third one defintely looks sweet

I reccomend you just show off the bike, nothing more. You don't need a background, the background is distracting, the lighting in the pic is very diffused, the lighting for your bike is not so diffused. I feel that it's a mistake for competitors to clutter their entry with additional models. There is one entry where they have done a fantastic job on the main model, but when they add more stuff around it, it took away from the realism because "extra stuff" wasn't done quite as good.

Of course this is just my own personal opinion.

I think you're probably right THX. I'll probably stick with a studio style render for the entry. My compositing skills are not up to scratch for a good final look with a picture.

That being said, which render do you like best, the exhaust side of the bike, or the drive chain side? I personally like the drive chain side in the first render. It just looks a little more real to me. It sucks that bikes aren't symmetrical as I put a lot of work into both sides, and would like my entry to be judged with that in mind. I'll post links to all kinds of shots in my final entry, but I'm guessing the competition is judged off of a single picture alone.

I believe you can post additional angles to show off the work. I posted 3 different angles my entry for the last challenge, and nobody said anything about it.

I really dig the angle is the this pic.

I think the 1st one is the best. I agree with THX, just use the bike without compositing.

Great final entries dilberts!

You've got a very good chance, good luck! :beer:

Incredible job. How long did it take you, start to finish?

Thanks Kartzan. I work about a 12 hour day (military), so I don't get that much time to play around with Maya. Maybe about 40 solid hours work all together. Wish it was my full time job (although I do love my work in the military ;) )

:beer:

nice job man! if that's what you can do in 40 hours, you should be doing it full time...

Superb work dilberts, your stuff really inspires me to get off my backside and learn more!

WOW 40 hours is one work week. Imagine... at an image studio or something like it... in a single week. MAN you are good at Maya. But i suspect that you wont get government benefits with a studio job... no. anyway... good luck in the competition :beer:

Thanks for the encouragement! I was kinda wondering if anyone knows what the average time frame for a commercial project is? For instance, if say a cell phone company wants to do a 3D product visualization from some 2D artist drawings, what kinda time frame would the 3D artist have?

My dream job would be to do some freelance work (a long way down the road), and have no idea what kinda income to hour ratio you are going to get for time spent on a specific project. Maybe Mike might be able to answer this?

MattTheMan, you're right about the benefits thing. I don't think an artists pay check is going to keep my kids fed, so it'll stay a hobby right now. :beer:

Well, I don't know where you live, but the studio I work at in the US does have employee benefits, such as medical and dental insurance and the like. And while *I* am not paid super high, the *average* is pretty good in this industry. Might look around and see what you can get! Never know. :)

Very nice job with your entry, by the way!

Thanks Mike. Still got four years left on my military contract though, so it's still a long term goal.