Now that is picking a winner to a whole new level.
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Burning nefarious skull:
Pure Cycles (2.79).
Skull - Blender modelling (4 hrs).
Flame&smoke - fire+smoke simulation.
Embers - particle system.
Samples. - 350.
Resolution - 1080x1080.
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In my opinion, this:
I see what you did there 
ill be out of the WC for a little while have a project I started on and going to finish, ill post the tutorial when I get done with it but, here is what it looks like right now
Medusa : Beware of her eye. They will turn you into stone.
Ok, after recommendation I will go with Pure entry. I used an image from internet for the scales of the skin. Everything else (mesh and all) is new, made in Cycles by myself.
I was inspired by the myth of Medusa and Perseus. The gorgone was seen as a representation of terror and was fixed on the aegis worn by Athena to scare and terrorize her enemies.
PS: I solve the noise problem, thanks to @FlyingBanana
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Are you using denoise? It looks like most of the noise is coming from the snakes and there isn’t much noise so denoise should work good. Another thing to try is different lighting. What type of lighting are you using right now?
I am using 3 spot lights (right, left at 45 degrees and behind). Normally I use planes with emission material for the right and left.
Where can I find the denoise tool? I wasn’t able to find it in the interface.
I’m not at my laptop at the moment to just give a quick snapshot of the denoise location. https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/render/cycles/settings/scene/render_layers/denoising.html
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Found it! Thanks.
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Maybe you can use denoiser. For this problem.
Mass Depopulator
Pure entry. Cycles 256 samples + denoising. Using procedural textures, some effects and finishing done with GIMP. Been wanting to do a planetkilling scene for a while, gotta grab the chance while it’s still hot.
Render result before post-pro :
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@Felixzs you can edit your original post to add this info to it by going to that post and clicking the pencil looking icon at the bottom right of the post.
Oh thanks.
3 Likes
9 Likes
Babies with Buzz Saws
Pure entry. Everything made in Blender, only procedural textures.
Not sure what’s up with babies, they’re so creepy…
– Old version:
2 Likes
Fitzgerald Kittenhands
Open entry
Everything was Blender 2.80 and Eevee except for anything that has text on it, which were either done in The Gimp, or typed into Libre Office, exported as PDF, then converted to PNG. The text + graphics on the box and the wall are done with transparency and then mixed with procedural textures.
It was done in two parts, with the first scene modeled then exported as an image.
Then that shot was used on the texture for the photograph in the case file. I might go back and dirty the frame and tidy some stuff up a bit on that final image, but if not, I’m happy with how it looks. Always a learning experience!
Hope you all enjoy! Would love to hear any feedback from you kind people. I’m much more a filmmaker than a 3D person, so my focus is on the story more than the technical side of things and I’m sure there are things I can do to make a better model and render, and ultimately tell a better story. Thanks!
*) edit 1: I realized it made a LOT of sense to use Cycles for the second scene. Updated with much crisper shadows and better light all around.
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December is already over but somehow this makes me wanting to watch/listen to Nightmare Before Christmas once again. 
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Here is my non-competing entry:
REYNARD, THE FOX
As usual: Pure Blender 2.79, Cycles, manually modeled, and only procedural textures.
This project was inspired by the medieval trickster / literary character of Reynard, the Fox:
https://www.wdl.org/en/item/594/
RobertT
10 Likes