2006 Holography contest Q&A/discussion thread

MichaelH · Post by **MichaelH** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:03 pm

After all the input I've received here and off-line I've decided that the category will remain a dog for this contest.

It can be as literal or abstract as you desire as long as the hologram contains some part that is recognizable as a dog.

Btw, one further clarification. One entry per person. Make it your best shot.

Colin Kaminski · Post by **Colin Kaminski** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:16 pm

Tom B. wrote:I kind of like the idea of having a unifying theme, and agree that cats as a subject probably deserve a rest. Arbitrary challenge themes are frequent in creative contests, and provide a common point of departure for peoples improvisations. A good part of the fun is seeing what people make of the challenge.

My feeling exactly!

aghisays · Post by **aghisays** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 3:15 am

I couldn’t agree with you more Tom…

I want to take the opportunity to thank Michael for having taking the initiative and putting the effort to organize this contest and for being able to get all those great prices from the sponsors.

I hate doing holograms during the summer because it gets too hot in the house because I have to turn off the air conditioning and that is not fun in Texas (or anywhere else in the US this year for that matter). So this is a great excuse to do it!

Thanks,

Andrés.

MichaelH · Post by **MichaelH** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 6:18 pm

Ron Olsen wrote:How in blazes can ou have a holography contest judged on photography? I have spent tens of hours imaging dogs and I have several that I'd be proud to enter into serious competition but this is the equivalent of holding an orchestral competition with entrants submitting their compositions played on kazoos.

MichaelH · Post by **MichaelH** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 6:18 pm

ron olson wrote:How in blazes can ou have a holography contest judged on photography?

You do the best with what you've got. The alternatives that I see are:

1) Don't have a contest at all. That would be fun.

2) Have everyone send their holograms to some common place for judging. Since there aren't many places in the world with more than two holographers, that wouldn't be what I consider to be fair.

ron olson wrote:I have spent tens of hours imaging dogs and I have several that I'd be proud to enter into serious competition but this is the equivalent of holding an orchestral competition with entrants submitting their compositions played on kazoos.

If that's the case, you should probably remove all photos of your work from your web site. It's only making your holograms look bad. Then again, you could digitally alter the photos to give the viewers more of an impression of 3D.

MichaelH · Post by **MichaelH** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 6:19 pm

Tony wrote:Michael, methinks you're being a bit too harsh on Ron, shades of the old D and D wars (Dinesh and Danny). I don't want Ron to take his marbles away...

The obvious answer to me, which solves two problems at once, is to reorganize the PCG and have the contest judging be done there live by the attendees.

This would coordinate the yearly contest with the yearly meeting, and give both more of a reason to happen. I'd also open the contest up to more than just a single entry. That would make for lots of nice holograms at the PCG.

MichaelH · Post by **MichaelH** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 6:21 pm

Tony wrote:Michael, methinks you're being a bit too harsh on Ron, shades of the old D and D wars (Dinesh and Danny). I don't want Ron to take his marbles away...

You're entitled to not only have but to say your opinion, but if he can dish it out, he should be expected to take it in turn.

Tony wrote:The obvious answer to me, which solves two problems at once, is to reorganize the PCG and have the contest judging be done there live by the attendees. This would coordinate the yearly contest with the yearly meeting, and give both more of a reason to happen. I'd also open the contest up to more than just a single entry. That would make for lots of nice holograms at the PCG.

In general I agree that any future group meetings should have a contest associated with it but don't believe that "reorganization" of the PCG inherently opens up any contest to allowing multiple entries.

One big reason for having an online contest with online submissions is so that people all over the world can participate. There are people in Europe who would be unable to attend a PCG and may not be willing to leave their holograms at the mercy of the postal service or strangers.

MichaelH · Post by **MichaelH** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 6:44 pm

Ron,

I should also say that I don't believe that the pictures on your site are making your holograms look bad. I think that until holograms or a reasonable facsimile can be generated in real-time that photographs are the best representation we can provide online and that's no reason not to have a contest.

BobH · Post by **BobH** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 7:09 pm

How about a set of nine photographs; one from the center and one each for the extreme top, bottom, right, left, and four corners of the viewing zone. 8)

MichaelH · Post by **MichaelH** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 8:10 pm

BobH wrote:How about a set of nine photographs; one from the center and one each for the extreme top, bottom, right, left, and four corners of the viewing zone. 8)

If that's what's required to show the details of your hologram, go for it. No reasonable number of photographs will be refused. 8)