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Well it wouldn't be a good start if you did as Eustace Scrubb suggested and used the names that are used by the Daz 3d Community volunteer team and the Daz 3D Forum team. We did have a team to help Music2u4u out when he was running the challenge for over 7 years. We were ETOs and we had an ETO team. If you get a team together you need to find an original name for it.
I'm often misunderstood: thanks Chohole, for clarifying the terms. I meant to refer to the contest's "host".
Thanks Chohole for letting me know that and thanks to you Eustance for the info!!
NOW I HAVE YET ANOTHER QUESTION FOR YOU ALL:
I have been ponding over another idea I have for the freebie contest, that idea is every month having a spotlight on a freebie creator ex: Wilmap or Sickleyeld (I hope I speeled it right) or even someone not so known like Divamakeup, you would use at least 4 items from their feebie items. What do you all think about that idea?
We tried that, and it didn't really work out well. And we only asked for one item, 4 could be a bit too much, depending on wht the freebie creator focuses on. I was a popular choice, and so would Wilmap be, but some with much more specific freebies, like say the guy who specialises in daleks, would not be.
I remember that well, and it was a real "challenge". Unless an artist has a pretty good backlog of material on a fairly wide range of objects, outfits or what have you, it can be pretty difficult to get a good render that makes any kind of cohesive scene. Otherwise, it just becomes a random jumble of "stuff" that ends up looking like a yard sale.
I don't mind the 3 paid items rule, but I wouldn't mind going to 5 paid items. There was a rule for a while that the core morph dial packages (the equivalents of Gen4's Morphs++) were no-count items, is that still in effect or have I lost track of things again?
I'm not as vehement about being allowed to do postwork as I used to be, but I do think what is allowed and what is not on that front needs to be spelled out as well.
That is still part of the current rules, and certainly should be kept going forward, IMO.
Are Daz' older base figures (V1-4, M1-4, assorted Millenium kids, Aiko/Stephanie/SheFreak/Girl4 or Hiro/David/Freak in any & every iteration) still "No Count" figures?
From Rule #3: "Base figures (All Gen 2, 3, 4 and Genesis1, 2, and 3)", are permitted.
Thanks for that!
On the other hand, @Chohole, could Rule 3 be emended to read as follows, please: "Base figures (All Millennium Generations 2, 3, 4 and Genesis 1, 2, and 3)" at the relevant line? This way any reader is clear that Gen 3 means Michael 3's line and not G3M/Michael 7's.
Saphire has to write her own rules. but as far as Daz is concerned Genesis is generation 5 Genesis 2 is generation 6 and Genesis 3 is generation 7. Genesis is not normally shortened to read as Gen, it is G, G2 and G3.
Thanks again Chohole for clearing that up for us
!!
I am going to be writing the rules real soon for the new year when I take over.
While you are at it, Saph, perhaps we could clarify things a bit more. I don't know whether the original Victoria, sometimes referred to as Victoria 1, is included as a Generation 2 figure or not. Often V1/V2 are lumped together as the latter was merely an updated version of Victoria. But I can think of no reason why Victoria 2 would be permitted and Victoria not, so perhaps that can be clarified as well?
Victoria 1 (if you have it) is no more different from V2 than Victoria 4.2 (base) is from the "version" of her with the Morphs++ pack added in. The distinction's barely worth mentioning.
I will take that into consideration SixDs when do up the rules.
Victoria 2 was the same figure as Victoria 1 with additional morphs.
I am working on the rules this weekend and will have them up sometime this week so you can all have a look at them,
If you have a question about the rules you can post them in here!!
I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on what I can do to improve upon the Freebie Challenge?
Saphire,
I think a bit more simple and general a category would help, such as Cyber Punk or Summer Gardens. Most people, if the gallery is any indication, do portraits or a simple figure environment interaction. Say like a girl petting a monster or having a conversation with an alien. Or you could just require the use of an object, like musical instruments or bad a** car as the monthly challenge. When I was thinking up ideas for a contest my guide was if it took more then 3 or 4 words to convey the idea then I was getting to specific. Some of the most popular contests I had were the series of Punk I did, Cypber, Steam and just punk. People could create a portrait with these types of themes. I believe that the past year's contest themes have demanded a bit more complex development of the concept that is wanted. First impressions is that there should be multiple figures in the scene to get the story across. Some people just don't have the computer umph to do this type of scene and some are just begining and don't have the skills to accomplish such a task. This is not to say that all months should be simple but if you go through the gallery you can probably pick up on certain themes and then bring them into the freebie contest.
For one, bring back the annual contests, such as the June Summer Fun and Pin-ups, and the October Monster Mash.
Remember that there are many generations of people in the forums, so constantly themes that include "boys and girls" and similar expressions do tend to limit the age group which is going to be interested, as it appears to be aimed at the younger people. Make your themes much more general rather than a specific subject, preferably one that can be interpreted in many different ways.
Remember that
A] It is a Freebie challenge Limiting the number of freebies required and increasing the number of paid for items allowable has taken it away from that original concept.
B] It is a Freebie Challenge You need to challenge the participants taking part to come up with original ideas. not restrict them to limited themes.
You need to engage the interest of those who may take part. Ask opinions actually in the challenge WIP thread, get people talking to each other, and to you, ask what sort of themes they would like to see.
Presentation is crucial Make your top post more professional. Typing things all in Upper Case letters is considered bad ettiquette on the internet, it is considered "Shouting"
Equally using The font sizes meant for titles to make almost a complete post also does not come over well, as it is a cheap and nasty way of trying to attract attention which does tend to have the opposite effect and put others off. Make the top post visually interesting, not overbearing
We often used to have fun with them https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/61907/freebie-challenge-september-and-the-leaves-are-turning/p1
Better adherance to the rules. What's kept me from entering lately is the number of times I see entries being accepted that are using things that were freebies a year ago, sometimes longer, and it's still being counted as a freebie even though it no longer is. And in several cases it's been an extreamly long list of freebies like that used in one image.
Hi Chelle the Cat, hmm that's interesting and I feel (a little) addressed... So for instance let's take the Stephanie 6 Starter Bundle, one of the Bi-weekly freebies here at DAZ on May the 22nd this year, suddenly in some mysterious and magical way became a "Purchased/Paid For" item only because it was used in a 3D Art Freebie Challenge exhibit? That's odd. Your post suggest, in my opinion, that it can not be used as a freebie in a 3D Art Freebie Challenge exhibit anymore only because it is not for free at this moment. Ofcourse, and that's obvious I think, it can not be used/counted as one of the minimum 5 required freebies with links. That's why I (like to) put them in a sometimes extremely long list of freebies called "Other Freebies Used:". ;D (By the way, a lot of to most of the items on that section I've used in previous months and still do have valid working links but are there just to narrow down the "Countable Freebies" list.)
I've (also) seen entries being accepted this year which did not meet the requirements, less then 5 freebies with working links and/or more then 5 "Purchased/Paid For" Items for example and I think that is not such a very good thing. The rules are (very) clear I think...
I think the whole idea of the 3D Art Freebie Challenge is to provide links to (high) quality 3D content for free and a way to show what you can do with it with the main reason to thank for the great generosity of the freebie donor. And at the same time it's a great way for participants to show off some creativity and skills too! :)
In actual fact that orignal aim of the freebie challenge, back when it started in January 2008, was to show that it was possible to produce an image without spending mega money for programs and content.
The very first challenge(s) had no paid for content allowed at all. OK, things like the Daz base figures were free, as was DS and Bryce 5.5 became free , which made it easier. Rules were changed slightly when those who used Poser complained that they were being left out, so Poser was added to the list of allowed programs.
We had to allow paid for items when Daz put a price back on the base figures (the olde Gen 2,3 &4) but these were later changed to no count items.
Our olde rule about freebies stated
On the rare occasions that we did spotlight a freebie provider it was always one that posted regularly in the Freebie forum (Freepository as it used to be called) and posted the links to their freebies there. We did not just select freebie providers at random from 3rd Party sites.
This as I like traditional things and maybe there could be One main theme and few subthemes like for example Lets say Summer fun and Pin-ups and subthemes like fantasy, adventures, fashion, kids ect. I I think it would give more options for making pictures.
As several have said, a few broader categories would help allow a bit more breathing room for creativity. I'll admit that a few times I've struggled to come up with an idea (I actually do have plans for this month but I've been drained from work). I don't think I agree with the age comment as a 100% definite since a challenge should try to shake things up. Case in point, one really interesting challenge a while back was specifically scenery based and "scenery" isn't a typical category.
Step 1: Make the challenge themes appeal to more people (as others have said) - restrictive or over-specific themes can be a big turn-off.
E.g. I'd have preferred just "Bad Ideas" to "BAD IDEAS MAKE THE BEST PRACTICAL JOKES", or "Nights Out" (better still "After Hours") over "BOYS/GIRLS NIGHT OUT ADVENTURES".
Use the main post to expand on the theme if you like, but give several alternative suggestions to make it clear that the scope of the theme is broad, e.g for "After Hours" you could say "What do you do when the boring daytime chores are over ? When the schoolbell rings and you pile out of the schoolgates what do you and your friends do ? When the factory hooter blares where do you and your workmates go ? When the last rays of the sun vanish from the sky and you creep from your hiding place what are your plans ? Show us a render of your After Hours activity, but remember to keep within the DAZ terms and conditions!"
Step 2: Make the rules easy to find. And make them crystal clear
If you've never done a freebie challenge before, then to find the rules you have to click a link in the first post of the challenge thread.
But this link currently takes you to a post that says "Yes there is a minimum of 2 items from that freebie provider".
So you then have to realize that this post isn't the rules, it's just the last post in the rules thread.
So you scroll to the top of the page to see the first post. You've found the rules.
But there's red markup, and lots of strikeout. Are these really the rules? Are they complete?
"Oh gawd! This is too complicated, I can't be bothered!" ... another potential entrant put off.
{the above is over-dramatized, but you see the point?}
Anyway, why do you need to link to the rules? They're fairly short and straightforward, so just include them in the first post of the challenge thread (after tidying them up of course - clean up the strikeout and red text, and make the status of old freebies that are no longer free absolutely clear.)
Personally I think you have three categories of items:
(1) No Counts;
(2) Things that are currently, i.e. while the challenge is running, available for free via a legal link;
(3) Everything else - paid items, no longer legally available items, things that were free once but you'd have to buy now.
But where do primitives and DIY cobbled together stuff fit in ? I'd suggest they're No Counts too.
I'd be happy to see items from (3) prohibited, but I'm probably in a minority there :o)
That would be a good thing yes.
But it will lead for sure to some odd considerations and strange situations! For example: Fantasy Camp II has been a freebie here at DAZ in June 2012 and is also one of the bi-weekly freebies right now (Sept 2017), do you know what I mean? :) Just think about it... ;)
It would be a crying shame when a lot of really nice freebies can not be used anymore in a 3D Art Freebie Challenge exhibit only because they were free for a limited time, not? The part that you can't use them as a "Countable Freebie" if you can't provide a valid working link should be clear to anyone I think.