First Place Dale Schulz Entry Number: 05

Second Place Forbes Robertson Entry Number: 07

Third Place Richard Collins Entry Number: 10

Challenge - February 27 - The Iceman Cometh - Entries

Paul Corfield Entry Number: 01

Ricardo Aguirre Entry Number: 02

Victor Ascencao Entry Number: 03

Apryl Bell Entry Number: 04

Franck Dubois Entry Number: 06

John Hunter Barrie Entry Number: 08

W. Taylor Entry Number: 09

John Deckert Entry Number: 11

February 27th Challenge - The Iceman Cometh - Outline

The challenge this month is to model and texture an Ice Sculpture. No scene is required but a base and something to reflect might come in handy. The modeling can be somewhat simpler, as ice sculptures tend to get "soft"-looking very quickly as they melt. And, of course, they are carved initially with chainsaws, which isn't really a precision instrument.

The key, and the point of the challenge, is the texture. There's the outside of course, wet and smooth in places, with chips of ice and imperfections in others. But Ice isn't just a surface, the inside contains air bubbles, cracks, particles of dust and other matter, and ice can range from crystal clear to foggy and opaque. Creating a convincing work of ice, regardless of the subject, is the goal of the challenge.

The final entries will still be posted without names for voting, but I'd like to reduce the need to keep everything secret till voting day. You're welcome to post works in progress to the gallery, and solicit advice from the forums at any time before the challenge ends.

Models may be imported from external modelers (eg. Wings, Amapi, Silo, etc.). Any amount of post work may be done in Photoshop or other image editors, but try to avoid excessively "hand painting" the image.

Models must be original, and created by you. No publicly available models may be used, nor can "3D in a box" solutions, like Poser or Bryce. All 3D rendering for this project must be performed by Strata 3D.

Rules and Conditions

The 3D rendering in this challenge must be completely entirely in Strata3D. Modelling can be done in any program (except for Poser or other model collections), as long as the models are imported into Strata3D for rendering. Photoshop, Illustrator, or other image editors or page layout programs may be used for post-processing, texture creation or page layout.

All models and textures must be created by you.

If you have any questions regarding challenge rules or theme guidelines, please email me at michael@stratacafe.com

Entries will be accepted until midnight on February 27th. Judging will be done online by any member of the cafe with a gallery that's willing to vote =)

The image cannot contain your name or email address anywhere on it, as the judging will be anonymous. Original artist copyright information must be submitted separately if the image is a 3D recreation of an existing peice.

These rules may be subject to change without notice before the close of the contest.

Please, if you have any questions or suggestions regarding the contest, please email me at: michael@stratacafe.com

The benefits of the contest:

1) Winners will receive a charming banner to place on their website.

2) There will also be a smaller graphic, that looks a lot like the larger graphic, that will reside on the winners profile page on StrataCafe, forever and ever.

3) People can come to this page to get information on up and coming contests and view past winners (That would be you!)

4) You will receive the adoration of your friends and family, as well as most of the people who visit StrataCafe. (Note: Adoration not a guarantee.)