Contest ~~~ Because I Said So! (November 2015)

NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
edited November 2015 in Art Studio

              

Want to see how folks tackled the statements last month?  See the funny October entries here!  (Discussion thread here.) 

The entry thread for November is now CLOSED.  VOTING IS NOW ACTIVE- VOTE HERE through December 5th, midnight DAZ time. You'll need to have a 1st-4th place. Also, suggest statements for the next contest- you folks did great last time!

This contest starts the beginning of the month, November 1, 2015, and ends on the 28th of the month, midnight DAZ time, (click to see Mountain time clock) which is officially 28 days / 4 weeks.  Voting will be 7 days, November 29th through December 5th.  There will be a first, second, third, and fourth place winner and confidential voting determines the winners.  All registered forum members can vote.

I (Novica) and Ken OBanion are providing the Gift Certificate prizes. FirstBastion is also co-sponsoring and generously providing his wonderful store products! Ken OBanion generously donated $50 of Gift Certificates ($20 first place, $15 second place, $10 third place, and $5 fourth place) and I am donating $20 / $10 / $5 and a fourth place if there is a one point difference between third and fourth. Therefore...

 First place will be a $40 DAZ Gift Certificate, second place will be a $25 DAZ Gift Certificate, third place will be a $15 DAZ Gift Certificate, fourth place will be a $5 DAZ Gift Certificate (and possibly $10.)  (FirstBastion is awarding a 4th place, see below.)  The winner' entries will be showcased in my Art Studio thread. Anyone who wishes to be a sponsor may also contribute and participate. Please PM me and I'll get it added.

In addition to the Gift Certificates, FirstBastion has upped the ante- bring your A Game! From his store (excluding bundles) look at this!

First place now gets 3 products of their choice

Second place gets 2 products of their choice

Third place gets 1 product of their choice

and Fourth place also gets 1 choice! 

EDIT: Limit one prize placement per person. Example: If you win 2nd and 3rd place, you will be awarded the 2nd place and the next person will be moved into the 3rd place.

Because I Said So! contest is totally about what is said- and your interpretation of it.

Read the statement(s) provided and render one or more humorously.  This contest is about the best rendered, funniest render, all in one. Because November is Thanksgiving in the United States, there's a statement about thanks. There are two statements for the November theme of "asking."  Then I took suggestions from the folks who voted in October, and added a few more. You have a lot to work with!  (And we'll keep a list to possibly reuse or have an open session in the future where you choose from past statements. We'll see!)  

I'm increasing the number of renders which may be submitted to SIX. You may render the same statement multiple times, or spread out your entries to several statements, it's totally up to you. (Edit: And you can use more than one of the statements for a render.)  The statements you will have to work with are: 

"I'm not even going to ask."   or  "I don't want to know." 

"It's easier to beg for forgiveness than ask permission." 

"You don't have to thank me." 

"Well, they always do that in the movies!" 

"Behind you!" 

"Um, I knew that..." 

"Grab the Goo-Be-Gone, quick!" 

"It's always drama, drama, drama with you." 

Here are the guidelines. 

1. Maximum 6 entries. You must be logged in and use your registered account for the forums. (No guest/anonymous entries.)  Deadlines are strictly enforced when receiving entries- no exceptions. Entries must be in the ENTRIES thread to compete for the prizes.

2. Images must be .jpg format, new, and follow the TOS. If possible, please  embed in the post. Yes, you may post the images elsewhere once they have been posted here.  See the bottom of the post for how to embed images.

3. Put your title on the first line, then the Statement below your title  with your entry #. (Like Entry #1)  The title must be different than the statement.  NEW- if a title is similar to another one, I will ask you to change it. And with so many statements available, it is REALLY important that below your title, you put in quotes the statement that you're using. Thanks!

4. You may put up to  EDIT: 40 lines (NOT SENTENCES) as a story or the dialogue between characters. Dialogue really catches the viewer's attention! The upper limit of 40 lines is for folks who are using multiple statements and need more leeway to get the statements into dialogue. 

5. For this contest, you must use a minimum of 3 products. (You can use more.)   You should try and use most of the product, not a tiny kit-bashed piece.  See the bottom of the post for how to do a link.

Important: Please only list your main 3 products in the first set of links. If you want to list ALL the products you used, list the others as the very last thing on your entry post, with links following the same guidelines. (Not required.) This keeps the posts from getting too bogged down at the top of each entry.

6. Postwork is allowed, but the overwhelming impression of the render should be the product on its own merit

7. EDIT: ADDED:  Yes, you certainly can use programs other than DAZ Studio, such as Poser.

If you want to see entries in the correct format, here is the October EntryThread.  Look at the first entry.

Use this thread for any questions, comments, works in progress/ask opinions or for assistance with the render or the contest. In other words, have fun. If you really found a product you like while you're using it, chat it up! Yes, PAs may also participate- strut your stuff!

******************************************************

How To Embed Images In The Post:

How to do this: (It's easy.) Attach your image using the Attach A File below this message area. Save the post. Now go to your image and click it to view it. Copy the URL.  Now Edit your post (mouse over the upper right corner above this area and you'll see a cog to click/Select Edit.) Next, go to the postcard icon above this message area and click it. Paste the URL where it says URL. For width and height, make sure width is 800 or less, and height is 600 or less. It will automatically keep the aspect ratio for you. Then, while the popup is still open, click on the Link tab and paste the URL there too. For Target, please select the "New Window (_blank) option so again, they stay on the thread. (If you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me. I'll be glad to help you.)

How To Do A Link:

 To do a link: Click on the link icon (it's that chain-link above this text area) and paste it there where it says URL. IMPORTANT: there will be two tabs, Link Info and Target. The URL is in Link Info, so that's easy. What I need you to do is THEN click on the Target tab. Please open the drop down and select  "New Window (_blank) so when people do click on the link you've provided, they don't leave the thread. (Very annoying.)  

 

Post edited by Novica on
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Comments

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2015

    So who were the creative thinkers behind the statements?  

    Isidorn - "Behind you!"  

    bushido1-TRudnicki - "Well, they always do that in the movies!" 

    Xaat-Xuun-  "Um...I knew that..." 

    Ivy- "Grab the Goo-Be-Gone, quick!"  

    FirstBastion- "It's always drama,drama, drama wth you." 

    and I liked a lot of the ones suggested that aren't used this month, so you'll see some of those for next month (if we get good participation again.) 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • isidornisidorn Posts: 1,601

    I'm glad you liked my suggestion. :)

    A question. Is it ok to use more than one statement in the same render? I can't find anything about that.

    "You may render the same statement multiple times, or spread out your entries to several statements, it's totally up to you. "

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    isidorn said:

    I'm glad you liked my suggestion. :)

    A question. Is it ok to use more than one statement in the same render? I can't find anything about that.

    "You may render the same statement multiple times, or spread out your entries to several statements, it's totally up to you. "

    Sure! Have fun with it.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2015

    I did add one thing to the Guidelines- please have titles which do not resemble other titles. If I think a title might be confusing for voters, I will ask the second person to change theirs. I know it's not done deliberately, unless you're running a contest, you as a participant don't think about these kinds of things. (And the voting last month did not reflect any confusion. I'm being pro-active.)

    I do provide a link in the voting page so people can view the renders, and your title can also help voters to immediately recall your render. When the title helps paint the picture of what you did, it helps with recall and probably increases the chance of votes if someone is going back and forth between two or more pieces. (There's only so many times they'll flip back and forth between the voting page and the renders.)  For example:  Sasje's entry of the kids tumbling out of the mining cart, her title was "Mine Cart Race." When you surfed the entries, that immediately called up the render. 

    For new-to-contests forum members, feel free to post works in progress and ask for assistance or opinions on the renders. Sometimes it's not whether you win or not (and you may get pleasantly surprised!) but what you learn from it. We're here to support you and if you want to have fun with the statements, hop in and give it whirl for the fun of it!

    Also, if it isn't in the Entry thread, it's not an entry, so anyone wanting to render the statements but not enter the contest can post on this thread. Personally, I'd go ahead and enter! 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,668
    edited November 2015

    "I'm not even going to ask."   or  "I don't want to know."  is the statement

    Title of render: Belly Dance Class

    I know it i really grainy but was wondering if there was a way i could fix that I rendered it with 3Delight no postwork except to change format to jpeg.

    BTW: I am new to this contest and would like to know if I can do the same statment for all my renders or do I have to pick others?

    BellyDanceClassshowing off.jpg
    600 x 600 - 256K
    Post edited by Saphirewild on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    Hi! You can use the same statement for all of the renders, use more than one statement for a single render, any combination you would like to do. If you use more than one statement, for example, you'd put your title and entry number (Like Entry #1) , then underneath that put both the statements. With this particular render, I'd pick one or the other statement. (I'm leaning toward "I don't want to know" as it's probably what I'd say if I rounded the corner and found this trio. It's a bit more concise.  Your render is quite fun- I can see why he would want to participate! (Lucky dude.)  

    What kind of lighting are you using? That might help us clear it up. Have you tried Iray? (I'm not trying to switch you over- honest!) If you choose Iray as the renderer, and use the default lighting (aka don't do a thing) you'lll get natural daylight with shadows and we can change the brightness from there. Can your machine handle Iray?

    Otherwise, for 3DL, graininess is often caused by not having the right render settings. In my Reference section scroll down to Shadow Grunge (my name for it)

    This particular thread will answer your question, if you are using UE2. Uber Environment 2. First though, is your Shading Rate .20 or .30, and your Shadow Samples at least 28 over in your Render Settings? Start there.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    One thing to tweak- that gal on our left has a funny fabric sheen running right through her nose. It looks like she is beaming light from her nostrils! (LOL, cool trick, however did you manage it...)  You might want to move your camera slightly.

  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,668

    Dang it all to heck i had to delete that scene cause the .duf kept crashing Daz so I had to go in a totally different direction will post that as soon as it renders blush

  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,668
    edited November 2015

    Here is my WIP Lil Miss Badness I got the grainyness figured out but now it is blury so got to figure out what to do about that now. I used a premade lighting called Interior lighting and one camera so I think that may be the problem I am going to try again and add another camera to see if it fixes it!

    Lil Miss Badness.png
    764 x 582 - 685K
    Post edited by Saphirewild on
  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,668
    edited November 2015

    Hereis a new one and the second camera helped with bringing more into focus!!!

     

    Lil Miss Badness better focus.png
    764 x 582 - 886K
    Post edited by Saphirewild on
  • EtriganEtrigan Posts: 603
    edited November 2015

    "I'm not even going to ask."   or  "I don't want to know."  is the statement

    Title of render: Belly Dance Class

    I know it i really grainy but was wondering if there was a way i could fix that I rendered it with 3Delight no postwork except to change format to jpeg.

    BTW: I am new to this contest and would like to know if I can do the same statment for all my renders or do I have to pick others?

    I often fix this problem by increasing the shadow samples and decreasing the shading rate.

    Post edited by Etrigan on
  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,668
    Etrigan said:

    "I'm not even going to ask."   or  "I don't want to know."  is the statement

    Title of render: Belly Dance Class

    I know it i really grainy but was wondering if there was a way i could fix that I rendered it with 3Delight no postwork except to change format to jpeg.

    BTW: I am new to this contest and would like to know if I can do the same statment for all my renders or do I have to pick others?

    I often fix this problem by increasing the shadow samples and decreasing the shading rate.

    @Etrigan    Thanks so much for the advice but I had to delete that scene as my daz kept crashing while trying to load it

  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,668
    edited November 2015

    Here is my final render I think...... unless there is more I cold do with it lolz

    Statement: "I don't wanna know"

    Title: Lil Miss Badness

    Lil Miss Badness final render.jpg
    764 x 582 - 393K
    Post edited by Saphirewild on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    Saphirewild- you didn't happen to have the beta 4.9 version installed did you? 

  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,668
    edited November 2015

    Nope was seeing people having alot having bad issues with it so didn't even try I still have 4.8 but it has been giving me headaches since i first installed it frown

    It up and stops responding then it will shut down orrrrr it will just up and shut down on me while I am trying to save my work. so I either end up loosing it during saving or I end up having to delete the scene all together cause when I try to lod it back up it keeps shutting down on me while loading. crying

    Post edited by Saphirewild on
  • KaribouKaribou Posts: 1,325
    edited November 2015

    This sounds like fun!!  I got married and fell off of "Planet Daz" for about a month, so I'm eager to get some renders going again!  We should just post our entries here on this thread?

    EDIT: I read the rules more closely and understand now -- there's an entries thread!

    Post edited by Karibou on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    Woo hoo!  Congrats on the wedding!  I bolded the line that had the entry link so it was more easily seen. Looking forward to seeing your renders, they're always fun!

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,979

    He was gone all night until after the daybreak

    "I don't want to know"

    I just had to play a little, took ages to render though (like 12 hours or so)

     

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    LOL, you are going to enter it in the contest, aren't you? That's a riot!

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,979
    Novica said:

    LOL, you are going to enter it in the contest, aren't you? That's a riot!

    But of course (entry posted already) 

  • GLWoodardGLWoodard Posts: 3,335
    edited November 2015

     

    So, You Saw Him Go Into That Room With Her? "I'm not even going to ask." I'm just going to kill them both!

    So He Went In The Room With Her 1.jpg
    800 x 450 - 156K
    Post edited by GLWoodard on
  • Ken OBanionKen OBanion Posts: 1,447

    Oh, what the hey, I'm in!

    (Are you up for another sponsor?)

     

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    Oh, what the hey, I'm in!

    (Are you up for another sponsor?)

     

    That would be wonderful, on both counts!  Would you mind PM'ing me? And have fun! 

  • XaatXuunXaatXuun Posts: 873
    Totte said:

    He was gone all night until after the daybreak

    "I don't want to know"

    I just had to play a little, took ages to render though (like 12 hours or so)

     

    ahhh yeah I don't want to know, either

    good one Totte yes

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    GLWoodard said:

    So, You Saw Him Go Into That Room With Her? "I'm not even going to ask." I'm just going to kill them both!

    I noticed your male is your avatar- cool! Be sure and put this in the entry thread too- and welcome to the contest!

    I'd like to change a rule in the contest but would like to know if it's okay with everyone- I'd like to take out the 10 line maximum for the story dialogue. We have a LOT of statements and that 10 line restriction may limit you in your endeavors to have fun with the statements. Is this okay with everyone? (With the understanding we don't want a book chapter written, use common sense!) 

  • isidornisidorn Posts: 1,601
    Novica said:
    GLWoodard said:

    So, You Saw Him Go Into That Room With Her? "I'm not even going to ask." I'm just going to kill them both!

    I noticed your male is your avatar- cool! Be sure and put this in the entry thread too- and welcome to the contest!

    I'd like to change a rule in the contest but would like to know if it's okay with everyone- I'd like to take out the 10 line maximum for the story dialogue. We have a LOT of statements and that 10 line restriction may limit you in your endeavors to have fun with the statements. Is this okay with everyone? (With the understanding we don't want a book chapter written, use common sense!) 

    Just giving my opinion. Feel free to ignore it wink

    You can say quite a lot in 10 lines and this is a render contest and not a writing contest. Imo the picture should mostly speak for itself and the lines of text are just a complimentary extra.

    One solution could possibly be to allow 10 lines of text for every statement you manage to bake into the picture. If someone manages to make a render that reflects all nine available statements I'd say they've earned the right to write a 90 line story to go with it.wink

  • luci45luci45 Posts: 2,762
    edited November 2015

    LOL, I was cleverly stupid or stupidly clever and used all the statements but one in my first render and I'm glad I had to stop at 10 lines. I don't think I would read them if they were much longer. As Isidorn said it isn't a writing contest. Maybe you could allow an extra line for each statement so we don't end up with book chapters. I really woudn't want to write or read a 90-line story. Well, that's just me. Some kind of compromise limitation would be good I think. 

    Edit: OK, I am confused now about what a line is. My first entry was nine lines on my desktop computer. On my laptop there are more lines. Hmmm, well, I hope you will give us more then... surprise

    Post edited by luci45 on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2015

     

    luci45 said:

    LOL, I was cleverly stupid or stupidly clever and used all the statements but one in my first render and I'm glad I had to stop at 10 lines. I don't think I would read them if they were much longer. As Isidorn said it isn't a writing contest. Maybe you could allow an extra line for each statement so we don't end up with book chapters. I really woudn't want to write or read a 90-line story. Well, that's just me. Some kind of compromise limitation would be good I think. 

    Edit: OK, I am confused now about what a line is. My first entry was nine lines on my desktop computer. On my laptop there are more lines. Hmmm, well, I hope you will give us more then... surprise

    Yes, it appears that what shows up in the post might not be what you thought it would be. I'm going to make the rule a bit more flexible and ask that it be kept at 40 lines or less if possible, and that higher limit would be if using multiple statements. We'll try that and see if it works. I want the contest to be focused on the renders and not rules.And of course, it should be focused on fun! 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • isidornisidorn Posts: 1,601

    I saw luci45's entry after I posted here and I have to say that IS impressive! And on my computer the story takes 10 lines. But if it looks different for differnt people some flexibility would surely be a good thing.

  • luci45luci45 Posts: 2,762

    Thanks, isidorn. I was surprised that a semi-coherant bit of foolishness with all those lines came out of my brain. I was in a strange mood yesterday. 

    Thanks, Novica, for the extension. 

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