Mech, seeking a critique :)

[Jaik]

Hey so I just finished my 3 week study of mechs etc as it was a weak point of mine, and this is what I came up with.. Its really the first lot of mechs I have done and just wondering if I could get some crits on it. Thanks in advance :)

[DarioJ.]

Hey Jaik.

At first glance I can see three things that are bothering me. First, the shadows. I can see that your light is coming from the upper left corner but I can't see any shadows on the model itself. It's like light sources are all over the place but shadow on the floor indicates that the light source is upper left. Also, shadow from the model is totally off. I can just see big grey stain beneath the model.
Next, I see this mech is for military purposes. But then why is driver totally unprotected? And lastly, perspective of left leg is off. See around the second joint.

That's it. Hope this helps. Cheers.

[AdamMiconi]

DarioJ covered most of the elements that I was going to mention. The shadows are really whats hurting this a lot. The light source is indicating a very strong light but the shadows on the mech don't represent how strong that light source is which is making it very flat. There are also a few strange lighting issues in the shadow side. For instance. The left legs of the mech are being represented in the light but they should be in the shadows themselves. Only the tops of the legs would be getting light from how it's positioned.

Now that we've beat the shadow issue down a bit more the other thing is the complexity of the mech. It's much too simple. I've got a few samples of machinery on my site here if you want to take a look. They are all royalty free images I took, use them as you wish. My point though, look at the joint hinge on the mech, it would be held on with one small bolt? Here is a small tractors hinge: clickie! The tractor seems much more durable for battle than the ball with one bolt.

Your design is good though. It does seem like something that could possibly exist. I think if you go back in and update some of those issues you will have a very strong piece in the end. Make sure you reference large guns, machinery, and armor and get a little of all that in. Remember to make the mechs world our world and we will believe it. Good start, I'd like to see the changes if you make them!

[Jaik]

Wow! thats great, you are totally right! I really have to watch my perspective and my values and try and push the contrast between light and shadow to give more of a definite light source. Shadows for complex shapes are a bit of a hassle for me.
As for the protection side of it, I was thinking in terms of game design and that these would be the weaker sort of infantry and quite easy to kill.. But I'm still not sure how to communicate that better :S

Still, thanks for taking the time to crit this, I really appreciate it :)

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Didnt refresh before I posted that, so I didnt see your comment AdamMiconi.

Haha and here I was thinking that it was complex >.< Thanks for the links, Really good images there. I will definitely use them.

I think my problem with the shadow was because I added it as an afterthought, instead of planning it through the whole way, which I should have done. I'll go back through and fix up some of those big issues like you said. I also think I really need to build up my visual library some more and then try it again.

Thanks for pointing this stuff out to me, I now know where to go from here :) Much appreciated!

[AdamMiconi]

Wow! thats great, you are totally right! I really have to watch my perspective and my values and try and push the contrast between light and shadow to give more of a definite light source. Shadows for complex shapes are a bit of a hassle for me.
As for the protection side of it, I was thinking in terms of game design and that these would be the weaker sort of infantry and quite easy to kill.. But I'm still not sure how to communicate that better :S

Still, thanks for taking the time to crit this, I really appreciate it :)

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Didnt refresh before I posted that, so I didnt see your comment AdamMiconi.

Haha and here I was thinking that it was complex >.< Thanks for the links, Really good images there. I will definitely use them.

I think my problem with the shadow was because I added it as an afterthought, instead of planning it through the whole way, which I should have done. I'll go back through and fix up some of those big issues like you said. I also think I really need to build up my visual library some more and then try it again.

Thanks for pointing this stuff out to me, I now know where to go from here :) Much appreciated!

Glad it helps out! Can't wait to see what you do with it.

[DarioJ.]

About weaker mech warrior for the game. My issue with this is that kind of mech in real life would be really expensive to produce and manufacture and to throw it just like that into combat to be destroyed would be waste of resources and life of the man who drives it. So, no man in real state of mind would be crazy enough to sit in it and fight. What I can suggest is that you make the mech smaller and more compact, and if you really want for driver to be unproteced make him a slave of some kind. For me, that would make whole model all more believable. Just one of many ideas.

Keep it up.