Welcome to the Weekend Challenge forum!
This forum is devoted to the new weekly contests known as the Weekend Challenge.
There are two main goals for these contests: Fun and Glory.
Fun: You get only 4 days to create a cool image, based on the theme for the week.
Glory: After 2 days of voting, a winner is declared. The winner picks the theme for next week.
Forum Rules
As this is a very specialised forum, new threads can only be created by the contest organiser.
There are two threads created each week: one for entries and one for voting.
The entry thread starts each Thursday at 2300 GMT, with an announcement of the new theme, and any other relevant information. Entry messages (described in detail below) are to be posted here, until 2300 GMT on Moday.
The voting thread starts each Monday at 2300 GMT, with a list of all entries and a poll to decide the winner. Voting closes at 2300 GMT on Wednesday, with the winner announced shortly thereafter.
Comments are welcome in both threads.
Image Creation
An image created for these contests will fall into one of two classes: Pure and Open. A Pure image is made mostly using Blender, and mostly using new models. If an image isn’t Pure, then it’s Open.
If you can honestly say to yourself, “Yes, I mainly used Blender to make this”, then the entry is Pure.
Where a scene has a recognisable distinction between foreground and background, a Pure entry requires almost all of the foreground models to be new. If you can honestly say to yourself, “Yes, nearly all of the foreground models are new”, then the entry is Pure - it doesn’t matter how much of the background is new or recycled.
Where a scene has no foreground/background distinction, a Pure entry requires mostly new models. If you can honestly say to yourself, “Yes, most of the models are new”, then the entry is Pure.
Note that post-processing simply to add titles/captions does not affect Pure/Open classifcation.
Images must be presented as a JPEG file, the size of which may not excede 250kB. Images can be any width or height.
Entry Submissions
An entry is submitted by posting a message in the relevant Entry thread before closing time. An entry message contains up to four parts:First, an optional one or two line description of the entry. This description will be shown in the list of entries at the start of voting. This can be used to describe how the entry relates to the theme, if necessary.
Second, an indication of whether the entry is Pure or Open. If it’s Open a one or two line description of non-Blender processes or heavy model re-use is required. This description may be given for Pure entries, but isn’t required. This will also be shown in the entry list at the start of voting.
Third, a link to the entry image. A link directly is preferred, although a link to a page containing only the entry image is permitted. A “copy and paste” warning should be given, is necessary. Optionally, a thumbnail may also be supplied. The link and optional thumbnail will appear in the entry list for voting.
Finally, some more optional comments. These will not appear in the list for voting.
Only one entry per person is allowed. If multiple images are submitted, only the most recent will be used for voting. When updating an entry, please give it a new file name, so avoid confusion with older cached images.
For those using copy-paste-hosts: please try to take the time to make a page for your entries. It doesn’t have to be fancy, in fact it shouldn’t, but it will make life much simpler for the voters to see your image (and vote for it 
). Also, skip the [img][/img] tags - they may work for you, but they won’t for anyone else. If you’ve linked to a page (not an image) and would like a thumbnail, mention this in your entry and one will be provided.
When submitting a link to a page instead of directly to an image, please ensure that the page contains just your entry image. An single extra, related picture is allowed, but the entry image must be clearly indicated.
People using [img][/img] tags are encouraged to use thumbnails instead of full size images. Remember that if present, a thumbnail will shown during voting, where a full size image won’t.
Entrants supplying thumbnails are strongly encouraged to keep the size of the thumbnails under 5kB, although sizes up to 15kB will be permitted.
Placeholder entries are a very good idea, as they give me some clue as to how many options we’re going to need for the voting poll. With an indication of the number of entries, we can have the maximum size of a poll increased beforehand, if necessary, and avoid running out of poll options.
Winning
Each week, a voting thread is created. In it will be a list of all entries posted before the entry closing time. A poll will be attached, listing all of the elligible entries. Voting is open to anyone who is normally allowed to vote in these forums (as far as I know, this should be all of you). Indecisive voters are asked to favour Pure entries over Open ones.
At the end of two days of voting, the entry with the highest number of votes wins. In the event of a tie, a Pure entry will win over an Open entry. In the event of a tie between Pure or Open entries, the earliest submitted entry will win - the submission time is taken as the last edited time of the submission message, or the message creation time if it hasn’t been edited.
Once a winner has been decided, a congratulatory message will be posted in the voting thread. They will be contacted via private message, with a request for the theme for the next week’s contest. If the winner doesn’t supply a theme before Thursday at 2230 GMT, the organiser will select the theme. Having selected the theme, the winner will not be elligible to enter that week. They may however still submit an image, but it won’t be included in voting.
When Things Go Wrong
If, due to unforeseen circumstances, a thread isn’t started at the appointed time, entries or voting will still close on time.
Timezone Conversions
To make this a little easier 
Let me know if you’d like to add your timezone here.
Thursday, 2230 GMT
= Australia Eastern Standard: Friday, 8:30am
= Internet: thursday @980
= pofoland: Friday, 12:30am
= US Pacific Daylight: Thursday, 3:30pm
Thursday, 2300 GMT
= Australia Eastern Standard: Friday, 9:00am
= Internet: friday @000
= pofoland: Friday, 1:00am
= US Pacific Daylight: Thursday, 4:00pm
Monday, 2300 GMT
= Australia Eastern Standard: Tuesday, 9:00am
= Internet: tuesday @000
= pofoland: Tuesday, 1:00am
= US Pacific Daylight: Monday, 4:00pm
Wednesday, 2300 GMT
= Australia Eastern Standard: Thursday, 9:00am
= Internet: thursday @000
= pofoland: Thursday, 1:00am
= US Pacific Daylight: Wednesday, 4:00pm