sound projects are from 5-10 seconds (lead-ins) to 30 seconds (advertisements) to 1 minute (music compositions). This ensures that the student will have time to advance and rework the projects for maximum quality. There are absolutely no points awarded for length during a portfolio review.