How to get more replies/critiques.
polycounter lvl 6
Hey everyone, I am wondering how to manage to get more replies or critiques and comments on here, seems everyone has no problem getting them, but i do, and I feel i must be posting in some way to ward people away.
I have posted 3 threads in P&P and only one has gotten any real discussion going. I was hoping you guys could give me advice on how to get more replies to my threads, I have tons of views but noone is saying anything.
My threads:
Glock 18
Weather Control Environment
Medieval Mode TF2 New Stuff!
For anyone else, feel free to post your threads here and I will take a look and do my best to comment to return the favor, I go around trying to comment on the 0 reply threads just to help people out so they don't end up without any response like I have.
I have posted 3 threads in P&P and only one has gotten any real discussion going. I was hoping you guys could give me advice on how to get more replies to my threads, I have tons of views but noone is saying anything.
My threads:
Glock 18
Weather Control Environment
Medieval Mode TF2 New Stuff!
For anyone else, feel free to post your threads here and I will take a look and do my best to comment to return the favor, I go around trying to comment on the 0 reply threads just to help people out so they don't end up without any response like I have.
Replies
Maybe link to your reference? Those images seem to be the largest. Or do something to cut down on the image size.
If you don't replies that just happens. I suggest being a pal with someone you respect and trust. They can be your go-to people when forums aren't giving you what you need. Real tough to find these people. Not everyone has something to offer all the time.
Get an avatar. start work on projects that people could give a shit about, instead of the most generic objects imaginable. Glocks are reliable in the real world but I have farted more visually interesting handguns--we need a nother Glock model on this forum like we need another AK-47--if this is Mortal Kombat (which it kind of is), a number of people have posted the Goro of AK-47s and you are currently the fighting strength of Kabal's pants. Don't beg the comparison. We are swimming in a sea of beautiful, artful concepts and real world objects--you're good enough now to start tackling them. Post early, post often. GET AN AVATAR. Get a recognizable posting style, a recognizable artistic style. Get your stuff in the What Are You Working On Thread. If you say your name I should be able to think of a few different cool, unique and interesting pieces of art.
I say this with all love and respect for the community that has provided an unbelievable amount of formation and support over the last ten years. But you have to treat it seriously to get anywhere--both your own work, and your community visibility. Step to it. Good luck.
It might also be a good indication of how interested people are in certain kinds of work. We've all seen a zillion guns and such so unless it's something out of the ordinary or just incredibly well executed then there might not be much to say that hasn't been said in many threads before. That's not a knock on your work; just an observation on how jaded we all might have become.
So people are aware of your work existing, and if you hit a wall you have no idea how to get through, make a thread asking for help.
Also everything gauss, haikai, cholden and Joopson said.
Well stated, as for the glock this is not my choice, it is a commission work and therefore I am trying to make it ultra perfect to be sure it gets accepted (spec work) I would personally never model a glock in my own free time as I agree, we need less glocks more interesting, but this is what I was asked to do. As for the avatar I thought my polycount pac-man ghost was pretty clever but I suppose not, i'll figure out an avatar though I like this suggestion a lot. I always remember swizzle's avatar, it's so distinguishable.
Thanks for the compliment about being good enough to tackle projects, i really appreciate it.
As for helping out other people that is what I spend a ton of time on polycount attempting, I like to help out students because as a graduate I know what they are going through and how bad the professors often are, the schools hire just about anyone just so they can state they have a game course, anyone who actually knows what they are talking about (many times but not always) are making better pay and are in the industry working on something.
I figured this was probably the case with the gun as I feel it's going quite well and I personally can't see any problems with it that I haven't fixed, that is mostly why i'm asking though, I'm hoping someone could point out the details I missed, I see soooo many gun threads on here with people pointing out a thousand things wrong because it doesn't fit the model of the gun, so I was hoping for some of that. As I said working on it for a commission so I have no choice in what to work on. And yeah we all are a little jaded, i can't say i'm not in the basket too.
Thanks everyone for your replies, it really helps to hear some feedback from the community
I know you didn't ask for portfolio crits but since you've put it in your sig, you're exposing yourself to get them regardless
* I dislike the button animation with the word going down below a row, I instinctively follow the word with my mouse because I think that the text is the thing I need to click, even though I am well aware that both rows are clickable. It's annoying.
The point is it introduces unnecessary stress and makes me question what you were thinking when you designed it to do that.
* I don't like the font on your resume, Times New Roman or anything that closely resembles it just looks ugly!
* Welcome page is pointless, gallery should be the home page. No one cares about you being a recent graduate and the other details can be put on your contact page.
* The footer text is not vertically aligned with the bar of colour at the bottom, looks really sloppy.
* Demo reel environments could do with a massive overhaul to include actual lighting. Everything in it looks flat and diffuse. With proper lighting, the environments can actually look interesting but right now its doing more harm than good.
* Eve inspired ship apparently uses a 2048 texture. It looks like it has no texture on it at all. The model itself doesn't look very inspiring either, I wouldn't have guessed it was a ship without the title. A strange hair-dryer design or maybe a gun would be my first guesses. I'd remove this whole thing from the site.
As for the text on the bar at the bottom I thought it looked nice sitting on the bar of color, but I guess it doesn't look like it's sitting there. As for the font on my resume, any suggestions?
Everyone told me the same about my lighting and since lighting was never taught at my school I am far behind on that one, my most recent personal project and all of my projects have had a large focus on lighting, since I need to learn it the most. Thanks for the compliments that my pieces could look interesting though.
The Eve ship...ohhh that eve ship...yeahhh, it will just plain be gone, i got a lot of "gun" comments on it as well.
The do's and don'ts of portfolio sites on the polycount wiki is what has caused me to decide to redo my portfolio site, current plans are
- grey and green theme
- home page is gallery
- secondary page is resume
- contact info is shown at all times
I am also going to redo my logo and business cards (which i know you haven't seen haha)
I know I need this overhaul and I can't wait to do it but I keep getting projects which are delaying it, but since they are paid work I feel it's better to put first so I can place it on my resume.
Thanks for taking the time for the detailed crit! I'll have to get your crit once the site is redone!
Hmm interesting perspective to think the text is sitting on the bar. Never saw it that way, still don't agree with it though
Most fonts are ok; Calibri, Arial, Verdana, Trebuchet, pretty much any standard font that doesn't look like Times New Roman or Comic Sans.
Gauss does speak the truth, it's not a coincidence that the majority of talented PC members are also friends with one another. It's the same case with any community of creative people, the ones that become friends with on another usually will excel past those who remain on the sides. Also the whole avatar thing is kind of funny, but sorta true I guess, granted Gauss also has had the same Avatar for like 10 years or something, haha.
If it's any consolation, I am actually drawing up a concept tag for your bizarre birdman concept
So, take that as you will...
Afterwards I commented in every thread I liked and made a name for myself. My second piece which I am still working on now has more comments because a lot of the people are people I've talked to on Polycount or who have previously seen my work.
So yeah just keep pumping work and make it interesting. I don't comment on threads that just post generic guns or objects like barrels. I can only assume most are the same.
I looked at your threads. The glock, is generic and overdone so you'll rarely get feedback from that. Perhaps post it in the What you are working on thread and ask for quick tips. Otherwise go to other websites like Interlopers, artisans (did I spell that right?) etc.
Your medieval thread has no initial pictures and I'm sorry if this is unfair of me but I tend to quickly close non picture threads as I'm only here for two things: Knowledge and Eye Candy / Inspirational work.
Finally presentation is a skill too you know, your weather control thread starts off with a picture of a tree. A nice tree for sure but it's not something you use as an opener. Instead that reference picture with all its colours would probably get you more views cause it's eye catching. Just think about that. Good luck.
So i went and checked out the Concept Tag thread and found your post, and i must say i LOVE it!! Do you mind me using it as my avatar? I took out the boombox and hand (even though i love that a lot) so it would read better as an 80 x 80 picture, if you don't want me using it, i'll gladly switch to my original piece, which is the avatar i've used for myself in other places, such as my blog.
I am indeed glad people aren't telling me it's great, because i know it's not, i expect lots of "this is bad and this is why" which is all i ask
Very true, about the medieval thread I suppose I should take a screencap of the site to keep people from doing that, I figured that is exactly what they would do, did you end up taking a look at it anyways due to circumstances? Or did you just go ahead and close? No worries about it though I would be doing the same most times.
I'll keep presentation of the more interesting in mind, this thread has been so helpful, thanks everyone!
I'll look now...For god sake, you've done a lot of good work and it's hidden behind links. Make sure to post them as pictures in the future cause a lot of people will miss your work, I'm sure.
The moral, children, is that cleavage is memorable.
Anyway, I agree with haikai. If your stuff doesn't have any sort of horribly glaring errors, but it's not super mind-blowing, it generally won't get a lot of discussion one way or the other. People have seen tons of shooty shit, so you need to distinguish yourself in some way.
I suggest attaching boobies to your gun.
Failing that, I suggest you definitely ask for pointed crits. Ask specific questions about topology, shading, etc. Point out what you think may be problem areas and ask for help and advice. It's easier for people to give feedback when they know what you're looking for.
I was checking out your site and I see on your resume you are currently not in the field full time, I am hoping you just haven't updated it? I feel if you haven't found a job then I am hopeless!
Also your TF2 assets were really awesome and I think you bested them on the art style - long story short, compliments all around i love your stuff and highly respect you based off of it and your professionalism when it comes to replies in all of the various thread's i've seen you comment
I try to be fairly professional and courteous anywhere I go online, even when I'm using a throwaway alias, because I know I'm extremely easy to find both online and off.
Oh, it also seems that if you want a lot of replies, all you need to do is be a complete ass or nut job.
Example:
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81564
Very annoying noobs seem to attract a lot of people because apparently a lot of people love to bash them or just find them entertaining. There aren't that many of these to be honest, but once you see one then there's no mistaking it.
Lesser skilled artists spend more time trying to improve and getting help than they do replying to people's threads, plus they don't feel confident that their input will be of any use anyway. They get more replies from pros because it's a lot easier to crit them, the errors are glaring and the comments don't need to be particularly detailed.
Average artists spend more time posting because their advice can also be helpful to lesser skilled artists, and they also are confident enough to comment on artists of greater ability in an attempt to both seem helpful and get the favour returned.
Decent artists seem to form "groups" and mostly comment on eachothers stuff and don't spend too much time with the lesser skilled.
The "elite" pros get flooded by praise from most artists and get comments like "let's make babies", along with a few crits here and there. A lot of replies also generate a lot of helpful workflow hints that helps people of all levels.
Obviously there are a few exceptions, so thank you exceptional people
Yeah I did that on purpose, I wanted you to see how I had altered it and make sure it was fine with you the way it was being presented
I would have just taken it down immediately if you hadn't approved and I figured no harm done for just a day of it being up
As for you yozora, you are very right
Either way this thread definitely did it for me, I have now gotten a ton of feedback on my glock and was told pretty much what I needed to hear and got some tips to help me out in the future.
Also thank you exceptional people!
Shit works!
Just wanted to quote this so it showed up again. Jack posted a great response here.
Like him I have also had the pleasure (from my moving all over the country and conventions) of meeting many fellow Polycounters and it is great to meet new members in person and establish relationships. This is a fantastic site that can really help you throughout your career in more ways than just critique.
So be patient. Just keep making bad ass art and you will start to get noticed and your stuff will stop slipping through the cracks.
How can you say that? I only got one reply and it was -
so immediately I upped the medium detail, smoothed out the branches, AND threw up my UDK scene as requested. I posted up the rework that I had done even and asked for a crit to see if that was better, I didn't get a single response, so what choice did I have beyond that but to continue my work? I've got to be honest here and say this really upsets me for you to say that when it's very very clear that I tried to apply the critique given and I don't see how you can say that I did not.
This graph is the bane of every WIP thread I've created. I've always said this was the problem, but now I have a handy graph to point to.
ConceptArt.org, which is very, very big by comparison, has a sort of social answer to this problem. Small groups of artists of like skill level, say 3-6 or so, tend to band together into little self-reinforcing groups. Now while this can lead a little bit into problems with the blind leading the blind--you are still going to need much more skilled people looking at your stuff, and giving your crits--but having other artists that you can rely on to get your threads moving a little (nobody likes a pimp thread with no responses) and bump them with a comment or two when they need bumping when you post a WIP with no responses... well the benefits should be clear.
So the answer is, I would stress, a social/networking one, combined with hard work and perserverance. Nothing worth having ever came easily.
So say realistic weaponry is your thing (They are by no means bad things to have in your portfolio; they often show your technical abilities as an asset builder). Just see if you can apply what it is you like about realistic weaponry to something that is more fantastical or out of the ordinary. Keep asking yourself, What is it about what Im making that will help me stand out from the thousand other artist making art on similar subject matter?
This isnt limited to weapons either. I say the same about characters and props.
Oh, and this goes back to the limited time thing, I recently posted a paint-over in this thread:
Hand Painting Obsidian Texture in Photoshop. NEED HELP
The reason it stood out to me is because of the title. He had an issue he needed help with. It was a focused issue and once in the thread he had examples of what he was trying to do. I tend to react to precise issues more than general what do you think? post.
- BoBo
Haha, nice Yozora, spot on!
I'm gearing up to starting a WIP thread for my big project. It's a medium to large environment and a big part of my degree, so obviously I want to fish for replies and crits! Here's what I've been thinking in the run up to it:
Lot's of begginner artists post something along the lines of a turbo smoothed primitive or a sketch they did themselves for concept art and get no replys. That's because there's nothing to reply to, and the thread is boring. Even if you have a blockout, if it isn't presented well, people will ignore if for being low content. So, I've been delaying posting my own thread until I blockout more props to give a better representation of how the finals will look.
If you post super late into a project, it will be hard to apply crits people give you. Advanced artists won't having this problem so much, as they tend to be able to revise things quickly and have less going wrong in the first place.
Post in threads! I never thought about schools of polycount before, but it's a nice idea! Personaly, I'f your a polycounter who's met me IRL, prepare for me to pm you requesting crits in the near future! :poly124:
I like the idea of there being a polycount 'class' of your level, unfortunately the other graduating student environment artists I would like to consider my peers, (Tea&Ciggs, PogoP, ScottHomer, Uly, etc.) all put me to shame! haha! I'll have to really bring it when I post! :poly142:
I saw your paint over BoBo and my jaw almost dropped when I did haha, it looked SO right to me, so smooth, very well executed. Then he really came close with his next pass on it, I was thoroughly impressed. As for the thread title I am wary of placing something like "NEED HELP" in caps, I feel it's kind of yelling at people and that it pushes people away. For my portfolio itself I am working on it, but have taken a break for this commission work, no room for the fantastical in here haha. My weather control environment is meant to be more fantastical in that you will be able to change the weather from summer/spring to winter and fall. With a cool entrance, maybe a nice fox of some sort, and a sci fi panel to control it all haha. Hopefully it will have that fantastical quality people are looking for.
Thanks for the advice!
Well, i was young, i gave up early on my art and got sad everytime i had to realize that noone bothers to share their 2 cents with me about my work.
I did hopp around of forums and i did try to go comment on other thread telling them what i like and what i think maybe could be changed. I slowly got attention, people appriciated my time and so they felt like showing it by giving me a small cheer-up on my thread.
Eitherway you're a hardworker doing one thing after another without bothering if you get reply's or not and only looking at critism, or you're someone who feels like he needs his art to be approved by others (the more the better).
Starting off with the first thing, never change your name. It honestly doesn't matter what nickname you got, it's just for them to remember you once in a while and be like "yeh i heard that name somewhere".
I see alot of names here and everywhere, i did had a small conversation with a few people, we did share most of the 2cents, but due to my inactivity i'm very sure people will now tell me "hey i remember you i think, not sure where i heard the name though".
I never saw Polycount as a noob-friendly forum i'll be honest. I was asking for comments/critism so many times (i'm very talkactive indeed) yet most of my threads ended up dying after my first or 2nd post. So i did move on to other forums and stayed where i got the most attention.
Rightnow i've been more into this all and I'm thinking about starting again on PC because i rather work my ass up and get those guy's attention so i get a feeling that pushing myself to get their attention will be worth it.
Those guys here are not a new-years school class where everyone gets to know eachother and start making friends. You're running into a long living community where people have their "groups" and are happy with what they have.
If someone actually will ready my whole post, thanks xD i didn't expect that haha
I read your whole post, but some of what you said seems to go against some of the biggest pimps here, I don't really consider myself a noob and I am not looking for approval, was just looking for someone to tell me problems with my pieces and now I have gotten a ton, honestly I would be fine with having this thread deleted because I have all the answers I need, but hopefully someone else will find it useful because there definitely are some great tips within here, thanks for taking the time to write all that up though
This isn't always the case but just how I feel things go down.
Edit: WHOOPS someone posted a graph that sums up exactly what I just said. Glad to know this isn't just my own opinion.
I see stuff like "this should be in the wiki". It's OUR wiki built by everyday members of the community (mostly Eric Chadwick), sign up, help the guy out, and add it.
"I don't get any replies!?"
How many times have you tried to help other people?
Even if you're not sure its the best answer, jump in and getting the conversation started. If you're unsure its a good answer try not to speak with authority on the subject, be real with where you are coming from. Even if you don't succeed in helping the person, they know you cared enough to post and that's good for your rep and its good for the community. That person might be more inclined to help you in the future. 2 way street remember.
People need to get over the idea that in order to help you must first be a god. Get over that, this is polycount dig in, have fun, help out, learn stuff. Be a full member of the community. Learning to give critique can be very helpful in developing you're critical artistic eye. Like art, it takes practice so don't be afraid to try.
If you just posted a question and you're waiting for an answer see if you can help 1-2 other people out. Even if you're not a user of the app in question knowledge often translates.
When you reply with an answer or critique don't feel stupid if someone comes along and posts a different method or something better. A little +1xp just popped up over your head, you learned and you helped. Next time you'll be in a position to offer better advice because of it.
"WHY doesn't anyone help me any more?"
Be courteous to to those you help, and to those that give you help. Give the people who help you, credit. Especially when you recite that same answer to someone else.
(There is a statute of limitations on this but its up to you to figure out when that is on a case by case basis).
This does 2 things:
- The person who originally helped you, probably is more likely to continue helping you and other people, if they are given credit for their answers and critiques.
- It builds up your rep as an honest decent human being in the eyes of everyone around you. As Jack pointed out people are more likely to help people they respect and have a positive connection to.
So instead of "oh boy people will think I'm so cool for answering this" think about where the answer came from and who else is reading your reply...General tips to help people:
Bookmark threads and name them logically. It also helps you spit out answers and increase your rep. While not looking like a dick "I dunno, did you google it, USE THE F'n search function idiot we already talked about this 4 months ago! JEESSH! pfft noobs!"
Long post short: Help and ye might be helped.
i'm pretty sure there's only a few that share the same opinion.
It's just how i have experienced the whole "how to get what you're seeking for" thing as a teenager.
Well stated, short answer to a long post but I mean really what else can i say to this haha.
Oh, well thank god I didn't get flamed! That would have been it for my stay at polycount...notttt - i love it here XD
and for the record since I am OP, i'm constantly attempting to help people out, i end up not working in favor of browsing and commenting