The rules are PERFECTLY CLEAR!!![quote]ZBrush must be used for the entirety of this challenge. Only a base mesh may be brought in from another application, after which all work (including final render) must be accomplished in ZBrush.
ZBrush is perfectly capable of texturing.
~OM
A miniature is a good way to think about it, because in order for the design to be suitable for a succesful 3d print, its going to have to structured like a mini. Fairly homogenous and unibody, all interconnected, the more “skintight” the better, no floating elements, etc.
And Zapp link, which uses photoshop, is part of Zbrush. Dont be so abrupt, its a perfectly legitimate question.
about base meshes, does this mean we cant make a cape or watch base mesh after the fact once we have created the one base mesh for the character? what if some details will be highly hard edge, those this mean we cannot use another program to get a good base from, so that details are only added for those?
you may use any and all ZBrush features, including SubTools, HD Sculpting, PolyPaint and TransPose.
Don’t know what CLEAR means in your dictionary,
guess we should swap 
such a cool contest! think i want to enter this one. wish the mac side had Zapplink (if we can use it that is.) While the top prizes are awesome, I’d really love to win that Cintiq!
off to hit the sketchbook!
Yes, but that also describes any character design capable of a ZBrush Turntable Movie. You can’t do a 360 of any character not “skintight.” You also would have a hard time with a 3D print if the figure wasn’t solid…
Regarding the “sidekick” issue, I found this under Final Submission
Inanimate elements are allowed on this base if they contribute toward the drama of the finished character’s pose, or are necessary to support the character after 3D printing.
But the keyword is “inanimate…”
~OM
We are making a small update to the rules to clarify that Photoshop may be used for post-render work (although this will not be considered by the judging panel) as well as via ZAppLink.
And again, I would like to stress that Offload Studios will work with the winners of 3D print prizes to help you get your model into print-worthy shape while maintaining your vision!
Regarding multiple characters: Not a good idea. The vision of the contest is to create a single character. Trying to create more not only dilutes your efforts, but it also creates real problems should you win a print prize.
I just said that…or do you need a dictionary to define the term “unibody” as well as the term “clear”?
I maintain a good way to think about this challenge is designing an action hero gameboard Mini. If the figure design pose would balance, stand upright, and be physically possible to reproduce as a mini, it would work for this challenge. Other characters are not usually incorporated into minis, unless they are a “connected” part of the character.
You’re not designing a scene, you’re designing a physically stable and mechanically reproducible character on a base of some sort.
We are making a small update to the rules to clarify that Photoshop may be used for post-render work (although this will not be considered by the judging panel) as well as via ZAppLink.
Thanks
Lol! I thought I was the only one actually aiming for 3rd place. lol. It’ll be so cool to compete with ya, buddy. This is going to be a blast. Now I just need to decide on a realistic approach or stylized. Ah the choices!
Thanks again Aurick and everyone for the clarifications.
I wonder how many of us are eyeing that Cintiq as our end goal…
~OM
just win the grand prize, sell it, and then buy two cintiq’s 
then you wouldn’t have to put up with a) working on a mac, and b) the buggy 3.12 version of zbrush haha
good idea, but isn’t the grand prize a modded mac/tablet thing?
Ill enter this competition as long as one of the prizes is to shake by the shoulders whoever came up with the competition.
This is starting to feel laboured and contrived and the restrictions for me are in the fact that its just an anatomy exercise. Cant get excited…
Only positive thing is the fact its restricted to zbrush with zbrush renders…as most things on this forum should be.
Bring on version 3.5 as promised…ITS THE LAST QUARTER OF 2008 NOW!!!
ty for the fast response aurick, you really are the super moderator!
Regarding multiple characters: Not a good idea. The vision of the contest is to create a single character. Trying to create more not only dilutes your efforts, but it also creates real problems should you win a print prize.
Hehe… yeah that depends. No one said the second third or 100th character was going to be a different character (I’d give a hint, but I’ll just show it in a pic, when I post it. If its “illegal” or not acceptable, just delete the thread and I’ll go on about my business.)
What I have in mind breaks none of the stated rules or regulations, but it is pretty outside the box, so we’ll see how it goes.
This sounds like a super fun contest but the rules are too much for me to enter officially.
The transpose video killed it, I dont work like that. I might move an arm somewhere and a leg an hour later. It will be incredibly impeding to creative processes to start and stop videos in the middle of working.
The second is my zbrush is licensed to my company. I spend most of my time there so have no reason to have a copy at home.
So I’m going to make my own rule… I shall make a nice piece of art using Zbrush. Hopefully someone will enjoy looking at it.
I have on question Aurick.
I started searching to see if a couple of ideas I had showed up in image searches as similar to existing creations. So far I’m finding no matter how unique I think the idea is something similar shows up in searches.
What happens if I start out with what I believe to be an original idea and later on someone pops up with it being similar to somebody’s character I’m not aware of? It is incredible the amount and variety of characters that fit this topic that can be found on the Internet.
This is going to be a great learning exercise for me,as well as everyone who participates.I’m looking forward to the trip from idea to realization of concrete
form.I’m not new to the forums or z-brush,but i have had a heck of a time putting together a machine that would run constant for me,i’ve had a lot of trouble with crashing and losing z-tools,materials,and so on…Long story short i
have stabilized the problem…and am excited to join the challenge.I will be learning all the way through as i am not so good at transpose and all the in and out’s of the printing part…Good Luck all and thank’s again to the Awesome people at Pixologic…
