My Lunch Break LDD MOC: Hideaway Island

[coupi]

I made this whilst on my lunch break today. Ideally it would be better placed on a corner of the board, so as to have more of the blue baseplate to play with; for a boat, or possibly a small beach. I may add or edit this soon.

[Aanchir]

Beautiful! I just typed out a long response, then accidentally closed my window, so if my response seems rushed now it's because I'm impatient with having to re-type everything, not because I don't like your MOC.

First, a better way to make this interesting than pushing it into the corner of the baseplate would be to use gray pieces and build smaller rock "spires" around the island. That can serve a practical purpose (making it difficult for large ships to approach) and an aesthetic one (making the flat water a little less boring).

The cot is colored with a color has never actually existed in LEGO bricks (at least not yet). That is the first color to the left when hovering your cursor over the blue brick in the color palette, correct? I'd recommend instead painting it the second color from the left in the blue palette (Light Royal Blue, the lightest blue color still in production) or the fourth color from the left (Medium Blue, a much more common color still in use).

You definitely want to crop your screenshots when you post them here. The empty space to either side as well as the top and bottom is unattractive, and makes your images larger than the moderators prefer. Resizing the image is also a good thing to do if cropping still doesn't make the images small enough.

You'll also notice that the flames are a muted color here. This is because, unfortunately, the Screenshot tool makes any part of the model where transparent parts are visible turn semi-transparent. This makes it so that you can see the color of the Eurobricks site through the flames, even when there should be non-transparent rocks behind them obscuring the view. A solution to this is to copy and paste the image onto a white or otherwise colored background, so that the background color shows up behind the flames and you can control how they look. There are also other options to solve this problem depending on what image editing software you have.

Overall, a beautiful MOC. I love the ladders and naturally-occurring rocky "stairs" leading from the dock to the cabin at the summit. I just wanted to offer some advice for future MOCs you want to post here.

[coupi]

Thanks for the advice! I'll crop the screenshots later on.

[Randal]

I edit LDD screenshots everyday, so I've picked up a few things that help the shots look better for when you post them to showcase your work. To compensate for the almost transparent pieces, use a program that manages images in layers (Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, GIMP). Copy your entire image, then paste it as a couple or three more layers on top of the main layer. However many times depends on how opaque you want the translucent brick. The more layers you stack, the less transparent those pieces get.

Another trick that works the other way, like say for a visor or windshield that doesn't let you see enough of what is behind it, take two snapshots, careful not to move the camera angle at all. One image should have the visor or window, the other should be taken after you 'x' the clear piece off the model. When you place them both in the same image file as layers, make sure the layer with the visor/window is above the layer without those pieces and you will be able to see the face behind the visor or whatever is behind the window more clearly.

[Superkalle]

Thanks for the advice! I'll crop the screenshots later on.

Yes, please do

PS: Nice looking MOC