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Welcome to FLASH FIRE, the quickest character design contest this side of the BBC!
So what's all this then, I hear you asking, and to you I say, this is a contest. We're doing it quick and dirty guys - you've got about two weeks, starting now until Sunday, July 22nd, 2011 at 11:59 PM Central Standard Time to illustrate one (or all!) of three characters from Ta-Koro. Toa Tahu, Turaga Vakama, and Jaller or Takua as a Matoran. We will then take the winners for each design, print them out on a sturdy board and cut them out to be free standing figures. These figures will then go on display at Brickfair this year in front of a matte painting made by yours truly. You can do this in any style, as long as you follow a few rules.
1. Your entry must be an entire standing figure.
As you can see, the entry on the left has made the mistake of cutting off part of the figure. This is bad! The goal of this is to make some paper doll style figures we can cut out and pose amongst the many MOCs at Brickfair - it's our chance as flat-medium artists to show those sculptural guys what for! So make sure you draw an entire figure.
2. The figure must be by itself, with little or no background elements.
As you can see, again our foolish member on the left has messed up and included a lot of extra background on his piece! This is pointless, as we will be cutting out the figure anyway and so please do not do this.
3. Your characters must be in scale!
As you can see, it's a big problem when the figures don't have a good scale relationship to each other! So here is our rule of thumb for figures. If you are drawing them by hand, then just measure them with a ruler and scan them at about 150 DPI. If you are doing digital work, then make sure your canvas in your favorite program is set to the proper scale, again at minimum 150 DPI. Not sure what any of that means? Get ahold of me by PM, I'll help you figure it out.
For your Toa Tahu, the figure must be between 5.5 to 7 inches tall.
Turaga Vakama must be between 3.5 to 4.5 inches tall.
The Matoran must be from 3 to 4.5 inches tall.
Got it? Good.
How is height measured?
It is measured from the bottom of the feet of the character to the top of the head. This is about keeping things in scale, not necessarily the height of the image. If your character is contorted, it might not be technically the right height, but if he was just standing it should be proportioned so that he would be within the guidelines.
Can I enter for each character?
Sure. Everyone gets up to three entries, one for each character/category. You should keep them all in the same topic though.
Enter by posting a link to your entry picture in this topic, using the entry form.
Which version of Tahu/Vakama/Jaller/Takua can I draw?
Any version you prefer, as long as they can be properly described as TOA Tahu, TURAGA Vakama, and MATORAN Jaller/Takua. If you're drawing Takanuva, that's not really a Matoran, is it. However, Tahu Nuva is still a Toa, as is the Phantoka version.
Can the character be in an action pose?
As long as it follows the rules stated above, then fine. No backgrounds, and full character must be visible. And remember, this is going to be a physical standee so try to give it a fairly solid base. If you need some small decorative background element to make this possible then we will make an exception for it, like if Tahu's doing a flip and has his hand on a rock, then that's fine. This is up to my discretion, don't be cute.
Can the character have some fire background elements?
This is up to my discretion, but with characters that can control fire a little bit won't hurt. If it's so much that it could be considered a background, then it's too much.
What style can I use? Does it need to be in color? Can I do a silhouette? Can I use (X) medium?
This is the part of the contest where you need to start making some decisions for yourself. I've told you what to draw, you decide what the best solution is for it. As you can see in the examples above, I took three very different styles which if they were actually drawn by me would all be excellent entries into the contest. You choose the style, you choose the look, you choose the method. You just need to find the solution that is going to be best for the scenario I have given you, posed amongst several colorful MOCs with a fully colored backdrop behind it.
Be good, don't whine, don't flame, and don't spam PM people to vote for you.
Reminder! Don't break BZP rules!
If something isn't allowed in a post or a signature, please don't put it in your entry.
Entry Form:
Please fill out the following form and post it with your entry. I try to semi-automate the process of making the entry list, so please just cut and paste the following; don't re-order lines, change words, or add code tags.
Member name:
Entry Category: (Toa, Turaga, or Matoran)
Entry URL:
optional:
Thumbnail URL:
Topic:
Following is the standard stuff many of you end up not reading...
General Rules:
Entries: A violation of any of these rules may result in your entry being disqualified. You may be given the opportunity to correct any rules violations, but all corrections must be completed prior to the entry deadline. Most people don't bother following the restrictions, so I'm not going to bother listing them. Just keep in mind that there are a lot of people who don't have as fast an internet connection as you have, and aren't going to spend 5 minutes or half an hour downloading an entry to look at it; I know I'm not going to. If someone tells me that an entry breaks the rules, and it takes too long for me to verify it, I'll probably just accept what they tell me. I think one of the reasons for fewer responses in artwork topics is the increase in pictures that are one or two megabytes. Also, I don't see any reason for entries that can't be viewed without scrolling. In order to further save download time, please do not post your entry in the entry topic. Instead, please provide a link to your entry.
Only one entry per category per member. You may switch or modify your entry during the entry period. If you are correcting a rules violation or are submitting a clearer image of your entry. In both of the cases, you must notify me as to what changes you have made. Any other changes to your entry mid-contest may result in disqualification.
The artwork portrayed must be new and never before published on BZP prior to the start of the contest.
All entries must be posted in this topic, using an entry form.
A low resolution thumbnail picture representing your entry, no larger than 128 pixels by 128 pixels (just like they have on BrickShelf!), is strongly encouraged. It may be a reduced picture of your entry, a cropped picture of your entry, or a combination of the two, as long as it represents your entry. If a thumbnail picture is not provided, one will be made for you, and you might not like it.
Conduct: Although some specific rules are mentioned here, all BZP rules apply. Any violation of BZP rules may result in you being disqualified from the contest.
No posts saying "Did you see my entry on the ** page?" and other like them in the Entry Topic.
Any flaming will result in disqualification from the contest. Let's keep it fun, nice, and clean.
None of the "unfair" whining & crying. We're all aware that some people have better animation and painting programs, such is life.
Don't play Moderator. No posts saying "that's spam", or "don't double post", or "your entry should be DQ'ed because...", or any other comments pointing out possible contest or BZP rules violations. As well intentioned as these comments are, they are wrong often enough that it only creates more work for me. If a post is spam or a double post, I'll just delete it, which is easier than deleting it and a second (and third, and fourth...) spammy post that points out the alleged problem with the first post.
Discussion is encouraged. There will be no Discussion Topic this time, since most people have ignored it in the past and posted comments in the entry topic anyway. Feel free to ask questions about entries you see or about the contest in general. This is for all people on BZP and the BZP Artwork Community.
The contest is public & open to all BZP members, including the contest officials. Signature advertising is colorful & encouraged, but please use good judgement if you choose to promote yourself and your artwork, do not spam PM people to vote for you (if spamming is detected you may consequently be disqualified for it) or pester members or likewise bribe them into voting for you. Let your art speak for itself. Also, all signature advertising must, obviously, follow the BZP signature guidelines.
I don't want to disqualify anyone, and I've tried to be lenient in giving people an opportunity to conform to the contest rules. I don't always have that option if you break the BZP rules, so be careful.
For those who don't know how to resize images, convert file types, or determine file size, I'll try to help when I can. If this looks like it may become a problem, I may ask for some volunteers to help.
Any questions may be asked in this topic, or you may PM me directly. I may answer questions by editing the post asking the question. I'm sorry if I miss a question in a post, if I don't answer then PM me.
Voting:
Due to the fact that Brickfair is right around the corner, there will be one round of voting to determine the category winners.This round will last three days. Nice and simple, most votes for each category wins.
During the polling, the official contest entry topic will be locked, however, all open polls will have the posting option. Feel free to discuss whom you voted for and why. Remember that peeking at a poll without voting will make your vote null (not count). To hit null vote is to not have voted at all, and you can't go back.
Prizes:
Each of the three category winners will receive:
Awesome, limited edition Hapori Tohu stickers, previously exclusive to BZP Staff!
A sweet prototype part and/or small set of their choice
Possibly an amazing Lego built trophy (no promises on this one, but we're working on it!)
So get entering guys! This one's gonna go fast.
Edited by InnerRayg, Jul 23 2012 - 01:53 AM.
