I Would Like To Introduce Myself.......and would like you opinion on The Freebie Contest!!!
Saphirewild
Posts: 6,668
Hello to all you Freebie Contest People,
I would like to introduce myself as your new Freebie Contest Runner. I would also like to get your ideas on how you would like the contest to run and what you would like to see.
Example: Would you like to see more freebies in renders or less?
Or would you all like to see more Programs used ex: Poser, Bryce, Carrara?
Do you think it would be a good idea to post links to various sites to freebies for the new comers to the contest?
Plz let me know what you all think of these suggestions because the more you let me know what you all want it will help me get started with getting the contest set up right.
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Comments
Hey, Saph. I'll start ...
"Would you like to see more freebies in renders or less?"
Personally, I think the minimum of 10 as it is, is a nice balanced approach. It is a freebie challenge so a minimum of 10 ensures that it remains uniquely that, IMO. It is usually not that difficult to come up with a render that includes 10 free items. In fact, I myself have a tendency to use way more than that. If anyone is having difficulty coming up with what they need, they need only ask in the Main Thread and help is usually quickly offered.
"would you all like to see more Programs used?"
Well, the main ones that Forum members would use are already pretty much covered (all the DAZ programs plus Poser). I suppose if there are others that prospective entrants might wish added, like Blender for example, I certainly have no issues with that.
"a good idea to post links to various sites to freebies"
Actually, there are a couple of freebie link threads already stickied in the Freebie Forum. I suppose pointing new users to those might be a good idea, and certainly PoserDAZFreebies is a great source of links: https://poserdazfreebies.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page
I think it would be interesting to ask folks if they frequently enter the freebie challenge, and if not, why not?
Thank you so much for your input SixDs!!
Does anyone else have the same opinion or do that have some other ideas in mind plz let me know.
I agree with SixDs. I would be tempted to increase the allowable paid for items by two (to five), but no more. Other than that, I want to see the return of the annual challenges such as the June Summer Fun and Pinups challenge, and the October MonsterMash, and, the Christmas renders challenge. I've always looked foreward to them in particular.
Thank you Tramp Graphics for your input I will sure take that under advisement, as for the annual challenges I will look into that for sure!!!
I want to make our freebie challenge as fun as it can possibly be.
I second this. Further, I don't recall if it's still specified, but it used to be one of the rules/quirks that Poser-native content was allowed in Poser as N/C, but in DS it had to be marked as part of one of the "paid" products, because the user bought Poser (the corresponding rule would perhaps apply to DAZ store items like the West Park set from the DS Starter Bundles, but in the store on its own for $16.95 (minus discounts) if used in Poser or even (maybe) in Bryce.) I also think that alternate renderers (Lux, Octane, POV-Ray, et cetera -- even Anim8or's "raytracer") should be encouraged, though I'd count bought renderers against the Purchased list.
No. The old rule read
5. All DAZ 3D programs allowed (ie Bryce, Carrara, DAZ Studio and Hexagon) plus Poser for the contest. Items given free with these Apps will not count towards the freebie count as they will not be available for all users, but can be used as non countable items. 3rd party Poser figures need clarification as they can normally only be used within poser and are essentially paid for items as Poser is a paid for app.
Thank you so much for your input Eustance!!
I will take all that under advisement and see what I can do about it.
Wow I am getting some real good feeback from you all but I would like to hear from all!!!!
Thanks for clearing that up for me Chohole!!!
I would like for the minimum amount of freebies to be lowered to 5 myself... I tend to do simplier less busy renders and 10 is a lot...
I agree with @SpookieLilOne, but I would go so far as to say that one freebie should be sufficient, and if you want to add more then leave it up to the participant. Also, remove the limits on paid products. To me, having too many restrictions spoils the fun. Make it simple and maybe more people will participate. Just my opinion though.
This was always a Freebie Challenge, it needs to be challenging and it needs to be freebie-centric. If it becomes just another render contest it no longer belongs in the Freebie forum, it belongs in the Art Studio.
Just a little history for those of you who are newer members. When the Freebie Challenge started, back in January 2008 it was exactly that, a freebie challenge, make a render and nothing used in the render had a price tag. It was designed to show members that they did not need to spend a fortune in order to produce renders. In fact, with a bit of searching, they could produce a render for free.
I never had trouble getting the 10 items for my render. It's easy enough to add a freebie plant or stone or vase or small item even if the picture is not as busy as usual. I agree with Tramp Graphics though and think that 5 instead of 3 allowed payed items would be nice. Sometimes it is hard to find a freebe equivalent to what you need.
I don't agree with dawnblade though. It should be definitely more than one freebie. Why would it be called freebie contest if there are no freebies with nice links to be gained from?
A link to the Freebie-Wiki is a very good idea. I always search for that link although I have it bookmarked.
Thank you for taking over, Saphirewild. I love the freebie contest and I will surely continue to participate if I have an idea and time permits it.
~ Sigrid
Not really: a single portrait cropped at the bust may have easily that many:
Try it.
10 freebies per render seems to me to be a pretty fair number and I've been pretty fortunate in finding enough to make a good render. Finding 10 of the right freebies can bee a bit of a challenge. More than once I've had to abandon an idea because I couldn't find that one or two items that the whole image revolved around. Maybe I'm just a high concept guy...I dunno. For me it's all about showcasing other people's work and making something that people can look at and have fun with.
Thank you Saphire for being willing to take on the challenge. My advice to you is to always remember that you are the boss. If you quit then the challenge becomes defunk. With that in mind, I would suggest that you develop a purpose statement, what are the goals for the Freebie Challenge. As Cho has stated in the begining the goal of the challenge was to use no paid-for content in the render. As DAZ became more involved, i.e. provided the prize money, the focus of the challenge shifted to allow the use of the cast of characters that DAZ had in their store and a more focused purpose that was commerical. Niether of these end points are terrible just different. So make that mission statement. What is it that you want to do. Make the rules simple. I have seen, when there are lots of unwritten rules things become contensious.
Once you have your mission statement and rules cemented then I would suggest that you ask for help from the members. Designate a couple of people that can help you out during the month. You can't always be on line to confirm an entry is acceptable or answer any questions that may come up. Having that team of active members will help in maintaining that "fun" environment. This team can also help you keep the conversation flowing. In the past months I think that is what has been the reason for lack luster participation. People want to hear how they did and feel the warm fuzzies. Having you mission statement and rules established will allow you to comfortably hand over the reins if you need to take a break.
Before the DAZ team took over the control of the contest, the system for coming up with themes and who would be in charge of the month was used. An example would be like my month of Steampunk. The expectation was that I would initiate the thread, determine if an entry met the criteria, answered the questions and coordinated the judging. I was expected to contribute to the conversation in the thread to keep it moving and to make it a fun and safe place for people to come and participate. Some of the methods in doing this, was the virtual pie fight and members coming in and making friendly comments about the entries, like what Dana is doing now.
You don't have to do any of what we used to do. Just giving you an idea of what the behind the scenes activities were that made the contest viable for so long.
Eustace Scrubb Said: "Try it."
Absolutely. I can recall the first time or two that I entered, and I was very conscious of the limit on the paid items that I was allowed, and the number of free items that I needed. I would keep count as I constructed my scene, thinking "two more free items and I'm done". That was the wrong way to approach it I eventually decided, and, instead, I started focusing on the render that I wanted to create and always started with the objective of doing it all without using any content that qualified as a paid item. In searching for those free items that I need, I often come across others that I look at and say, "that would fit perfectly in my scene", and the freebie list grows. Approaching it this way often leads to having more than the required 10 freebies (thankfully that is not a limit, since now I would find that the most difficult to work with). The last render I entered, in the November challenge evolved in this way, and I ended up with 41 freebies, and I probably could have used more and even have managed to produce the render without using the three paid items that I did, although it was convenient to have that option.
Last, but not least, although it certainly can take some time and effort, you will invariably stumble across some wonderful free content that you otherwise may have remained unaware of, even if it does not have an immediate use. Likewise, you will often see something in someone else's render that looks really cool and interesting, and there's the link! (I always cruise other entrants content lists for interesting stuff, although I try not to use it immediately for the same challenge).
Yes, it is nice to be able to use all that wonderful content that you have paid for, but there are other places, contests and challenges where you are free to do that, as Chohole pointed out. For those that might think that everyone that enters the Freebie Challenge are those that have little paid content or cannot afford any, that is not necessarily so. Few of us have unlimited budgets to spend on content, but I know that some of those who enter the challenge frequently, have a ton of paid content that they have accumulated over the years. The Freebie Challenge just levels the playing field. I'm not going to tell you how much paid content I have, purchased both here and elsewhere, but I have a spreadsheet that itemizes it, and its huge! We're all equals here in the freebie challenge when it comes to the content that we have to use. Bring it on!
41 freebies is not a bad total, but do you remember Assassin and her freebie counts. I can't remember what her top score was but I seem to remember it was over a hundred. Unfortunately we no longer have access to thos older threads, but I do have links back for all the challenges up the the end of 2015, which was when Daz took it over completely, if anyone is interested.
Oh, Cho, that just sparked a thought! Maybe we should have a Reunion Freebie Challenge at some point, announced in advance, that invites all the participants past and present to come back and show us their chops. Still got it? Come on down. Could be a very tough one to judge, though.
I used to think that 10 freebies is just too much but really it's easy so long as the freebie render is not required to be a specific theme. Main reason I haven't participated is because I am learning how to use DAZ SW and to spend too much time looking for freebies would be distraction to that.
Thank you all for all your input, I have just finished reading all of them and I am going to think about what you all suggested.
Just for the record I already have 1 person (Member) who is willing to help me out but if there is anyone else who would like to help out with checking links and such plz do PM me.
I have not participated in contests recently only because I was either busy doing other contests, didn't have time, or the contest theme simply didn't jump out and grab me. 10 items seemed fine to me, not too hard to find while also not excessively easy, so one usually still had to go digging a bit and discover new stuff in the process. Allowing a paid item seems like a good idea simply becuase there might not be that one thing you need (lots of freebies are add-ons for existing items). One thing I was never really able to easily do though was be 100% sure I wasn't somehow using a paid morph for a figure, since they're built into the figure and I have no way of knowing if the morph was part of a base product or not unless it happened to be named in some obvious manner. But I guess that never really became a concern, so probably a non-issue.
For anybody who is partway there but is having trouble finding a few items, remember there is a thread to help you find freebies. No guarantees anybody will know or be able to find something you can't, but the people there are super helpful and often know of something you didn't locate, that can help you complete your render in this contest.
Yes and we have a beautiful Lady who is ready and able to find things you may not be able to find her name would be Miss DollyGirl!!!!
She is simpley amazing at finding those hard to find freebies that are buried around the net!!!!
There is also a sticky thread right at the top of the Freebie forum for REQUESTING FREE ITEMS you can not seem to find yourself.
I am ok with 10 freebies too :). I am trying to participate as much as I can, that most of the time means one or two renders for last 2 years. I think I could do better and I am hoping that I will improve with time.
Ok I think that we mostly agree with the 10 items for freebies.
Now I am still thinking about how many paid items to be allowed, I should have it all set in motion before January 1st.
I am going to continue to confer with Ann with the rules and such.
But for now I still want to hear from everyone who either enters the contest or from those who like to travel around the forum and stop by and check out the renders and such.
Here's my own tuppence, for what they're worth...
That is all.
Please Community Volunteers and Moderators are official titles used by DAZ 3D.
The idea of the Entries only thread was to make a clean thread for the judges to follow. Prior to Daz and the Community Volunteers taking over the Challenge we had a Gallery which was hosted by one of the members, in which all entries were posted.
I think 5 paid items for a freebie contest entry is reasonable but not so excessive that just about all entrants wouldn't be able to use 5 paid products. It allows one to built the basic environment easily and concentrate on using freebies to improve the story telling, not to get the basic environment available.
Thank you so much Chohole for stepping in and explaining that for us all.
Thank you for your input nonesuch!!