First, I am pleased to say that I am very proud to have been a part of such a situation which has yielded such spectacular artwork through participation, in terms of entries; I wish ALL of the entrants could win Grand Prize!! I apologize for the slight delay here, but this has been an inordinately unusual week (to say the LEAST); I'm sure most people can appreciate that....... .................................................. A) The final judging was performed by a panel of five judges, four of which are Renderosity moderators, and one of which is an E-On Software employee. B) They have judged each picture, by each entrant, following the criteria , below: 1) Overall appearance, 1-5 points: This is basically how an image strikes you as a complete unit. The more it makes you think "wow, cool", the higher the points given to it. 2) Composition/structure, 1-5 points: Is it laid out in a pleasing manner, well-balanced, easy on the eyes? 3) Lighting, 1-5 points: Are the lights/shadows balanced and working together? 4) Texture/Materials, 1-5 points: Do the textures work well throughout the image? 5) Judge's choice, 1 point: A personal pick: would you want to hang this image on your wall or desktop for viewing again and again? (Essentially, each judge gets to add a point to their favorite of the five nominees.) .................................................................................... * Bear in mind that there were 5 judges, and the numbers below reflect the total of their individual votes. * .................................................................................... So, having said that, The final results are: #1: Sacred Rose, with 89 points for "Pilgrimage" #2: darthie112, with 87 points for "Isla Sorna" #3: bhitney, with 83 points for "Untitled" (Which we've called "Wolf" or, "Lonewolf") ................................ I would like to say a big, "CONGRATULATIONS!" to all who placed in the top 3 Finalists' positions, and those who were Top 5 Semi-Finalists, and equally, express my joy for those who even so much as entered this contest. Some of the pictures I had the pleasure to view are nothing short of exceptional, and, again, if it were up to me solely, you ALL would win. :) It was the intent from the beginning of this contest to have a final panel of non-biased individuals review and rate the entries which the Renderosity members had nominated, and I feel that the judges in this particular situation have responded well, and true to expectations, so, I'd like to thank them, as well. :) So, there you go. Stay tuned for how to claim your prizes. And, again, thank you...all of you...for making this such a pleasure. :) Cheers! -Mike [Contest Manager] ..................................