A Community Thread: What would you like out of a GT5 Photomode sub-forum?

Hey guys.



So, we're very nearly at the T-minus 2 months mark. This board has served us pretty well over the years; with the addition of a separate sub-forum for competitions, this one has been pretty organized. We've got the general-purpose threads for certain marques, or guess the car, or things like that. Then we've got everybody's specific galleries, which proved incredibly successful: consider that the top 20 individual user galleries have garnered over 1 million views combined. The CPG Directory thread also made it easy to find a particular member's personal gallery.

...but what new features can we expect with GT5? Obviously we're still a bit in the dark about Photomode, but what we do know is interesting; we're still going to have it, it's going to further simulate an actual camera, and perhaps best of all for a community like this; we get private lobbies! We'll be able to race against one another and actually do shoots that way! There's the talk of replay videos being easily uploaded, bringing another nice aspect to our galleries.

So, after clearing it with Scaff, talking back-channel with Franz, we figured why not get the opinions from the people who made this area what it is? Just so we're clear: nothing is certain. Just because we have this sub-forum, and the Competitions sub-sub-forum, doesn't mean we'll get GT5 counterparts. I mean, it's a fair assumption, but I don't speak on behalf of the staff, and obviously, the final decision rests with them, and what's best for the board as a whole. That said, we can help, by discussing what we feel we could include to make such a board run as smoothly as possible.

Franz has mentioned he'd be more than willing to bring back the Directory; it's a handy tool indeed. For the record, I'd be all for helping with it too! The one important change; we wouldn't be including 5 sample pictures for each person's gallery, just a banner (which can always include snippets of images anyways). The reasoning is two-fold: try loading a page of hundreds of thumbnails and banners. Second: GTPlanet has grown exponentially since GT4's peak, trying to keep something like that steadily updated would be bordering on full-time job.

Something I think might be handy is a general meetup thread. I assume there will be one in the general GT5 board for people to meet up and race, but here specifically, we'd be meeting up for the purpose of photo shoots. People could always set up meetings in their respective individual galleries too, of course!

How's about a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly thread highlighting new galleries, or competitions? It could be presented as a sort of online mini-mag, which I think would draw a lot of people in. Who knows, if popular enough we may be able to trick convince Jordan to have a regular article up on the main page?

Personally, I'm going to be sorting my gallery under similar categories as I did before; also, I'm going to adopt Sony's "Play Create Share" mantra and offer plenty of GTP avatars, PSP backgrounds, PC wallpapers... y'know, make everything accessible. Also, links to other peoples' galleries in my first post, because there are some people who's work I admire greatly.

Anywho, toss out some ideas. We're all clamoring for the full game, and the reason this is posted here is because this community is relatively tight-knit and the GT5 board is a jungle. Let's discuss!

Good read slip!

I think we all know when GT5 comes out, it will be absolute ANARCHY!

With that being said, GTplanet by FAR, had to easiest to access forum(s) when it comes to the photography aspect *shudders at fm3.net*.

I fully expect after about a month, the amount of people in the photomode forums will probably get massive. Tons of people creating random threads, cluttering it up in all the excitement. We definitely need structure. Most likely in the form of a few sticky threads and sub-forum categories like before.

I love the idea of a thread highlighting certain peoples galleries and updates on past competitions, kinda of like turn 10 did with their pit pass featuring peoples pictures. Meet up/photoshoot thread would be great. That was always fun and people seemed to like it. Also like the idea of a gallery directory thread. Some other *stickied thread* ideas would be:

*Post recent pics thread* - Stickied
This one would keep the clutter down some instead people just starting random threads instead of making their own gallery.

*Tips and Critiques* - Stickied
People discuss taking photos and how they get certain shots to look the way they do.

For the sub-forums I would do 2:

Galleries and Competitions. Keep it simple.

So we would have the basic "photomode forum" with the typical threads and then the important threads stickied, then the 2 sub-forums. Thats my quick ideas. I like where this is going and can't wait.

I love the idea of highlighting some latest great photos and competition winning entries. That would be very much like a blog presentation, so people don't have to go thorough all the threads. I definitely can foresee that it will be published on news page, because the news will shift it focus on GTP community once GT5 is released. Such as local meeting, online league, drift competition etc can be worthy to get into news page as well. What we can do is making a dedicated thread highlighting some great pictures in regular basis, but make sure the thread won't turn into a spotlight wishlist

I am looking forward what Kaz will reveal in TGS. More photomode secrets will be awesome, but for sure the show will be epic.

RetroGiant

Good read slip!

I think we all know when GT5 comes out, it will be absolute ANARCHY!

With that being said, GTplanet by FAR, had to easiest to access forum(s) when it comes to the photography aspect *shudders at fm3.net*.

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Thanks GR, it's good to see you around still! Yeah, these boards really are a blessing; it's way easier, and even encouraged, to open your own thing up here. The community really helps each other too, other than the occasional disagreement in comps over rule bending (probably an issue we'd have to touch on, once comps get started anyways).

I fully expect after about a month, the amount of people in the photomode forums will probably get massive. Tons of people creating random threads, cluttering it up in all the excitement. We definitely need structure. Most likely in the form of a few sticky threads and sub-forum categories like before.

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The one nice thing is we won't have too many requests for specific cars, with this whole near-simultaneous worldwide launch. Though that reminds me; a request thread would undoubtedly make sense, just as with this forum.

I love the idea of a thread highlighting certain peoples galleries and updates on past competitions, kinda of like turn 10 did with their pit pass featuring peoples pictures. Meet up/photoshoot thread would be great. That was always fun and people seemed to like it. Also like the idea of a gallery directory thread. Some other *stickied thread* ideas would be:

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I'll touch on the "Highlights" thread in my response to Franz, since he builds on it with a few ideas that I want to tackle. A meetup thread would serve a good purpose, even if most of us will probably start meeting separate from it through PSN connections beforehand 👍. The directory thread, provided we get the okay again, will definitely be returning!

*Post recent pics thread* - Stickied
This one would keep the clutter down some instead people just starting random threads instead of making their own gallery.

*Tips and Critiques* - Stickied
People discuss taking photos and how they get certain shots to look the way they do.

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Both of these are must-haves, imo. A recent pics / general photomode thread is necessary; some people just don't want to go through all the trouble of making a gallery for sporadic photo mode work. Which is understandable. For the people who do have one, a quick post of a new image and a link to their gallery could get new traffic into their gallery.

Tips and Critiques is a life-saver, some of the guys here have some mind-blowing Photoshop powers, others some great gallery-building design sense, and others still are incredibly skilled behind a lens. Having one location to get info on all of these things would encourage people to take part and go whole-hog, creating a gallery and getting right into the comps.

For the sub-forums I would do 2:

Galleries and Competitions. Keep it simple.

So we would have the basic "photomode forum" with the typical threads and then the important threads stickied, then the 2 sub-forums. Thats my quick ideas. I like where this is going and can't wait.

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Y'know, I never thought about Galleries getting their own sub-forum; it does make sense though, so that they're kept separate from things like "post muscle car pics here!" or threads like that. Do you think in this situation, the Directory thread would make more sense in the Photomode forum, or the Galleries one, then?

Competitions is a no-brainer; can't wait! Though I do hope nobody has an itchy trigger finger and they don't come up for at least, say, the first month. Just so that we can get comfortable in the game and actually enjoy playing before we all get hooked back into Photomode .

franz

I love the idea of highlighting some latest great photos and competition winning entries. That would be very much like a blog presentation, so people don't have to go thorough all the threads. I definitely can foresee that it will be published on news page, because the news will shift it focus on GTP community once GT5 is released. Such as local meeting, online league, drift competition etc can be worthy to get into news page as well.

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I'd actually be willing to help on such a blog-like thing; I'm always down for more graphic design work, even for fun. We just need a snappy nickname like FM3's Pit Pass. Though obviously not actually "Pit Pass". It could just be a selection from all over the Photomode boards; maybe a "free agent" sorta section, for people who post their general pics but don't have a gallery, and a handful of pics grabbed from recent gallery updates!

What we can do is making a dedicated thread highlighting some great pictures in regular basis, but make sure the thread won't turn into a spotlight wishlist

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I think there's ways to solve this, tying in with the above; the blog-kind of thing we're talking about could easily show readers the comp winners. That way it's not really playing favouritism, at least not the writer's, since the comps are voted on by many people. Maybe have a "Spotlight on" for a certain member each installment, but the easiest way to avoid favouritism again is just hold a rule that once someone gets that, they can't have it again for X amount of time? Or even spread that rule to every aspect of the blog, comp winners excepted? The last thing I'd want is for something like this to become another clique, we are undoubtedly going to have a huge, huge community upon release and there will be more than enough talent to showcase!

I am looking forward what Kaz will reveal in TGS. More photomode secrets will be awesome, but for sure the show will be epic.

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GT5 should be just about completed upon TGS, so yeah, I'm expecting a blowout!

Nice thread Slipz. 👍

I agree with everything you have said, and I think that they are good ideas. The only problem that I see is that over time, some things might not get updated as often. For instance. the Hall of Fame in the Photomode galleries should have been maintained a lot better than it was.

A general discussion thread could also be a great addition too.

We need less competitions too. I think that there should be a maximum of four separate gallery competitions:

Photomode: This should be the defacto competition for the gallery. It should have the strictest editing rules, and should sit somewhere between what photomode is now, and the unedited competition. This should be the go to competition for new starters, and possibly include themes that will advance the users abilities within the photomode application too. It should also be well supported by the regulars.

2.0/H2H: Both the 2.0 and H2H competitions should merge to become one single competition that is based on the H2H competition structure.

Free/artistic release: This should be a competition that has no rules other than the users creativity.

CCCL: I liked the idea of this competition, and it should continue to run. It could be based on 2.0 style rules, or be unedited. Maybe incorporating the head2head competition structure too (if both rules sets were used).

I think that any other competition format (ie drift, rally, probably nascar etc) should be incorporated as recurring themes within these four competition types.

Another idea could be for a thread (maybe incorporated into the gallery directory), where the artists here could offer their services to photograph online races. I'm hoping that whilst you are spectating a race you can also take pictures, well if that is the case, then it opens up the possibility for your talents in photomode to be used to document a particular race series. Think of it as a kind of photo-blogging system.

Last of all, support the new guys. I have always taken my time to comment on every gallery that appears here. Admittedly I don't do it as much nowadays, but back in the day, it was something I did often, and I felt it really made a difference. Take time to look at everything posted, and if you have some advice that might help the new guy, give it.

Oh yeah, one last thing, try not to be so clicky. At times here, there has been a click were you were either in or not. We need to get rid of that kind of thing, and open up the GT5 galleries to everyone.

Great thread and great ideas floating around here. I can subscribe to almost every idea posted so far.
It's funny, how I've also been talking with Slick6, about the future of the Photomode Competition (PMC) in GT5. He also gave a fantastic idea of getting a bunch of guys to create an account to run the competitions Hall of Fame. That way it could always be updated, and wouldn't be such an hard work, like it can be for just one people.

In overall, a way I think it could improve the organization is having a Photomode sub-forum - with overall discussions about Photomode, techniques used inside Photomode and /or Photoshop, requests, etc. - that would link to a Photomode Galleries sub forum - used only for user galleries - and Photomode Competitions sub forum - used only for competitions. Much like the WRS sub forum .

Now, restricting down my opinion to one place, the competitions devision, I have the same opinion has magburner to have less competitions and that strict competitions formats (like rally and drift) should incorporate more like themes and not has competitions itself.
I just don't agree with having a 2.0 - H2H joint. Even though, both had similar rules, the format of the H2H it's quite different from any other.

About the Photomode Competition in GT5, I intend to continue hosting it and bring it back to it's roots of almost no Photoshoping, making it a truly Photomode only based (hence it's name, Photomode Competition).

Another idea I present, this time to SlipZtrEm, is to gather all the ideas in the thread in summary form and P.M. them to Jordan. I think he would appreciate some ideas.

Alrighty, to avoid excessive length in this post, I'll avoid quoting since we're all hitting some great, similar ideas 👍

Board Organization: The most popular idea is something that's roughly this:


Which I agree would be the cleanest approach. This keeps the General Photomode area down to important, sticky-able topics (Photomode Tips and Tricks, compatible devices, Meetup thread), and other, more general-purpose threads (make or style - specific threads [ie. NASCAR, Muscle Car, Black/White only], Post Your Recent Pics, etc).

Thread Ideas: Provided it's indeed possible, Magburner's idea of essentially being lensmen-for-hire is a great idea. I'm not sure if it'll be possible in real-time during spectating (since you're settings would need to be set before you decide on the picture, unlike GT4 where you "paused" the action to set up your shot), but even if it isn't, I imagine you'll be able to save a replay of an online race and take pictures from that. We could see people conceivably having "Race Event" sections in their galleries, dedicated to snapping shots of, say, the week's WRS event. Much like many peoples' real-life photography threads. Hopefully PD makes this possible! This could be incredibly beneficial to the site itself if things like the WRS are going to get little race reports up on the front page, turning them into articles similar to what you find on Autoblog after an F1 race.

A general discussion thread could also help in certain situations, though I personally see limited use for it as there would be enough threads out there to cover most topics? If someone doesn't know where to win a car they want to shoot, that's a question for the GT5 board itself; if someone's wondering what car to shoot next for their gallery, they could ask in their gallery. I'm probably only thinking of some limited situations though, so I wouldn't mind discussing that some more.

Competitions: First, it's cool that Slick6 is still around, Nick! I agree with what's been said; we had too many short-term comps pop up for a few weeks, only to fade out once people realized there was limited appeal. Muscle Car, Scenery, Rally, Drift; they have some very specific material and quickly run out. Also, I was going to suggest the idea of having a "Hall Of Fame" member account that all comp runners have access to as well; much like the CPG Directors account, it would make a constant updating of the HoF easier, which I agree needs to be updated regularly. On a separate note, perhaps somebody could host all the images in the HoF somewhere separate from where they were originally, so that they aren't lost in the ethers of time, something Imageshack is all too happy to do to some of the old greats.

Specifically about PMC; while I was more comfy in the 2.0 comp, I think that came down to the inherent limitations I saw with GT4's output. With GT5 though, we obviously know, with the Premium cars, that cleanup just won't be necessary except on the macro-zoom level. I'd love to see the original PMC revert back to essentially no post-GT editing, because it's questionable if it's really even needed. Well, other than resizing, and even then, we can leave that at the discretion of users, just as we always have .

2.0/H2H: While I liked H2H, and the versus setup it ran, I wouldn't want that to be the default setup for 2.0. Having two competing sides limits possible themes, and since you're forced to choose one over the other, some people might like both and miss out on a fun theme. My suggestion: How's about we make the H2H setup a special once-a-month, or bi-weekly, setup for any competition? Or optional for the theme chooser? I ran H2H for long enough that I have the way of setting up the polls down to a mindless act, like brushing your teeth . That way it pops up every once in a while to shake up the usual method, but not often enough to limit peoples' options. What do you guys think?

Artistic/Free: I agree people need somewhere where there's no limitations, other than using a GT image as the starting point. Though I do wonder how things like this can be a "competition" per se, just because of the huge amount of difference between entries. I do miss the "Photoshop" comp, that basically gave one very general theme (Magazine Cover, Bodykit, etc), but the issue with that one is that not everybody is up to that kind of level. So I guess mixing the two might be the best option; throw some of the easier Photoshop themes into Artistic every once in a while, like the Mag Cover (always a good turnout), just to mix it up. I don't know the comp well enough though, so somebody with more experience would be better to ask.

CCCL: Again, don't know it well enough, although it basically can be served in either PMC or 2.0 as just a very specific theme. Though it would rarely happen, and some people like the challenge it provides, allowing them to focus on it, and the comparatively open limitations the other comps have. Yeah, I like the idea of keeping it around too. So another idea about H2H...

Tournaments: They can still happen every couple months, and they are essentially concentrated H2H!

Some other thoughts:

Image Sizes: We still should enforce this for sanity's sake, at least in the Recent Pics thread, and all comps. I'd say the multiple user galleries too, like a Muscle Car thread if it pops up. Basically, everywhere except peoples' individual galleries... where we can encourage, but leave the final decision to them. People should post thumbnails in a heavily-trafficked thread like the Recent Pics one, and in that one specifically, maybe even limit how many images per post, so that people aren't flooding it. Preview image sizes could maybe be bumped, to say, 500 x 400, in comps. Even in this day and age, not everybody has high-speed connections, and even if they do, I know I for one don't like having to load a dozen images that kick in my browser's horizontal scrollbar. A nice clean presentation can only help .

Cliques: To a point, whether we want to admit it or not, they'll exist in some form. I agree we should minimize their existence, though. A community is only as strong as it's weakest member, so like Magburner said, pop into new peoples' galleries every once in a while, or comment on their comp entries. The good new people will generally stick around once they don't feel "new" anymore. We all started out with nothing at some point in this board, so try to keep it in mind!

Oh, and lastly, I may not send these suggestions directly to Jordan, but Scaff does know of this thread and I will continue talking with him back-channel leading up to release. Which reminds me; word from up high says to expect the dedicated sub-forums for GT5 to start popping up next month

Man I have sorely missed this community & can't wait to get back into the photomode scene with you guys. Enough about that though.
The ideas flying around here are great. As a former host of 2.0 and a couple others I really think these ideas are great. I dig your idea slip about 2.0 & H2H. H2H would be a good thing to throw in once in awhile, or as a chosen theme. As for cccl, it always had a good turnout. It's format worked great.
We just have to remember that there will be many many entries a week. Just like the early days of GT4. There were 50+ entries for some comps. We know there will be many more if it's not somehow limited or more competitions are started. Would 4 or 5 comps just completely overwhelm the hosts? Perhaps having more focused comps in the beginning, like Nascar, Rally, and some other focused ones to spread out the pandemonium. Just a thought.

Personally doing what we have been doing, posting our personal best photos that we can take.

If you can send cars to friends, then I think adding prizes to competitions and tournaments would be a great idea. Along with that, I wouldn't mind doing a interview topic for the GT5 photomode community.

Swiss Legend

Man I have sorely missed this community & can't wait to get back into the photomode scene with you guys. Enough about that though.
The ideas flying around here are great. As a former host of 2.0 and a couple others I really think these ideas are great. I dig your idea slip about 2.0 & H2H. H2H would be a good thing to throw in once in awhile, or as a chosen theme. As for cccl, it always had a good turnout. It's format worked great.

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Swiss! Glad to have you back buddy!

I really think "H2H" style rules can just be turned into a potential choice for the comp winner, when (s)he picks their theme. It might actually get picked too often though at first because of the "oh wow neat" effect. Maybe it could be a once a month thing? I dunno. I imagine the people running whichever comps can make that decision. Would you be interested in running 2.0 again? You handled it awesomely, and should definitely have first call on running it for the new game. I'd be willing to help, or potentially, maybe, take over again if you can't. I have more free time now than a few years ago .

I do agree, CCCL should stay, it's a great comp for pushing people to get creative, since there's so many limitations imposed.

We just have to remember that there will be many many entries a week. Just like the early days of GT4. There were 50+ entries for some comps. We know there will be many more if it's not somehow limited or more competitions are started. Would 4 or 5 comps just completely overwhelm the hosts? Perhaps having more focused comps in the beginning, like Nascar, Rally, and some other focused ones to spread out the pandemonium. Just a thought.

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Actually, sometimes we had almost 80 entries in the early days of PMC! I personally don't see an issue, though; the poll originally catered to 25 slots, and I feel like that's a good representation. If we end up with 100 or more entries, maybe bumping that up a bit would help. 2.0 always had less open slots than PMC, and I feel like that should continue to encourage it's status as a harder, more "elite" competition.

The issue with having a bunch of short-run, specific comps, is that it might take the load off the main ones, sure, but don't we want more competition in the main ones? Having a lot of entries won't really make for much more work for the hosts; it'd just make the theme-choosers poll selection process harder . I guess we'll just see what happens!

JER_CREST

Personally doing what we have been doing, posting our personal best photos that we can take.

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Well, we all plan on doing that, but this thread's mostly about taking advantage of the location Jordan has provided, in addition to the new features we're getting from PD, to make the community the best place possible

TVR&Ferrari_Fan

If you can send cars to friends, then I think adding prizes to competitions and tournaments would be a great idea. Along with that, I wouldn't mind doing a interview topic for the GT5 photomode community.

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I completely forgot about the gifting aspect; that's definitely a great idea, TVR! Posting up a "winner gets X car" at the beginning of each week could make it a lot of fun. As for an interview; talks are going on about how exactly we might be able to tie-in this community with front-page news. A weekly or bi-weekly overview on the goings-on, comp coverage, spotlights on particular members; it all has promise .

We can look forward to the usual subforums in around 3 weeks, if Jordan and the rest of the staff's original plan goes smoothly .

What about podcasts?

I think I did 2 of them in the past but quit them because there wasn't so much news to bring forward. But the arrival of GT5 should produce lots of cool stuff to share with everyone.

Anyway, if any help is needed with anything I'll always be available 👍

I literally know nothing about Podcasts, so uh... yes?
Would you be getting other members involved? So, Skype, maybe? Another thing I know very little about, but yeah, it'd be interesting to have what amounts to a little radio show on the happenings (am I on the right track?). I wonder if Jordan might be planning something similar for GTPlanet as a whole; we could always throw in our hats for a little section on the Photomode Galleries in particular

Well what I did in those Podcasts some years ago was that I talked about certain updates from members I thought people definitely had to check out. I also talked about the competitions with some music in between. Kind of like a small radio show, yes.

TVR&Ferrari_Fan

If you can send cars to friends, then I think adding prizes to competitions and tournaments would be a great idea.

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It is, but I want to remind that competitions already have prizes: choosing next week theme, poll size/top 10/5/25/etc.
As for tournaments, It would be cool to offer a month premium to tournament winners and would probably increase quality (or not), but it could probably ruin the fun part of the competition.

About the podcasts, they really seem like a great idea, but wouldn't talking just about certain updates create some cliques that may want to be avoided?
Also, there is always the RSS feed option, but I don't know how it works or how it works with GTP.

SlipZtrEm

Swiss! Glad to have you back buddy!

I really think "H2H" style rules can just be turned into a potential choice for the comp winner, when (s)he picks their theme. It might actually get picked too often though at first because of the "oh wow neat" effect. Maybe it could be a once a month thing? I dunno. I imagine the people running whichever comps can make that decision. Would you be interested in running 2.0 again? You handled it awesomely, and should definitely have first call on running it for the new game. I'd be willing to help, or potentially, maybe, take over again if you can't. I have more free time now than a few years ago .

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Well thanks Slip! I actually think that it should be once a month or so as well. I would really be interested in running 2.0 again. That'd be awesome. I appreciate you saying that I ran it well. There's so much up in the air right now. I dont know if I would be able to run it. I just found out 2 days ago that I'm gonna be a dad! And since you ran before me (if I recall correctly), it should be yours.

You make a good point about the short run, specific comps. It would just spread out entries across many comps. And those same ppl would just enter all of them with subpar entries. Fewer competitions/with fewer poll spots should encourage better images.

I also think TVR's idea about gifting (if available) is utterly brilliant.

Bram Turismo

Well what I did in those Podcasts some years ago was that I talked about certain updates from members I thought people definitely had to check out. I also talked about the competitions with some music in between. Kind of like a small radio show, yes.

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I like it 👍

Nicknamealguem

It is, but I want to remind that competitions already have prizes: choosing next week theme, poll size/top 10/5/25/etc.
As for tournaments, It would be cool to offer a month premium to tournament winners and would probably increase quality (or not), but it could probably ruin the fun part of the competition.

About the podcasts, they really seem like a great idea, but wouldn't talking just about certain updates create some cliques that may want to be avoided?
Also, there is always the RSS feed option, but I don't know how it works or how it works with GTP.

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I feel like, in the beginning at least, we won't have trouble filling the polls, so the theme chooser won't need to pick the poll size . I agree, gifting Premium would be a great idea for tournaments, though it could lead to bickering down the road, and/or accusations of favouritism. Also, if someone already has Premium...

A podcast, just like the idea of a weekly update/news article, does have the chance of creating cliques, if it's about galleries in particular. It really is a fine line, since someone can't reasonably include everybody, but if it's always the same group, it could turn out poorly. I really do think it could help to have a "New Member(s) this week" section though; that way, while the normal updates might have a lot of similar members each time, this is a way to focus on the people who are new, who can really help add to the community .

I'm in the same boat about RSS feeds!

Swiss Legend

Well thanks Slip! I actually think that it should be once a month or so as well. I would really be interested in running 2.0 again. That'd be awesome. I appreciate you saying that I ran it well. There's so much up in the air right now. I dont know if I would be able to run it. I just found out 2 days ago that I'm gonna be a dad! And since you ran before me (if I recall correctly), it should be yours.

You make a good point about the short run, specific comps. It would just spread out entries across many comps. And those same ppl would just enter all of them with subpar entries. Fewer competitions/with fewer poll spots should encourage better images.

I also think TVR's idea about gifting (if available) is utterly brilliant.

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First off; congrats on the papa announcement! Let me know one way or another Swiss; since you ran it more recently it's all up to you. I actually do have a rough setup for a 2.0 thread floating around on my PC (like I said, I'm excited for GT5 ), and if you want, I can even post it up in here, to have a discussion about the comp specifically .

Yeah, I wouldn't want to spread people too thin, and risk them missing out on some of the bigger comps. Competition breeds excellence!

As soon as we know more about this gifting business, I definitely want to figure out how we can incorporate it

So, since we're entering the Longest Month Ever... things are heating up. I recommend everybody take a look at this: Official GTP Star In A Reasonably Priced Car thread. It has Jordan's blessing and it's all about getting the whole community involved. While not strictly Photomode-related, there's no reason it can't be, and as Joey mentions, it'd involve people from all over the boards, so this could be a lot of fun!

For photo shoots, I think we should create two topics:

*Photos
*Future Meetings

SlipZtrEm

First off; congrats on the papa announcement! Let me know one way or another Swiss; since you ran it more recently it's all up to you. I actually do have a rough setup for a 2.0 thread floating around on my PC (like I said, I'm excited for GT5 ), and if you want, I can even post it up in here, to have a discussion about the comp specifically .

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Thanks! Its a crazy feeling!
I think you should resurrect 2.0 slip. SOunds like you've got it figured out. Go ahead and post it, I'd like to see your idea.

This week's theme is OPEN, as chosen by Week 00 winner GTPLANET.
Further explanation of theme, in the words of GTPLANET:

"How do you need an explanation? Are you daft?!"

CARS: any
LOCATIONS: any
UNIQUE RESTRICTIONS: none

• You may submit one entry. It must be your own work, and never previously used in a competition.
• Mark your FINAL ENTRY clearly, with red text.
• You may change your entry once. Do it clearly; edit out your previous entry, and either post the
  change in a new reply, or in place of the original. USERS ATTEMPTING TO ENTER BOTH WILL BE DQ'd.
• A preview image is not only allowed, but encouraged! However, preview images can not exceed
  480 pixels in either direction. This includes borders or drop shadow effects, keep that in mind.
• A preview image must be representative of the full-size image. Do not add effects to it.
• If opting to not use a preview image, and simply a thumbnail, an Honourable Mention thumb
  may be posted as well. No full-size images; your entry will be ignored.
• It is recommended you host your image on ImageShack, Photobucket, or Flickr.
• Winner gets to choose the following week's theme, as well as the poll. Every fourth week, the
  poll will be H2H style: entries must choose a "team", and the best from each poll faces off.
• Winners cannot enter in their own theme!

Allowed Photoshop Tools List:

• Lasso
• Crop
• Clone Stamp
• Smudge/Blur/Sharpen
• Dodge/Burn/Sponge
• Gradient
• Layers (for overlays and layer adjustments)

Allowed Photoshop Adjustments:

• Levels
• Curves
• Colour Balance
• Brightness/Contrast
• Back & White
• Hue/Saturation
• Desaturate
• Photo Filters
• Shadow/Highlight
• Exposure

Allowed Photoshop Filters:

• Blur
• Distort -> Diffuse Glow
• Noise
• Render -> Lighting Effects
• Sharpen
• Other -> High Pass

(NOTE: No additional plug-ins for the above should be used)

What you may not do to a photo:

• Alter the geometry of the car. No bodykits, stickers, or body modifications not available in game.
• Add things from outside of GT5 (real life photography, for example).

What you may do to a photo:

• Scale or enlarge rims
• Remove license plates

11.02.10







_________________________
Questions? Discuss?

(EDIT) A bit of info: The lead-in image will be the theme chooser's winning image (in the right aspect ratio for landscape shots, going by the current 18mp images). It will be a link so that everyone may continue to admire it whenever. The rest of the banners will eventually adopt some winners' images as well. I borrowed the rules, in a modified form, from the most recent 2.0 thread I found; I can't see any issues with them for us now, since they make it very clear what can and can't be done. We'll see how they may need to be changed with GT5, if at all. I kept the design fairly straight-forward and GTP-coloured to tie in with the site; while some of the other setups were always a lot of fun, I thought making this fit as closely with the rest of the site would encourage a community feeling, which is afterall the whole point of these comps .

TVR - Good idea, a general thread for all meetup pics? And then a thread for setting the meets up? That'd keep things sorted 👍

Can I just say...
That is quite creative my friend. Its a very cohesive design. I'm glad to see the rules that we laid out awhile back will carry over, as they should.

I would like to see the following added to the 2.0 photomode contest:

*Plugin's
*HDRI
*Photo Stitching

What about music videos? I plan on making some, and I'm sure many others do too. Should there be a separate subforum, or just a thread, or should we just post them in our galleries (which I plan to do anyway)?

Your Rules image is the one I have for the theme on the Photomode Competition banners.
Anyway, SlipZ, I think that the 2.0 layout exceeds the definition of awesomenesses plus infinite.
Do you take requests? I would love to have a similar approach with the Photomode Competition, but I am actually afraid that the layout would take a bit of time to get posted out week by week.

Swiss Legend

Can I just say...
That is quite creative my friend. Its a very cohesive design. I'm glad to see the rules that we laid out awhile back will carry over, as they should.

Click to expand...

I forgot to say; I really like what you guys decided with the rules. It's all very clear and precise for people. It should be very easy to understand.

One thing I was thinking of adding; a line saying people should hold onto the original image that GT5 spits out. This is incase any questions arise about potential rule-breaking. Though due to the nature of this comp, it'd be easy to hide some of the more subtle rule-bending (like plug-ins, which I'll touch on later). It'd mostly be to check the geometry of cars or if any images were imported in. Thoughts?

TVR&Ferrari_Fan

I would like to see the following added to the 2.0 photomode contest:

*Plugin's
*HDRI
*Photo Stitching

Click to expand...

I officially open discussion about 2.0 Rules!

Personally, since we don't yet know how Photomode is dealt with, I feel sticking with the rules we last used seems like a solid idea. We can change them as we learn . However, my personal opinion is Plug-ins should stay out. Simply being they would just crack open an entire world of possibilities, and we want some restrictions in place. Again, personal feelings here, but I always thought 2.0, while allowing more post-processing editing, still should be a viable option for people who do very little of it.

HDRI... you mean creating faux-HDR shots using the game? Hmm, I'd be open to that idea, it could be very neat. We could just provide a handy link in the Editing section to explain to people how to do it if they want .

Photo-stitching... as someone who's done it, I appreciate it, but I feel like it shouldn't be in the comps. We should all be limited to the size of image GT5 provides us. Again, I'd love to hear what everybody's thoughts are, though.

dylansan

What about music videos? I plan on making some, and I'm sure many others do too. Should there be a separate subforum, or just a thread, or should we just post them in our galleries (which I plan to do anyway)?

Click to expand...

Y'know, I'm wondering what kind of video capability GT5 is supposed to be providing us. I don't know what Jordan and the team's plans are; if it'd be, say "Photo and Video Gallery" sub-forum, or what. I'd imagine that would make sense though, so that our galleries could contain both, instead of their being a separate Photo sub-forum as well as a Video one, which could create a lot more threads. So maybe we'll end up with a video comp?

Nicknamealguem

Your Rules image is the one I have for the theme on the Photomode Competition banners.
Anyway, SlipZ, I think that the 2.0 layout exceeds the definition of awesomenesses plus infinite.
Do you take requests? I would love to have a similar approach with the Photomode Competition, but I am actually afraid that the layout would take a bit of time to get posted out week by week.

Click to expand...

Thanks Nick! I swear, the PD-provided images are only placeholders!
You'd be surprised; I have the entire post saved in txt form, and the only image that needs to be made every week is the lead-in image, with the following:

• Change image to winner's (quick resize)
• Change caption info (black bar)
• Update week number
• Enter judge's name

Which takes <5 minutes to have uploaded, since everything is saved in .PSD layouts. The rest would just be quick editing of text

I'd be all for making something else if you want! Something roughly similar to this? PMC is the main event, really, so anything I can do to help!

This is gong to be good Slip! When GT5 comes out the community is going to be active.

After seeing the implementation of the H2H poll system in the 2.0 (in a 4th week after 4th week), I though that it could only be fair to implement it in the PMC as well.
Reson for that:
Well, as I said to SlipZ, and I will quote what I said to him in PM:

the idea about the H2H in PMC was to give the same opportunities to both ends, since PMC will attract a more "casual" Photoshop-less user and 2.0 a more "elite" photoshop-user. People who don't have the same experience in Photoshop would have the same opportunities to participate and win in a H2H competition (not to say that Photoshop is everything, but people seem to rely and vote more on Photoshop usage and less in photography composition

Click to expand...

What do Photomoders think of it?
I personally think it makes sense and has it was shown in GT4, people who don't have Photoshop tend not to enter competitions where Photoshop is usable and vise-versa, thus giving those users the possibility to enter in a H2H style poll.

Also, I want to remind that the next PMC installment will get back to it's unedited (no Photoshop usage except resize) roots, so the difference between PMC and 2.0 will be bigger than it's difference in the GT4 Photomode.

GT5 photomode will never become the same as GT4 photomode though

All those years I spent in pursuit of guys like franz, 440 Charger, SlipZ, sejtur, and many others will probably remain the best period I've had here at GTPlanet.

GT5 is so perfect that you won't even need to break out any smoothing tools, it'll be all about angle and colors. I'll miss the heavy blurring I used to do.

I won't.

And don't get me wrong on that, I loved your work and I really think it was on par with guys like franz, 440 Charger, sejtur, Slipz, alexwrc, Moglet, Beerz, etc., but I really prefer to spend time and focus in composition only, rather than hours in Photoshop hiding and cleaning textures.

Bravo Slip, that looks fantastic! Very classy!

I think until we actually get our hands on photo-mode, its going to be hard to judge what rules should or should not be in. I'm sure after a week or so, it will be clear as to what needs to be in the comps as far as rules.

I plan on getting my gallery open first and foremost, and then see what the comps are looking like. The one thing I'm afraid of is that there will be several new users just randomly posting competitions, not knowing how we truly like to keep things organized here.

Best case scenario in my opinion would be to have like we said earlier, a strictly competition sub-forum with only the people that know how to run the comps allowed to create threads/comps. We can always have a sticky for people to lend there ideas and or requests for current, future, and new comps including the rules for all of them.

Anything remotely looking like the Forza 3 forums will steer people away. I know it did for me. Organization is the key here.