Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez?ByArtist=Yes&Artist=RabidWeezle

Hey all. I'm just getting a little burnt out maybe, or maybe I'm going crazy. But it seems the stuff I do on my poser artwork isn't generally liked at all. If you would, take a look at my gallery, tell me what I'm doing wrong. It seems what I work on the most, like the most, put the most effort into is either totally rejected by the community. To me, I see a wonderfull piece of work, but to others, they see it as another blah image. I personally don't know what this community is looking for, but it brings me down to see only a little over 50 hits on an image after a couple days that took me a long time to make, put my soul into it, and try to be creative as best I can. Maybe I'm not seeing the big picture, but I enjoy getting comments that will help me make better art. I take it very seriously for a hobby since it's my little thing to do between work and sleep, and I never seem to get any feedback from the community on what I need to inprove, what would help the image stand out, or what cool tricks there are to really making an image stand out. I personally just make it as I see it in my head kinda thing. And I never know what I am going to make from one image to the next. Only a select few were made with preplanning. All the rest, I just loaded up the program and let my imagination run wild and hope that it's liked by others when I'm all done. So please, if you all get a spare moment, look at my gallery and tell me in some comments what you think. http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez?ByArtist=Yes&Artist=RabidWeezle is the gallery. Thanks Adam "RabidWeezle" Smith

What you do wrong .. i dont know to me nothings wrong with your work.
You make images that you like and make an effort to do the best you can.
So whats wrong with it, i cant say because to me its ok.
I can give you some tips that to me are needed.
1st try to make images without the lightline around the figures "looks to me you paste them in "Photoshop" on the background.
And the pasting shows to much to me.
2nd many of you figures are cut off from the frame,
the legs feet are not on the image thats a shame.
3 use some better resolution on images you use in the background "the planet in orbit on your last image"
is blocked due to resolution, anyway it looks like that to me.
4 !! and thats the most importand of all KEEP making the images you like your style your imagination.
And never let views or comments "or lack of" stand in your creative way.

Stated! Im not the best artist in this community but ill always try to be honnest about what i see.
Thats why some like and some dislike my comments.

Keep it up and keep being ceative!!

Chris

Message edited on: 03/31/2006 07:56

Thanks for the helpfull tips :) I am always looking for ways to inprove my art. And I can see what you mean with the back lighting and resolutions. Sometimes I cut out parts of the body to zoom into the texture detail a bit, so they can get the idea of the better quality on the close up. To be honest though, a couple images there are pasted onto backgrounds I made in bryce since I don't have daz studio to actually put the real figures into bryce, and I find that I can't get the same amount of quality out of most backgrounds in poser that I have found. Thanks again. It's refreshing to actually get some feedback other than, nice image, nice idea or whatever. :)

hi:) just read ur post and gotta say, my pics aint getting very many comments either :P. but im lookin at ur gallery and i like whut i see:). yes really;) :) i always try to comment on pics i like:p :D i myself use daz and bryce. to make scenes:) .so if u need any help, just im me;)

Attached Link: http://castironflamingo.com/

""since I don't have daz studio to actually put the real figures into bryce" You do not need DS in order to get figures into Bryce. You can import then directly, save your figure as an obj. Go over to castironflamingo and get the free utility, Grouper, it will aid you in the process. The hair and eyes transparencies will give you some problem, I think there is a tut on site that walks you through that.

We all struggle with the "why" question. It has taken me a couple years to get a following, very small it may be, but I do get several views and comments. But, as a daily gallery peruser, your thumbnails are not "eye grabbers". In my opinion. It also seems, that if you just reduce the entire image to a thumbnail, people look at your thumbnail and move on. That's just my experience. I try and comment on people's work that stirkes me as excellent, both to encourage them, and hopes of them checking out my gallery and leaving comments.

an artist community is never a good place to get comments...because artists look at things different than most people, and often only look at things to get ideas for themself. Its safe to say that the pics with they high comment ratio (that aren't nude vicky in a temple), are usually people who have their friends come on just to comment and boost their ranking. Rawn

Hi RabidWeezle First off what is it that you want? To do art that you enjoy doing or getting hits? Asking what people dont like about your work is asking for a slapping and there are some here that will do that with out the need to ask. Now for what do I think of your work (you did ask). Its not my cup of tea really, the only image I like was "Hunter Hunted" the rest I find to dark and have a cut a paste feel. You have a habit of mixing styles, you will have a toon figure with a realistic figure, some will have shadows some not, also your posing looks rushed, hands not holding/posed correctly, feet going through the floor (and before anyone else say it, yes I have one doing just that in a WIP) so what the cost of all this free advice. Nothing because that what it worth, dont worry about not getting hits, if that what you want them add a few tits. But if you want to do art, yes art that you enjoy doing then carry on doing it your way. You have your own style and it may evolve. I am sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear that is not my intention

nickedshield said: "You can import then directly, save your figure as an obj." I did that and I get an invalid format error...

Soultaker Said: "First off what is it that you want?" Just what you have given me, some feedback telling me what you think could help inprove the images to a higher standard. And opinions from other artists that know what they are doing really. That's why I take part in renderosity. To inprove my work, to hone my skills and find out the tricks to the trade. The more tips and tricks I learn to make the desired effects and create better images the better. I am always looking at other people's images going... Man, I wish I knew how they did that. Did they do that in post processing? Did they use some special photoshop plugins? Wonder what render settings or material settings they used to create that effect. Also, I want to know when I make an image that is totally borked.. why it is so, what I can do to make it better, and such. I am the kind of guy that learns from critisms. I'm not trying to give off the idea I'm crying about not getting hits. I'm more worried that people find my art soo repulsive that can't bother to comment any critising remarks because they think I am a lost cause, and I don't want to hear it. I love to hear others opinions, I think all artists are. I would rather take a bad review than none whatsoever.

what struck me on the first page of thumbs was that all the women's faces had the same blank look on them. also, the "rabidweasel" text was very prominent on two of the thumbs, to the extent that I don't even recall what the picture content was.

see your point there... could use some more expressions... Would put more life into the images. And I can kill putting my names on there. The image should get the attention more than the name

Message edited on: 03/31/2006 13:03

I have a couple of suggestions. Poser tends to render a bit too sharply for my taste. I usually soften the image a bit in PSPX to give it a bit more of a natural feel. If you are going for realism, make sure to take into account small things like facial expressions. Also make sure additional figures or things you paste in have the same general feel as the main render.

nickedshield said: "You can import then directly, save your figure as an obj."

I did that and I get an invalid format error...

It's been so long since I worked the Poser to Bryce I forgot to mention, run the exported obj through UVMapper, free version will work.
Open it, don't do a thing and save. I beleive a utility called Matfixer, or something like that, also corrects the exported obj.

Message edited on: 03/31/2006 14:30

Image 1 (Rider on the sand): The cat is looking directly out of the scene. My eye follows the direction of the cat's eyes and runs out of the picture, wonders where to go next... Image 2 (Awispa): Similar problem. What is she looking at? Image 3 (Temple guardian): Similar problem. (What is she guarding against?) Image 4 (Dress code): better, but still no action/centre of attraction. Would make a good fill-in pic in a comic. Unless you see the title and realise what it is you're looking for, there's no "focal point". .... Image 11 (Hunter hunted): Much better. Action, main focal point (the girl) 2ndary focal point (the enemy). So where am I going with this? - Hunt up some tutorials about "composition" (I had a couple, but lost the links, someone else here should know..). There are a lot of subtleties that can escape you unless you know to look for them. - I agree with all the above help. More expression in the faces etc. - (Possibly a monitor fault, yours or mine, I don't know), but I often couldn't see details 'cos the pics were too dark. However that's probably not too important at this point - Many of your pics seem to be of "Object A" placed "centre screen", with a background added. Composition again.. - Don't get hung up on techniques/tricks of rendering etc. A good composition far outweighs "detail" tricks. Errmm - I seem to be repeating myself (Composition,composition comp....) :-)) But a case in point. Take Image 4 (Dress code): A suggestion here: Try another render of this pic, after adding a light in the cockpit to show up the figure (in near full colour not shades of blue), see what difference that makes.. It should add impact..:-)) Sorry if I've gone on too long. I went through the whole of your gallery (and deliberately didn't look at any of the comments). I also did the initial comments without looking further through the thread (to keep my opinions from being biased by other replys). Anyway, hope that helps.. You're on the way, just need a better map...:-)) Cheers Diolma

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/tut.ez?Form.ViewPages=968

i'm not gonna do a critique here -- mostly people have already said what i would say. but i can add a little bit of information about lack of comments.

i'm new here, and i joined renderosity specifically to learn more. i am much more interested in receiving (and giving) constructive criticism than i am in admiration. i have noticed that this is very, very rare, however -- most comments are praise. and really unequivocal and strong praise to boot; it is as if many people had no other terms in their vocabulary than "excellent" and "fantastic", and for images that, sometimes i boggle at, they're artistically so unformed. i imagine that with some folks it's meant as encouragement for their friends, and encouragement is important -- but as a result, when i got such comments on my first post, i didn't know how to take it; was it just more of the same, meant as encouragement for a new artist, or did people really think my image was excellent when i can see some problems with it myself? it devalues praise if it's given by the bucketload.

furthermore, i have also seen people who give an actual critique cut down immediately by others. all this has led me to step very carefully when offering one, though really, i love analysis, and sharing of process, and hearing how others see the very same image i see.

i looked at your latest image when you posted it, and saw the notes that said "Hell with riding a chocobo or a horse, I want to ride a giant feline. [...] Used the gimp this time for some mad post processing, hope you like it.".

i don't write critique when somebody says "hope you like it". i only do it when a person asks for comments either directly, or in a way that makes me think they want my honest impressions. your notes made it seem like it was more of a private enjoyment than an image meant to be critiqued. i imagine i am not the only person who's gunshy about comments.

of course if you don't get anyone to view it they won't even see the notes. eye-catching thumbnails and good titles are the trick here. the link up there is to a quickie tutorial (which isn't great, but gives you a decent start). the most important part is the bit about moving the crop tool selection around until you find an interesting view.

some general notes, with the disclaimer that this is only my opinion and should be taken as such and not some sort of commandment. also, i think most of us could work on these points. i'm sorry if i'm blunt, it's just my style and not a reflection of a harsh view of your work. it's very good, and you've got a lot of talent and potential.

1st - if you're using poser, export your renders as png's if you want to use the character independently of it's background because then the background will be transparent and you won't get the cloud effect. it makes it look like you a) don't have the skill to remove it and b) don't put enough time and effort into your work to get rid of even glaring errors. i can tell from other aspects of your work that you do care about your work, but to me halos say "i'm a complete newbie who just slapped something together," and i have to supress that feeling to get the impact of the good aspects of your work.

2nd - try planning out your pictures. because right now they're rarely really out there in terms of content (except for the latest, you can find tons of nearly identical content in the gallery - standard military vehicle shots, fighting, etc.). conversely, the composition seems random and lacks coherence. if you sketch out ideas before hand, you might find you think through the relationships between elements more thoroughly. where is the gun pointed and why? where is that characting looking, and what are they looking at? right now it's not clear what we're looking at.

3rd - work on lighting. again, make it clear what you want to emphasize, where you want us to focus. lighting also sets mood. i'm not sure what feeling you mean to convey or what you're trying to illustrate. do you want people to go "wow, cool vehicle!" or "that looks exhilarating!" ?

4th - plan out your color scheme. in some pictures (mostly earlier ones), i'm again not sure what sort of look you're going for. they don't exactly vibrate and they don't complement each other. again, you seem like you're playing around, which is great for learning. this isn't to say you can't get wild with your palette, just try to choose your colors with more visual coherence.

and just so you know, i do have actual renders, just not any posted here. i'd like to have my own site ready before having a gallery here. and the only reason i added this statement is exactly the attitude described above. most of the time any criticism is deemed disloyal at best and trolling at worst. usually it results in (fairly personal) criticisms of the original poster's gallery (if they have one), or their comments are completely dismissed if they don't. very few people here take criticism well. i say this from observation- i know my style is far too blunt and normally wouldn't comment in any case. again, i think your work is very good, and that most gallery pics could be improved in above ways.

I think Cobalt had some great points. I myself am only just now getting into Poser seriously.. Normally I work in Carrara. I originally started using Poser as a way to easily generate characters to put into my Carrara scenes, but I have found some amazing things you can do in Poser itself, and I am also going to take a lot of Cobalt's advice.

I see what you mean with the focal points for sure. And of course, I see what I can do to make my art more interesting. I will take some tips from you guys and I will see what I can brew up using all of your advise. I will first start with some pre-planning. What do I want to make I will ask myself. What will be the point of the image, what do I want to convey, and how can I do it in poser. Then I will probly just scetch out a scene on a piece of paper in a rough draft, of the charactors, my background, objects that enhance the image to give the feel I want. I will make an object/clothing inventory of what I will need to create the effect and find/make what I need on the net or in my current collection, Mix it all together in poser, make sure to set the expressions in the proper way according to the mood of the scene/charactors, set the lighting in the way that it emphasizes the main point of the image. I will make sure that faces aren't wondering into the abyss as I often do, that they are focused on the person or thing they are reacting with. And I will definatly have them doing some sort of action, not just making it another picture of a girl with nice textures. Perhaps something funny, scary, interactions with other charactors, maybe even a comic of sorts. Once it is done I will clean up the image as good as I can until it is complete, not half done, or shoddy like alot of my post work. Then upon knowing it is something I love, make a great thumbnail of an interesting angle of the picture that will grab attention, think up a witty name, and post it up on here. Thank you ALL for helping me see what I have been missing, because I felt a little in the dark back there. Not really actually talking to other artists, I was just kinda teaching myself, which is OK, but sometimes I need a push in the right direction for ideas to make more interesting artwork/scenes. Always taking more ideas and suggestions, And I am sure you will all find my new work to be a little eye opening in the future, with better structure than before, with an actual point to the image, better structure, and more amazing scenes.

Way to go RW! :-)) Just a thought for your 1st image (the cat). If you still have a copy of the pz3 around, why not try an experiment: Leave everything in the scene alone except for turning the cat's head to look directly at the viewer (ie, directly "out" of the scene? (or possibly, turn the head so it's nearly turned towards the viewer, but change the eyes so they ARE looking at the viewer... The eyes in a figure (any figure) are one of the 1st things a viewer looks at (it's human nature: "Is that character looking at me? And if not, what is so interesting where it's looking?"). So eyes capture attention... Cheers, Diolma

you can also post in the sub-category "work in progress"; that way you can easily ask for opionions even if you're not completely done yet, but are wondering how you're doing, or how to solve a particular problem. good luck!