EddieLeon Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 Maybe I'm being too sensitive, but doesn't this website homepage look too similar to dBox? http://www.archcrystalcg.com/flash/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innerdream Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 I'm on a Mac and got a Malware warning when I visited the site. Visit at your own risk as I don't think I've ever seen a warning POP up like that before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmccoy Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 It does look very similar. including the aspect ratio of the graphics and the transitions. I hate seeing this type of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landrvr1 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 (edited) Too similar? It's a direct ripoff. You'd think from all the money they've been making they could afford a half-way decent web designer. Fail. You know what? I'm not surprised one bit, actually. CrystalCG is but a pale imitation of firms like dbox. There's nothing they bring to the table that dbox or Brooklyn Digital Foundry or Neoscape or a dozen other firms hasn't already done. Seeing that just makes me want to vomit. Edited May 5, 2009 by landrvr1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danteprojetos Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I woudn't be surprised if it was any other small company, but freaking Crystal CG? It really sucks seeing the biggest company on our field in the world resorting to this kind of stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernest Burden III Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 The difference is that with the CrystalCG site you get to a page with the renderings in regular thumbnails--dBox never quite shows the renderings. It's sort of like 'if you have to ask, you can't afford it'. Of course, on my XP64 machine, the flash doesn't work right, so I couldn't see the renderings anyway. I probably can't afford to see them. Otherwise--how many different ways are there to show a portfolio of renderings? Maybe five. Maybe two. Something that continues to puzzle me--why do so many rendering companies have websites that start out by de-constructing their work? You have the sliding slices, you have the tiny detail crops, and best of all the grayscale with color rollover. How hard do we work to make a complete picture, that it then makes any sense to first show it as a sub-set of its parts? The viewer is going to be relieved when that tiny gray smudge is, after input from them, turned into a wonderful color rendering? Do we have so little respect for our work that we try to out-do each other in reducing it to slivers, slices, wireframes and gray postage stamps? I love dBox's work, but not their website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhaocnus@yahoo.com Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I agree with Ernest. A lot of the company are making websites to confuse people, especially architectural firms. You have to use IE to see the Crystal CG website. Can't believe they didn't even test the website in FF or other browsers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dp Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 whuppty do my experience is the client writing the cheque quitre often has only just past opening and sending email - jumping through hoops to access a portfolio is just a waste of time and case in point i can't access the site on the machine i'm writing this from k.i.s.s. works everytime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landrvr1 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Disagree. dbox's website perfectly suits their brand image and what they do - which is far from just providing 'renderings'. They fancy themselves as elite; existing to create a visual brand and lifestyle/workstyle image for their customers. I cannot think of one reason to argue with that. Their obtuse website reflects that. In fact, that website is merely an elaborate business card. It's not meant to showcase their work with neat little thumbnails because, um, it doesn't have to... Actually, it's worth mentioning that dbox also does a lot of extremely creative and complex Flash website work. Their site contains some very elegant actionScript coding and acts as it's own advertisement for that service. On the other hand, I agree with the sentiment that a lot of strictly viz folks have poor websites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mecmancg Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 You have the sliding slices, you have the tiny detail crops, and best of all the grayscale with color rollover. How hard do we work to make a complete picture, that it then makes any sense to first show it as a sub-set of its parts? hahaha I have to agree. You forgot the websites with colorful explosions, where you see everything but the menu. If it takes more than 5 seconds to find what I´m looking for I always close the window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew bannister Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Thank you Eddie for pointing this out. It is a bit sad. Soon we will be launching a new site. It will be very different. They can keep our old one. cheers -dbox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieLeon Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 You're very welcome. Good luck with the new site! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innerdream Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 Just looked again and got the same malware warning, here it is. I'm on a Mac but the rest of you guys are probably being monitored by the site owner!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreg Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I woudn't be surprised if it was any other small company, but freaking Crystal CG? It really sucks seeing the biggest company on our field in the world resorting to this kind of stuff. Why do you think they have such low prices? Like anybody that is outsourcing to them.. they are in this industry for making money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pechara Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I have noticed that the CrystalCG comes up in these forums all the time. Is there anyone who reads this who works for the company? and is willing to Identify themselves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieLeon Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 Good point. If I worked for CrystalCG I would hire a good PR company or person to defend it whenever anything negative was said. Silence is not a good thing. Ooops. Should I be giving them advice? J/K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koper Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 you're all are forgetting that there is a credit crisis, rip off's are bound to happen. uhm..... why am I defending?:confused ..... that's just not cricket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugga_Guy Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Nothing to do with the website but I was watching one CrystakCG videos, the jewl of Saudia (pic of a diamond hitting earth). 1:30min in I was shocked to hear they are using the music from the Disney's animated movie the treasure planet by James Newton Howard. Do they really have the rights to that soundtrack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieLeon Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 Nothing to do with the website but I was watching one CrystakCG videos, the jewl of Saudia (pic of a diamond hitting earth). 1:30min in I was shocked to hear they are using the music from the Disney's animated movie the treasure planet by James Newton Howard. Do they really have the rights to that soundtrack? Good point, but that's a slippery slope. A lot of artists use soundtracks for their demo reels. You're technically not supposed to do it, but it would be unfair to single out CrystalCG for doing the same. If they actually sold copies of the video or showed it on a national broadcast, then I think they might have a serious problem with Disney. I'm more concerned about any unfair business practices that might set a bad precedent for our industry. We should all strive for hire standards and the larger companies can help by setting good examples (not bad ones). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiform 3D Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 This kind of rip-off is happening all the time now, especially through Asia and the Middle East. It happens with images, design and text. I have successfully had 3 sites removed from Google now and two pulled down due to plagiarism. Unfortunately it happened so much to my work that I now put watermarks on everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now