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Leovenous · 21-11-2003, 03:30 AM

I know I am kind of a late entry here...

I wish I had my wesite updated with the flash revisions I am making so you would know me from Bob.

There is almost nothing in your wesite that impresses me. I like the fact that you have a well defined theme, and I think you should hold onto that.

Intro:

I like the fact that your preloader bar expands from the middle (just because it is different) but you need to put some little lines on each side or something to give the visitor a frame of reference as to how much progress is being made.... that is what the bar is for anyway. Also, if you stick with the center thing, dont center in on your text alignment. The artistic balance of your screen shifts in an odd way.

In a way I found the intro both fast paced and low paced and that generally confused me. I didnt even figure the story out until the alien was dead. How exactly to correct that, I dont know. I would probably take the approach of better animation mixed with no animation.

Images:

The quality of your images doesnt seem consistant. South Park gets away with what they do because it is consistant. If you mix vector and raster images a lot, you may need to dumb the raster images down or make some vecor images raster in order to achieve better consistancy. It is work, it requires thought and planning, and it is art.

Also, if you are going with a sci-fi look, I would strongly consider the 40's Sci-Fi artistic look, or something very modern, but no half-measures. That is just my art opinion... all this is.

Also, I would go for a smaller cinematic area. That should save some space and maybe allow you to put richer images in.

Sound:

I know this is a tricky one, but the sound does not seem to fit well with the visuals. If you or a friend has software that can kill "white noise" I would strongly reccomend doing that. Also, the soundbites tend to start and end abruptly (well, mostly it is the white noise doing this) so you might try to put really short fades on each side of all your sounds.

General:

I would reccomend you get some blank paper, draw a bunch of boxes, and storyboard the intro. If you cant sketch just keep it simple. Decide exactly how everything will flow. Asess your artistic resources... and your animation resources, and adjust your storyboard to fit inside of those abilities. If everything has to be simpler, but the delivery is more professional, then so be it.

If you want to do it professional, it must, must, must be professional looking. Think of the person that would spend money on your services. They look at your stuff and imagine how you would effect thier companies reputation. It is a hot candle to be held to, but its a fact.

Immerse yourself in 3D if you use it for art. Even if you don't inted on making anything fancy, think of it like wrestling... build up to build down.

Well...

I hope, I really hope this doesn't discourage you. I think if you take your time and really work it though, it could be great. Are you good enough to do subcontract work? Today, no. Tomorrow, maybe. It just depends on how much you are dedicated on attention to detail, proficiency, and customer service.

Thats my 98 cents.

You are welcome to dig into my profile and hit me up on messenger or IRC.

21-11-2003, 03:30 AM	#5
Leovenous Full Access Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oregon Posts: 367	I know I am kind of a late entry here... I wish I had my wesite updated with the flash revisions I am making so you would know me from Bob. There is almost nothing in your wesite that impresses me. I like the fact that you have a well defined theme, and I think you should hold onto that. Intro: I like the fact that your preloader bar expands from the middle (just because it is different) but you need to put some little lines on each side or something to give the visitor a frame of reference as to how much progress is being made.... that is what the bar is for anyway. Also, if you stick with the center thing, dont center in on your text alignment. The artistic balance of your screen shifts in an odd way. In a way I found the intro both fast paced and low paced and that generally confused me. I didnt even figure the story out until the alien was dead. How exactly to correct that, I dont know. I would probably take the approach of better animation mixed with no animation. Images: The quality of your images doesnt seem consistant. South Park gets away with what they do because it is consistant. If you mix vector and raster images a lot, you may need to dumb the raster images down or make some vecor images raster in order to achieve better consistancy. It is work, it requires thought and planning, and it is art. Also, if you are going with a sci-fi look, I would strongly consider the 40's Sci-Fi artistic look, or something very modern, but no half-measures. That is just my art opinion... all this is. Also, I would go for a smaller cinematic area. That should save some space and maybe allow you to put richer images in. Sound: I know this is a tricky one, but the sound does not seem to fit well with the visuals. If you or a friend has software that can kill "white noise" I would strongly reccomend doing that. Also, the soundbites tend to start and end abruptly (well, mostly it is the white noise doing this) so you might try to put really short fades on each side of all your sounds. General: I would reccomend you get some blank paper, draw a bunch of boxes, and storyboard the intro. If you cant sketch just keep it simple. Decide exactly how everything will flow. Asess your artistic resources... and your animation resources, and adjust your storyboard to fit inside of those abilities. If everything has to be simpler, but the delivery is more professional, then so be it. If you want to do it professional, it must, must, must be professional looking. Think of the person that would spend money on your services. They look at your stuff and imagine how you would effect thier companies reputation. It is a hot candle to be held to, but its a fact. Immerse yourself in 3D if you use it for art. Even if you don't inted on making anything fancy, think of it like wrestling... build up to build down. Well... I hope, I really hope this doesn't discourage you. I think if you take your time and really work it though, it could be great. Are you good enough to do subcontract work? Today, no. Tomorrow, maybe. It just depends on how much you are dedicated on attention to detail, proficiency, and customer service. Thats my 98 cents. You are welcome to dig into my profile and hit me up on messenger or IRC.