finish what you start damnit

arshlevon

some of you might have noticed me going back to some of my older works and trying to finish them.. it just really started to get to me a few months back. i never seem to find the time to finish stuff i start on my own. i have no problem doing stuff for money and its usually some horrible cliche crap i dont even want to do, but when it comes time to work on my stuff i either put it off, or loose interest, or think of something i would rather work on.

it pissed me off so much that i vowed to finish every unfinished project on my hard drive before i start anything new. this seems like the only way for me end this horrible cycle.


i was just wondering if anyone else suffers from the same disorder and if i can get anyone else to jump on board the "finish what you started damnit" train. i know a few guys on here that have started some great stuff that never seen the light of day. so i just wanted to make this post and put the idea in your head, i mean you dont have to go as extreme as me and finish EVERYTHING you started, but i am sure there are a few of you out there that have some gold on your hard drive just waiting for some polish...

b1ll

AHAH, i cant finish anything.

PeterK

you are the man. We all want to find time to finish the models we start. I've actually been working on this one model for two years now (on and off). It's nothing special, kinda lame even, but I've promised myself I'm going to finish it Thanks for the post, glad to know others are being driven to do this as well.

Joao Sapiro

agreed man , tottally agreed !

SkullboX

I know what you mean. From my experience, the worst thing is that when I work on personal stuff I'm as fast as I am when doing paid work with a deadline up until it's 95%, then I spend that same amount of time tweaking details - just because withuot a deadline you can afford to. This is the same for the rigging and animation process.

The worst thing is, usually most of this detail finetuning will always go unnoticed in the final product.


In that aspect, school rocks. Personal work with a deadline.

BRUTICUS(CW)

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Personaly work with a deadline.

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Great advice..and good luck to you Arshe

ebagg

I need to finish a good dozen or so projects, or revisit some old ones that I feel I could do much better now. I'm with ya Arsh!

rawkstar

not being able to finish anything is a sign of quality.

all you have to do is just get faster at it so by the time you think of the next idea ur already done with the first.

Neo_God

Yeah, the biggest one would have to be that I get this awesome idea half-way through a project, and I just can't wait so I start on it. Letting the other one sit and collect digital dust.

Though as of right now, I've just been too busy with freelance stuff and other obliged 3d work, that I really don't want to spend my personal project time on something 3d, you know?

While I know I'm not going to finish all my undone projects, I do plan on at least finishing my Otter Warrior and my General from the Domination Wars contest.

I hope you do finish you all your stuff, because you had some real gems in there, such as your domination wars general.

BoBo_the_seal

What a slacker! I tend to finish everything I start! ... oh wait...


I’ve been thinking of finishing a couple projects too... or start new ones I know I won't finish...damn this vicious cycle!

ChaosEidolon

Soooooooo true...

Im always caught in the endless tweak phase, and by the time one tweak is done, ive noticed a flaw somewhere else that needs tweaking.

It's good to be detail oriented but at some point you need to tell that little voice to stfu and just finish it. Thats my fight right now.

greenj2

Totally agree with what a lot of people have said, personal work with no deadline leads to endless tweaking. I think to a degree it can help your skillset to redo something a few times until you get it right. But you don't want to spend forever on it.

I've also considered picking up past work that I've abandoned or remaking stuff I finished ages ago. By then though I usually have a tonne of new concepts in my head that I'd rather play with.

diZzyWalnut

[ QUOTE ]
....
i was just wondering if anyone else suffers from the same disorder and if i can get anyone else to jump on board the "finish what you started damnit" train. i know a few guys on here that have started some great stuff that never seen the light of day. so i just wanted to make this post and put the idea in your head, i mean you dont have to go as extreme as me and finish EVERYTHING you started, but i am sure there are a few of you out there that have some gold on your hard drive just waiting for some polish...

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aaahhh that's my case
oki doki - I will finish him and even try to export into HL 2.


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not being able to finish anything is a sign of quality.

all you have to do is just get faster at it so by the time you think of the next idea ur already done with the first.

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Right , that's right man. That's what I need and I know it -
BE or GET FASTER - will be my objectiv in New year 2007.

Warhawk

I know what you mean man. I have the same problem. Usualy I get a good idea on what to model. I always picture the model how it will look in the end, so that is something to keep me motivated. But when I almost finish it. I usualy lose the interest. Probably the biggest obstacle for me is UV mapping. When I come pass that point, I usualy finish what I have started. Unfortunatly most of the times I don't. There is so much things to finish, I just never get back to it. Most of the times I prefer doing a new fresh idea. One of the reason why I don't finish is becouse I am not on schedule. I have also got use to my job. That when I am alone at home modeling I get bored becouse there is no one beside me modeling or texturing, so I don't have any motivation to continue. I am doing my best to finish what I have started, although I could do better than that.

gavku

haha... I was waiting for you to chime in Eagle. You better have something done by the time we go back to work. I think a good way to get in the mindset of finishing things is to just work on a couple of smaller things ie: A bust, low poly character, or a fresh skin for someones SDK.

Mark Dygert

Art is never finished it is just abandoned in a state of near perfection.

Hollowmind

I wish I could finish my old half finished models but I lost 5 hard drives to a vicious power supply that was made out of pure evil before I figured out what was happening with my computer. I lost everything!!! ( waaaahahahawaaaa

Gmanx

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not being able to finish anything is a sign of quality.


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True. I like Ryan Church's approach, which is as relevent to 3d as to painting. He works all areas of a piece at once, bringing it up in detail gradually as a whole (which is a necessity of the job - since the painting could be taken from him at any time to be viewed in a meeting). I think working with 3d in the same way helps. I know I'd sometimes do, lets say, a head or face, but never put a body or even hair on it - or I'd model a character with really detailed cloth folds and lose heart half-way through because when I come back to it, I know it's going to be a world of hurt to finish because of what I've already been through.

I do have lots of half-models sitting there, mocking me, and I will have the balls to finish them.. soon..

firestarter

Yep, I suffer from the same exact disorder, personal stuff just never reaches an end. Its got worse lately too, for me, it`s related to dissatisfaction/outrage with work/industry and all that shit.

MoP

Most of my personal stuff never gets finished because of 3 main reasons:

1. I'm not happy with it, or think it could be much better if I redesigned and started from the ground up. It probably would, but it just sets everything back to the start again...

2. I get halfway through developing an idea, then a better one comes along, and I always fall for the new inspiration, since the thing I'm working on doesn't seem as fresh anymore.

3. Since it's personal work it's easy to put on the back burner... more important "real life" stuff takes the front seat and I forget about the project till I dig it up when trawling through my hard drive half a year later.

I actually found a couple of old things that I still like recently, so I'm gonna try and get them finished - I'm also trying to keep a couple of projects on the go with drastically different workflows (ie. one high poly sculpted model, and another lowpoly single-diffuse-map model) so that I can jump onto which ever one I feel like at the time.
Just hack away a bit here and there, and if I get bored, switch to the other model for a change of pace and tools.

It's actually kinda fun to dig up old work, take a screenshot of where it was at a year or two ago, and try to really polish it up with the new tricks and tools I've learned since then, then compare them... the difference in quality is often very heartening

Mark Dygert

I was going to reply to this thread but then I...

vahl

exactly the same as MoP, I'm currently trying to finish the stuff I think is worth it before starting anything new, like what has been said, I often think that once reached the 95% completion, something sucks and I want to polish it more, I also tend to take breaks from one model or another, like do something else for one or two weeks, then go back to the model with a fresh eye.
I also hate my stuff, always...

killingpeople

sure dude, i'll jump on this train. will be a while, i have to get my computer fixed so i can get the files.

LordScottish

I suffered from that too. But then I crashed my hard disk a couple of weeks ago and now all my stuff (like the flying dutchman) is gone and I can start all over with new and exciting stuff

doc rob

I have lots of things I plan on doing but never start. However, nearly everything I start I finish, as painful as it can be. The pain is why I don't start very much.

Justin Meisse

My projects folder is 6gb

Tintin

I have the same problem, I start a project then lose interest very quickly plus I always think I will never be good enough and get frustrated.

CrazyMatt

I think the cause of this is that your burned out/worn out of working. You've both obviously have spent too many hours working and have not taken many breaks from your hobbies.

The only way I find to get around this is spend more time sleeping, then when you wake up and have time for some work in your day. Inspire yourself to believe your doing this for an art test for some company you applied for, and convince yourself your going to give it you're all.

Edit: Oh yeah, and get a great selection of music to blast on the speakers or headphones before you begin.

Joshua Stubbles

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more important "real life" stuff takes the front seat

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Sad but true.

I have a few projects I'd like to dig up and finish, though.

ChrisInTheBox

It's good to know that even the pros do this once in a while. I guess I give up on some of my models because I encourage myself to work faster. Quicker turnaround times seem to make me more confident on my skills. Not that faster always brings better results, but I always learn something even with stuff I throw away, so I get better next time.

Fuse

guilty as charged

tacit math

almost by definition i can never ' finish ' anything. the texture process feels too much like work. i can generally model a character fairly quickly and messing with geometry's a hoot. playtime. i need to hook up on the buddy system

.

ultra

Thats soooo True!
Open a thread in Pimping and Previews section and we will all jump together on board

D4V1DC

Oh fugget-aboutit.

This also depends on what your intention is with the design.
How far did you want to take it?
I somtimes just model things does that count as incomplete?!, If I am done with the model?

I am a victim of incomplete projects .

Slash

Mop, i'm in the exact same boat as you! I need to finish something personal soon, as you said arsh, to break the cycle!

popawheelie

^ Same, I made a 2007 resolution to finish what i started..
Good to know others are in the same boat.


pop

malcolm

Yeah I actually have this problem too, I lose interest after the modeling stage. The only way I could finish my portfolio was to actually build a model and then take a break from it and build something else. When I had enouhg models for a portfolio I went back and finished the earlier works this kept me from getting bored. That tank on my website was actually almost two years old when I finished it off with textures and lighting.