Late comments. Started this before I left for work but didn't finish.
Back now, so ...

'This is a knot, checkered, on a plane' by Bill P.:
This was a nice topic for a person interested in knots. Your's is a
thematically simple image with a decent amount of polish. The
presentation with the rippling reflection effect definitely recalls the
"neat-o" feeling we all got with our first look at a ray-traced chrome
sphere. Unfortunately, along with the warmth of familiarity comes the
choking sensation of over-familiarity. Not sure if the retro 90s look is
intentional. Bitter sweet.


Where's the evolution? A neat idea, but the figure does not evolve at
all. This unfortunately does reflect the evolution of most POVers in
that the standards are so low that only a handful bother to spend more
than a few hours putting something together. This is not a comment on
your or any POVers skill, rather a comment on the unwillingness to
invest more time/energy than most do.


I've never tried Poser. The characters are posed very convincingly, but
their distorted arms and details like the low resolution of Tina's
sphere take away a lot from an otherwise very nice image. The story is
very well narrated. I imagine the background character as one who has
passed the plane checker and is now burdened with guilt over her own
conformity.



'HERE'S LOOKING AT HUES, KID' by Michael Chelmecki:
These kinds of themes are tough. There's some cleverness, but no humor
or challenge. There really is nothing to take from this on an emotional
level, so the image must be visually stunning to leave an impression.
Some nice modeling techniques in all three, but I personally took
nothing away from having seen them.

'Tina entertains the boys at the POV Club' by ~Steve~:
After having heard about the Tina Chep topic, my first idea for
interpretation was "this is not a checkered plane (of existence)",
meaning that we are not living in a world where the distinction between
black and white (right and wrong) is clearly delineated.  Not sure if
it's intentional, but your image and description do lend themselves to
this interpretation.


Why the sign? Stream of consciousness, but is this not a non-checkered
plain, "an expanse of land with relatively low relief(Wikipedia)"? I
think with a bit more work on the aesthetics of this unusual plain, this
could be an interesting image.

'This is not a checkered plane' by Jim C.:
Your scene is an example of what I want to do in future rounds of the
new RTC. A nice take on the topic and a quality pic most likely produced
in a reasonable, non-life-stopping amount of time. I want to do as you
have done: take something, put it out there, and participate in what's
going on rather than just trying to bend topics to my personal ends.
Additionally, you've managed a trick for which I cannot promise to
always try; You've made an image that is on topic yet still relevant
outside of the competition.

As far as the picture itself, I can't really tell what elements are "in
phase" with others. I thought it at first to be a group of hunters or
travelers disappearing into history. Transience definitely comes across.


An IRTC entry in the traditional mold. Lots of stuff. Ran out of time
for tweaking, but this is the right track for the kind of unambiguously
quality images that often do and should win contests like these.

 -Shay

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