The City that Never Sleeps looks like it's going to be an excellent contest! Thanks Eric for being our sponsor! -Kix

Attached Link: http://creafab.free.fr

I use 5DS 5.02, but I also use Amapi 4.15. May I use it for the contest ? Fabien3D CREAFab, la crtion numique autrement...

I would say that using Amapi is allowed for the following reasons. Models which were made in other programs have been used in previous contests (poser objects as an example). Amapi was shipped with C the last time out and could therefore arguably be part of the C technology now (sort of). Regardless of the semantics here, it's polite to say if you used other programs for modeling or if you used someone elses model when submitting an entry into the contest. Most people do. The judges can determine if the use of other programs detracts from the spirit of the contest. My take on this would be that using other programs for modeling objects or using objects you didn't make yourself may detract from your chances of winning based on the contest rules. I'll let the judges weigh in on this one if they want to. -Kix

hello fabien,

i'm a judge for the city-scene contest. i think the
discussion you and kix are having is important. here
is my interpretation on the rules and my judging
criteria. this may be useful to anyone considering
entering the competition.

as kix said, the true spirit of the contest is to
push the limits both in modeling and texturing/
rendering in carrara. however, he is correct that
amapi was included version 1.1 of carrara released by
eovia. to me this is good enough to be considered the
same technology.

in general, it is less important to me which software
you model objects in, than it is you model the
objects yourself. while the contest permits the use
of borrowed models, i think it comes down to a matter
of integrity. if you use models others have created,
you avoid 1/3 of the process and really miss out on
the thrill of creating your own scene. however, this
is a matter of personal feeling. i will not base
judgments on this.

one of the reasons i suggested a cityscape was that
it allowed for people of all levels of modeling skill
to make a competitive entry from a modeling perspective.
one can create a spline-modeled building or a vertex-
modeled building and they will look fairly similar. so
modeling skill shouldn't be the basis of a win or loss.

to sum up a long-winded posting, the criteria that i
will base my decision on are: (in order of importance)

lighting
texturing
modeling
composition
color scheme
depth of field
interpretation of theme

i hope this has been helpful to all potential entrants.
if there are further questions pertaining to my criteria,
please feel free to ask.

regards,
-scott

Attached Link: http://creafab.free.fr

Thanks ! Indeed, when I told about using Amapi, I hoped the answer would be yes, because every RDS/Carrara user knows, as Eovia, that thier favourite program sometimes really needs an external help for modelling some kids of objects. It's a good thing you said using someone else's models is not that good for a contest. I used to put images on a french contest, and sometimes, I recognized some library objects in the winner's images... but they used Maya, so, you know, for some people, that's enough for a judgement... Fabien3D CREAFab, la crtion numique autrement...

This isn't an entry because I created this two years ago, but I thought I'd repost it here maybe as inspiration for anyone who's thinking about entering. This was entirely created in RayDream 3D -- which was the stripped-down, feature deprived version of RayDream Studio. Everything you see was built in the Freeform modeler (since RD3D didn't have metaballs or a vertex modeler), textured with limited procedural shaders or photoshop paintings.

I love the theme of the current contest. I hope I have time to finish an entry this time. (I started a donut entry but didn't have enough time to really work on it.)