Unhappy thoughts on the recent modelling contests
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I know there has been a lot of discussion on the modelling challenge and how long people are actually spending on it. I am happy to admit that I have spent around 35 mins on a previous entry, (the entry didn't win).
Some of the entries are great, really well detailed and I am in awe of what people can achieve with in the 30 minute window. When looking at the entries, some you can tell took 30 mins to make even if it blows you away. But recently there has been entries that I fail to believe took under an hour at let alone with in 30 mins, even on the comps that set for an hour. I know it is an honour system and we all have to deal with the knowledge that we submitted something that breaks the rules. These entries leave a bitter taste in my mouth when I'm looking at the, what I consider, fraudulent entries, because I don't believe they were modelled with in the specified time limit.
Ok rant over, but I haven't participated in a comp in a while because of this. I still vote, because the modellers that do stick to the rules deserve to get a vote.
Thanks for listening
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I think you've echoed my thoughts exactly.
There's no way to monitor it other than the honour system and if people want to cheat for a 'Purple' username then they are a bit silly.
There was a suggestion to screen capture your modeling or use SU Clock to trap the time but that would reduce entries.
It's a great competition for all user levels but some people make it a bit shit
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I dunno, there are many different levels of modeling skill. Some people spend much more time preparing than others, so there is bound to be times when the winner may appear to have gone over time, but you can't tell how much prep work - sketching on paper, thinking about construction, and just modeling in general - went into the model.
One way to judge the winner is to look at their history of models posted to the forum...if they have a good gallery presence, then there is a good chance they didn't cheat. OTOH, if a newbie posts a fantastic model to a speed challenge, I'd suspect dishonesty.
I dothink that working that hard takes all the fun out of it though
Here's an example of an excellent modeler, KitoRaupp has many Sketchup tutorials on YouTube. In the one I linked to, I'll be darned if I could have got the same result in 15 minutes (without rubies) that he did in ~ 4 minutes...that's almost 4 times longer! Just sayin'.
How's this for an idea...perhaps frequent winners could make a video tutorial teaching us all how they work so fast? Like Eric did with his pinecone winner a while ago.
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And the Mech Fish I did too.
I look at it like this, echoed by Rich: If someone wants to cheat for a purple name and the chance to choose a topic then it is on their conscience and is silly.
That said, I don't honestly believe anyone has cheated. I believe they have all been genuine. Some of the more detailed models came from very good modelers so I personally judge it that way. I also look at the model and think to myself; "could I do that in under an hour (or 30 min)?" I have not seen any I could not tackle myself.
Marcus makes a great point as well, preparation is key. When I did the Steampunk Toilet I spent quite a bit of time sketching on paper, listing plugins that would benefit, collecting textures and listing a step by step plan of attack. Maybe it is a bit too much to plan that much for a simple competition but if I am going to do something I am going all in. The sad thing is I spent just as much time planning out a steampunk boom box but could not get it wrapped around my head enough to execute it so I changed to a toilet
I understand the concerns but until this competition becomes for money or prizes and/or if someone speaks up about their cheating I don't see a problem.
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@unknownuser said:
I understand the concerns but until this competition becomes for money or prizes and/or if someone speaks up about their cheating I don't see a problem.
Its just a rant of a man getting over man flu, and i agree that it is up to the individuals own conscience. Some people would put my views down to never getting more than 3 votes.
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It's interesting, I've never considered it a competition, simply a fun learning experience and a personal challenge.
The whole process of the challenge helps you develop a range of skills, and seeing what others do is both incentive and inspiration.
It challenges you to:
design something to fit a specific subject
work to a deadline
push your skill level
learn about different plug ins
deconstruct your modelling practices to understand how to work more efficiently
look at a design as both a whole and the individual parts
and other things I can't think of right nowI honestly can't see why anyone would cheat, I'd feel very sorry for anyone who does.
Does anyone really care that much about winning, I just love the whole concept and seeing what others can do, I've learnt so much from it.
I use SU as a design tool for my sculptural work, and I don't make finished images and renders etc only working drawings, so these challenges are probably the only time I would display anything of my SU work, it's a bit of fun, a break from the norm and a good learning experience.
I still remember my first entry, it was in the chair challenge, and I was so excited because I had just learnt to smooth edges with the eraser and ctrl, that one took me the whole 30 min at the time, now it would take 30 seconds.
And as said above, planning what you are going to do is so important, as with anything, plus understanding and using keyboard shortcuts and the right tools for the job can make all the difference.Oh well, it's late and I'm just rambling now.
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Surely nobody would cheat for a different coloured username (as others have said)?!
I'm going to make sure I enter every comp from now on as I see it as a great way to do something I wouldn't normally do, out of my comfort zone (I'm a slow, methodical modeller) whils having a bit of fun. Similar to Box, I've never seen it as a competition per se, just a chance to do something different, if you get a purple name, cool, if not, you've had fun and done something different for 30/60 minutes.
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I too had suspicions of time cheating for some of the challenge entries earlier. But as I learned better about the modellers active in the forum and what can be achieved with the right plug-in set I am more convinced that the entries at least in principle might have been finished in the time allowed. I had to prepare some real time usage-demo videos for some features, there you have to show the feature doing something useful within 3 minutes; anything longer exceeds useful attention span. By practice (modeling the same thing over and over) you can cut down your modeling time significantly (10x is within reason). Interestingly practice helps you speed up in other models too.
cheers -
I have no reason to believe anyone has cheated. Based on work displayed in the gallery (automobiles, organic models, etc.) there are some very adept SUers here, who blow me away. I tip my hat to you masters.
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