333478 said:

I built a house to test my skills today, and I think I did pretty well !
However, I would like some feedback anyway, just to be sure. If you can't find anything wrong with it, it's ok.
(Imgur won't work on my PC, sorry)
http://i58.tinypic.com/21jc9qp.png
http://i57.tinypic.com/1zdy7nb.png
http://i62.tinypic.com/etwex1.png

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I appreciate a good joke but I want to keep this thread for it's right purpose. And ask help on the right forums for the imgur thing, it's really useful for artist apps and to manage a lot of pics of builds.
But guys, PLEASE keep this on topic.

Luckylarv said:

White towers of elostirion (warp lucky1 (gondor RP) )
Chamber of Mazarbal (warp lucky2 (eriador RP))
forest gate (warp lucky3 (eriador RP))
fords of isen (warp lucky5 (eriador RP))

and 2 themes that i unfortunatley couldnt finish but did spend alot of time on especially the latter
pelagir (warp lucky4 (gondor RP))
Dol Amroth (warp lucky6 (gondor RP))

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First off, a couple of things on the app itself:

Like wod said, be hesitant with using different lighting for your builds. I would say, don't do it UNLESS you want to showcase a particular atmosphere but even then only take 1 picture and try to take the same exact picture during daytime.
Another thing is to make sure you have a clear overview of what your theme build is. On your elostirion build, I was a bit confused what the with pillars where in front of the build untill I realised it was the plot across from yours. Just fly up and take pics looking down and in extreme cases, ask a staff member to copy your build to a more remote location so you can take pics and afterwards DELETE your build again.
Another thing to do is try to minimise your amount of pictures a bit on some of your albums. 85 pictures is a bit too much and I noticed that 1 picture is actually twice in the album. I would say try to do a front, a back, a topview, and then some interior/close-ups of what you want to highlight. There isn't a set number and you can choose how much you want to add but try to keep it less than 20 (or even 10). More than that won't really do anything extra and staff will tend to just skip some pictures anyway (most of us do have a life).

If you have several non-finished builds, then just ask a staff member to copy them somewhere else and try to finish them anyway. It's not that you aren't allowed to build anymore nowadays after the new theme is released. If you can build good, then more time will make the build more epic, if you can build shitty, more time will just make the build the same shitty thing.
Make sure you do ask them to copy the theme outside of the lots since it would otherwise cause confusion.

Another thing you might want to do, is starting with some optional stuff and add those to your list. Maybe there's a personal project you have or a build on the main server you did on a job that you want to highlight. The only requirement is that the build has to be made by you entirely. If that's not the case than try to add what you made in the details or in the app itself. It's a great way of showing what you can do with unlimited space and time those optional builds.

Before I take my time to write a feedback, go back to your theme builds and retake your pictures in full bright. Like I said before, some builds need more pics than others but no more than 20 pictures each. 20 pictures should be enough to get you artist.

Luckylarv said:

okay ill take some new screens now. I admit i went a bit overboard on elostirion, i also came close in a build comp for haudh en gwaunh (i think that's how you spell it) but unfortunately the warp to the contest location is no longer available and i didnt take any screens :/

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Lesson number one: always take screenies

ThijsdeBruin said:

Can anyone give me feedback for my builds?
http://thijsdebruin.imgur.com/

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This is a perfect example of a good link you can give with all the minecraft stuff you have done. Everyone that wants to know how something needs to be uploaded, this is it.

BUT, make sure you note what the pics for the artist app are, and which ones aren't. Cause that's hella confusing.

A thing about putting in solo builds and using houses from projects.

-If the build has a tutorial on how to make it, the staff will not value it that much as a build. For example, imagine you have built a good dol amroth house. You want to add that to your artist app. That's a good thing to do but try to add at least 3 builds with it to show you can build original stuff.

- If you haven't done something that's only made by you, make sure you put some info in your app about who made what and make sure you have other builds that are completly made by you that are equally good.

Just some tips for you.

Commandotrigger said:

So Will, hope you finished your exams and jazz
help me out ye: http://commandotrigger.imgur.com/

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Yeah like dsesgh says, too many chaotic pictures aren't easy to analyse, but this is no problem here since you organised it fairly well and used descriptions which helps a lot. But it isn't clear on what to use. You also made an album with shaderless pics but there is only 1 picture of each build. How can the staff analyse that on skill? Delete the album and put the pictures in each build album and add more shaderless pics in each build album. Take the shader pics away if they are meant for other stuff. Also try to note which builds are for the app and which aren't, either on the albums themselves or on the post you make in the application forums.
Easy on the shaders though, cause they might enhance ambience but not build quality. For artist you need to be able to build good without shaders. Whenever an app uses shaders, it raises the question: "Why does he need shaders to make it look better?"
This means that you should try to practice without shaders so you can hone the skills better.

For general advice I am going to feedback the tower but I think I helped on the others already, so if you could point out the ones you'd like some advice on that would be great.

The siege tower:
- first of all the shaders again. The first thing that pops into my head is: I wonder if this looks equally good without shaders. Why? Cause the shape looks impressive but does it give you the siege tower atmosphere without those shaders? This is a weird notion but stick with me.
- the shape looks cool but odd at the same time. Whilst it is good to try out different designs, try to be strict on what works. If you are not impressed on what works or you think it doesn't fit, even for the slightest moment, use something else. So the reason why I find it odd is that for a siege tower it doesn't convince me it would be used. I don't see mordor or gondor pulling this out to use. Tolkien made a fantasy story but he made it convincing, and that's what I try to do too, make my builds convincing. I find the dimensions and shape a little over exagerated to convince me that's a siege tower from middle earth.
- following the previous point, why would someone use stone on a siege tower to such an extend? Be careful on just using a basic material to get a different colour or pattern in a build. The tower looses a little of that convincing power again with this as the stone design doesn't fit that well.
- I find the tower to be very big and overacted as the builder was trying to impress just by sheer size and not design. I wonder what it would have looked like if you weren't allowed to go to a certain height and a certain width. I even think that if you would have been forced to do it a little smaller you would have not been able to make something that works. Having limits to craft can cause creative people to push themselves and produce a better design, which is why we have a 50x50 lot on theme builds and not an unlimited space. Someone thay can impress us on a small lot can do the same on a big lot but not the other way around. My question would be, can you make impressive small builds?
- what I like, is that you think of a complete picture when building this. You try to add different elements and you pay attention to the entire build. Adding those terrain features and mechanisms is nice and something you always want to consider. Don't overdo these things which is something a lot of people do. Again be strict when adding.
- another thing is your use of textures. At the bottom you made a pattern and repeated it along the side without paying attention to what that pattern is. Why make a pattern? Is it something that would stand up? How is the tower constructed? Those are questions I would be able to answer with your tower. I think you tried to fill in those spots with something after you started with the shape. Try to think a little prospectively and go like: "Ok this is 40 blocks so the tower would need this and this to stand straight, what would be here? A right defensive planks and ladders there, what holds the tower up,... try to make a 3D image in your head before starting and estimate the measurements before building. I fall into this trap too and using those tips helps me to execute my ideas better.
Conclusion:
All in all a good try and shows a lot of effort and potential, but execution is a little off. I think you need a little more experience on executing ideas and certain scale techniques we use. Try to find and analyse other examples and be harsh on yourself when deciding to go for a style/shape/scale.
Cheers and keep it up!

toeyoman said:

http://toeyoman.imgur.com

Please Help.

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This got watchlist, so I wouldn't worry all too much.
I like these builds but I think they want to see a little more from you in different original ideas. This means that you could try another good theme build or make an optional good build or both. In any case try to show that you can improve just a little more on your designs. Try your hand at some stuff you didn't try before or try to do something bigger where you can show all your skills.
I also think that you show improvement already if you compare the older builds with the newest one. The houses of pelargir, dol amroth and edoras aren't styles of your own but can be easily copied from the tutorials or from the main. You also have 5 house builds so you might want to add something different to the mix.

@King_Much Those builds are quite good!
I don't know if your application for artist passed through already but I think you have enough chances of becoming artist already.
The only thing you might need, is a bit experience on our server. While this is rather difficult to obtain, you can get it by participating in various jobs or builds, just to see how we build and how we do certain things. For example, we don't use the double half-slab block that much anymore because it looks a little awkward if you overuse it. I tend to use a different block for tiles but I guess it's a matter of preference.