Critique this Picture....

[Cyclone1001]

Looks ok, the waterway needs to be a bit wider and deeper. You should vary the textures on the shore for better results. 8/10

[rooker1]

emgmod,


I like this picture.  It has some character....although slightly hiden, but if one looks hard enough it's there.  The plop water has a nice realistic shep to it, although I would have liked to have seen some more flora and/or rocks around the edges and maybe some more trees too.
Both of these artists have some great stuff that might make a great addition to your picture.
(Chrisadams3997 stuff)
(jeroni rocks)
I wish your picture had a border just to finish it off.
I'll give you a 7 out of 10.

sc-4,


It looks like a nicely home grown city.  Which at this moment in time interests me alot as that is how I am playing the game. But the big problem here is that you left on the grid (turn it off by pushing the "G" button on your keyboard).  Next, the picture look unfinished.  Ungrown buildings, huge empty areas.  The terrain ballon looks bad in the picture.
Keeping all this in mind I can only give a 4 out of 10.
I hope you'll re enter this picture/area once it's completed.

ihatetacos,


Very nice first picture.  I hope you post many more.  The comments from everyone here you'll find very enlightning and will definately help you improve.
As for your picture....it looks a little plain and empty.  I like the idea of a small junk ship going up a very small river, but there needs to be more in the surroundings.  Have a look at the links I provided above.  I like the matching frame.  Overall, I think it could be better.
I'll give you a 5.5 out of 10.

Cyclone1001


Nice pic at first galnce but than I notice that there is a rial line on either side of that bridge.  A little unrealistic....in my opinion.  And the street bridge I would expect to see it in a busier city and not in a quiet rural setting, but maybe you are building this area up.  The canal leading down to the river is a nice idea but it would be nicer if you could find a way for it to empty into the river.  I have no ideas right now to suggest to you how this could be done, sorry.  I think the river bottom would look a lot better if you added some rock and flora along the edges.  The minimize mark should be editted out of the pic and a nice border would have been great to finish off the picture.
I'll give you a 6 out of 10.

Last but not the least, a picture from myself.



Great pics All, I would love to see more.
Robin  

[cubby420]

Robin: Excellent pic. I love uniform urban slums like those, and your area has lots of character. However, though it may have been your intention, the shot looks sterile and whatever post-production techniques you have used take away from the aforementioned character: the colors look washed out. Also, the sidewalks, especially up the right side seem barren. Finally, although it may be more of a preference, I am never a fan of maxis flora, and as such I would love to see you use c.p.'s maxis flora replacement mods. They save lots of time replacing trees from lots.

And if I'm gonna dish it out I'd better be able to take it. This is the first ever pic I've uploaded to an SC4 fansite...but don't let that deter you. I love constructive criticism. 

No photoshopping of any kind...but nonetheless an image I'm quite proud of:

[rooker1]

cubby420 - First off thank you for the critique.

Now for your picture [evil laugh.....just kidding]
A very nice picture.  Good collection of custom content.  I like the gas station on the corner and the coffee shop on the opposite.  The filler lots you added in was a very nice touch, but there seems to be no focal point and I would like to see you use a side walk modd.  Would also have been nice if you edited out the minimize button and added a frame of some sort to finish off the pic.
I'll give you a 7.5 out of 10.

Robin

[MandelSoft]

^^ He uses a sidewalk mod, Jernoij's I believe.

I'll give this picture too a 7.5/10. It looks good, but not special. I agree with Robin's points.

Best,
Maarten

[rooker1]

Maarten...he might use it but I think it looks a lot nicer when an area uses the same sidewalk and doesn't change back and forth.  I should have made myself more clear.

Robin

[cubby420]

Robin and Martin: Thank you for taking the time to check out the picture. The picture really does lack a focal point, and I'll keep that in mind from now on. Also, I agree some retouching and framing would help.

Per the sidewalk mod, I do use the SFBT street tree mod, which I am quite fond of. BUT, I am still so annoyed by the wealth level sidewalk changes. If you have any suggestions as to how I could marry the benefits of the street tree mod (random parking and c.p.'s great trees) and a unified sidewalk texture I am all ears...

[io_bg]

cubby420 - I completely agree with Robin and Maarten's opinions. 7.5/10 from me too.
Here's something I recently showed in my MD:



What do you think?

Edit (after reading cubby420 and Robin's comments) - the only photoshopped thing in the picture is the reflections of the bridge

[Terring7]

cubby420: Your image is very lovely. It look's like you are building a European city, so let me recommend you the Euro Road Texture mod to make the city even better. 8/10
io_bg: Not bad, but i think that a night image it would be better that an evening one. 7.5/10

And here is an image of mine



Ad astra per aspera

[cubby420]

Ah io_bg: I love it. I'll venture an 8.5. The colors are magnificent and the reflection near the bridge is a perfect effect. However, the boats look too bright in the very dark evening water in my opinion, and as a result look "disembodied" so to speak. They appear to be floating, but not in that good "boats float" kind of way, more in a ghost kind of way (if it looks like I'm having trouble explaining this concept...its because I clearly am...sigh...).  They just pop out of the water in a distracting way.

Plus, as if one bizarre point for me wasn't enough: if I lived in the lit up residential tower to the left, I would be furious if some monolithic tanish-grey thingy built up next door, completely blocking my well paid for river/ocean vistas. Those sim property tax assessments better start coming down soon!  

I guess these struggling critiques are what you get when the pic is this good. Thank you for sharing.

@ terring7: Thank you. The pic is actually from some MD content I'm compiling for the future, with the goal to recreate a rust belt small city American feel of my youth. Lots of small, unassuming, and uneventful shopping areas and main streets stretching on into forever. But, the euro texture always tickles my fancy...so a switch may be in order anyways. 

I'd give your pic an 8. It's definitely inspirational! Reach for the skies! The emptiness makes sense and all the attention is directed where it should be. However, maybe someone else can put a finger on it...it seems to be lacking something.

[rooker1]

Ioan, I really like this scene alot.  It looks like it took you quiet some time to produce this end result.  I wish you had of taken the picture when there was more lights on though.  I think it would have given it a little more power.  I like how the bridge goes over the river and the avenue on the shore....a very nice touch.  Would have been extra nice if the picture included a little more of this, but than the top of that brownish building may have been cut off and that wouldn't have looked right either.  I really like how the buildings frame the harbor, which I would call the focal point in this case.  I do wish the water had some more texture so that the waves didn't look like they were floating.  A frame for the pic would have finished this great pic off really nicely.
With all this in mind I give this picture an 8.5 out of 10!

Terring7,  This is more of just an image with a rocket from SC4 than an actual in game pic.  Just my opinion, but never the less.  I like it and the photoshopping is well done.  The frie, smoke trail all look great.  Some more stars in certain areas may improve the picture an bit as well as a frame of some kind.  Very nice picture.
I give this one a 7 out of 10.

Here is one from me.


Robin 

[art128]

Nice one there, Robin.
I really like the composition of the picture, with some high wealth commercial building and that factory (that I really like because Simgoober made it after a picture taken by me..  ). Also, the border make it looking nice. The only thing I'm disliking in your picture is the lake of a security fences along the single track line, I think such a rail line need a security, plus because of the street ending just in front of the line.. Also if i were you I'd use another train station instead of the standard maxis one, which is - In my opinion - very ugly and unrealistic (where have you seen a station with one one quay ?  ). And, is it the gird I spot at the left empty space, between the trees ? 

Anyway, I give you a 8/10 because I like all the building you used there and also because it's a very nice picture you made there Robin ! 

Time for you to rate and comment this one :



Arthur.

[Fabian93]

A fantastic looking picture in my opinion, Arthur 
It actually looks quite real, especially with that fog effect
The only thing I can criticize would be the lack of cars on the streets - it would definitively look better with more cars

All in All a 8.5/10

BTW, what kind of building is that on the center top of your picture? I'd really like to know that

Fabian

[rooker1]

 Very good eye Arthur.  I wouldn't have been so generous with my score as you were, but I thank you.  I used the maxis train station because I am still making my CAM city functional before I go around making it pretty.   As for the grid....a very bad habit I have of playing with it on and forgetting to turn it off sometimes.

Arthur, I really like this picture....a lot.  All the buildings fit together so nicely and what a great chioce they are.  The picture is positioned very well in that the right building acts as a frame.  The picture also has a foreground, middle and background and all seem interesting enough.  I like how the canal goes through the area and the in avenue tram line works well.  Now, the only down fall I see in this picture is that there seems to be next to no life.  I can see only 9 cars, one tram and one Sim. Maybe it's because the fog was just lifting. The border you added is a very nice way to finish off the pic.
I give you an 8.5 out of 10.


Busy day in here today. 
Anyone else want to post thier pic?

Robin 

[cubby420]

Art: I believe I saw your pic previously...maybe in the best picture contest. Regardless, it is awesome. I am a fool with photoshop, so seeing seeing something really well done like this makes me smile. Everything here works for me. I'll be effusive and give it a 9.8. The canal and building choices are excellent. The subject of the shot is well framed by the other objects and the fog (which is really cool by the way). I guess I'm not in love with the ped mall tile choice, though it fits the spot well. Also, the cars in the lower left intersection seem to be overlapping a bit, but that's more of a nitpick.

I'll enter something, though I am well prepared for it to get crucified, but its a shot I am going to retake and work on some as I learn photoshop and continue adding to content for my upcoming MD, so any advice would be great. Also, if anyone knows an answer to my query about unified sidewalks and the SFBT street tree mod, that would be great too.

[Terring7]

Back again

cubby420 your lake is cute, but the water tower doesn't fit nicely. Pegasus makes some cool water tower that fit perfectly in rural areas. 7/10

art128 very scenery your image, with the tram, the canal and the skyscraper that appears from the fog, but sadly reminds me some distupian - melancholic scenes from some movies. 7/10

A new image from a small town. Hope that you like it

[cubby420]

@terring7: 7/10...I really like your picture, especially the puzzle piece bridge over rail and your use of SAM in this neighborhood. However, if there is one pet peeve of mine, it is maxis palms that look horribly out of place...actually, maxi palms in general hurt my eyes. I would suggest C.P.'s palm replacement mod on the LEX. There is also a palm eliminator on the STEX, though I am not sure how it works with jeronij's sidestreet mod. Also, rarely if ever would high wealth homes be located across the street from a train station. Finally, you've got a few trees poking through your bridge, but as we all know that is hard to avoid sometimes.

[Lowkee33]

Here is downtown area of a city I have working on.  This picture is my first post, but I think it is up to spec (if not perhaps decent).  I have placed trees all over in GOD mode.  I did not realize this was seen as improper, but I feel like trees go everywhere they can in a city (Not the baseball field).  Sorry about the Architect buildings... there was a year where they grew faster than the depessie's diner...

[Cyclone1001]

Lowkee33- Looks good, could use alot of love, but its alright. Try to demolish some building when you get a group of the same one, and also, don't leave the menu up when taking pictures. Minimize it, then press Shift-Ctrl-S to take a picture. Overall, 6.5-7/10

[Connor]

@ Lowkee33: It's a nice picture. I like the avenue that seems to encircle the CBD, where I live in RL has that too. For me, there's too many Maxis buildings, adding custom content would really help to improve the picture. Also there's too much building repitition for me. Furthermore, I do think there are too many trees for an urban area. One last point would be to get rid of the menu in the corner. Despite the criticisms I do like the overall feel of the picture so I'll give 5/10. Not bad at all (especially for your first post).