The Graphics Rating Thread [READ THE FIRST POST. D:<]

[evilcheese]

@gummy - Holy crud that is awsome man! i think colors need a little work. And the border is okish not really good but ok. Like Hazuki said text can make it look way better. But overall the bg is awsome it looks like you got better sonve the last time ive seen your work.

@fate. - cast banner - I don't really like this one for some reason. The lighting is good its the bg that isn't really interesting. Also a light border with a dark banner isn't a good combination either. Love the fairy banner though.

 

[Motsuko Live]

@ .fate: For me, the things that throws it "off" are those dots. They seem to spread out, and male me want to concentrate on the whole banner rather than a focal point, which makes my eyes skip right over the depth. If that makes nay sense. : /

Is that a lined paper texture I see? Or are those two lines to the right of her head just... random? Either way, they don't look good on this banner. I'd take 'em off.

The lighting is... alright. It seems to concentrated, though. Spread it out a little bit, and make the shadows a little lighter. Also, brighten up the background. I don't know what effect you were going for by having it so dark, but it would look alot better if it were lighter.

This banner seems to me like a different style than your other banners. It's a nice way to do it, but it could use a little work. 6.9/10? (Which isn't that horrible, but I know you're above that level).


@ evilcheese: Ew. Clipping masks FTL. Not saying you did a bad job on the Clip Mask, but I don't like them at all. At least, not when they're used in that style.

I think this banner looks a little bit too plain. Having a plain banner isn't bad, but the way you did the background doesn't really match. The background seems messy and almost grunge-ish, but the rest of the banner is just plain. Even the border is just a simple black line.

It's almost as if you tried to combine two completely different styles, which could work, but didn't on this banner. 5.5/10.

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SOTW entry. I'll probably have alot more versions to be critiqued, but I'll only post two for now;

V.1:

V.2:

Oh yeah, and credit to Lettersnnumbers for helping me with the text. Lawlz, it kinda doesn't make sense, but I like it.


EDIT: Hm : / The GRT isn't as popular as it used to be, I guess.
Might as well add another banner:

I haven't even added a border to this yet. I thought I'd try a different style. Anyway, what do ya think? Worth pursuing or no?
By the way, you don't need to rate the first two... just tell me which one you like better and briefly explain why.

 

[Gummy]

I wanted that chibi render

I choose V2 because of that dashed border like thing, never seen that before. And... that's really the only difference. XD Oh! And I love the text ;)

About the Iron Man banner... sorry Motsuko, but I really don't like it. I don't know if it's because I love your normal style or because it's unfinished, but it looks amateur-like. But you should probably get the opinion of someone else before choosing to continue the style or not. sorry.

~~~~~

My SOTW entry:

 

[Twinx]

@Motsuko, I love how your chibi banner is turning out. I'd choose v2 definitely.. Those dotted lines are very neat.. I do love it the way it is, but maybe the background still needs a little work? Texture maybe? At a first glance, it looks like a simple radial gradient.
I love that shade of green by the way.
Great job on the text too. Is that heart a brush? It blends quite well with the text.. I love it..

About the second banner.. is that a photo manipulation?
Anyway, it looks ok, maybe it should be less messy.. I don't know.
About what gummy said..yep your current style is awesome, but that shouldn't stop you from experiencing other styles. I say keep trying..

@Gummy, to be honest..this isn't one of your best..

Background: It's seems like you overused your textures.. It's quite messy and not so easy on the eyes.. I don't really think you should be using so many textures.. at least not this way.. And if that's just one texture, it's way too overcrowded

And there's so many colors, it doesn't really match the render very well..
I can say that I like the effect behind/ on the right of the banner, but the rest..well.. you know

Text:It also doesn't blend very well with the banner.. Sometimes it's best to keep text simple.
Right now, it looks sort of squeezed vertically and it's basicly taking all the attention in your banner..

Overall: The whole banner looks sort of flat, with no flow or depth just like most of my banners but if you're satisfied with it, keep it the way it is.. I personally think you should restart with this one, work on a simpler style, and try to maintain harmonious colors..


Good luck with the SOTW guys :3

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Might as well get something rated..
Yes, I know the text sucks, suggestions?

 

[Motsuko Live]

Reply to Twinx: Yeah, it does seem a bit too plain. But there is alot going on in there xD
I have a yellowish radial gradient over a greenish regular gradient, some motion blur, some smudging (which is that yellow-ish outer glow thing you see around her), and more that I don't feel like opening the PSD to see.
But I'll definitely try to fill it in more. Thanks!

 

[Twinx]

Never mind my earlier banner, please rate this photo manipulation.. I haven't done one of those in a while ^^

 

[evilcheese]

@Twinx - it has alot of white. I don't really like the BG. You should add more depth because your using a real person. It's bright too so there isn't relly much happening. Not very good but i do like the little tech designs those are pretty cool.

 

[YOOM-TAH]

Twinx - I think the lighting is decent. The background could use a little more contrast, and the whole thing could do with more foreground effects. Maybe move the render more toward the center, crop off a bit of height and width, add some effects in the foreground. Then ditch the tech stuff (they don't look good here, don't really match the style) and then move the text in closer to the render so it's not a focal in and of itself.

 

[Twinx]

Reply to YOOM-TAH: Thanks for the advice, very helpful.. Though I can't do much about the placement since it's a photo manip..

 

[Loki]

Man, I'm so sorry I haven't been around here lately. x_o I've added another graphic section to critique to my palette, so I haven't had much motivation to get up and do my rating business here. I will though, once this headache goes away. x_x And once I pick a time to visit when it's not this late!

A nice, massive rating spree to come, so please post any banners you want rated. :> Like, please, because there doesn't look like many banners I'm going to be able to add onto a massive rate as it is. xD;


And um... people told me that my style is kind of repetitive, so I tried something new. It's too crowded, I know.... And I'll be adding a border sometime as well. I'm just really tired right now. x_o

And the text is just because those crazy people are as text-obsessed as we all were border-obsessed a lot time ago. I slapped it on so that they won't complain. <_<

 

[Chihoko]

Loki: Wow amazing tag I eyes are goin crazy!!!! It has amazing composition and blending. It also has great lighting effects. But I dunno just in my taste it is a little to dark. So maybe add a brighting and contrast layer or something.

other than that I can find nothing I would change. It is composed so well it even kinda looks like a high tech city. I dunno thats just what it looks like in my opinion *shot*

I was wanderin If I could get youre MSN or AIM, I would love to talk to you about techniques I could use to make my graphics better. I really respect you're, Shiranui, ぱにぽに, and El Capitano's work. I'm currently trying to find all of their contact info.


Anyway, can someone rate the image in my signature? It is the first banner I have made since joining PC.

 

[Twinx]

Well.. first of all, you need to start saving your images as PNG instead of JPG..

Unless my eyes are deceiving me, the render seems to be choppy on the right, try blending to hide that..
The background seems to go well with the render, but it's a bit flat as it seems you blurred it altogether..
Something is bugging me with the light source, I can't really put my finger on it though..

Anyway, I hope someone else also rates this for.. I can really suck at rating sometimes..

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[Loki]

WARNING. THERE ARE VERY VERY FEW POSITIVE COMMENTS IN THIS RATE. <_<

Don't read it unless you've prepared yourself for a potential self-esteem flushed down the toilet by yours truly. x_x;;




I'll start with Gummy's Spiderman banner. ;D

Gummy: DO I SPY VENOM RAEPING SPIDERMAN?

I mean. <_< That's totally not what I thought of first. Unless that's Spiderman turning into Dark-Emo-Spider-man? Ahem. Anyway. Excellent effects here my friend, excellent effects. I love the light, and the kind of destroyed concrete feel of the thing on the right. It's a bit… empty, due to the colors being dark everywhere except on spiderman. Maybe you could incorporate a red effect c4d or something, to add to Spiderman's color palette. Border fits alright, it does its job without being too intrusive. Good job overall on this one, I like it. :>

Ragnarok Onliiiine. That is what I call a good chibi. >:D But. That pink is really painful. ^^;; The random vector brush on the super far left, super far away from the render, really makes me wonder where it came out of. x_x And then the textures don't really fit because they just don't blend with the High Wizard. If you're going to use textures, or things that look like textures, you kind of gotta make 'em fit with the render, too. And the right side looks like a completely different banner than the left. o.O So yeah… I really don't like this tag, even if it has my favorite MMORPG in it.

David: I already told you what I think of pretty much all the banners in this thread. x_x

Evilcheese: Ahhh, Sasuke. :/

Render-choice: Ehh. I won't harp you on this, but it's definitely not… <_<;; A very nice fanart.
Smudging: Good! 100%!
Making-use of the smudging: 0. You didn't erase Sasuke at all to take advantage of your smudge to make him blend, so he -[c]-
Blend: -[c]- Doesn't blend.
Text: Owch, I would suggest trying not to use those curly cursive fonts. :/
Text Decoration: Awesome. I love the red line thing. Matches with the background, matches with the text, matches in general.
Reflection: The lines on the reflection are too thick. There aren't any effects around it, which make it look kind of boxy and plain. Which isn't good. Also, the reflection itself is in color, which is weird. I would expect it to be grayscale or something, so that it doesn't deplete from the actual banner, but seeing as it's not…
Focal: Er… There isn't one. o_o
Lighting: The lighting is good though. You probably could burn a little to give some shadow, but otherwise I think it looks good.
Colors: You NAILED them. Unlike usual. xD; You nailed the colors, they're GREAT, they're AWESOME, and you should try incorporating multiple colors into your banners more often. :<

Motsuko Live: I um, hate chibi's 90% of the time, and that most certainly includes C.C., whom I dislike chibitized or not, so I'll skip that one. :/ Sorry. But I like the second version better, because the dotted line fits chibi-look really well. And because that's the only visible difference I can find. :B

Iron mannn. I kind of hate him too, after my stupid friend stole my Computer Arts Final concept with an Iron Man AMV. Stupid stupid stupid stupid. D:<

Anyway. xD Love what you did with the banner though, you pulled of a focal and off-focal really well. It's a little empty on the left, but… I guess it's not a big deal because it helps keep the focus on the right. The background is awesome, floaty little lights are awesome, and the light that comes from behind him is perfect. Basically, this is one of my favorites from you, but I think some sharpening is in order. ;<

Twinx: I'm sorry, but I will never look at a banner with Sho Minamimoto in it the same after I realized that Erica's set is on randomize. (LIKE, MY GOD. IT'S, LIKE, THE MOST AMAZING THING EVAR.) But… I dislike the colors. Why? Because there's three. Purple, white, and black. (And black isn't usually counted as a color anyway.) This one needs colorful lighting, colorful brushing, colorful textures, colorful anything, just… more colors. o_O It's really boring as is. And the text looks fine. Maybe if you lowered the opacity a bit, but text on vertical banners is usually impossible anyway. The background is a bit too blurry for the foreground. It doesn't match Sho, and it doesn't match the TWEwY style. ;< I don't really like this banner blend-wise, but since Sho is in it, I guess it rocks anyway. xD The blend is good though… for the most part. Kudos for that.

And then… oh god those tech brushes in the foreground of your stock manip. x_x Definitely need to get cranked down on opacity. (Or just disappear altogether. Either works. A clipping mask would effectively blend them in too.) The text is… okay. I think you used too much canvas space for too little focal. And then the sharp-blurry contrast between the background and foreground really clash too. It doesn't blend, makes it look really really pasted on… and there's no incentive for me to be biased with this one, unlike the Sho banner. :/ I don't like this tag either.

BUUTTT, don't be discouraged by my harshness, because your latest banner kicks the bucket out of the water. (Although Sho is still cooler than the render you chose any day.) On your beauty banner, you got the colors, you….. well, there's no visible effort of blend, but since the colors match, it kind of works out. The background is good, the focal isn't too great, but that's easily fixed with a little radial gradient. In general, the Beauty banner is my favorite, but I'm torn between this one and the Sho banner. Because the blend on the Sho banner is excellent compared to the other two. In general, I'm pretty sure these last two banners have… not, been anywhere near your best. :<


Made it brighter~ I like the darker version better though. :/

Harharhar, for a Word Art WSAC

 

[Nell]

BELLOKIUXENOCRATUSMAXIMUS-CHAN! 8DD:
Whoever told you your style is repetitive is wrong. End of story.
But I do like that new banner of yours, but I think you need to give his face a bit more breathing space XD, and there's also the issue of focus/contrast, since the render is slightly blurred/soft, while your effects are sharp, and focused, it creates a bit of chaos that isn't exactly depth D:

As for the word art, I like it! Especially your choice of fonts. Although, it would be GAWDLY if you managed to replicate some torn paper effects or, soiled/dirtied paper effects. <3

I'm in a really unproductive mood, so I just decided to toy/experiment with another existing banner of mine. The outcome:

 

[evilcheese]

@Loki - Thanks for noticing the colors ^^

I think the problm with the stock is the hiar since it covers the eyes and it doesn't really have a good texture. Because the hair covers the eyes i think you should grab a red soft brush, brush over the eyes and set that on overlay. That will make the stock stand out a little more.

@Tinkerbell - I like this one. The effects are awsome. And colors are nice too. The text decoration thing, the bar I don't think green fits in you should continue to use warm colors there. The render is awkwerdly placed but thats not a problem because there's nothing on the right side so it should be easier to crop.

 

[Loki]

Wow this place is deeeeaaad.

Jay, I think I already rated that, and I don't remember what it looked like before. D: But like I said last time, the rendering job on her hair is so funny-lookin. :B Effects are beastly, as always, though~ <3

Whoo-hoo, tutorials by Shiranui!

 

[YOOM-TAH]

Loki - The sig is too small and confined. Because of that, you have way too much stuff in there and it's really really chaotic. Also, all the effects cover up the focal so much that all that's left is the head. This creates what is known in the graphics world as "FHS" or "Floating Head Syndrome". It isn't good. It's as it reads--looks like a disembodied head, and as such it is very creepy. Get some shoulders in there. Other than that just work on a wider canvas so that all those effects you can have can spread out and not be so random/chaotic.

 

[Hazuki]

Loki: Hmm I like it, it's a neat style... I really don't know what else to say. xD
Um maybe it needs text? I really don't know, it's looks really good just like that. ^^

Made for Starway

 

[parallelzero]

@Loki: I don't really see, at all, where FHS could come into play. Where his shoulders are is clear, and if you paid attention to the focal you could see a hand resting right under it. I think it looks fine.

@Hazuki: There are two minor problems I see her. The first is the focal. The lighting by the neck first takes my eyes up there, but there's also a spot of light on her chest which draws my eyes there. The next is the text. I think using a different colour might help it stand out a bit, since as of right now I can barely notice it's presence. But overall, it's a cute banner.

 

[Twinx]

Loki, I agree with YOOM-TAH about the canvas size.. Your sigs tend to look a bit squeezed-in because of the size.
About the FHS, I personally don't think it's a problem. It looks fine to me.
It flows very well by the way. Try blurring it a bit around the render to achieve depth.

When I first saw Macy's tut, I wasn't sure whether I should try it or not. But now that I saw your outcome, I know I have to try it :3

Hazuki, I know you love your dashed borders, but sometimes normal borders look much better. For example, in this banner, the bright-colored dashed border is taking away the focus of the whole signature. It's very distracting..

The colors are very nice, you're very talented in that department. Could use more contrast maybe?

The background, umm, not much going on here. I'm looking really close and I can something nice in the top right, but that's all. Hazuki, you taught me how to use textures, using them here might be a good idea :3

Good job on the foreground effects, they are cool.

Try decreasing the "leading" for the text. That should fix the problem with the amount of vertical space between "Dream" and "On"


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Another attempt at photo manipulation.

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Trying a new style, should I try to improve it, or dump it?

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