Portfolio Projects
These briefs give you a concrete project to build and explain in your portfolio. Each includes a problem, constraints, and checks for the finished result. Choose one that fits the skill you want to practise.
Each brief includes the goal, constraints, acceptance criteria, a suggested approach, and optional extensions. Use the breakdown template to explain your decisions; the portfolio guide covers how to present the result. Choose a manageable first version and adjust the suggested timing to your experience.
Starter - your first three pieces
Batch Texture Renamer
Build a batch-renaming CLI with a dry run, collision checks, and a change log. Practise handling inconsistent names without risking the source files.
-> Starter · DCC · ~a dayUV Checker, In Your DCC
Adapt the site's UV texture generator into a Maya, Blender, or Houdini tool with a simple interface and shelf or menu entry.
-> Starter · Shaders · ~a dayThe Dissolve Effect
Build a noise-driven dissolve with a glowing edge, then explain the graph and the tests you used to check it.
->Working - once the basics stick
Blender → Unreal Exporter
Build and document an exporter that handles the project's scale, axis, and pivot conventions, with checks for unsupported cases.
Maya Rig Validator
A checker that flags bad names, unfrozen transforms, and influence-cap violations before a rig ships.
Houdini Scatter HDA
Build a curve-driven scatter asset with controls an artist can use, packaged as a Houdini Digital Asset.
Senior - systems, not scripts
CI Asset Validation Gate
Add an asset-validation step to submission or CI, with clear reports and a way to handle exceptions.
Performance Budget Dashboard
Take the PolyBudget idea further: plan, ingest real scene data, and report plan-versus-reality per category.
Finish a small usable version before adding the extensions. The timings are estimates, so allow more time if the API or workflow is new to you. The portfolio guide covers how to present the result and its limitations.