"Chris Cason" <del### [at] deletethistoopovrayorg> wrote in
message news:45c076e4@news.povray.org...
> Having seen the amount of comments regarding the IRTC's current pause,
it's
> clear that there is a real spirit of competition amongst many users who
are
> now looking for a productive outlet for that.
>
> I've been associated with the IRTC since it was the 'RTC' and run by Matt
> Kruse. However irtc.org has always been 'the' IRTC, and honestly I don't
> expect this to change a lot. IMO the admins have done a fantastic job in
> keeping the competition rolling for more than ten years. Even if the
current
> situation is not resolved there is no technical reason for the site to be
> closed down (though of course it would be wise to modify any parts that
refer
> to accepting submissions and so forth).
>
> However this is not the primary point I want to make in this post.
>
> My point I think is that the IRTC can operate in parallel with whatever
might
> come up to serve as an outlet for this creative spirit of yours. It is not
a
> case of 'replacing' the IRTC, or even having a successor to it. Just for
> there to be something suitable (and preferably fairly automated) that can
> operate as your virtual sounding stage.
>
> I can provide the POVCOMP site source code and web hosting for a new
> competition. Long-time POV user Lance Birch, a professional web designer,
is
> willing to supervise and assist with the coding stage. We would need some
> additional help there, as well as at least three trusted people who are
> willing to make a long term commitment to supervising the operation of the
> contest.
>
> Going on, to me, the question is: what would pique your interest and keep
it
> long term? A clone of the IRTC? Or something quite different, but with a
> similar flavor? Or something else entirely? Or even a competition that has
no
> set flavor - one that changes according to the times?
>
> I would like to suggest one possibility. It would be interesting to be abl
e
> to conduct a series of competitions - of variable length according to
> difficulty - that I would perhaps describe as the "POV-Team's Challenge".
>
> This would involve us coming up with interesting or intriguing ideas for
> renderings - either stills or animations - and challenging you guys to
show
> us what y'all can do. It need not be limited to POV-Ray, though of course
> that's our primary focus.
>
> I've no opinion how voting would work. But the winner(s) of each round
would
> get a nice virtual medal rendered in 100% recycled electrons and a spiffy
> title of some sort. Possibly I could even tweak the news server web view
to
> auto-append an award JPG of some sort to the bottom of all their posts
whilst
> they hold the title (i.e. the badge stays there permanently, but only gets
> added to posts they make whilst title-holder. Or something like that.)
>
> Anyhow: what sort of ideas might we pitch? Here's a few that come to mind:
>
>   1. Challenge: make us laugh. No cliches! Be original.
>
>   2. Challenge: using http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/28710584/ as
your
>      inspiration, come up with something different (no copies!) but that
>      invokes a similar sense (of, perhaps, anticipation?*) in viewers
minds.
>
>      * this word makes me think of the RHPS. Anyone for a Rocky Horror
round?
>
>   3. You are provided with a photograph of an equipment room of some sort
>      (perhaps a server room). It has plenty of electronic/computer gear/
>      wiring in it. You also get measurements of the room and of the larger
>      bits of furniture within it, sufficient to re-create a reasonable
>      facsimile of it.
>
>      Challenge: steampunk it. Photorealism is encouraged.
>
>   4. You are supplied a music track in mp3 format and a data file in text
>      format, suitable for parsing by POV-Ray's SDL.
>
>      Prior to the start of the competition, a group of you would have
created
>      a set of SDL routines to manipulate, interpolate, and otherwise use
this
>      raw data in order to be able to perform the below task (if you're not
>      using POV, you will have to find your own way to deal with it).
>
>      The data file contains sufficient information that the audio can be
>      matched to each of the 3 or 4 instruments used to record it, such
that
>      an instrument or scene could be animated in time with it.
>
>      Challenge: create an animation using the above. It is not required
that
>      you animate instruments. You may choose to make something trippy or
>      cool coupled with the beat. It's up to you. Length should be at least
>      20 seconds, but would preferably be the same as that of the audio
file.
>
>      To be reasonably feasible I would expect that most of the animation
>      would have to be automated - but SDL is one of POV's strengths.
>
>      [This challenge was inspired by Animusic*, LOR**, the 'Wizards of
>       Winter' video***, and similar items over the years].
>
>       *   http://www.animusic.com/
>       **  http://www.lotsofrobots.com/
>       *** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK90Ys2LhSo
>
>   5. You are supplied with a set of images that, if put together, form a
>      short film (in the region of 300 seconds or so). This movie is shot
>      using a real video camera and consists of a defined room or outdoor
>      area, the measurements of which are supplied to you, along with the
>      details and locations of one or two of the major items of furniture
>      present. You are additionally provided with camera tracking data* in
>      a form suitable to be used in SDL, plus some macros to deal with it.
>
>      The actual details of the video, where it is shot, and what it
contains
>      (e.g. if there are people present, and if so, what they are
doing/saying
>      etc) will be determined by reasonable consensus in advance.
>
>      Challenge: render something into this scene such that the finished
>      result appears seamless. You can choose any part of the supplied
data,
>      including non-sequential portions, but the result should be at least
20
>      seconds long.
>
>      [Obviously, http://runevision.com/3d/anims/hologram.asp inspired
this].
>
>      * If possible this will be high-accuracy date captured from the
physical
>        camera motion, if we can get access to the equipment required. If
not
>        then it would be derived.
>
> 4 and 5 would obviously be longer-term projects and may run in parallel
with
> shorter ones. Participants in all of these challenges would be encouraged
to
> share WIP's, techniques, and macros with others if they so choose. The
spirit
> of the challenges to experiment, learn, enjoy, do new things, and most of
all
> create neat stuff with POV.
>
> So. Anyone interested?
>
> -- Chris

Chris -
I would be interested to help out.
If you would like to contact me we can start some dialog.
I can tell you who I am, my background, and my education.
Thank you
Darin

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