Self-Critique Part 2

For the assignment this week we were asked to self-critique five of our portfolio pieces that has poor proportions. This will be kind of interesting since some of my models were created for me and I rendered them on the computer, but I do have pieces that fit this task.


Bill Bee

I like Billy, but his head is too small for the rest of his body. Even if it's meant to be a cartoon design, I still should had applied the one-third rule. The model just looks off given that his body is actually fairly muscler compare to the rest of him. His arms are also too long for his body

The hands are also too small for his body and it look likes he can't even pick up a pencil, especially compare to his feet, which are fairly big. The wings are also too small and I should had enlarged them. Granted, it's supposed to be cartoony, but it doesn't look right no matter how you try to spin it.




Robot

Once again, the head is too small compare to the body, although it doesn't look as bad as Billy. The hands are better proportioned, but not by much. The fingers are also the wrong length compare to the rest of the hand. The feet, despite it being a robot, are too big and needed to be sized down. I also think the eyes should had been little bigger. Also like Billy, his arms are too long.


Male Exercise

This is based on a excise I did in one of my drawing class. This isn't part of my original portfolio, but I am not that strong of a figure drawing. Although this is more of a test, the dimensions are off. The hands are far too small for his arms and so are the feet. Even if this is a track, there is no excise to why the elbows and knees are off and are too small small.

Figure Drawing

This is a scale model I did for my Figure Drawing class. This was also an excise to help me work on the dimensions of the human body. This is more developed than the above, but it sill has its problems. The head it too big and little too egg shape. The hip area could be bigger and the hand area is too small. The knees are also uneven and they are not parallel to each other. The belly button is also too low on the body.

Woman's Face

This is another excise from my Figure Drawing class. The who point was to make a realistic looking face, but I fall short of that. The eyes are off center and too big for her face. The nose has a narrow bridge, but the nostrils are overly big. The lips are a little too small and also off center. The hair is not done well and come across as a blob.

Researching Resources part 2

We were asked to go to one of the sites we we explore and post our best 3D or 2D work and ask for some honest feedback. I will say this assignment made me nervous since I didn't know how people would respond to me work. I am still very much a beginner in this field of study, but the site seemed very opened minded, so I jumped right in.


After two days, I got a surprising amount of feedback, most being positive. They also gave me good suggests and links I can use to improve myself for future use.


The best of the three posts I received were these:


What are you using to render? Mental Ray? I'd advise you to remove all textures before lighting and simply light your grey surfaces as best you can. Once your lighting is looking really good, throw in the textures and render them in a pass.

What are you goals for lighting? What time of day, what mood? Is this meant to be a game environment or a high-res still render?

My first crit for lighting is that your lights are very colored. Most lights are very near white in color (with the exception of neon or party lights) Also you might want to research Ambient Occlusion and use that in your scene.

You should keep the same exterior througout. Example: a bright blue sky.

GL. Keep it up.




Learn this : http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=650761
I learned how to proper light a scene with this article.




I think that it is a good start but you really need to try and maximize your UV space and make some of the textures a bit sharper, right now all the colors are blurring together. Also the texture on the window of the sunset does not really match the scary broken down house that you are portraying I would try a simpler texture that matches the mood of the whole scene.
The actual lighting in the scene seems flat so make sure that you have cast shadows turned on with your light source this will make the whole scene look more believable. As far as the lighting goes you should figure out were the light would be coming from a simple spotlight from the window and an omni light would work in this scene. By doing this and really figuring out the mood you want to portray by simply turning down the saturation of the lights and changing the colors of the lights will really help.

Also try high poly bakes on some of the elements of the scene to round out some of the hard edges.
http://cg.tutsplus.com/tutorials/aut...ap-in-3ds-max/

Hopefully this helps.
keep it up 




Very good and useful information for the future. Thank guys.

Researching Resources

I have been to many art sites since I got into the field back in 2004, but most of the sites I've been to focus more on traditional art like hand drawing, painting, and figure drawing. I have great respect for these fields since I lack the nimble fingers and the talent to be a great hand drawn artist. The only real site that I have been a part of that gave me a great look into the 3D art field is Deviantart and even then most of the people do it more out of habit than wanting an actual career. Although, some are still very good.


I decided to really look into two sites: polycount and cgsociety. From what I've seen from looking at both sites for the past couple of days is that they seemed to be two sides of the same coin.


Polycount seemed to more focus on getting feedback on your work to find ways to make it better and improve your skills. You post on that site because you know that you need work and you want opinions or even ideas on how to make your work better. Just from the small post I stated, I got allot of feedback form people who gave me tips to make my work better and they did it in a kind and even humorous way. It really feels like they want you to succeed.


Although, it wasn't completely sunshine on this polycount. It was one post, but it was so rude and over the top that it was jarring. The most disappointing thing that no seemed to have reported or has any qualms about the post and poster. I will not give the name but this is what this person wrote:

I gotta hand it to you, I didn't think anyone could do it. But you did.

This is the worst piece of crap I ever seen. You just single-handedly destroyed video-game art. This piece is so bad, that it's offensive to our very art form. Really can't imagine anything worse than this. It's offensive to the senses. The Hindenburg wasn't as much as a disaster as this is. Only 35 people died in that one, but I predict mass suicides over this. I know I'll be quitting game art and switching to photography after this.

Way to completely trivialize 20 years of game art.

Talk about melodramatic right and I personally thought the artwork was very well done.

Cgsociety, to me seems more focus on the professional side. You go there when your work is nearing completion and you want some last minute ideas for touch ups. I seems this way because the work I've personally seen on that site are head and tails above most of the work on Polycount. They seemed close to the professional level and they have artists who make stuff that rivals some of the best 3D work in high tier games like Mass Effect or Gears of War. It was a really humbly experience to see how far I still have to go, but it also made me proud too. Mostly because the people use terms and ideas that I didn't know or really understood not even a year ago. I also understood the techniques they used and can apply their own creation into my own future work.


Overall, I like both websites and I wish I found them earlier. Both formats are clean and you can't get lost. They are also both healthy and active communities unlike most sites I visited which has a very small and selected pool. I will definitely be using both in the future, although my main focus will be polycount for the time being.

Ethics of Character and Personality

I was asked for this week's assignment in my Portfolio to talked about my ethics and personality.


When I really think about, I guess you could say that I wear two faces. One is something that only my close friends, family, and even people in my classes get to see, but another is a side that I chose to show to strangers because I feel insecure about how they may accept my true self. This mask was created when I was still in grade school and I was mercilessly teased for being different.


My 'public' face you could say is reserved, quiet, and shy. This side of me rarely talks or share personal views. I guess I know that a few of my views or personally values are not too popular with certain people and I don't wish to cause division, so I keep allot of my ideas to myself. As stated earlier, I was bullied as a kid and my reserved personality was created so I could be more friendly and get more people to like me. Regardless of the fact that I went to college and had a more open pool to share my thoughts and ideas, allot of my reserved personality still reminds.


Another factor in my shy demeanor is my voice. Since I started school I had always had speech problems and it made it hard for people to understand me. The main weapon my bullies used against me was how I sounded 'strange'. As you saw from my introduction video, I has an accent, despite the fact that my first and only language is english and I only left the country once in 2008. I feel very aware when I talk and what people may think of me. I had some in my school that thought I was mentally retarded.


My true self, which is shown when I get comfortable with people, is blunt, somewhat mean when provoke, and has a dark/crude sense of humor. I can be too blunt and say things I most likely shouldn't say out loud. I also found I have a loud speaking voice that caused people to hush me, which annoys me. I feel I should be able to speak my views out loud to my friends without some stranger given me nasty looks. Especially when it comes to politics and religion discussions.


I think the most dividing factor with me is that my humor can get on some people's nerves. Namely I like to make fun of awkward situations, mostly myself and my brother, and it can come off wrong if the person doesn't know where I am coming from. Which causes allot of walk back to get my foot out of my mouth. This maybe why I don't like to talk when I don't know people since my communication seems to suck at best at times.


When I do talk to people, I prefer to talk about school and if I am really comfortable questions of ethics, philosophy, and even religion. I this really happened after my first year in college when I really had a taste to have discussion with people who all had diverse ideas and morals, which really expanded my mind and spirit. It also gave me a new insight into my own religion and how I see the world. It also allowed me to see the other side of people's beliefs.


Of course, I do enjoy talking about art and video games. However, it's hard to find people who are willing to discuss video games in an intellect and artist way. The only person I really have is my brother, who shares allot of my interest.


This pretty much discussed me in a nutshell, give or take a few details. I am not the easiest person to get along with and my years of being bully had made me kind of a loner. However, I can be pleasant, friendly, and I do think I can be a good friend.

First post

Hello, my name is Ramona and this is my first ever blog.

I am creating this for both my masters class and for future usage. This will be the place where my past and future artwork will be posted for any future employer to look at to see my growth and vision as an artist.

I have a BA in Graphic Design, which I received from from Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During my four years in college I spent three month studying aboard in London to learn about the arts in a new environment. It was a worth while experience and I recommend anyone to go overseas at least once in their lifetime.


At the moment, I am working on my Masters at the Academy of Arts University. I am an online student and I am also working as a freelance Graphic Designer. By the the time I get my Masters I hope to be working in the game field as a someone who works on textures, lighting, and level building in video games.




http://gostargirl.blogspot.com/p/portfolio-pieces.html