Last 5% of work = 40-50% of overall time?
polycounter lvl 10
I have this thing going - I can do most meshes pretty quick but they don't look like... like they should or I see them in my mind's eye. So I start finishing then and get stuck on small parts for a very long time. It's very frustrating because there is almost no visible effect in such polishing but it takes so much time and effort that in the end I wonder it it's worth it. Is it some psychological thing or is it just the way it works?
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But! You can probably make this less of a problem by doing proper planning.
Just keep at it, you will get better with time and experiense. And it will be easier to avoid these problems from the start.
Its totaly a thing. Dont worry about it that much
you need to understand what makes a model 95%... its all about knowledge, check a lot of great HI-res meshes and kick ass textures for a setting a standard,
If you want to get that hi end quality, think about this, if by practicing a lot you get to 80% in half the time you used to, well that let spend a lot of time polishing, and the more you polish stuff, the faster you get at polishing. Just own those fundementals and you will be pushing that 95% quality in no time!
start getting faster now : ), good luck!
Well you could argue, but thats more of a simple objection
What is meant here are diminishing returns. Exponential increase.
At a certain point, things you do will have far greater effect for the same effort.
This is very prominent in art, or painting to be specific.
You can make very rough strokes and achieve what you need to achieve, and the rest is giving just a lot less information for the same effort. The further you progress the less you gain, but in 3D you can not as easily stop at a certain point, while you can play with the human eye in 2D if you have the skill and experience. The human eye fills in a lot of information for us,
most of the things we percieve are just filled in, and 2D art takes great use of that per example.
Also a great example for a diminishing return are game studios.
A 100 man team is maybe doing 100% more work than a 20 man team, not 500% of their work as the number would imply. (Random numbers you get the idea) while working in coal mines does not suffer from this. 1 additional worker is pretty much equal the same amount of coal per month.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminishing_returns
That's the problem right there - don't trust your "mind's eye" until you actually lay things down. Everybody can fantasize on a hot fashion supermodel, visualize a coworker one has a crush on or think of a badass looking Ferrari. But no one can actually draw/sculpt/illustrate/design any of these subjects without years of practice ... and using reference.
I like to take Kim Jung Gi as an example. You'll see thousand of comments on his work with people saying how their mind is blown by how he can remember all these mechanical weapon details accurately. Of course, he is amazingly skilled, but that doesn't come from just his "mind's eye" : he practiced for years ... and also served in the special forces, which explains why he is so familiar with how weapons operate and look. There really is no secret to all this after all
This explains why some preschoolers draw like Italian masters while others are relegated to stick figures. It's not like all preschoolers draw the same crap and some give up and some continue to practice. We're all just born with the gifts we have and that's it! Nevermind practice, its a waste of time, you're as good as you will ever get!
But then your always left with work that is Good and not Amazing.
I have a few friends who always make scenes/models that are good, but always give up when they get to the end. They get bored/tired of working on the same thing for so long and always see a shiny new concept or photo environment they want to do next. Its difficult because I know those feels of being "over" a project and wanting to do something new instead of really putting in a lot of effort at the end to make something amazing.
If there is no visible effect, then why do it? There is something to be said for knowing when to let go. Its really important to ride that line and know when the extra polish you are doing will have an impact vs when you are just noodling shit that nobody will notice.
Thats something I struggle with as well. I know that I do it..but its a tough habit to break.
May be I worked with a piece too much to notice small thing. Or may be I worked too much and notice things that are too small. I'm never sure. And that's the root of the problem.
And yes, deadlines solve it but after that you look at the piece you've done and notice only flaws. I think it's unhealthy because as an artist you have to notice both flaws and what's good to make a proper judgement.
small "useless" changes , also know as pixel-fu**ing, can seems like a lot of work for nothing, I remember I was putting dirt on a character and tweaking dust on it for over a week* (ddo was not released at that time, sadface)
It felt painful and useless to me, but in the end, I notice that all those tiny things add up and do make the immersion a bit better. When not used to it, all those micro details can take a lot of time but eventually, the knowledge and tools make it a lot easier to push stuff to final quality level.
check DDO out : )
With personal projects and portfolio work I lean HEAVILY toward putting in the extra time and polish.
Its a balancing act. A lot of those small little changes add up and give a feeling of completion/immersion that you would otherwise lack. Its that extra little things that set it apart. There generally is always a visual effect, when its small it can feel like its not worth it. But its always those extra little details that push your piece above the rest.
Its a balancing act. You have to use experience of taking things to the max completion to know what tinny little details you can get away with and what ones you can ignore. You need the practice of knowing how to do those small little touches that can add so much without burring up all of your time.
And of course you need to know when to move on from a project. The problem is, most people move on too early because its hard, difficult, time consuming, there bored, there lazy, they found a new cool project to work on.