m1kclark's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[Salvaje]

Nice lighting!!! Overall, I think this is a really good model that avoids a lot of amateur pitfalls. So many details really fall into place, I think.

However, here's a list of the details I think are out of place: The grass has an imperfection: excellent placement of the blades of grass, but it is clear that they are all duplicates of the same object, and real grass has more variation. The grass also seems to be translucent or maybe even iridescent, which isn't quite right either. The under-layer of dead grass, however, is spot on.

The texture on the boulder in the back is a good texture, but I think you need to adjust the UV mapping: it looks a little stretched in places. The creature design is very nice, but I do find the sharpness of the texture on the horn/claw/appendage things to be jarring compared with the smoother, softer tones of the skin and eyes. It might be a worthwhile to make the claw-things' texture less stark, i.e. make the darks lighter and the highlights darker. Also, the creature seems to be lit from the back, but there are shadows on the eggs from the front?

Keep polygoning.

[Robo Render]

Lighting is definitely this image's weak point. First, it's too dark, and second, there are specular reflections with no apparent light source.

Meanwhile, I would give you more constructive criticism, except I can't see anything well enough to judge it. Sorry to be blunt, but the lighting is so poor that I cannot pick out what looks right and what looks wrong, because it *all* kind of looks wrong. It certainly has potential, particularly that robot, and I would LOVE to see & critique what you've done! Good luck!

SPace responds:

thanks for the response. yeah i was trying some stuff with the lighting and was realllllly unsuccessful. i haven't slept in a few days. so yeah, just blegh lighting, redoing it all. the scene is supposed to be on the darker side in the context of the animation. i'm not sure what you mean by the spec reflections? the bars of light on the wall/couch are from a window with the blinds down, which i'm currently redoing as a gobo to be more consistent. the assignment is due in a week so i have time to unfuck the lights. maybe i'll post a render of the robot by himself. i wish NG had a way to post turntables... will ask Tom...

[Between Together and Apart]

I'm not a fan of the mixed styles. The background looks almost like 3D art, very realistic style, perhaps with a painted feel to it. The character, meanwhile, is entirely anime style. Sure, the shadows have more depth than average, but it does not match the level of realistic detail in the background at all. Redo the background in the same style, though, and I'd give 4.5 stars.

FelixRJ responds:

Thanks for the input. I really appreciate it!

[Chompy Cub]

Not a bad first-time foray into 3D art. I'm also rather impressed at how good the grass looks behind the bear. In general though, the lighting doesn't really illuminate the bear, the landscape could use more hills, the blade-of-grass model needs to be smoothed, and your textures need more detail. I don't mean to be discouraging: this is still a great stab at it, and you could with two hours work bring its quality up noticeably.

Keep it up!

[Kill City]

I suggest a different camera angle: what does this look like from in-game if this were a first-person shooter? I'd love to see an image with the camera at the center of the X-shape, looking north toward the two huge towers.

It's a nice design: the layout is clearly intended to help gameplay, but the arrangement of the buildings makes it feel like a city, and the textures and materials lend the right ambiance. Good stuff!

[The Soft Rain]

Emotional, minimalist, stylistic, and genuinely gripping. From the colors to the line art to the content, I love this image.

[Still Life]

Not a bad first go. Here are my comments:

Models: In general, the objects are well thought-out, but you need to bevel your edges. Super-precise edges look unrealistic unless you are working with something truly massive. Also, you need a slightly higher polygon count on the boot. The entire front reveals the polygons that constructed what should be a smooth surface.

Textures: the boot texture is really good, presumably from a photo. However, it is not well mapped to the boot's polygons. There's some stretching going on midway between the toe and the laces. Also, the logo at the top of the boot looks weird because you didn't use a "normals" map, a.k.a. bump map. The rough texture on the Nerf-rubber is a bit over the top. The laces, also, need some kind of texture, or at least a different base material, because they looks unrealistic.

Lighting: This is frankly your weakest point. You've got a spot light shining down, and you've got a "sun" style lamp shining toward the left. Both have shadows enabled. Either of these lights alone would be fine, but together they make for really strange shadows. Also, they are each too bright. See how the center of the image is over-bright? That's because you've put so much light on that point that even a yellow surface is reflecting as white, because you've supersaturated the color. So, one light would be better, whichever one you choose. Now that will make the image look stark and empty, so you could include some additional lights to illuminate the object better, but these look best if you disable shadows AND disable specular lighting. For a softer look, use area-lights instead of point-source lights, if Maya has them.

It's quite good as an amateur shot, and I hope that my comments were constructive so you have a better handle on what to do next. Keeping all these things in mind is hard, which is why God invented critics.

Arch-Angel responds:

Wow! thanks for the review! I honestly didn't think I was going to get any decent feedback. I really appreciate it. I knew there was something about it I didn't like, I couldn't put my finger on it. I agree with every point you made. Textureing and lighting were the hardest part for me I admit. UV Mapping is way more difficult than I would've thought. and it can really make or break a project. I really appreciate your advice, and I'll keep it in mind for the future.

[3D Flashlight]

Not really prioritized

I'd like to point out that, for a low-poly model, you sure wasted a lot of polygons on a hemi-spherical on/off button. You could have done a rectangular button, flush with the flashlight's surface, with indents at its edges, and that would have added 9-12 polygons instead of that 25+ polygon button.

Also, as the last reviewer pointed out, it doesn't look like a typical flashlight. It's clear you did a Google Image search and took the first reference you found, which by the way is an obscure LED flashlight brand. Meanwhile, when most people think "flashlight" they're thinking of a Mag-lite. The contour of the body goes from wide at the light, to narrow at the butt, with at least some part sloping between wide and narrow. Your model is a wide cylinder + a wider interface cylinder + a narrow cylinder. I swear, the classic Maglite look would be more appealing AND use fewer polygons.

I'd give 9/10 for effort, but I'm afraid I can only give 6/10 because of the lack of research into what the audience would expect to see.

Gamers-Gear responds:

Several good points, I forgot about doing proper research, and I will most def try and keep that in mind next time I model something.

For some reason I had the idea that the LED types where outdated but I suppose I was wrong.

Either how, thanks for the constructive critisism, I appreciate it over all things.

[Viking Village]

Awesome idea!

I love the idea of making the 3D base and then using filters to make it a painting. The best part about it is, you aren't restricted in the 3D environment to an exclusive style, since the painting later can modify it as needed. An excellent concept, some of your best stuff IMO.

samulis responds:

Thanks, this is honestly my favorite piece of art so far. The automatic painter takes the image and literally re-paints it using calculated brush-strokes, allowing for a result better than most filters, which merely re-arrange pixels... it's a great method, because you can take something that looks plain and simple in 3D and give it lots of character with the painter. What may look bad in a straight render can look amazing after this process... and if it doesn't get painted right, I can change some settings and get a whole different take.