*** March/April Challenge VOTING - Ink blots ***

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jaxilon

March/April 2012 Lite Challenge Entry: Wreck of the ISS Titanic by Fury: What a cool idea. Thank goodness for the inset though because it was a little hard to see the ship in the larger picture until I knew what it was shaped like (not unusual for a crash site I suppose). For me I just felt like the provided shapes were not capitalized on as much as with some of the other entries.

---

Eh, the concept can only be taken so far :)

While the 3D perspective differs from the perspective of the ink blot image, it is an exact match because it was loaded as a heightfield map. Look for the smallest ink blot dot and it can be found rendered. Hope no one thinks this was a cut and paste :) It took 3 hours to render and several tries before that to get it right, not to mention having to create the shaders first.

Got 4 reps for this so far (thanks) which didn't translate into votes but then I'm even losing to a cut and paste :blush:

That's the unfortunate thing about the voting process where everyone gets just 1 vote. You could have been a bunch of people's second choice and still never get a single vote. As far as how much went into making a map I have learned to never make assumptions. For example, my map might just look like a picture to some people, but it was several hours of layering together, and then shading in, lighting effects from about 8 to 10 random texture pictures.

@Fury - Bogie is right that we tend to have blow outs when there is only one vote. That's why we like it when there are a lot of entries, so we get more votes. It could be just one little thing that captures the eye and that piece gets all the votes. It may only be a tiny bit better than the rest but that's all it takes.

Also, just in case, I didn't think your entry was "a cut and paste" and sorry if I gave that impression. By the same token I did not mean to infer Bogie's was either. It takes a certain skill to use layers correctly to pull that off and it is something that has taken me quite a while to get down myself. I think everyone in this community likes hand drawn/painted stuff over cut/paste.

I don't think you are offended or anything but maybe I can explain myself a little better:

What I meant by my comment regarding the shapes on your piece was that I found them harder to see. Now maybe it's my crappy eyesight or the settings on my monitor but the base shapes seemed more of a background to me. My critiques on these things are just little nit picks because that's the only way I can get myself down to one vote. I feel it's only fair if I can share what went on in my mind while determining where I cast my vote because otherwise there is no feedback. I have lost a bunch of these challenges but the only times I really learned anything about how my stuff was coming across was when someone actually explained what pathetic excuse they had for not voting for me :)

At times I have felt frustrated that the feedback didn't come until after the fact but I understand that sometimes life keeps folks busy and they may only have analyzed things when it was time to vote. I guess late feedback is still better than none, eh?

One of the special things about your picture is that I feel it's the only real science fiction entry in the lot.

I expect you will get a lot more rep in the days to come and as the challenge voting ends. I sure hope to see more of your work in future and that goes for all of you.

I agree on the tough choices... But <i>Ocean's End</i> invoked a sense of, "How on Earth..." Only in a very good way. It's something I'd love to see but would be somewhat terrified to, simultaneously. It defies being, but the beauty of it brings it right back home. I suppose I love epic, dangerous, but lovely things too much to not vote for it. :)

Sorry for not finishing mine. :( I haven't touched a map in a while. I started a new job (thank goodness!) so I've been really busy, and then I decided to spend free time on different arts. Painting, mostly. Coming back to learning cartography soon, though. :D

Hey if you are up for it take a picture so we can see what you have been painting. I know this is a Cartographer's guild but we do from time to time like to see the other things our members can do.

Congratulations Octopod, great map!

Congratulations Octopod and well done!

Congrats, Octopod. I was on vacation when the voting first ended.

Thanks, Jaxilon, for your comments.

Congratulations to Octopod on his excellent win for this challenge. He is the new owner of a shiny silver compass. Wear it with pride!

At least he is if I did the pinning ceremony correctly :)

Congrats! Nice job!