I remember reading something in the IRTC FAQ that essentially said something
like, "People who use free or low cost tools are rewarded by the judges".
In other words, if you have a fantastic scene and used Maya to create it,
you're likely to be judged less favorably than someone who produced the
exact same scene with POV-Ray, or some other low-cost/free program.

There was a winner quite some time ago where the person used a ray-tracing
engine that he had written by himself.  I thought the picture wasn't so
great, but apparently others were impressed by "something".

Personally, I like that philosophy, though I can certainly understand why
others may not.  It is indeed biased, imho.  Most of the judges are POV-Ray
users, and it is easier to judge something that you understand, than
something you do not.

Ok, I got off my butt and found the following in the IRTC Stills FAQ:
[1.1.7] Can I use a renderer besides POV-Ray? Isn't this a POV-Ray
competition?
You can use any computer rendering program. The competition is hosted by
POV-Ray, but they do not make any demands on us or the participants.
[1.1.8] Can I use a commercial renderer instead of a free or share-ware one?
Yes. In past rounds, however, entries which were built and rendered with
costly high-end packages have been held to very high standards. (That is,
the judges often crap on them.)

and in the Rules for Stills:
3.b. Any rendering program is acceptable. The competition welcomes the use
of cheap or free software rather than packages only available to a few
professionals. There is nothing wrong with using such software.

-- 
Slash

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