Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 10
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Diva's new girl looks lovely- congrats from me as well!
Some really funny stuff there. Thank you for the laugh, before I head out for the nightly battle with insomnia...
I'm not happy with the fire in the fire pit, but I've got more of the activity and action that I wanted in this version. Took about 25 minutes to fully render, but even on my 8GB card I had to reduce textures to medium on the dogs and two of the background figures. It was crashing DAZ out before I did that.
On criticism, even ruthless criticism.... I expect artists to have sat in classroom led critiques that can be brutal and to have developed a thick skin, as well as a sense that people's response to art is subjective. If you're selling your art work commercially, you should expect that criticism to be even more brutal - and often from people who really don't understand your art, the costs, the time, involved in creating your work.
I've sat in classroom critques and felt my cheeks flush and ears burn and the sweat bead up on my forehead - but I think learning to gracefully accept even brutal criticism *and* have an open mind about why it might be valid is actually a quality good artists cultivate.
Heck, Tango Alpha and PhilW both gave me constructive criticism on the difference between publishing 3D content for free on ShareCG and being a paid PA that I didn't *like* to hear, but was still great advice. When you're competing for people's *money* with your art, you've entered an entirely different realm of what their expectations are going to be. I've seen content and tutorials that I simply wouldn't waste my hard disk space on. I think the folks publishing that work should be made aware that they're not bringing their A game to the market.
I've found that when an instructor or peer critiques me harshly it often pushes me beyond what I thought I was capable of doing, personally.
Like the criticism of the pond not being wide enough above. I knew it, I know it.... I was being lazy about it. I should fix it. If I saw it, other people will, too. :D
I didn't think anything about the width there myself simply because I've seen that more times than I can count in real life especialy on river coves or bayous
Hmm. I think that sure, creators should learn to cope respectfully with criticism. But many, many of them do so by not going where they can see it, because seeing it drags them down too much to keep up with their production schedules. I felt like Novica's point was more about that second part. I too have winced at a lot of negative commentary because it's stuff that mostly shows up on Feature Character releases (and not, say, vendor commercial threads) and often it is not productive, it's not a review, it's just somebody stopping by to express opinions in a nasty way. I mean, I also like product reviews and I also prefer critical ones. But the Feature Character threads end up being a combination of Product Review, Product Experiences and those tumblr threads where people hold up bad book covers to mock them.
I kind of wonder if maybe there shouldn't be a megathread entitled "Why I'm Not Buying That" where the really negative stuff can go. It might even end up useful as an overall snapshot of what's not working.
I think that most people just aren't PRACTICED in giving constructive criticism. They don't know how to verbalize what they don't like, or they don't take the time. I haven't bought Victoria 8 because I think she has a horse face, it is very long, and her body has a very chisled, angled look that seems unnatural to me. I also feel like a lot of the releases recently based on V8 look less natural, more like paintings - that I find better results using V4 skin maps on G3 with UVs than what I am seeing from G8 pro packages and characters. But... I think in the forums, I might have just said I think V8 and G8 characters are "ugly".
I was very critical about a cop car that one of the PAs did when I saw it months ago. Said things like, "it looks like a cop car from Grand Theft Auto 3..."
And it does. The artist saw the comment and said, "I keep it up because it still sells," and I've since learned a little about applying shaders so I can see where an object originally designed for Poser 10 years ago can have new life with modern iRay shaders - especially if the base object is well built with lots of material zones. That could be some of the problem too. A lot of the ART of 3D content isn't in the final product, it is in the framework that a lot of people don't even know exists, or understand.
I'm not trying to give a pass to people just being mean or insensitive because they're mean and insensitive. I'm just saying, just because they're mean or insensitive in expressing themselves, doesn't mean they might not be saying something you should try and focus in on as an artist. "WHY do you think my campground looks fake?"
On my campground - I was justifying it in my head as a composition thing. If I make the lake as wide as I want it, all the background details would move so far back that they would be more lost than they already are - and it COULD be a perspective trick that MAKES the dock seem to jut out and the opposite bank to be closer than it is. :) But the fact is that I had already noticed it, thought the same thing, and came up with a justificaton because it is a compositional problem with the art.
I've got a tin-image of Speed Racer jumping into the Mach 5 in my study/studio. It uses foreshortening to create a very dynamic image, but when you look at it critically, Speed's extended leg is out in front of the headlight and his rear leg is back by the rear fin of the car and the perspective is just totally wonky. I think if the artist had done a more realistic perspective on the image, it wouldn't feel as dynamic or exciting, though... so sometimes, there is a trade off between realism and what looks best.
But... maybe I just need to fix the width of the pond! :D
To me, it actually looks like the perspective. I guess my brain is assuming the pond is big enough or they wouldn't be jumping.
@donovancolbert I like what you've started. I'm having trouble finding your focus. I think the focus seems like it should be on the boy and girl on the dock but that's not where my eyes end up focusing. Wide shots are nice for some things, but for the type of image you seem to want, I think you need to have your camera focus on those two and let everything else fall to the background. Perhaps with some DOF so they are all still there but blurred out a little bit. Anyway, it's a nice start and I'd like to see where you go with it.
I think daz forums are really tame compared to other review sites... I mostly agree with Donovancolberts points.
I don’t care for the mouths on many of the genesis 8 males at all... but fortunately I can fix it a bit.
Neither talking about it or avoiding the issue really seems effective strategies.
Did anyone else notice that AM's Great White Shark seems to be back in the store? It was missing for a while. I'm not sure when came back but I'm thinking of picking it up before he decides to take it out again.
I don't disagree at all, here. But I'm also saying, some people aren't going to know WHAT it is about 3D Universe or FW or Sabby characters (or what they DO like, for that matter...) but they're still going to express their opinions that they think the characters are cute, or sexy, or unrealistic, or ugly, or whatever it is that they get from those character lines. I picked those 3 because all 3 of them seem to be very successful, very popular PAs who still get a lot of vague, general criticism for their products.
And of course, there is more than just characters. Not all sets or utilities are created equal - and often this is where I find my biggest disappointments. When I feel cheated by the promos or the description, that is where I am most likely to be brutally critical. I think the price for Headshop OneClick is way overpriced when it is discounted to 50% off. It overpromises, under-delivers, crashes, and just generally disappoints. If it were being given away for free on ShareCG, it wouldn't be the best FREE utility or plug-in available there. That is brutally critical. HeadShop OneClic deserves the criticism.
Yes, it's back - can't recall if it had the extras before, but who can say no to a seal carcass!?
It’s a good price. Thanks I bought it
I recently picked up the Severed Man for Genesis. It's a very useful product, and gives some great results. The only down side I see with it is that it requires multiple Genesis figures per "victim", one for the main chracter, and one each for each severed body part. So, if you're doing an image of someone decapitating two bad guys, that requires five figures to complete the scene. The only other thing I wish this set had was the capability to bisect a "victim", including from crown to groin, across the waist, and from shoulder to opposite hip (right to left and left to right).
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Thank you for mentioning my girl and giving me a shout out! :) It's quite exciting to have my first product in the store! Ahhhhh! I Hope she does well! :) I've grown quite attached to her while making her, she's like "my baby". lol It was a lot of "growing pains" learning how to create a character and I learned a lot making Lori, so I feel like we've been through a lot together. That likely sounds silly, I know. :)
Thank you!
hahah Well I wanted to go a bit more dramatic with the makeup but thought I should keep it subtle and tame since she's a young teen. :) I'm sure with some of my future characters I'll go a bit more dramatic with some of the makeup. heheh
Thank you for the wonderful comments and support - and THANK YOU for buying Lori! I was worried that she might not do well since I'm a new PA and wondered if that would make people a bit wary about taking a chance on buying from me. But I'm happy to see some of you guys taking a chance on me! *big hugs* :)
Thank you, DM! And thank you for the feedback and support! :) I really appreciate it!
You and the others who post on this thread are very specific about what you don't like, and courteous. I appreciate all of you doing that. But hey @donovancolbert I happen to think my horse's face is gorgeous! But I'm biased.
And ? Being silent about stuff I don’t like gets me nowhere either. And I’d rather communicate and be disappointed than remain silent and be disappointed. Cause at least my way I’ve expressed my mind and tried to change things
Thank you so much Diva for making Lori. I don't buy many characters these days, but she's very different with a very expressive face that will work well in story telling. It is rare to see someone start out at a high level like this. All probably instabuy anything else from you:-)
"Don't criticize anything I make because I'm going to ignore you" is not a great argument. Either the criticism is not having an effect, in which case neither I nor the PA are affected and it doesn't matter, or it is having an effect, in which case, yay, my voice has been heard.
I actually have had a pa tell me they have made changes based on thing I’ve commented on. So I don’t agree at all that remaining silent is the answer.
Yeah, I like the severed man as well. I've had images deleted because of me posting it on daz and yet the image for the product was far more intense then mine. A
nd, you do need lots of char for various body parts.