Beginner("Bad")_Medium_Good_3D

Hellgnome

Hi all,

So after looking for inspirational 3D via google image search. I often find images where i instantly see the difference between bad to good 3D models.

Part of me know why some look better then other. It is really easy when it comes to everyday things (Humans, animal, buildings etc etc.).

But when it comes to creatures, monsters, aliens etc. Why is there still a difference? See attached image:
What are your thoughts on why oure brains think the models on the left are bad, the middle once kinda ok. And why are models on the right good?

Alex_J

creatures and make believe things like this are still rooted in reality. Most of the forms come from human or animal anatomy. So it makes them seem real.

The less-awesome models don't have as strong a foundation in real-world anatomy structures.

besides that, artist who have spent more time creating and getting feedback will have a better sense for what looks cool and what doesnt.

Ashervisalis

The creatures on the left don't have a lot of micro details, or subtlety. I feel like beginners want to block in the major forms, but don't want to spend a lot of time on the smaller details. It's also about form and silhouette; the models on the left look unnaturally squished in some way or the other.

Brian "Panda" Choi

It's mostly anatomy issues.

Hellgnome

BIGTIMEMASTER said:

creatures and make believe things like this are still rooted in reality. Most of the forms come from human or animal anatomy. So it makes them seem real.

The less-awesome models don't have as strong a foundation in real-world anatomy structures.

besides that, artist who have spent more time creating and getting feedback will have a better sense for what looks cool and what doesnt.

Ashervisalis said:

The creatures on the left don't have a lot of micro details, or subtlety. I feel like beginners want to block in the major forms, but don't want to spend a lot of time on the smaller details. It's also about form and silhouette; the models on the left look unnaturally squished in some way or the other.

Brian "Panda" Choi said:

It's mostly anatomy issues.

Thank you all for your input. It makes alot of sense

Neox

Ashervisalis said:

The creatures on the left don't have a lot of micro details, or subtlety. I feel like beginners want to block in the major forms, but don't want to spend a lot of time on the smaller details. It's also about form and silhouette; the models on the left look unnaturally squished in some way or the other.

I would argue its a typical rookie mistake, not to spend enough time on the lower and medium detail levels and just slapping on details. Those sculpts will not look better with microdetail slapped on top, not even if its the great XYZ pores.
The biggest issue here, is like others said, grounded in the lack of anatomical knowledge. The proportions, the flow, how shapes interact, it is clearly not there and working on details will not change this. 

@OP that you can see it is already a very important step, he next step is actually applying it

sacboi

Plausibility, as if the thing on the screen is about too jump out to chow down and/or smoke yo ass, whether realistic aesthetic or not.

FourtyNights

The more experienced you'll get with anatomy, the easier it gets for you to spot anatomical errors on other artists' works. It's kinda funny that even when I see great work from professional artists, I'm having harder time not to find oddities in their anatomy.

Ashervisalis

@Neox I stand corrected (seems to happen a lot lately  ), although I still feel like a lot of the beginner character work I see usually does not include the smaller details.

Alex_J

I am a beginner, but I think I have been a beginner long enough that I have made all the beginner mistakes (and still do). Here is how it typically goes:

1. You don't know what are the underlying forms are because you don't understand just how much time to research and understand the concept is necessary, so you get about 1/2 of them halfway correct and then you move on. 

2. You try to detail, but it all looks wrong because ^

3. You get hung up with software issues you are too inexperienced to solve easily, so most of your energy goes into troubleshooting and searching for answers. Actually, this is constantly happening in between all stages, and it is where most of your energy is being diverted.

4. Finally you get back to working on your basic forms, but now you are fatigued and ready to say, "eh, it's good enough."

5. You go back to detailing then, but because you've already said "good enough" once, it's easy to do it again. 

6. You finish an artwork that looks like beginner artwork, lacking the important forms, details, and full of technical fuck-ups.

And all of this is happening in the first place because you are trying to create awesome artwork before you understand the medium. This is why I suggest beginners forget any notions of creating good artwork for like, the first year, and just focus on getting competent enough with the tools that they can create almost anything without fighting the software the entire time -- so they can use all the tools at their disposal efficiently so that they can then focus entirely on the art without any extra stress. 

Also, be proud of your lousy beginner artwork. There is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a lot of work completed, and the only shame is if you fail to learn anything useful from it.