Alrighty dudes, I updated the image. If it doesn't say -r2 in the credits, try reloading the image. (I overwrote the old one because I sent a couple of emails out...) You can see the original here:
http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/re...inished-r1.jpg
I just wanted to say that I got GREAT feedback from everywhere I posted this. I made a list of all the criticisms and addressed them. (If I missed one, please feel free to remind me. )
- Anti-aliasing refined a bit. Unfortunately, there's still a little bit at the knuckle of one of the claws. I think that's a result of the new lighting. I'll re-investigate that when I go to do the demo-reel animation.
- The lighting is a little more dramatic. I didn't want to go overboard here because I want the camera to be able to fly around the rig without having to do too much tweaking for each scene.
- Added a subtle diffuse glow in order to improve atmosphere of the imagery.
- I've been asked a couple of times to make the cannon look more 'worn'. The reason I havent' done this is that it's a brand-new prototype. (Sorry, I didn't mention that before!) I wanted it to look a lot like some of the machinery I saw while researching particle accelerators etc.
- Hazard stickers have been refined. I also fixed the back, but you can't see that in this render. I had a problem with them on the other end. Well, no more. I've grown a lot in the UV space in the last couple of months.
- Shadow map resolution's been improved for the reddish 'malibu lights' at the bottom. (Sadly, I think I introduced a small problem here. Will reinvestigate soon.)
- It was mentioned to me that there were too many warning signs at the bottom. In the original design, those signs were meant to be there so that if somebody was standing at the guard rail, they'd see the warning that they should stand back. However, it cluttered things a bit so I removed 4 of them.
- The warning signs haven't changed. The reason for this is that they're supposed to look like a light up LED based sign. I think that'll look more apparent when you see an animation of it. (There will probably be some refinement of them when I get there, however..)
- I brightened the flares on the end of each particle emitter a bit. I wasn't quite happy with the way they originally came out.
- Fixed a mesh error at the tip of each 'claw'. I think it's a little hard to tell from this angle, but there was definitely some nastiness there. I'm kicking myself for not fixing it sooner.
- Slightly altered the camera angle.
*whew* Big update heh.
Thanks dudes, I *really* appreciate the feedback, it's been very helpful. More ideas? Throw them at me!