jon

two things will help your blade: 1) i've never seen a sword with a dead flat bade. there's at least a ridge or grove, and occasionaly evil glowing runes that suck the life force from it's tormented victims, leaving them a hollow husk of a thing, succeptible to your will, unless they make their saving throw. 2) environment maps make things look reflective, otherwise it's just reflecting the void of your empty choreography. -jon

i realize she's a bot, but you might consider fading those tattoos a bit. it'd be more realistic, and they'd be less of an eye-draw. right now, the eyes and the breasts are neck-and-neck for initial eye placement, due to the heavy black surrounding them both. unless thats what you're going for. ' ' ) -jon a few posts back: was that our first case of unadulterated forum spam? how exciting!

it appears he has been doing some serious breast research, as the overall breast shape is actually quite good. the model is wearing an invisible pushup bra, but i imagine the character will be clothed, so no problem there. the breast splinage does needs some smoothing, however. now, a few non-breast related observations: i'm kinda creeped out by the 20 year old body and the 5 year old head. even in anime, the eyes would be a good deal smaller for an adult woman. she has a nice body overall, so no complaints there. -jon

there isn't one that i'm aware of, although i think there was recently a meeting in pennsylvania. there are at least a few other active members from the dc area, but i'm not sure how well we'd get along. ' ' ) -jon

what does the final render look like? quickrenders can be deceiving. -jon

i don't know if it's 100% accurate, but it sure looks good! -jon

his head does seem to flatten out a little abruptly. could that be his hairstyle? -jon

i'm late to the party, but for me the two elements are unconnected, even with the traling wire. even though this will be a cd cover, i would take a more iconic approach to the layout, even if the detail remains high. by this i mean, both elements should be equally recognizable at a distance. would it be distasteful to integrate the microphone into the cross, combining both into a single item? that is, give the microphone a more retangular outline, and add the crossbar element to it.. thereby creating a cross? if that's too much, how about arranging the microphone directly in front of the vertical element of the cross, so that the cross completely encompasses the mic? just ideas... -jon

good work! the first thing that strikes me here is the lack of contrast overall... but since she's playing with the dead, maybe it's supposed to be a little gloomy ' ' ) -jon

looks much better! the 'tell' for me is the white metal.. it still looks like plastic. especially the business end of the barrell. i'd throw in an environment map, but there may be easier solutions. -jon

chad, your modeling looks top notch, but between the low lighting and the snow, it's difficult to see the detail. if you are striving for the level of photorealism you achieved with the bullet, then consider more light and texture for the pistols. great start! -jon

the current official place for tutes is http://www.lowrestv.com/arm/ the forum would be a good place to let the community know about a tute, but it's not really a good place to keep zip files. wink sounds an awful like techstudio's camtasia. if i'm not mistaken, thats how hash makes their video tutes. but as long as it creates an easily viewable movie, then it sounds like a great option! -jon

noo.... as you can clearly see from his profile, mr mm is quite dead. thinggo is much more coherent! -jon

well, i see two separate issues: 1) he's ugly ' ' ) -- this is an aesthetics issue, and is quite possibly your intent. 2) there are some visible spline issues in the cheeks and eye sockets that need to be smoothed. overall, a very good first head! -jon

i think the basic problem is that people are hardwired to expect atmosphereic haze to give distance clues... not really an option for a realistic space pic. otherwise, i'd suggest more nurnies, and or some other escort vessel that's more easy to visually scale with a human, or other recognizable object. its still a great image! -jon

its an awesome piece! two things: i'm a big tight crop advocate, so i'd like to see them fill the frame more second: what are they looking at? ' ' ) -jon

that looks more 'bearish' to me, but now the hips strike me as too wide. ' ' ) this is the problem when you mess with reality. in the end you just need to find your own style. keep up the good work! -jon

its not a "rule"... but the request to remove all identifying marks on the image should give you the idea that entries are supposed to be anonymous. can you think of another reason for the request? it's not a huge issue, and in most cases -- as i said -- it hurts the entry, not helps it. -jon

even accounting for the young age of the bear, i would expect it to be more bulky, and have a significantly wider shoulder base and torso. but that's an actual bear, so don't let that get in the way of style. -jon

since i haven't seen anyone mention it, i'll just say it's poor form to post a contest image before the voting results, and it will also most likely hurt your final standing. you give up the 'wow' effect. i will agree with the mob here and say that the image is too dark overall. since folks are always telling me my images are too dark, i think that adds a little extra weight ' ' ) i'm also sure that you can find a more dramatic camera angle to better communicate the power and horror of your character. my suggestion would be to get lower and closer with the camera. good luck! -jon

she might just place as is! just call it 'swan dive' ' ' ) excellent work, let us know when you're happy with her! -jon

i think the move toward simplicity is a good one. i like the latest cards best of all, but i think you can strengthen them further with more streamlining. there's a rule for packing when going camping. if you're not sure you need it, leave it out. ultimately, this card is a representation of you, so feel free to disregard all of this advice if you'd rather do somthing else. ' ' ) -jon

i have to say that there are still too many horizontal and vertical lines, as well as too many bevels upon bevels and dropshadows on dropwshadows. the data you're trying to convey is very hard to pull out. allcaps may in theory increase readability, but here it just serves to turn your name into a design element. sounds like a good result, but it's not. sorry about being so negative, but these are issues you'll be pleased you fixed before printing a thousand cards. -jon just noticed the lack of a physical address: another hit on the professional effect of the card.

my rant, back by popular demand: i just told a friend of mine last night you can chop a naked woman to bits and americans won't flinch, but show 'em a pecker and they scream! as for god, i don't believe in such a thing, and here's why: what kind of all knowing creature would build such an elaborate ant farm, then sit back and watch the little bastards rip each other's legs off... then for extra amusement, trash random areas of his project just to see what happens? if i'm wrong, and i find myself standing before a big charleton heston guy going over my life's transgressions in a big white hall, i only hope i get the chance to kick the sadistic bastard in the ass before he drags me to hell. happy friday! -jon can we delete this thread yet?

rant removed as long as thread stays dead. happy friday! -jon