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Because I felt like it*, I decided to figure out if IRTC participation was
growing or shrinking since its inception. It looks like it's shrinking.
:-(
Col 1: Year
Col 2: Avg entries / round
2002 89
2001 95
2000 103
1999 96
1998 112
1997 114
1996 129 (4 rounds)
* I would have graphed it, but I'm not that familiar with Excel. I need a
life.
Maybe we just need some more interesting topics? But since we get to vote,
you'd figure we'd vote for the most interesting ones...
Big Hit Topics from the past include:
Loneliness (133)
Sea (142)
Imaginary Worlds (143)
Water (158)
Night (131)
Magic (161)
Glass (183)
Science Fiction (222)
--
Slash
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Slashdolt wrote:
> Because I felt like it*, I decided to figure out if IRTC participation was
> growing or shrinking since its inception. It looks like it's shrinking.
> :-(
That may not be a bad thing. The average quality seems higher. Or at
least the bar for the front runners seems very high. I know I have
improved my POV skills considerably over the four or so years that I
have participated yet I feel farther than ever from being competitive
with the front runners, even of yesteryear let alone currently. I think
that knowing how much work it takes to submit a respectable entry, plus
rl difficulties has contributed to me not submitting for the last three
or four rounds. Part of my interest in providing verbal feedback is to
help keep some momentum while I regroup on the rendering front.
>
> Maybe we just need some more interesting topics? But since we get to vote,
> you'd figure we'd vote for the most interesting ones...
>
Topics might have something to do with it, but really, I personally
don't commit to entering, or not, based souly on topic. It used to be
about whether I could think of an interesting thing to challenge myself
with technically, and answer to the topic too. Now it has more to do
with whether I have an idea that I want to devote that much effort to.
That would describe my last entry anyway, ( in the Loneliness round.)
Now I think that rl worries are probably having the keenest affect on my
creativity. I would have trouble entering in the near future no matter
how compelling the topic.
> Big Hit Topics from the past include:
> Loneliness (133)
> Sea (142)
> Imaginary Worlds (143)
> Water (158)
> Night (131)
> Magic (161)
> Glass (183)
> Science Fiction (222)
>
There seems to be something about irtc/pov that favours broad,
archetypical topics. Other groups that run contests seem to come up
with topics which take more from popular culture. They seem to cater to
a greater interest in commercial cg art among the participants. As cg
becomes more popularized and as commercial tools become more prevalent
there may be a shift to these "sexier" forums. It may be that the whole
phenomenon is attracting, particularily artist types, away from
irtc/pov, which seems to be of more interest to science types, who have
less interest in cg except as a hobby. Notice that "Science Fiction"
(222) happens to provide a crossover between pop culture and science
interests.
That is a further reason btw that I wanted to support Renderdogs
initiative to have further discussion of the entries, to generate a more
"artist friendly" atmosphere. POV is a unique tool for artists, but
there may not be a broad ability to understand just why.
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Slashdolt wrote:
> Because I felt like it*, I decided to figure out if IRTC participation was
> growing or shrinking since its inception. It looks like it's shrinking.
> :-(
>
> Col 1: Year
> Col 2: Avg entries / round
>
> 2002 89
> 2001 95
> 2000 103
> 1999 96
> 1998 112
> 1997 114
> 1996 129 (4 rounds)
>
Personally, I don't think theres enough samples for any sort of accurate
numbers to be drawn. Also, I noticed that especially back in the early
days, many people submitted more than one entry.
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"Tyler Eaves" <tyl### [at] cg1 org> wrote in message
>
> Personally, I don't think theres enough samples for any sort of accurate
> numbers to be drawn. Also, I noticed that especially back in the early
> days, many people submitted more than one entry.
I wonder about the number of samples, too. But even if participation isn't
going down, it's certainly not going up either. OTOH, maybe there are more
people submitting only a couple entries per year, rather than fewer people
submitting one or multiple entries each round.
I just hope people aren't losing interest. The fairly recent Loneliness
round attracted quite a few people, so maybe those who enter are simply
being more selective as to which rounds they enter into. For me, I had
decided to enter even before I heard the topic in the last round, but I
could certainly see some topics really appealing to me. I was quite close
to entering the Loneliness round.
--
Slash
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Remembering my childhood, I remember a young boy who used to draw
semi-trucks. He drew them all the time. His technical drawing skills were
very good, in retrospect. At the same time, I remember another boy who
couldn't draw semi-trucks as well, but he could draw amazing things, like
people's hands, flowers, etc. He was clearly more artistic, yet he probably
lacked many of the technical skills of the other boy.
It seems that POV-Ray attracts both of these camps. Sometimes, you get
people which are very strong in both areas, but I still get the sense that
they lean one way more than the other. And we need both. To me, it's
almost ingenious that the IRTC recognizes that, and rewards both artistic
and technical merit.
My "art" skills have atrophed for many years, and I'm once again trying to
revive them. After having considered myself a largely technical person for
the last several years, winning the IRTC has certainly boosted my confidence
immeasurably. I used to paint, but computer creations became more
interesting. POV-Ray is a beautiful combination of programming and art. I
feel like it has set me free in many ways.
I'm getting emotional here. I think it's late and I need to go to bed...
BTW, I love your comments. I wish I could write so elequently.
--
Slash
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"Slashdolt" <jer### [at] questsoftwarecom> wrote in message
news:3e9ae047$1@news.povray.org...
| Because I felt like it*, I decided to figure out if IRTC
| participation was growing or shrinking since its inception.
| It looks like it's shrinking.
Just natural progression. The bar has been raised, as Jim said, so more
time is needed to complete an entry. There is also the fact that an
objectively judged contest between all styles of raytracing is as
impossible as an objectively judged contest between all styles of
painting. For this reason, the competition has naturally settled into a
style niche.
I looked up Jim's Loneliness entry after his having mentioned it in
another thread ( very nice, btw ) and got a laugh out of one of the
comments. Jim's pic is a stylized, monochromatic portrait of an author.
After seeing this, one viewers comment amounted to, "needs a
background." I thought this was funny because so many people said the
same think about my only entry. There are some elements and styles which
certainly don't go over well in the IRTC. That's not a complaint. For
anyone wishing to attempt a winning entry, the best situation is an
"apples to apples" competition.
Also, as unpopular an idea as this may be, I think that a lot of
enthusiasm is dampened by the missed deadlines for topic announcements
and the posting of results. I know that the people running the
competition are busy, but that does not change the fact that these types
of delays give the impression that the organizers themselves are less
than excited about the competition. For many who are only able to work
on their entries on the weekends, an proportionately large amount of
time can be lost due to even a small delay.
-Shay
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> My "art" skills have atrophed for many years, and I'm once again trying to
> revive them. After having considered myself a largely technical person for
> the last several years, winning the IRTC has certainly boosted my confidence
> immeasurably. I used to paint, but computer creations became more
> interesting. POV-Ray is a beautiful combination of programming and art. I
> feel like it has set me free in many ways.
Yes it has been a way back in for me too. For me it wasn't so much a
matter of atrophy as emotional crisis. When my paintings began to get
some attention, it became too difficult to reconcile their fetish
content and connection to bohemian life, with the life of family man in
a stiff-job. I couldn't take the heat, had to get out of the kitchen.
The technical concerns of creating a lighted space, and then using it to
create meaning haven't changed much. But this is a new and exciting way
to approach it.
>
> I'm getting emotional here.
Takes guts.
> BTW, I love your comments. I wish I could write so elequently.
>
Thankyou for saying so. Just know that in college I studied modern
painting like a man possessed. So the language of "art talk" is
familiar to me.
-Jim
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Shay wrote:
> "Slashdolt" <jer### [at] questsoftwarecom> wrote in message
> news:3e9ae047$1@news.povray.org...
>
> Just natural progression. The bar has been raised, as Jim said, so more
> time is needed to complete an entry. There is also the fact that an
> objectively judged contest between all styles of raytracing is as
> impossible as an objectively judged contest between all styles of
> painting. For this reason, the competition has naturally settled into a
> style niche.
You've summed it up nicely
>
> I looked up Jim's Loneliness entry after his having mentioned it in
> another thread ( very nice, btw ) and got a laugh out of one of the
> comments. Jim's pic is a stylized, monochromatic portrait of an author.
> After seeing this, one viewers comment amounted to, "needs a
> background." I thought this was funny because so many people said the
> same think about my only entry. There are some elements and styles which
> certainly don't go over well in the IRTC. That's not a complaint. For
> anyone wishing to attempt a winning entry, the best situation is an
> "apples to apples" competition.
Yes you are right. Why oh why do I struggle to break the same old mold?
>
> Also, as unpopular an idea as this may be, I think that a lot of
> enthusiasm is dampened by the missed deadlines for topic announcements
> and the posting of results. I know that the people running the
> competition are busy, but that does not change the fact that these types
> of delays give the impression that the organizers themselves are less
> than excited about the competition. For many who are only able to work
> on their entries on the weekends, an proportionately large amount of
> time can be lost due to even a small delay.
>
>
This never actually occurred to me but you might be right. I always
took it as part of the charm, like a cafe where the service is scanty
but you can sit there all night. But in this customer-service oriented
culture, it may very well be interpreted as you say.
-Jim
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Slashdolt wrote:
>My "art" skills have atrophed for many years, and I'm once again trying to
>revive them. After having considered myself a largely technical person for
>the last several years, winning the IRTC has certainly boosted my confidence
>immeasurably. I used to paint, but computer creations became more
>interesting. POV-Ray is a beautiful combination of programming and art. I
>feel like it has set me free in many ways.
Well put!
I haven't studied art, or had any formal training, but it's something that
has always interested me. But I got frustrated when I was younger because
I could visualize things in my head that I couldn't make work on paper, so
my visual side settled into photography, and my "I'm an artist, dammit, and
I need to create" side switched over to music. (and Musica been Verra Verra
good to me)
Now I'm an old geezer who can't handle being in the road all the time
anymore, so music has become a hobby, I got that real job my mother always
wanted me to get, and started playing around more with the computer.
Someone gave me a copy of Bryce and I discovered 3d. Someone else let me
play with their C compiler and I decided programming was cool. Then I
found PovRay, it does Bryce-like things in a C-like manner, and looks
great!
And lo & behold, I discovered that all those scenes in my head from my early
years were now possible after all! So I have to agree: a beautiful
combination of programming and art that sets the artist in me free. (or is
that sets the kid in me free...? or is that the same thing?)
RG - 48 going on 12
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gonzo wrote:
>
> I haven't studied art, or had any formal training, but it's something that
> has always interested me. But I got frustrated when I was younger because
> I could visualize things in my head that I couldn't make work on paper,
>
> And lo & behold, I discovered that all those scenes in my head from my early
> years were now possible after all!
As someone who has 'always known how' to draw, I find that fascinating.
I fact its working in three dimensions that I find to be a challenge.
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