I must offer my SINCEREST apologies to anyone who so far has purchased a Cimerone product in order to prepare for entering my "Romance Long Ago" contest which starts June 21st. Poser forum moderator Shoshanna has just informed me about 10 min ago by IM that it IS in fact illegal in the state of Tennessee (where Renderosity is located) to run a contest which involves ANY kind of purchase. While my contest didn't demand a purchase (ie/ people who already owned a Cimerone product could use that and not purchase anything new), it was implied that anyone who did NOT yet own something from Cimerone's store would need to purchase one in order to participate. It is my understanding that Cimerone has had a great many sales over the past few days since the original announcement for this contest went out... SO, now that we cannot require the use of one of her products, I am going to increase the prize values for the contest... and for anyone who is offended that they spent on something of Cimerone's and didn't "need" to, please contact ME by IM, not Cimerone, and I will arrange to have Cimerone send you a link to her next product, free of charge. That being said, I have increased the prizes for 2nd and 3rd place, so more people have a chance to win a great prize. HERE ARE THE RULES: 1. Contest will begin on Monday, June 21, 2004 at 12:00 am Renderosity server time (they are on CENTRAL Time, CST), and end at 11:59 pm CST on Friday, July 30, 2004. This means you CANNOT post anything before the start date, or your entry will not be considered... 2. THEME: ROMANCE LONG AGO - You are to depict a romantic scene that could be found on the cover of a romance novel, and it must be set in a "long ago" time... which could be the Old South, Medieval Times, Victorian England, the Italian Renaissance, the Gothic Era ... ANYTHING that predates the 20th century (meaning 1900). 3. Image must be displayed in portrait format, ie/ an example being 8x10 inches, or 600x800 pixels. Anything in landscape format will not be considered. (use the sample image here as a guideline) 4. The image MUST have two Poser characters in it, one male and one female (Vicki/Mike, Steph/Mike, DOrk/Posette)-- NO nudity, with the exception of a possibly bare male chest, as mainstream romance novel covers are frequently depicted in this fashion. There also must be some kind of landscape background behind them, ie/ whether painted, rendered in Bryce, Vue, or what have you (these can also be from any background pkgs which can be purchased or found in free stuff). 5. You must have a title for this novel printed RIGHT ON your image, using whatever text format you like, and your name as the author's name also printed ON the image (see sample image here) -- but in order that I be able to find these in the gallery when I do a search, the gallery title to the image must be "Romance Long Ago" <--typed EXACTLY like this, minus the quotations obviously 6. ONE entry per person ONLY. NO collaborations allowed. Any software can be used, so long as the figures are Poser figures. Postwork is ALLOWED. 7. Comments and ratings MUST be DISABLED on any image submitted to this contest, or your image will not be considered. 9. Work must be YOUR OWN WORK -- ripoffs from other artists will automatically be disqualified. 10. Work must also be NEW and not previously seen in any gallery. (Sample image here is older [repainted hair], but is used as format/theme example ONLY) PRIZES: 1st: - $50 gift certificate to the Renderosity Marketplace purchased by me - choice of ANY 5 items from Cimerone's store - custom screensaver for your work (by ann0314) 2nd: - $25 gift certificate to the Renderosity Marketplace purchased by me - choice of ANY ONE character from Stormi's store (note: items from Stormi's collabs with other artists are ineligible) - custom screensaver for your work (by ann0314) 3rd: - $10 gift certificate to the Renderosity Marketplace (from anonymous donor<--I already have the $$) - custom screensaver for your work (by ann0314) (note: one prize may be added here) JUDGING Same as my last contest, plus the winner from my last contest: Crasher. Judges' decisions are FINAL. HAVE FUN! :O)!!!! SAMPLE IMAGE for the contest can be found in my gallery here: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=692348&Start=1&Artist=Ferguson&ByArtist=Yes