Challenge #718 Voting CLOSED

This week’s theme: top gun

Challenge #718

After 2 days of voting, a winner is declared: The voting will close on Wednesday.
The winner picks the theme for next week.

Pure Entries

  • HELIX
    Top Gun Rare
    https://blenderartists.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=477547&stc=1&thumb=1
  • Modron
    topgunb.png (This is one of those BFGs.)
    https://blenderartists.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=477579&stc=1&thumb=1
  • rarebit
    Stood Still at the Dance
    https://blenderartists.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=477719&stc=1&thumb=1
  • purbosky
    Package Delivery
    https://blenderartists.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=477857&stc=1&thumb=1
  • fcharr
    War Plane
    https://blenderartists.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=477859&stc=1&thumb=1
  • DoriNori
    The Ol’ One-Shot (“My Gun is Better Than Your Gun”)
    https://blenderartists.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=477840&stc=1&thumb=1

Non-competing Entries

  • Helge
    Glue
    https://blenderartists.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=477748&stc=1&thumb=1
  • RobertT
    THE PHANTASTICAL FLIERS
    http://www.artofinterpretation.com/images4/wc718-PhantasticalFliers-byrjt2017.jpg
  • fdo
    lift off
    https://blenderartists.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=477763&stc=1&thumb=1
  • 3dbi
    Tom Saves Us All From The Evil Galactic Overlord Xenu
    https://blenderartists.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=477973&stc=1&thumb=1
  • Jubjub
    GPZ900R
    https://blenderartists.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=477986&stc=1&thumb=1

The only winning move is not to play… Time to get serious!

Oops, guess I was a little late this time.
In my defense, Blender crashed when opening the compositor so I had to rerender :RocknRoll:

@Jubjub: It is to late to add your entry to the voting. But all the work that (obviously) went into it should not go unnoticed. So I added it to the non-competing entries.

Awesome, thanks!

Oops, that must be wrong, its illegal to be gay or lesbian in left wing Russia

Yeay, Blender Artists have started censoring my posts

I’ve asked BlenderArtists to delete all my images since they started censoring my posts, see ya, have fun

I haven’t the faintest idea what you are on about !
If you have posted images that you want removed then edit your posts to remove them.

Hey, what happened? What post has been censored?
Could you explain better? Maybe a misunderstanding?

Well, I do not understand what has happened in the forum these past months, I have been absent. Suddenly you stopped maintaining the weekend challenge, and I’ve read others talk about some inconvenience that was with you, but I do not understand it.

Just to say that I am grateful for your work and commitment maintaining all this time the weekend challenge.

@Jubjub
Wow! That is a really nice model I’m sorry you didn’t get the chance to compete. If it’s any consolation you would have gotten my vote. :slight_smile:

[Note! these are replies to posts that were originally in another thread some of which have now been deleted]

Thank you, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been mistaken for Tom ;). Although today I think my artwork looks more like George Michael about to perform a rendition of YMCA

I really like your image too, although it does remind me a little to much of my boring day job :wink:

@rarebit
Well don’t worry mate because I did read what you posted last night and I didn’t mind in the slightest. However it was very late when I read it, and I needed to get some sleep before work so I really couldn’t reply to your post the way I wanted too. I’m dyslexic which I think you also have mentioned you are as well (my apologies if that is incorrect), so writing coherently isn’t a particularly fast or easy process for me. In fact if it wasn’t for text to speech and spell checking I’d probably be pretty lost.

Anyway let me see if I can address some of things I felt you might have been trying to suggest/imply with your comments.

I’m definitely no Trump supporter but then again I wasn’t a Hillary one either. I’m honestly just sad it even got down to a choice between those two people. Also just so we are clear I’m not American I was born in Australia and currently reside in the UK.

I hope you didn’t take any offense at my silly crack at you as it was only meant as a joke. I would remove it but I guess it’s better now to leave it so people can see and understand why you might have gotten a little annoyed at me. I’m honestly not on some kind of what I recall you called a “righteous trip” I don’t think I’m in anyway better then you or anybody else for that matter. Your talking to someone that actually gets genuinely upset if they accidentally step on an ant. Not that I’m trying to compare you to an ant (oh hell) well anyway I wouldn’t be offended if someone compared me to an ant, but that’s not what I’m trying to say.

Also some of the worst atrocities in history I believe have been committed because good people refused, or were afraid, to stand-up and be counted e.g. President Donald Trump :wink:

I really hope they don’t delete your images because I think you have provided some very entertaining contributions and wouldn’t like to see them removed. If nothing else, I can honestly say your current contribution inspired me to participate one last time, which I’m sure you are thrilled about. I would also like to request on your behalf that any moderator not remove any posts that you or anybody else for that matter choose to direct at me as I’m a big boy and can happily take whatever anyone wants to dish-out.

@Everyone
Any…way, this whole thing got started simply because I was looking at possibly having the rules changed a bit so that they could reflect a little better how I think we all feel about the competition/challenge and also each other. What seemed like a rather trivial request at the time got discussed and debated about quite extensively, so it inspired me to make some art that reflected my opinions on the subject. i.e. that the Pure Non-Competing was pretty unfair and also a little childish. I think it’s a little childish because there are other solutions to the problems that some participants are experiencing, yet there seemed a bit of an unwillingness to accept what, at least I see as, some better solutions to the problems.

I don’t think my opinions on the subject are particularly unique or extreme but then again I guess as rarebit I recall said the the biggest murderers in history probably thought the same thing too. So it would seem to me the correct course of action would be to hold a proper vote to determine if people really want to keep the pure non-competing category or not.

I feel I need to perhaps clarify my feelings about Pure Non-Competing, and why I personally find it difficult to use, and also difficult to compete while others use it. So I’ve tried to boil it down to a simple test which I hope will help you judge for yourself if my opinions on the subject are valid or not.

Do you agree with the following statements:

  • Any competitor that does care about votes/winning (i.e. getting the satisfaction of beating the other competing participants) but doesn’t actually care if their work is judged along side everyone else’s should at least be taught to start to care about such things.
  • Pure Non-Competing can and is interpreted by many visitors as the more talented 3d artists stepping aside to allow the less talented/lazy/newer artists to compete together.
  • Pure Non-Competing is unfair to those that choose to compete and DO in fact care that their work is not being judged along side everybody else’s.
  • Most people that use Pure Non-Competing simply do so because they don’t want or desire the responsibility of selecting the next theme.

I think if you can agree with the above statements then you should also be supporting the removal of the Pure Non-Competing category. There are plenty of other ways to handle selecting a new theme each week e.g. just randomly select a participant and ask them to choose the next theme. Also I believe the rule preventing participants from competing if they have selected the theme is unnecessary and should also be removed. I personally wouldn’t care if the voting on whose image is best was simply stopped, but if you are going to have a vote, then I firmly believe all Pure images should/need to be included in the vote.

It is not my intention to make anyone feel guilty or bad about using the Pure Non-Competing category as I can fully appreciate someones desire to want to use it. However, I simply wanted another option that would allow me to participate without producing any of what I perceive as negative effects. I believe it’s perfectly achievable, so I would really like to see it happen, but of course only if everyone can agree to the changes.

Well again sorry for any offense I may have caused rarebit or anyone else for that matter as it was never my intention, and you have my word that this will be my last post and obviously my last image on the subject, unless of course the rules are changed at some point in the future.

It is also not my intension to restart the debate which has already been discussed HERE, I don’t think I’ve really raised any new points, and I’m sure everyone is probably sick to death with the discussion.

Also, contrary to what rarebit I believe may have been suggesting I did not use this problem as a means to somehow promote myself, but instead I actually worked extremely hard on the images in the hopes that people would see that I was being honest and sincere in my request, while also trying to keep it a little fun and entertaining for everyone at the same time. These are in fact the first 3d images I have ever shared with anyone ever (well not counting my avatar which just looking at it again now seems to be projecting a very annoying superior look on his face that definitely doesn’t reflect my personality, so I guess I’ll have to get round to changing that at some point.). I don’t feel I’m anywhere close to getting my artwork published nor really is it my ambition to ever do so. The magazine cover overlay was simply my poor attempt at another joke which I think at least in rarebit’s eyes was not interpreted as such.

After all my joking around I felt I owed everyone a full, and I hope clear, explanation which I have hopefully now provided.

You are of course free to reply to this post but please keep in mind I will be keeping my word and will not be discussing this topic any further.

I hope if I have accomplished nothing else here, that I have at least provided you with a little entertainment.

I truly wish each and everyone of you all the best and I look forward to viewing everyone’s amazingly inventive creations each week, as usual.

3dbi aka Damien (yeah! like in the Omen) wishing you a long and prosperous life (no my ears are not pointy, but sometimes I wish they were), signing off.

@3dbi: I feel no issue with pure non competing entries, nor do I see any unfairness in them. Sometimes these are entries with significant previously done work, and yes some competitors will step aside to allow for less experienced members a better chance at getting votes. It also allows the winner of the previous week to participate.

The only thing that irks me is, I hope I don’t offend anyone, is the person who posts a render with a list of things they did that make it not pure, followed by the claim that their entry is pure.

3dbi, classic entry, a winner for sure! It’s even funnier (scarier) that those terms are “real.” Honestly, pour all that energy into creating kick ass art (like your entry) and stop worrying about who is entering what.

For just 13 posts this thread already has a tremendous word count!
I would have loved to spice it up with some catchy Top Gun quotes - but I just can’t stand that movie. :wink:

Thanks, and sorry about that! I usually have a few hot-melt guns right beside my desk - but just for fun and not for work.

I know, I feel like I can barely get a word in edgeways around here with all of you going on and on. :wink:

@fcharr
Thank you for your comments and opinions on the subject. I don’t think anyone will be offended by them. I just think some people are confused as to whether their image is still considered to be a Pure image or not. For me personally, I consider something Pure only if I’ve started from a completely blank scene i.e. I haven’t imported or used any previously created assets other then perhaps an environment image. Obviously that is not actually what the rules state so I maybe somewhat confused as to exactly what others consider a Pure image to be. I realize it can get extremely confusing but again personally I think in the majority of cases a Pure image should be one that doesn’t use any previously created geometry.

@Photox
I’m glad you like it. Also maybe your are right. I guess for me displaying my artwork is just a way to motivate myself to actually start and finish something that I would usually just start and then leave half done.

Perhaps I’m just over thinking things, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been accused of that.

@Helge
Sorry Helge, only managed 219 words no wait a second the counter seems to be still increasing it’s now at 235 this is most perplexing, one can only imagine that this must be some kind of bug within the software, but then again perhaps it’s just faulty old hardware :wink:

I find you as pretentious and stuck up as Photox, so sweet and sickly fake… so politically correct and self absorbed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmlMgeQGOWs&index=65

Thank you for your comments and opinions on the subject. I don’t think anyone will be offended by them.

Has anyone else really expressed this opinion? Or is this YOUR opinion? Sounds like extreme leftist codswallop… Hey, why not suggest playing football and not keeping score so that there are no losers, you could ban kids from playing conkers, oh EU already banned that years ago…

Oh mate, you are funny as hell :slight_smile: OK, I’ll bite.

While I’m afraid my previous statement

Prevents me from responding to your questions, I will instead just provide you with a link HERE to a web page Robert felt was necessary to create.

As far as conkers are concerned, it is now my professional opinion that they can cause serious brain damage, the effects of which can sometimes only be fully appreciated years later.

To be considered “extreme leftist” by your current persona I believe to be an EXTREMELY kind and gracious complement, so I will take it as such.

Rock On!

@Eveybody
I’m sorry you all have to see this, but obviously rarebit is going through a somewhat difficult period, and I think we all need to just show him a little love and support.

Not sure why you’re citing my page, as it does not support your argument or various suggestions for changing this challenge. My page was created simply as a reference point to anyone curious about my qualified disposition towards the Weekend Challenge.

Now, as for your points enumerated in this thread…

3dbi wrote:

Do you agree with the following statements:

  • Any competitor that does care about votes/winning (i.e. getting the satisfaction of beating the other competing participants) but doesn’t actually care if their work is judged along side everyone else’s should at least be taught to start to care about such things.
  • Pure Non-Competing can and is interpreted by many visitors as the more talented 3d artists stepping aside to allow the less talented/lazy/newer artists to compete together.
  • Pure Non-Competing is unfair to those that choose to compete and DO in fact care that their work is not being judged along side everybody else’s.
  • Most people that use Pure Non-Competing simply do so because they don’t want or desire the responsibility of selecting the next theme.

In response to your four points:

#1: No one should think anyone here needs to be “taught to start to care about such things.” If anything, I believe anyone “caring about such things” should teach themselves not to “care” so much, especially when this is simply a friendly challenge held among Blender enthusiasts. Anyone IS free to create their own alternative challenges / contests in the Contests forum. People have done so and should, especially if they disagree with the parameters of any particular existing challenge. Instead of trying to change a long time-tested challenge such as the Weekend Challenge, perhaps the creation of an alternative and unrelated challenge offers a solution to your perceived problem.

#2: Anyone can interpret anything they want in any way. That’s the beauty of interpretation. Total freedom there. As for myself, in consideration of your second point above, I would never dare to consider anyone here “less talented” or “lazy.” Such labels and thoughts really have no place in a forum whose spirit has been historically and overwhelmingly a friendly, supportive, and encouraging one. I do not wish to see that change.

#3: This “caring” about competing with others instead of yourself is really the core issue here: should one be out to “best” others or to, in some way, try to “surpass themselves” through refined techniques, attempting new approaches and topics, etc.? I believe in the latter: we are here to improve ourselves, to have fun, encourage and/or be encouraged, and to share in the act of creation. I think it’s potentially “unfair to yourself” to approach the Weekend Challenge any other way.

#4: No. While I certainly enjoy the surprise of each week’s topics, I have not declared non-competing status “simply” to shun the “responsibility of selecting the next theme”: that “responsibility” is for whoever is selected from the challenge during the previous week. Sometimes the moderator steps in whenever someone forgets to provide a topic. It’s not such a big deal, really. Whenever I did have such an opportunity years ago, it was fun to have the opportunity to influence the artistic direction of the next challenge. Such potential ability to influence the challenge can actually be a positive incentive to participating in the voting side of the challenge.

Look, in the end, the Weekend Challenge is not broken, and, after 718 challenges, does not need to be “fixed.”

Life is too short to over-think these kinds of things, especially things which have worked so well for so long for so many people.

Taking things way too seriously does no one any good and runs contrary, I think, not only to this challenge but this community and Blender itself.

Blender is about inclusion, creativity, freedom, and community.

Just create, enjoy, stay friendly, and be well.

Blenderheads, assemble!

RobertT