SHORTEST CODE CONTEST

Povray has many strengths.  On one hand it can compete with some of the best
professional packages in the production of photorealistic images with
radiosity from the DXF output of a modelling program. On the other hand, it
IS amazing what the thoughtful amateur can do with just a few lines of ASCII
text. IMHO, this second quality of povray is a better "poster boy" for the
program and much more *fun*.

Many pov'vers like to celebrate this second quality of povray with
innovative signature files: making something really interesting with just a
few bytes of text.

Let's have a contest.

See the results of the first round of the Shortest Code Contest at:
http://10best.raytrace.com/short/shorttable.html

HOW TO ENTER:
Send an email to Greg M. Johnson at gregj56590 [at] aol [dot]  com with two
attachments zipped together:

1) "xyz.pov" scene file. (Please use all lowercase letters).

    a) Please don't have any personal info in the image as the contest will
be judged blind. For example, if you currently have text that says, "BILLY
POVUSER", change it to "POV 3.5" or "POVVERS RULE" or something else.

    b) Make it compatible with povray 3.5. (Note: if you make use of still
buggy advanced features of the latest beta release of 3.5, you run the risk
that a later beta release will require different syntax and thus your image
will not run.) [Note to POV-Team: use of features which are not discussed in
the docs are prohibited: don't make up your own new statements just for this
contest!  ;-) ]

    c) no #includes or #reads or #writes or #fopens are permitted.

    d) MAX size: 500 bytes. This includes the 5 characters for your //xyz
"signature."

    e) the code must end with //xyz, where xyz is a (hopefully) unique
3-digit combination of your initials and/or numbers. (Please use all
lowercase letters and only characters which are acceptable for file names).

    f) NEW REQUIREMENT: entry must use a scene element of povray.
 For example, you may submit an image which renders a black screen  with
this code:
        i)   background{rgb 0}//xyz
 but an invalid entry is one which renders a black screen with any of the
following:
        ii)  // xyz
        iii) #declare a=0; //xyz
        iv)  /*     */ //xyz
 etc.  If your entry is a black screen, expect harsh application of this
requirement.

    g) Code which generates a warning is acceptable.  However, since a major
purpose of this project is a teaching tool, you are requested to discuss
fully the warning in the comment section of your TXT file.

    h) Code which takes a LONG time to render (>>8 h on  a fast machine)
runs the risk of being rejected by judges and/or contest team. Please warn
the SCC team when you make your submission.

2) an  "xyz.txt" file with five segments:

     a) your name,
     b) email adress,
     c) web page,  (most display purposes of the contest will involve a link
to your web page rather than email address).
     d) your code pasted again, but this time with maximum use of tabs,
spaces, crlf's, and // commenting so as to enable greater understanding of
your codes' purpose.
     e) and any other comments you want to make about the image.
     F) The phrase, "I SUBMIT TO THE STANDARD 10BEST.RAYTRACE.COM COPYRIGHT
STATEMENT."
 The copyright statement can be found at:
http://10best.raytrace.com/10bestcopy.txt

3) Please make the title of your email distinct from typical junk mail,
something like, "[Shortest Code Contest]"

HOW IT WILL RUN:

1) An 800 x 600 jpg of your pov file will be prepared.

2) A web page will be prepared where all of the image are visible, BUT NO
personal or author information NOR any data about the scene file.

3) Voters will vote on their favorite six images.  No one will know how many
bytes are in the pov file during the judging!  The contest is open to the
public, but in cases of suspected suspicious activity, such as ballot
stuffing, the judges reserve the right to reject votes from email addresses
NOT associated with a recent posting to povray.general,
povray.binaries.images, or c.g.r.r. of usenet.

4) Medals (in the form of praise) will be given to:
   a) Efficiency: highest value of score divided by file size.
   b) Artistry:   highest raw score
   c) Paucity:    highest value of score divided by file size squared
    an entry can only win one prize.  After winners are assigned for the
three medals, the next best in each category will receive a "2nd place"
mention, and so on for 3rd place.

5) Contest submission deadline:   June 15th, 2002, according to the time
stamp on your email.

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