I think 2.0 should be has it is.
This new set of rules are more free edition rules that anything else, with the exception that in free edition you can change the geometry of cars.
It isn't actually. When making a shot for a 2.0 competition, most of us never bounce back on any rule anyway. You can blur, change colours and clean a car. What more is needed? Nothing. The rules we have now and the revisions Moglet posted are more or less the same. The only thing that's been revised is the understanding of the word "geometry" in connection with the competitions.
I agree with an all available lightning and colour adjustments may be used and absolutely no HDR, but no changing the car colour? Why? You can use hue, and you can layer the car, why can’t you change the colour of the car?
It would stay ugly if you do it wrong or if you do an extreme change…
Your last sentence makes the message kind of a paradox. Car colour changing has no benefit watsoever, and I've never seen anyone pull off an accomplished effect of pearlscent paint. If you're changing your yellow M3 to a grey one, why just not go for the grey one in-game instead? This is why no one's bothered to do a car colour change, it's just not worth it for the quality you get, hence why such a rule has no benefit in the 2.0 competition at all.
All tools may be used, this I kind of agree, although, a short list of some of some of the most used should be mentioned, has for someone that isn’t familiar with Photoshop, may not even know what the tools are.
Agreed, for the users that are new to Photoshop the current view of the allowed tools can be difficult to have overview of, and a more detailed list may help them out. We could do this by sorting every tool in for example selection tools, blur tools, cleaning tools, etc. But this would lead us to enormous posts with long lists, and a lot of scroll could occure on the first page before seing an actual entry.
All filters may be used, I don’t agree. Artistic filters are really ugly to be in a 2.0 competition. Sure you could had some filters, like the High Pass (better than the sharpen filter), or, like I’ve heard, the liquefy (although I never used it).
Artistic filters can be really handy to give a glow to your background. There are only few artistic filters used, and they show little benefit to the overall result. However, artistic filters can open the gate for the users that want to be creative with their entry previews. I therefore think artistic filters shouldn't be a problem for the 2.0 competition.
I respect your opinion, but I really think that 2.0 should stay the way it is. It is good the way it is. Maybe adding a little more tools in the tool list, because there is no mention to the pen tool and the lasso tools or the line tool or even the Brush tool, maybe just saying that every image adjustments (like levels, hue and saturation, gamma, colour adjustements...) except HDR can be used, but I absolutely say no, to an all filters can be used.
Agreed, but again, I cannot see a problem with not allowing all filters. There's a reason they're almost never used, and the only benefit they serve is either giving a more tarmac feel to the road or to create a nice border for your entry preview.
Also I don’t understand whats all the fuss about? You can almost do everything in a 2.0 rule, you use mostly 2.0 for the free edition rule, there is nothing more you could add to an image, for it to stay overedited.
Exactly. The only thing that's keeping the 2.0 competition from a free-for-all competition, is the geometry issue.
One thing that would be cool to be created is a free edition competition or a 3.0 (no rules and all elements must come from GT4) because I really think there should be a difference between 2.0 and Free Edition Rule
I'd hate to see a 3.0 competition. No one would be bothered to enter it except for those that actually manage to use every single tool in Photoshop on a GT4 image. This would also lead that other great, and by now also very known, competitions would lose a lot of their potential editors because they're using heaps of hours creating the ultimate image for a 3.0 competition. Instead, a week without any rules restrictions every now and then in the current competitions (only when the competition leader has agreed to the terms).
And why not?
Well, I can guess the rules we've got right now are based on the tools that old people in the photomode scene used to use. But, I want to point out that everyone have a personal way to do things, so it's not very fair to make rules acourding to a personal style or habit.
We have to set a line somewhere. If your personal style is creating vectorized versiosn of GT4 cars with their own custom body kits, then according to you we should be allowed to make these bodykits. The current 2.0 rules are wide enough to let everyone in to use their own style.
For example, the artistic filters. We've seen some examples os people using them to perform clean up techniques. We also have seen great "heat" effects for hot tarmac very nicely done with this kind of filters.
Yes, but the artistic filters shouldn't be in the centre for our discussions. Frankly, I've neve rheard fo anyone using the methods you're mentioned, so I think the group of users you mentioned is minimal. The filters should be allowed, but its users are such a small minority that we can't be bothered with an own discussion for it.
So... what does "change the original geometry" mean?
For me, it means changing the original height, length and width of an object in the image. Bodykits are not allowed because they break these three principles.
- I'm changing the hue of colors of the scene, as long as I'm using color balance tools > New overall tone, wich never existed actually.
Creating new tones does not fall into the geometry category if you're following my understanding of the word
- I'm changing lines and edges to fix the low resolution issue un GT4 > I'm changing the geometry even if you don't notice it.
Actually, you're not. Fixing the door lines is simply rounding them out. Hell, all the cars look great in-game, but not out-game. What you do with Photoshop is reconstructing the car to GT4's quality level, and beyond. Fixing rectagled edges and doorlines does not alter the geometry when following my understanding.
- I'm adjusting lights, smudging, dodgering and burning; and also adding new spot lights and reflections manually > I'm changing the geometry, and even adding things that never existed.
Again, not by my understanding. Light effects do not alter a form or body shape
- I'm adding blur effects > Evidently I'm modifying the geometry in a very hard way.
Once again, not by my understanding. When you blur the road, you are selecting a piece of shape and you use the effect inside the own shape, thus not harming the original form of the shape. When performing a curved blur, you're deforming the original shape, thus not legit. However, afterwards you're deforming the shape again to its original form to get the desired effect, thus not illegal.
- I'm adding noise, dirt, vignetting and other effects > These are external things too.
But they do not affect form and shape.
- Allow all tools and filters for any software. "Body kits" or similar mods are forbiden.
- Allow swapped 3D rims and scaled wheels (Some car seem to have a problem with this in GT4)
Only of the wheels you're using in Photomode are on the exact same vehicle that you used in the in-game photomode feature. Pasting the wheels of a Bentley Speed-8 on a Supra would be illegal. Pasting wheels from a Supra on a Supra is legal as long as it is the same Supra.
- Clarify what to do with decal rework using external images (In case you want to spent hours with that)
No external images. Allowing the same rule for this would have members start to paste whole sections of a car from Photomode images. No external images whatsoever.
- Clarify if borders and graphic desing are allowed.
Should be, and must be allowed. All it does is that it gives the author to chance to be creative with an entry preview.
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As for my revisions:
Every single tool is allowed, except for those that alter the original geometry of the image. By geometry, we're talking about the forms and shapes of
all objects from the original image. If your car is rectangled, don't make a Beetle out of it. The original width, height and length of all original object shall be keepen within the final entry. Using the cut and paste method for wheels from Photomode to in-game photomode is allowed, as long as the cut and paste method takes place between one and the same vehicle. Other parts are not legit with the cut and paste methods.
