Hey Alan.

I took offense to your comments because I felt that you were, in a sense, slagging off a job that I happen to do and enjoy, and I'm sure many others do too. I just feel that you shouldn't really put comments like that about an aspect of the job that you don't have much experience in yourself - not all of us are lucky enough to go straight into being a TD ;) . I just don't want anybody on this forum being put off of becoming a matchmove artist. You are right, most people do only do matchmoving for a short period before moving onto something else (I definitely want to be involved in another area of the pipeline soon, I just wanted to do a bit more matchmoving because I was enjoying it), but I think that it is a good position for some members of this forum to seriously think about maybe becoming involved in if they would like to join the industry, especially if they are willing and might not have any formal 3D qualifications. What you said probably put a lot of people off for life!

.......on another note, I like the idea of the landmark challenge, I would like to do a challenge that definitely involved more environment modelling/texturing :D

Have a good day all.

LisaG :blush:

I totally understand where the both of you are comming from. I helped some people out on this previous competition. I thought it was fun.

I still think a photo-realistic challenge is a bit of a stretch right know. I think we have a very promising group of competitors in the makings. I reccomend giving everybody ( including my self ) a little more time before that happens.

@Lisa: I just looked back over my posts and I can't see where I slagged off tracking. I said it isn't fun and in my experience it isn't. I have worked very closely with the tracking department on a lot of shots especially on the last movie I was on (the impossible shot that you kindly offered to track ;)) I sit next to someone that was in tracking for over a year and has only just got out and into a junior td position and believe me he is very very happy about it. He was very good at it and indeed is pretty much acting as tracking supervisor aswell now (which he's not pleased about ;)). At the end of the day if you've enjoyed your time there and learnt a lot then great, anyone ceonsidering these positions if you get given the opportunity I'd take it because opportunities in this industry can be few and far between. Get your foot in the door and then worry about it afterwards ;)

@THX1138: Why are you giving up before you've tried? Even if you dont quite achieve the level of realism you want at least you are trying and not sitting in your comfort zone. When you pick your subject matter make sure you pick something in keeping with your skill level. I'd be impressed with someone that could model, texture and light some fruit in a bowl for example. If it was hyper real that would be a challenge winning piece IMHO.

:ninja:
A

I like this philosopy very much. If someone wants to raise up his own skills the only way is force himself to do what he doesn't believe he can. From this point of view, the suggestion presented some posts ago, of a landmark, is a great and interesting challenge.

Maybe 'slagging off' wasn't the right thing to say, I apologise for that. Its just that for ages, us here at MPC have been trying to change this attitude to the good old 'entry level' matchmove position, and sometimes it just doesn't help when people in your position say things like 'trust me, you don't want to be doing tracking', or the like. I do understand why you don't want to do it, and why some people might not want to because it doesn't sound as glamorous as being, say, a TD. All I suppose I was really trying to say is that being in either the film, games, 3D industry, its team work, and every position is as valuable as the next, whether you are a matchmove artist, runner, render wrangler or vfx supervisor. I just felt that your comments about these 'entry' (not just matchmove) positions made them sound like they were not important, like you should just do them to get into the industry without caring about them.

Enough about this anyway, I think I've satisfied my point. Hows X3 going anyway, I'm working on that too at the mo, its cool :attn:

Hurry up with the new challenge, I want to actually finish one this time!!

LisaG :beer:

I really want the challenge to be established. I have been over 3 months without modeling anything, I was getting a couple of other certifications (MCSA,MCSE) and now I want to get back to work.

I still think a challenge about an specific public location will really challenge all of us, lets say "The Yankee Stadium", or the "White House", or the Statue of liberty or any other location, that way whoever lives around that location will be able to tell if the model is aceptable, also our judges will have to do some homework too, it wont be based only in the quality of an imaginary model, and the modeling skills, but in the ability to mimic an existing real model.

I think it would take this challenge to a new level.

"Realism" doesn't necessarily bother me. It's the theme that concerns me. If the challenge goes "photo-real enviorments" your going to see drastic levels of quality based on their comfort zone, and that could very well encourage competitors to ambandon their entries, and no one learns anything from quiting. But I could be very wrong on that.

If everyone is really game for a challenge like this, then I am a go for it, but I like to request that Mike make an advanced level catagory for challenges like this. It would really go well with everyones comfort zone.

How about having your own take on an existing real life model. Kinda like the previous games challenge, where you could copy an existing building, but put your own imagination into it. I don't think it should be tied down to being necessarily photo-real. I like seeing things that are slightly more abstract in 3D, rather than always being photoreal. Maybe that side of it could be open.

:alien:

I'd rather have a design your own building challenge, that way you can get away with alot more than putting your own spin on it. Putting your own spin on it still limits you to a degree. I still don't mind "photoreal" just as long as it's not about copying something exact. My modeling is not "that" good. I could never copy something exact, even with good clear precise refference material.

Personally I am pursuing a career in game character design. I have not interest in doing anything like Yankee Stadium or the White House. So I guess I would sit this one out.:ninja:

things
 

I think Mike should change the heading of this thread and create a new LOCKED thread about the challenge, so only he and other moderators can post in it.
-Also, people should stop complaining about when the next challenge will be posted, this is a free challenge.

No one here should take offense to what others post, as I believe that most people do not intend to offend anyone else by their replies in threads. It's simply civilized discussions.

Also, I agree that a photorealistic landmark wouldn't be a bad idea, but the levels of realism that people would be able to acheive would most likely cause need for an advanced category. Some people have been working in this field for years and can make anything they desire. I don't know if 2 months is enough time to compete with years of experience (in certain cases newbies may create better things than norms though).
-How about possibly using a real life landmark as the starting point, but re-creating it in a cartoonish (surreal/ sci-fi/ etc) style.

just my thoughts

I would usually delete this thread, but if you folks want to continue this discussion, I'll lock this thread and move it to the Previous Challenge forum and you can make a new thread in a more applicable forum. :)

jramauri - We did have member votes once, but it ended up making those who didn't get that many votes rather upset. Also, when the winners were announced, it didn't necessarily correspond with the member's voting, so then the members got kinda upset as well, even though it was stated that the poll had no real bearing on the final results... so, we've chosen not to do so again.

We might change our minds at a later date.