I solicit your comments about voting and the awarding of prizes in the Carrara Challenge
UnifiedBrain
Posts: 3,588
It seems like voting is always a sticky issue, as not everyone agrees with either the voting rules or the result. In that spirit of imperfection, I would like to propose a slightly different way of organizing the voting.
Before offering details, here are some random thoughts.
1. I have been told that the Carrara Challenge host is "absolute dictator," and can set the rules however he or she wants. Of course, a lot of a Challenge's success is based on participation, so it is probably not a good idea to offend participants. So, I ask for your input.
2. When I won, I was somewhat embarrassed to be downloading $100 of product, while equally deserving artists were getting much less.
3. I noticed a few complaints in past Challenges, mostly regarding voting complexity, and the unfairness of favoring artists with more time on their hands (three renders). Head Wax responded that the three render idea was to encourage participation, and foster a greater sense of community. While I agreed with him in principle, I also found the voting to be complex, and I wondered if it was really necessary to have such a large difference in prize amounts.
So here is what I propose.
Instead of awarding a 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize, we instead do like the Academy Awards (the Oscars) and assign winners to different categories.
Category one is "Most votes total for one artist." This should sound familiar. It was previously called "1st place." It is for the artist who wants to enter more than one render. And while it is possible for an artist who enters a single render to get more votes than an artist who enters three renders, it is unlikely. So we have a unique category for this artist. It could also be called the "participation award."
Catagory two is "Most votes single image, using the standard Carrara render engine" (or Luxus or Octane) This should also be (mostly) familiar, as in large part it was previously called "2nd place".
Category three is "Most votes single image, using the Carrara NPR engine or the Toon! partIII filter." This new category was created to help give a greater degree of stature to the unique (and seemingly underdeveloped) Carrara nonphotorealistic tools. There are almost always a few NPR renders in the Challenges, most often from Diomede and Head Wax. My thinking is that if we make them an official category, it will encourage the whole Carrara community to take this feature out for a spin. For sure, there is a lot of interst in NPR out there, from artists who know nothing about Carara. With the Challenge encouraging more participation in NPR, and with the awesome renders that undoubtedly will result, we will have tangible evidence to show potential users yet another great tool that Carrara offers.
Category four is "Most votes single image, best demonstration of the theme." This category take the place of "honorable mention." It is reserved for images that didn't quite make the top of your list, but that demonstrated the theme in a thorough and creative way. It could also be used to encourage a developing artist - someone who has shown an aptitude in Carrara and made real progress.
Voting will be relatively simple. Voters will vote for their three favorite images, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER. They will also cast a single vote for category four. So a ballot might look like this:
Image #
Image #
Image #
Best use of theme image #
The images themselves will naturally fall into particular categories, and be compiled by the host. There will be a winner of each category. The host cannot vote, other than to break ties.
No artist can win more than one category. If an artist gets the highest score in more than one category, he/she can only accept the higher category, and the lower category is won by the 2nd highest image vote.
Categories aren't actually "higher or lower", but for the purposes of voting, the categories as listed above are a proposed hierarchy which is needed to keep the process fair and orderly.
Here is a practical example. The Winner of the first category gets the option of hosting the next Challenge. If he/she declines, the winner of category two is then asked, and so forth.
As for the prizes, I submit that we keep them mostly equal. DAZ has a set prize amount that they will sponsor. Using that amount, the winner of each category would receive $50 worth of DAZ products, except category four, which would be $45. DAZ has agreed to this experiment, knowing full well that it might only last for a single Challenge.
Thanks for reading all of this!
I request your feedback.
(Carrara Challenge #32 goes up tomorrow)
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Comments
hi, interesting questions- will get back to you havnt had a chance to read it all sorry :)
edited after I read it :)
I like this.
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For dividing it into categories in theory it is a good idea. As long as there are enough entries ;)
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I think the NPR is good because there is that very popular thread in the Art Studio forum - if we post things ther as well it will help generate interest in Carrara - which is good ;)
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I think you have made it complicated for yourself (which is fine) and easy for the voters (most important).
I say go for it - you're the boss.
It's probably a good idea to keep the wip as a necessary part of the challenge as this keeps participation and idea swapping happening.
I don't see anything wrong with you voting either,
looking forward to what you come up with.
I realize that you want genuine feedback, not my evasion. However, my feedback is that I like that the host can change things up. Over time, we try different themes, different requirements, different voting approaches, and different styles. As long as Daz is OK with the change in the awards, I support whatever you want to try. If it is great, then we can do more of it.
U da man
any resemblance of this cow to any cow living or dead is pure coincidence..
I am good with it as well.
We will see how it goes.
I'm going to join the challenge no matter how its run, so I'm perfectly okay with that.
I don't mind
Me, either... there are many of us who often only enter challenges which fit in with our knowledge or time to devote to it. I'd like to enter more, no matter the prizes, just for the experience. Am so grateful there are those of you willing to make the process better and give your time to organising it all!
Thanks everyone! We will see how it goes.
Actually, I may not have to do much. My wife is a wiz at Excel. :)
Fear not, the rest of the Challenge is structured more or less as before.
The thing is, if I vote, and there is a tie, then I will have to vote again to break the tie. I would rather insert my bias only once, and not twice. But it's not a big deal, and I may change my mind. Absolute dictators are notoriously fickle.:)
Thanks! Since you have carried the weight and hosted so many times, you are probably just hoping that I don't screw things up too bad.
Me too!
Kewl!!!! Wonder if the winners get little gold statues?
Or little 'badges' they can put in their sig lines. Sort of like something along the lines of the below image, but have the Competition Number in it and their place... and keep it small...some people win a lot!
Silene
have to watch to the very end to get the message. Badges?
OKOKOKOKOK... just a stinking idea I guess! Maybe I should have said medallions?
Silene
You didn't watch it until the end? Watch until the end.
Or, just start at the 55 second mark and go to the end.
I did! But it was the only bit in the clip that was 'for badges'
S
Stezza take care!, they removed my WIP in another challenge because I could offend Moslem extremists…
You, it is to North Korean!
Nice theme this month, and great rules!
Hilarious video, Diomede! Treasure of the Sierra Madre is one of my all-time favs. Amazing how many times that line has been quoted or purposely distorted.
But as for badgers, bring them on. Since badgers are mostly nocturnal, yes, we need some stinkin' badgers in this Challenge!
UnifiedBrain, what a beauty! It so fits my mood.
I was hoping that someone would pick up on this.
It may be a case of too much too soon, but I was thinking along the same lines, that it would be nice to have an official Carrara award, much like the Oscar, given to the winner of each caregory.
To do it right, there would need to be a contest to both name and design it. Maybe call it the "Rara? (unless Misty objects)
And Silene, I like the idea of putting it in the sig line! That or something similar.
Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing your entries!
UB... are you in the UK? Going by your 'badger' and the house style!
Yes, Rara award would be appropriately named.
Silene
No, that's not my image. I just posted it for inspiration, as it perfectly fit the Challenge. But you have a great eye - it was from the UK.
Two votes for Rara.
@dudu I'd better not post my pork renders then!
Goodness gracias. :) I never thought I'd create such a stirrrrr.
Silene the folks who win a lot could just have a statue/badge in their sig falloded by "X#" to keep their sig tidier.
UB, If you prefer a statue... I'm thinking of the DAZ Tri logo, like at the upper left of screen, with some sort of encasing and/or a base. I have the older Tri logo modeled... got a few ideas already.
The Golden Squirrel
No restrictions - whatever you come up with.
You may have meant this as a joke, but it looks great!
Yes, if you accumulate a certain number of first place wins, you 'could maybe' get a golden squirrel named RaRa?
Could have acorn nut badges for the others... and they can put the contest number beside it, and add more numbers and nuts for different place/wins. Then they can get a golden Rara squirrel?
Just having a play around....I am having trouble getting good light on the metal shaders... hmmmm. I really don't want them to reflect off each other, but did want a glassier look without the glow going all white light. Not pushing anything, just having a play. I don't normally work with modern shaders, etc.
Stezza, guess Carrara is a bit squirley at times. :)
UB, will get modeling.
Silene,
Testing... OK, the nut is 100px tall. What a weird routine to upload to profile. Maybe I did it wrongly. I will take it down in a bit, just showing those in the thread who are interested. It sort of loses its impact at the wee size... hmmmm.