Self Critique of "Summer Project"

Remember “Summer Project”?

Unfortunately, I didn’t win. But I learned a lot. Figured I would document my reflection here.

What could I do better?

This is a hard question to ask post-project. I want to be able to say the project is perfect as-is and represents my artistic sense exactly. But that’s rarely the case.

Time may not be on your side. It wasn’t for me, with a newborn + holidays + maintaining add-ons. Maybe your artistic experience or experience specific to Blender is still limited.

That’s okay. Practicing your ability to critique will help you improve and know where you need to improve. A good artist doesn’t just know how to make good art, but how it can be better.

So, what would I change, if I had more time and focus?

• The truck should be more run-down. Maybe a rusty, run-down car paint.

• More scattered, high frequency details. More scraps, such as equipment laying around from past failed experiments.

• Despite all my optimizations (images for the trees, removing unseen geometry), I forgot about a single volumetric in the background. Visually it didn’t affect much, but by removing it, I would’ve cut down my overall render time by a half hour.

• Sparks flying, either from the truck or the background power lines (then again, if the truck alone is powering the invention, there would be no direct connection to the power grid 😝).

• More distortion and variation in the black hole’s shader. Break up its compositional lines a little.

• Add more interest in the foreground. The framing trees at the beginning helps, but it’s not really enough.

• I wanted to try Blender 4.0’s new Kuwahara filter and give this a painterly look. Unfortunately, this filter is super slow even on my PC. May need a later project to test it.

Why critique myself like this? It helps me understand my limitations - not only based on my circumstances, but also where I could improve. It sharpens my artistic tastes, even if my skills aren’t there yet.

What I Learned

While I certainly learned from my criticisms, let’s focus on goals I did achieve:

• Animation - I spent a lot of time getting the pacing right. There was no set time limit for the animation, so I had to balance render times with the feel of the render. I think I handled it well.

• Lighting - this render was a great test and showcase for Light Painter, and it helped me direct my scene more specifically. The minimal lighting made for an easier and effective composition.

• Storytelling - while I could’ve added more elements to the scene, the animation’s “story” was understood quickly by those I showed it to. The best first question after a reading a story is, “Did you understand it?” If the answer is no, every other criticism is a lesser priority.

Hope you have a happy New Year! Let me know what your Blender goals are this year. Maybe I have something to share that could help you.