Cyberplex

http://img207.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0271rs8.jpg
http://gallery.mudpuddle.co.nz/albums/kansas15/0271_G.thumb.jpg
Another one of my abstract style works.

The mainstay of this piece has heavy use of a version of the volumetric texture technique described in a Blender test forum thread. Effect is also somewhat enhanced using the compositor.

UV mapped planes spun in a circle with a blend texture used for the beams in the tubes. Tried halos but they rendered behind the tubes instead of looking like it’s in it.

You were on a roll, too…

This is really a step back from your previous works such as “Top of the Tower” and “The Life on N. Thames St.” The colors, in my opinion, don’t look good together for some reason. I like the background though; it’s interesting.

Interesting is a great word, maybe the only word for it… :eyebrowlift2:

Maybe you could put something in this scene?

I like the circuits mapped, but who am I, according to the voting from the community, it’s “terrible”. just to point out this silly voting system.

Jacco;

you know, i don’t think it is that bad. actually i really like the warm colors and that fluffy look of the tubes. these flying blue points (or whatever that is) are nice. however, the background ruins it a bit. if the green numbers were smaller it could be better. well, i must admit, you have a very unique style. i don’t want to resart that annoying art discussion. but one of the main characteristics of your work is that in most of your pieces are parts that really look great (lookíng again at those tubes i do infact love them and their colors) and these parts are then put into a piece with an unfinished look, so that you think: why didn’t he put it into a better scene instead of leaving that good start and call it abstract or something. if those blueish tubes were the focus of a piece where all parts are well modelled and textured, than it could be really good. it’s the same with the many texture tests images that you call finished. but perhaps in a few months or years you start to model and build larger scenes with more effort on one piece, and than you will definitly be the super-hero of SciFi-texturing…:yes:
well, that has all already been said before by blackboe, andyD and all the others, but i just wanted to join the choir of people singing: “CD you could be far better if you just wouldn’t stop working as soon as one part of the scene starts to look good.” most of these images could earn 4 or 5 stars in blendertest/texture-test thread. but as a finished “project”…
okay, nice colors and textures, so 3 stars.

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I do notice something on this forum. Over the course I’ve seen the voting system 4 to 5 stars for an abstract work is almost non-existant. I’m starting to think most of the community rate abstract style works low by default no matter how good they look. (or I think it looks good)

that’s not really true. i don’t care if abstract or not. of course 3d-art usually is either trying to be photoreal or cartoonish in most cases. so from that point of view it is, as i mentioned before, unique and sort of courageous for doing abstract art with a 3d-program. and perhaps you noticed that many of your works got good comments - on textures, ambient for example. but many of your works claim to be “something”. they are something in between abstract and figurative and that’s what makes them look unfinished. 3d is about 3 dimensions. abstract art is about thoughts, concepts and composition, and they tend to be non-dimensional or even multi-dimensional - as you like. the whole 3d concept started to mimic reality. to use 3d to express thoughts and abstract ideas is a very interesting concept. but nevertheless it needs hard work, deep thoughts, artistical skill (and you do have that) and patience. artists like mondrian, picasso, pollock and so on needed years to develop their kind of art. so one could guess that you, posting “finished projects” almost everey day, do not really try to express something or work out a whole new 3d-art-concept or even think twice before posting something, and that leads to the thought that your piecs are somehow arbitraliy, and that leads to - low ratings. but the fact that this whole community discusses your work and your development should rather show you that there is no indifference for your work (OMG my english is really not that good…) and that everybody would be more than glad if you started to really WORK on something and…
oh well, writing that i realise that i read that kind of stuff before in other threads, so i rather stop parroting. okay, i hope you get what i mean. i don’t think you’re a bad artist - i think you are satisfied too fast with your (really not bad) results AND misunderstanding the whole concept of criticism, thinking and improvement.
i should not write so much…
regards

I’m going to be blunt, sorry. But in order to get 5 stars for an abstract it has to be a worked on abstract… not like this.

i like it alot especially the shiny binary on the walls

I echo StulliDPB’s comment. I’d like to add that the ratings are irrelevant. Personally, i find the whole notion of a 5 star rating system on a forum of this type to be extremely detrimental to the environment. It’s a highly objective idea. A 5 star rating here could get a 1 star rating elsewhere. It doesn’t necessarily mean the work is worth 5 or 1 or 0 or whatever number of stars. I wouldn’t pay much attention to it, as it can corrupt your ego and give you a false sense of your own abilities, both positive and negative.

But that’s just my opinion. As for the piece, i don’t really dig on abstract stuff and i rarely find that i am able to ‘get’ the meaning behind it. I have no real critiques for this sort of thing.

If by ‘abstract style’ you mean ‘amalgamations of rehashed feature tests with names attached to them’, and by ‘works’ you mean ‘your pictures’, then yes. On the other hand, a lot of RobertT and Free_Ality’s stuff is received very well, and abstract doesn’t even begin to describe some of it.

Ok… the only thing you are missing is some blockyness on those zeros in the background. And yes, I can tell it is the default Blender font…

And how can this not be worked on?

I can tell you this I did spend more then 5 minutes on this and I simply put in what would look good and add to the image. You could say if I’m not good at any abstract work then I shouldn’t do it but then again I turned quite a few heads when I posted my The artist disturbed piece. (I admit it was my fault it got deleted)

if the forum admins were to remove the star rating system for threads, what would your motivation be to continue posting?

@Cyborg Dragon, on the point of abstracts:

Alright. While I agree that it is generally harder to get good reviews about abstract art(I have failed completely to get a five star rating, though that may be an issue with my skill level :slight_smile: ) Abstract art needs to have a point.
And no, an idea is not a point. While they can be the inspiration of an image, they are not a point.
This image, like a lot of similar ones youve done in the past, Fails to have a point. Visually, its interesting, but pointless.
Id like to say, this is very interesting for me to look at, but it doesnt reach far, because I have nothing to focus on. Abstract is not an excuse to have just a bunch of colors /models placed randomly, and the way you pass of a lot of such images that way is sad,

Ive been on your side thus far, but you are now just trying to pass of such works as ‘abstract’, and its putting a mark on the genre around here.

 RobertT recently posted an image called <b>"A Fish out of Water, Out of a Fish"</b> or some such thing, and it would be called abstract. It took a phrase, and played with it visually. What he came up with was an amusing, and visually captivating piece.

Major Points that Made it Succesful:
1 It used a common known phrase, making it more personal with most viewers.
2 It had an amusement factor, which is always enjoyed
3 It was slightly off-kilter, not quite normal, and therefore an abstract take on that old phrase
4 It had beautiful lighting and textures, and great composition.
5 It had a point. The in-focus Fish(thus creating a focus) that were backed up by the name, reinforcing the focus of the image.

Thats what makes a successful piece in general.

It became abstract when he took the Phrase “A Fish out of Water”, and twisted it a bit. Thats about it. It doesnt have to be inconsistant and random to be abstract.

I made an image a while ago called “Chairscape”. It took the basic idea of Chairs, and I created a tiny world out of them. Thats abstract. It wasnt random, the chairs were obviously the focus. The name backed it up. It was pretty successful.

One last thing(that RobertT does, and I guess I do as well, not compare us).

You may want to try spreading out a bit, and trying some other genres. Its fie to be known for one particular style, but if most of your images arent recieved well(and they happen to be in one genre), maybe its time to try something else.
People responded well when you started your more architectural models, but they have stayed at a similar level to eachother.

Its always good to surprise people by doing something new.

Just make sure you do it well.

Peace man, and good luck.

I made an image a while ago called “Chairscape”. It took the basic idea of Chairs, and I created a tiny world out of them. Thats abstract. It wasnt random, the chairs were obviously the focus. The name backed it up. It was pretty successful.

if your image had chairs in it, wouldn’t that make it representational as opposed to abstract?

http://blenderartists.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=28

@Troutmask: No, because I simply began with chairs. Then, I took them, and created shapes and buildings, and waves with them.
So, I think that would be considered abstract.

Yeah, seriously. It was friggin’ wild.