For starters, I’d like to say the Helge has done an absolutely outstanding job running the WEC. Never before has the challenge run so smoothly.
I think it’s a good point about the post order, as a lot of entries have been doing a ‘placeholder’ which is kind of jockeying for a higher spot.
As for the the time constraint, there’s really is not much relationship between time spent and quality produced. Everyone has a different level of modeling speed. And what you think may have took many hours may have been speed modeled in 20 minutes.
Overall at BA (as a troubleshooting/art forum, not the WEC) I see a major downturn. Huge numbers of posts are tumbleweeds (and there is no way to down vote a user/post) There’s a lot less interest in the WIPs, and finished projects. The software here is really old. Sites like stackexchange have innovated in ways BA hasn’t. Also the data and formatting are glued together, in other words the only way to see all of an artist’s images is to go through every post he/she has ever made. This problem happens in the WEC too where we go off on tangents (like this one!) and kind of hijack the entry thread. It would be nice if you could submit an entry and those images might be arranged at the very top of the threads, and then we could chat below.
My point is not to crap all over BA though, it’s really not, but rather point out the fact the WECs are more popular than ever. So lets do more with them! People seem to love the challenges, So look at the opportunity for more contests. Why not short (5-10 second) animations? Why not another challenge going on Monday to Wednesday? A materials only challenge, a sculpt challenge, who knows? I hope I’m not giving Helge a pounding headache, but it just seems that this is one the areas of BA that is really working well (and largely due Helge’s hard work) It captures the energy and spirit of a large OSS community.
I think it is because of the colours and light, not sure. That gas pump look a bit alien to me
Helge already mentioned that the last update time is what counts. Placeholders just make you appear earlier in the entries thread.
Now that you mentioned stackexchange, having a similar style for the challenges would be really cool (with entries being up-voted and comments appearing right below each entry). I wonder if Discourse can do something similar.
As for the time that the theme is announced, I think it is nice to have some days just to think about the theme and let the inspiration flow.
Just throwing my 2 cents out there, I would like the theme to be available as soon as possible. With that said, I would prefer a weekly challenge to a weekend challenge
I would suggest keeping the challenge as is. Post the theme as soon as the polls close and the theme is made available. There will never be a system that is fair for everyone because everyone has different life situations. Some here are students that may have a bunch of free time, while others, like myself, are well into our adult years with more obligations than time, and are lucky to squeeze out 3 or 4 hours over the course of a weekend to get something done.
While not opposed to opening up to different challenges as Photox suggests, I do think it would tend to dilute the participants resulting in lower overall entries (assuming the challenges ran at the same time). Maybe just toss in a special event type challenge once in a while, like when we did the two week challenge and had to select three items from a list to include. I find right now with as many quality entries being submitted it is difficult to pick one to vote for. But that is a good thing, right?
Helge has done an excellent job running the WEC, and I will probably participate even if changes are made, but I like it the way it is.
On a side note, I didn’t get an entry done this week because I had family visiting and couldn’t justify sitting in front of the computer all weekend. I started a project, a Tandy 1000SX (my first computer 1986) but didn’t get any further than the main box modeled.
What about doing it from Friday night to Tuesday night? (currently it is Thursday night to Monday night) In that way it would be the same number of days, and those who can only work in weekend would be in the same conditions as those who can do it in weekdays too (with respect to the order of the entries according to rules).
For me anything is fine, my main goal with the weekend challenge is to improve my blender skills and have some fun doing it by seeing other entries, commenting on them and maybe getting some critique in return. Having more days makes it more flexible for anyone that wants to enter to find a bit of time during the week(end). But having lots of time also gives the opportunity to go overboard with the effort put into this fun challenge. If you want to limit it, I would limit it to a weekend only. Starting Friday evening in Japan and ending Sunday in Alaska, so that anyone from around the world has the chance to work 2 full days on it, but no longer.
I dont understand why we would change anything? IMHO things are fine, and we seem to be getting more and more popular so I don’t think it’s a good idea to rock the boat. And Yafu, if your concern is that some people have more time than others, your proposed solution doesn’t actually address that… But regardless, does that really matter? It’s just a simple bragging rights contest, nothing to be taken too seriously.
You’re a way more experienced artist than me so its definitely up to you on whether you want to take this critique into consideration but here goes.
Your art is lovely and very pleasing to look at. Your skills are far above mine when it comes to modeling, lighting etc. Y’know all the technical aspects of blender, however I think your art would be 10x better if there was an interesting story to go with your proficiency. You already have some hint of a story with the labels on the tapes, but maybe try and take the story to the next level this coming week. Anyway thats my two cents. :eyebrowlift:
No, that is not my main concern. You read again what I have written. And also my last proposal that includes the same number of days and hours of work, so I do not understand what you are referring to. I just try to propose equal conditions for people who can only work on “weekend” in the “weekend” challenge. In addition to the advantage of publishing the work first when order in challenge matters, there is another advantage with those who can start working on Thursday, they can be the first to choose a theme. Then for those who work the weekend, the available topics are running out (or you could repeat the topic, but people try not to do that).
@usernew, thanks! I really never tried to model something like that. I have the feeling that if I model it with all quads and subsurf, then the hard edges would not look good. And if I work with ngons/triangles or hard ops techniques, I have the feeling that rounded edges would not look good. I should definitely try modeling something like that.
Cheers Millani for the critique, it’s always nice to hear and helpful. I did think the light cycles looked a bit plastic too, but then that;s how they look in the movie to me. It was just a judgement call at the time, but in hindsight I think it will look better if it’s scratched up a bit.
I’m happy with the way the Weekend Challenge runs at present, very much of the opinion that ‘if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it.’
I mostly use Thursday night to think of an idea, and Friday when i’m at work, no computers there so still daydreaming about my entry for the challenge. I am not the fastest Blender user so the more time I can get all the better.
As to other contests, I think most folk can get too much of a good thing, so doing other contest could kill off the WC. But that’s just my opinion. However I did think the idea of having three different objects to select from a list and included in a entry was a good one. Maybe as a once in a blue moon type thing. Sorry, can’t remember who suggested the idea but hat’s off to you all the same.
@YAFU: I think the colours are fine. Using more vibrant colours often decreases the need for photo-realistic details and makes the image more charming. If you went with the more neutral colour, you would need more objects/imperfections for the scene to work.
Well, there is nothing preventing the winner from choosing full sentences like “A birthday card for your favourite WEC participant” as a theme. (ok, that’s not a full sentence, but you get the point)
@Photox,Ryeath: Thanks for the kind words! It has already been about one year since I got involved with running the challenge - and as it has always been a lot of fun, we must be doing something right, I guess.
@All: I didn’t expect so many (thoughtful and detailed) responses. Everyone seems to care about the challenge a lot, so it seems to be looking at a bright future.
Actually, I never noticed that the ‘Thursday at 2300 GMT start’ was in the rules. I just went with the tradition of early starts (if possible). It might not be ideal under all circumstances, but as nobody seems to be holding this against me too much, I’d like to keep it that way. Let’s see what the Discourse future brings. This will probably mix things up a little.
