Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/index.ez?viewStory=11628

I am definitely entering this one :-]]]]]

~grumble~ only one item at all that I would want for a prize.

Hey, a prize is a prize, if I win, I'll take what I can get! :)

Wow, Lil! This IS "spooktacular"!

An excellent theme! However, I am dismayed by a couple of points. Community voting is fraught with proven peril considering all of the past contests at this and other sites where certain known people have used canvassing and clone votes to boost their too fragile egos into the stratosphere. When good prizes and money are offered, they have proven to be totally and obviously shameless... going from pimping for a HOT20 vote to naked prostitution for a gift certificate. By merely stating that clone votes won't be counted (where found), the cheater can still win (and has). That is no punishment for canvassing/begging/bribing. And it is not fair to any artists who are not part of the cliques. The other worrisome point is that, merely by entering, the artist grants Renderosity the right to display the image not only in the archives and contest pages, but also to use it for "promotional" purposes. There is no limit on those purposes and no limit on the time. Limiting this grant of rights to winning images at least ensures that the artist gets something in exchange for giving up all real rights to the work. After Renderosity has printed it for display or handouts, put it on the DVD, and published it in the book... what other real commercial value would an image have? Despite an intriguing theme and wonderful prizes (several of which I'd like), there are too many issues with the rules for me to hazard time and creativity. Even if I choose to give away the rights to my art (for example, as pro bono work for a non-profit), I prefer to have a clear description in writing of what is being transferred and for how long. Carolly

Hmm... I'm using Firefox and it loads fine for me...

your're not seeing the above? interesting. I know it's not : security settings, ISP, router, Software config(my end)... why? cos the rest of the site loads A-OK. (gallery, store, thumbnails, etc). I've cleared cache and cookies. and I still have the above.

Hi Khai, I checked it in Firefox and it also works fine for me. Sorry, but I am not having the same problem with it. If anyone else has this same difficulty, please speak up and let us know. Hi hauksdottir, First with regards to the voting, yes that was a problem in the past. However, after running several of these large contests with these new rules in place (discounting clone votes) I have not had the same problems as were encountered in the past. Rest assured, I will not allow clone votes to be counted. Also, I don't permit such excuses as..."well my entire family of 200 people were visiting at my house today and each of them registered and they all voted for my image." It won't work. Secondly, we do NOT use anyone's image on DVDs, in books, or any other printed materials without the artist's knowledge and express prior consent for that purpose. I notified the contest winner from last year's Halloween contest prior to posting his image as inspiration for this year's contest and, of course, provided him with artist credit. That was what was meant as "promotional purposes". I just wanted to be really clear on that. Thanks, Lillian

" Hi Khai, I checked it in Firefox and it also works fine for me. Sorry, but I am not having the same problem with it. If anyone else has this same difficulty, please speak up and let us know."

fair enough. (and exactly what I expected the answer to be)

what are the prizes and what is the contest then? since I can't see what I'm supposed to....?

Message edited on: 09/21/2005 13:49

Look like pretty damn great prizes to me. The sub to 3D world makes it worth it to me. not to mention Softimage and the Xfrog plants. I don't see what people are bitching about. It's a fair cop.

Damn right, there are great prizes! Pretty hard to beat last year's winner, though, so this thing looks like it'll be pretty tough.

first place: shade8, poser6 (download edition), 1 year subscription 3d world mag, choice of xfrog or xfrog addons, 1000 GHz hours render time from respower. second place: bodypaint 2.5, zbrush, choice of xfrog or addons, 800GHz hours render time from respower Third place: Worldbuilder, softimage xsi, choice of xfrog or addon, 600 GHz hours render time from respower Funniest: Vue 5, choice of one training pack of 4, 400 GHz hours render time from respower Scariest: Animation Master, animation motion (book?), 200 GHz hours render time from respower Honorable Mention: Runtime Studio ( programming tool ), choice of one of four training kits, 200 GHz hours render time from respower first runner up: creature creator pro basic pc edition second runner up: project dogwaffle 2.3 third runner up: motion artist 3d remaining entries get random drawing for: choice of 1 of 4 training kit, cheat photoshop, animation and develpoment, basic critical thoery, 15 $10 gc for renderosity store.

Runtime Revolution's programming tool is the only prize I would be interested in*, and I have it already, it came with one of my boxed linux versions. ( Runtime Revolution itself, now called Studio ) *I actually don't use it, as the interface doesn't work for me.

bonestructure, Yes, those are great prizes... in fact, they are wonderfully generous prizes... but if you forfeit valuable rights to your work merely on the chance of winning, it is a lottery, not a contest. AND if the community gets to vote, then it is merely another popularity poll. Look what happened at PoserPros for a few dollars and a masthead placement! And that was after the staff threw out the obvious clone votes and asked everybody to vote again. Look at the past history at this site. If the admins can't even police the HOT 20, where no direct money is at stake (the rewards for cheating are marketplace sales, which is indirect money), then how can we trust them to police a contest with thousands of dollars worth of prizes??? So, yes, it is a great contest. I love the theme. I love the prizes. People worked hard behind the scenes to set this up. However, I despair at the rules. There are going to be plenty of other Hallowe'en contests and challenges. They may not have such generous prizes, but if they are properly judged and if only the winners sign away rights, they will be far less problematical. Carolly

well, I'll probably enter anyway. It's not like people are clamoring to buy my images while I die of starvation and lack of insulin. Several of the prizes are worth more than I get on the rare occasions I do sell a piece, and I can use all of them. The 3D world sub would be worth a hell of a lot to me, as would the xfrog library. And I sure wouldn't sneeze at Bodypaint, which I've wanted for a while now, or Softimage, even though I am a hardcore Max user. I'm not nearly good enough to win the contest I'd like to win, for which the prize is a Boxx workstation, so this is the next best thing. I do think it would have been better to have judges than a popularity vote. In my opinion, that means a Poser artist will will all the prizes. But what the heck. Not like my social calendar is full or anything.

I'll debate with myself about it. maybe enter, just for the challenge of it. but like I said. the prizes don't interest me. so I don't really care about the popularity contest aspect. ( we all know I'm not the most popular person around. ;) nor the most disliked. :) )

This is great, I have been working on my entry the past two days, and so far the fun I have had has been priceless... So far in excess of any pitfalls mentioned here, so thanks renderosity for running such a fun and inspiring competition!! Elise :)

Why is there no animation?

What do you mean, no animation? No prizes that do animation? No animated entries allowed? That would be pretty cool, y'know, a flickering fire, ghosts. Damn, that'd be cool.

According to the rules, you have to submit a still. there is no category (or prizes) for animation.

Do you need a copper still, or will an old-fashioned accumulation of glassware and tubing be sufficient? :whistle and walk away quickly:

Meh, stills are fine by me, but I see your point.

Hi Carolly! I see you're still up to no good!

DOH! Smacks hand to forehead. You're correct Bobasaur, I missed animation on this one. But, I promise the upcoming Holiday contest will not only have an animation category, but we are also adding categories for photography, 2D, 3D and writing! Best wishes, Lillian

OK. I'll hold you to it! Hmm. If I write an awesome script, integrate 2D as well as 3D into my animation and add some elements that I shot with my son's digital camera, I could conceivably win in 5 categories. Now that's worth some effort.... [evil grin]

If this isn't a popularity contest - which I am asuming you don't mean it to be, why are you allowing names on the images?

Good point, Bea, though I think I can understand why they want the names on the entries - Artist rights, ownership, blah blah that stuff. Still, do it like in the Vue gallery contests - no name 'till after the vote - and it would be more fair.

It just seems to me that when you have prizes that are as good and as valuable as these then fairness is absolutely vital. Particularly of you are putting the top 25 to a community vote. As I say some of the images already have names on them and some people have actually put their names in the text that they have submitted with their image. Where is the fairness in that?

Nowhere, I say.

The names have been removed from the thumbnail pages. Point well taken. Thanks, Lillian

Thanks Lillian :) I appreciate the quick response

But shouldn't the names be removed from the actual artwork as well? And of course if it is mentioned in the text? Sorry to keep on about this, but as with any competition it is nice to think that we all start off on a level playing field.

For some reason my post outlining in a very rational way , the reasons why a community vote is a illegitimate vote and some suggestions to reform that idea - however it looks like comments like that dont get passed on for posting...and now I'm wondering why. SO I GUESS ALL IM PERMITTED TO SAY IS: GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

Okkkkk...I see a couple of problems here..the prizes are great, sure...but at what expense are the members going to be subjected to? 1. RR retains the right to use all submitted entries for promotional purposes {which could mean anything, as was stated earlier. And even tho Lillian stated RR will not use images without the knowledge/consent of the artists first, doesn't mean they can't if push comes to shove. Its a basic contract..pretty simple, but it stands up in court.} 2. A community vote. {as was stated earlier..most popular/etc. Poser artist wins. We all know how that goes.} Even if names are removed, the followers of the more popular among us will spot their faves work, no matter what is written on it...and even then ya have the artists running around promoting their work in IM's and so on.. Better to 'not' let the community members vote imo. Guess I have ranted long enough, so will bookmark this contest and leave quietly....good luck to those who enter. ~Jumpy "The evil one" >:D