for my first post on this forum, i would like to show you one of my latest work. This was created using original design from Olivier Ledroit for Heroes of Might and Magic artwork.
I hope you'll like it and all comments are welcome !
You would do ur work justice if u rendered it with clear and soft lighting. Your texture style includes so many highlights, shapes and overlayed shapes as it is, your light setup only conflicts it. Less will be more.
ok Shotgun, thanks
well i've only put backlights, he's not that changed compared to the original flat render since i tried both with and without lights
Personal taste I guess, but I find this way to busy. I would pull back on some of the intense value contrasts and choose a focal area, like the face fx.
If u look at the different areas of the model, each is rendered independently. There isn't an overall gradient (as jgcount here suggests) and then each area has several light sources on itself.
Take the little green gems on his pedestal, for instance. Its got highlights on the side (top left light source) but then the metal surrounding it gets rendered from the top. Same can be said about many, pretty much all areas of the model. The multiplicity of lights sources intersected with so many shapes (tatoo etc) is overwhelming as it is without needing 2 *additional light sources. It just doesn't work
U like to make pretty stuff and that's cool, but u need to learn when to stop and look at the bigger picture.
hey cool stuff i think the texture is pretty awesome, and i really dig the design too. maybe a little busy, but the design of the hair is so good ill forgive that, my real crit would be that it is on a 2048. that is a ginormous map for anything diffuse only. i think you could do this with a 1024 and not lose much of the detail at all.
yeah ok I see what you mean, I understand, there is a flat render so you can judge only texture without getting disturbed by lights. It's really busy i know but that's Ledroit's style ^^ i personally love it but i know many people hates because of that. Same for colors, since it's designed like that i don't wanna change it.
Anyway thanks for all your comments, really helpful
This does look better, it let's ur work shine thru. If u post ur next model in-progress we can help u make it work even better in flat-shaded mode without being too busy. There are ways
More importantly, I looked up Ledroit and saw the specific concept for this piece (worth posting, not everybody knows him) and it does shed some light on what u were going for. By keeping his values and colors tighter he manages to drive the eye thru the piece without losing it in the myriad of patterns and what nots. U did a really good job following the concept nonetheless.
ok i might remake the renders if you all think he looks better like this. When you spend lots of time working on something, you're finally not even objective anymore.
And there is original concept. I didn't want to show it at first because i didn't want critics to be influenced
The texture work is really good! My only crit is that in the presentation renders, there's not enough contrast to make the model pop! Everything is so neutral in tone that the arms / legs / weapons etc don't stand out from the body at all, and the choice of your background colours makes everything just fade in with one another. Add a bit more dynamic lighting / contrast to it, and it should look stellar.
This is sweet! Really stuck to the concept and nailed it!
On the texture, overall it may be a little too "dodge and burn" across a lot of the shapes. Similar to what shotgun was mentioning, it makes the entire texture a little confusing and muddy due to so many sources of light.
Your light and shadows are pretty one dimensional, and very heavy handed. For your next piece, I suggest trying to push a little more subtlety into the texture and not be as heavy handed with the darks and brights. They are important elements, but i think you could pull back on them a bit and use highlight and shadow where appropriate to get a greater effect.
Replies
@ ErichWK yeah this silhouette is part of the design, he has even larger shoulders on the original concept, i had to shrink them a bit.
well i've only put backlights, he's not that changed compared to the original flat render since i tried both with and without lights
Take the little green gems on his pedestal, for instance. Its got highlights on the side (top left light source) but then the metal surrounding it gets rendered from the top. Same can be said about many, pretty much all areas of the model. The multiplicity of lights sources intersected with so many shapes (tatoo etc) is overwhelming as it is without needing 2 *additional light sources. It just doesn't work
U like to make pretty stuff and that's cool, but u need to learn when to stop and look at the bigger picture.
Anyway thanks for all your comments, really helpful
More importantly, I looked up Ledroit and saw the specific concept for this piece (worth posting, not everybody knows him) and it does shed some light on what u were going for. By keeping his values and colors tighter he manages to drive the eye thru the piece without losing it in the myriad of patterns and what nots. U did a really good job following the concept nonetheless.
Keep on!
And there is original concept. I didn't want to show it at first because i didn't want critics to be influenced
On the texture, overall it may be a little too "dodge and burn" across a lot of the shapes. Similar to what shotgun was mentioning, it makes the entire texture a little confusing and muddy due to so many sources of light.
Your light and shadows are pretty one dimensional, and very heavy handed. For your next piece, I suggest trying to push a little more subtlety into the texture and not be as heavy handed with the darks and brights. They are important elements, but i think you could pull back on them a bit and use highlight and shadow where appropriate to get a greater effect.
awesome stuff!