Lately I've submitted (To DA) a couple of my entries from BlenderArtist's Speed Modeling Contests, whether they be straight from the contest (Stone House, Alarm Clock) or added to/edited afterward (Semplicite, Computer, Katana). I'd like to talk a bit about the SMC's, and how they work.

I'm a member of the BA forums ( [link] ) and a little while back found the Speed Modeling Contest forum. I saw some of the works, ideas, and improvements people had made over time, and I decided they'd be an excellent way to improve my skills with Blender, as well as increase my knowledge of simple/fast methods of doing things.

Along with just plain practice, I could see how others do things, and get some relatively simple ideas that might not occur to me, on my own.

And so, I began joining the #smc channel with my mIRC client ( [link] ). I watched for a little while, and saw people doing some awesome things, and finally joined in, starting with an Alarm Clock (Which I posted to DA, as well). I've done a total of 9 so far, and am absolutely loving it.

The way it works, is if someone in the channel wants to do an SMC, they start one, setting the topic, time limit, and start time. Then, when that time rolls around, a bot in the channel announces it is starting, and all contestants begin their work. People wishing to compete can join at any time before or during the main body of the contest, via a simple text command in-channel.

Once that time is up, the bot announces that it is up, and IM's an upload URL to each person who has joined the contest. You then have 20 minutes to upload a render of your work. This time is meant to be for rendering, and uploading, and modeling and setup should be complete by this time.

After those twenty minutes are up (Or all contestants upload their entry) the bot announces the close of the contest, and posts a thread in the SMC forum on BA. The thread contains the images, and a poll, for viewers to vote for the one they like best. ( [link] )

It's really quite straightforward, and simple, and the channel almost always has plenty of people to get one going.

I'm rather addicted, at this point.