Games Day Atlanta 2006 coverage

[Orb]

well, in my opinion, a miniature should be able to take some enlargement. I always remember seeing a figure of Bill Horans (54mm historical) on the front cover of a magazine - 6 times magnification - flawless.

Klutes picture, albeit 54mm, stands the enlargement well. But lighting is sooooo important. It\'s mainly a bad photo - the lighting is perpendicular to the piece - no-ones work looks any good like that - it needs to be above a little.

Put this pic in photoshop, resize - still the same piece with the same lighting - nothing pops out after that. It\'s too hard to call on the quality of the piece. The photo makes the figure looks poorer than it possibly is.

And anyway. It\'s Games Workshops competition, it\'s subjective, and this was their favourite. Only people with it in their hand can honestly say about the quality.

 

[EPStudios]

Here\'s a really quick resize for those of you who are lazy. With zoomed in shots of the face and bird as those are typically highlight points.

 

[da fish]

I kinda trust anything Mr. Monkey says about photo da mini\'s. I am not much of an expert here but my understanding of it is this: The human eye/brain has a tendency to fill in gaps and blend where these things were not before. It is harder to fool the camera then it is the eye. In digital format it is easier to see the flaws and such due to the way the pixels are arranged. I have always been told if I want to see my mistakes with minis then photo them. Bad part is I can see em without a camera, let alone blown up 6 times.

 

[SaxonAngel]

I have posted my chaplain here on CMON. My minis had some trauma from a loose orc in my carrying case on the way back. Repairs have been made and pics are coming for some of my other entries.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/117507

It\'s not the best pictures. Maybe I\'ll get some better later.

Also a full sized 1.71 megabyte photo from a slightly different angle has been posted on my site for a limited time.
So you can see my blow-up of my mistakes.


:innocent:

 

[AinuLainour]

Mistakes?!?! You\'ve got to be kidding me, even when I blew that up it looks next to perfect!

 

[EPStudios]

hmmm... I can see where they would have picked Jeff\'s... Technically, Saxon\'s is better. But not by enough to make up for all of Jeff\'s conversions and animation of the figure. The terminator just feels too static too me. It needs a more active pose. In short, I have nothing against the decision that the judges made. Though, I haven\'t seen the wardancer unit yet.

 

[darthfoley]

Seriously nice stuff, Angela, no bones about it.

 

[Whizard Hlavaz]

Indeed. Just lovely work. Great piece. I\'m thrilled to have seen it in person. Well-deserved gold, Angela. Congratz.

 

[Hiliter]

SUBJECTIVE!! (yes i am yelling)

Ok, now after the \"bash the golden demons\" thread is moving along nicely, lets talk about what happened at GD atlanta and why (at least i believe) Jeff wilson got the sword with his Warhammer single and not SaxonAngel for her Chappy.

First off, one to one, the chappy is better, the painting is executed on a much higher level than that of jeff wilsons (yes, i was there, i stared at both SA\'s and Jeff\'s entry\'s for a good twenty minutes each.) I was rather surprised when they announced jeff winning the sword. This was not because i thought angela should have taken it, but because he won the sword with the single and not the unit of wardancers that in my opinion were painted to a level equivalent to that of the single, just there was what 12 or so of them. I DO believe Angela should have the sword in her possession really if the singles were compared painting wise alone, but guess what, the golden demon is not a painting competition, its a convert, paint, and display your models so they impress the judges competition. Plain and simple. Most of you will disagree with me, fine, but i feel that the demons will never be a simple painting competition, but more a mixture of who you are, how you paint (ie what painting tech. you employ, attention to detail, complexity, etc.), and how you display your entry. Now your going to say its not a popularity contest, its not, but when someone paints a model and they are well known you assume it will be good vs. someone who is not known but can paint just as well your going to have to see it for yourself first before making a decision.

On another note, the judges themselves couldn\'t even hope to paint as well as the entrants (i really feel that studio painters, say like the UK \'eavy metal member that was there) should at least take part in juding the demons, as well they know how to paint well, what it takes to do so. Letting Random staffer A judge is all well and good, but they really have no idea what it is like to spend 100+ hours on a 1.5 inch tall piece of pewter. Most staffers spend 100+ hours making bit orders and speed painting armies for stores...

another thing about the photography... im sorry, but we can\'t really say much about Jeff Wilsons model right now, as we have not seen how SA\'s will stack when shown with the same light condititions and photo editing that has been done on JW model.

*dawns helmet and fire suit, grabs Dry chem. mix and waits*

 

[TAB Studio]

Shouldn\'t the photography that is the optimal for the mini be the burden of the painter??? They are the one with vested interest, time and, a controlled surrounding.

I thought that the thrill of having your mini photoed at all by GW is that you won something or... they liked it... and so they use the photo to inform the public of your win? Not that they are going to do the photo you need for a true representation of your art.

With time limitations and the interruptions incurred it is beyond me how Steve even smiles after a half hour, but he does, he has seemingly undaunted enthusiasm and being a great guy I feel bad for the situation.

 

[Hiliter]

Lighting Rig.

@ TAB: When they were taking the photos of the entries, they had a rather nice digi cam and ample lighting with a diffuser, so if anything it was just lack of ability than equipment. I also don\'t think \"Dirty\" steve is taking the pictures either.

I mostly interest in how all the entries come out when photographed as compared to Jeff wilsons. Of course Jeff just sits in Boone year round and doesn\'t do much online Sharing of his work or anything of the sort, so i think in a way a painters style could evolve around them photographing well, which he doesn\'t do.

 

[TAB Studio]

Well I think he did a lot of them frankly, Ipm and I bothered him and I know interrupted him on occasions and he was at the camera at the time and often times taking pictures... I hope he did not do all of them but I went too many directions to know for sure?
All cameras are not the same quality no matter if they are digital or not and all compression files are not either. Tiff is old stuff we could go to the bmp files and hit the cave man era they may have a reason but I would not know what it could be really.
I would also agree with the light rig if all the other type lights were turned off. I can only speak for my limited experience but the lighting in the hall itself would effect the overall picture, maybe you could adjust with a white balance but it I am not sure with out being the one behind the camera at the time.
You I feel are right the only way to compare apples to apples is to wait for the others to appear.

I have taken a picture of a mini by Jeff and it was hard because of the darkness involved in his style and the different base material and dynamic pose of his mini. I can say only about his painting out of the camera no reduction it was a beautiful paint job and frankly you really can tell at that size.
I have not had the pleasure to photo Angela\'s work, but her mini was I feel sure just as flawless and the banner was one of the most impressive I have ever seen. I had bets on the winner and I lost, but it boils down it is subjective even for us painters to decide. yes?

EDIT Do the entries ever get to the main office for photos(like in the UK GD\'s do) from other countries or is that special for them cause they are so close and it is so hard there to win?

 

[tagron]

Im not so sure the paint job on the slayer winner can be dismissed with \"photo probs\" or even its \"dark style\" Look at this bronze winner from france, it was photographed on a white back ground, with a very dark paint job, and to top it off the pic is bigger and the model smaller. http://fr.games-workshop.com/evenements/goldendemon/img/2005/France/2-3.jpg Personaly im not seeing all kinds of poor blends, thats of course because its a french GD but the point being \"if the paint job is really that good the camera has no choice but to register the quality\"

I have not seen any huge pics of angelas mini but IMO it far surpassed jeffs. The distinct transitions on the freehand, the beak, the hooves, the monotone skin, frankly the only thing that impressed me was the wood grain. To me it looks like an eavy metal paint job as opposed to angelas golden demon paint job. <shrug> maybe thats why it won.

 

[Klute]

Hmm Ive been thinking a bit more about this close up photo issue as far as the Gold Demons are concerned.
I do have to say now that I think I was wrong to think the judging is wrong becuase of what the minis look like up close.
See the judges dont have the benefit of close up macro shots etc and they judge on what the naked eye sees. I think that a lot of things are missed this way and is possibly why a more striking looking figure won over a more technically accomplished one.
It is easy for us after the event to look at the close up photos and say that shouldnt have won over that.

So to sum up what this means is if you want to win a Gold Demon then you should paint something to catch the judges eye not just something that is technically perfect.

 

[Zordana]

So... we should start going through the judges trash to see where their bias lies? lol

*buys some gloves*

 

[Duende]

Originally posted by Hiliter
Ok, now after the \"bash the golden demons\" thread is moving along nicely, lets talk about what happened at GD atlanta and why (at least i believe) Jeff wilson got the sword with his Warhammer single and not SaxonAngel for her Chappy.

Ok, I haven\'t read this thread thoroughly, but skimmed over most of everything about why the Elf beat out the Chappy.

Personally, my first thought was that if it came down between the two, the GW judges picked the Elf because that\'s thier big \"thing\" they\'re selling now. They want to move their new wood elves off the shelves, why not have a sword winner be an Elf entry? Hasn\'t anybody considered product-pushing may be a factor? This IS GW judging, after all.

Just my thoughts on the matter..... I could be wrong.

 

[Orb]

Originally posted by Duende
Ok, I haven\'t read this thread thoroughly, but skimmed over most of everything about why the Elf beat out the Chappy.

Personally, my first thought was that if it came down between the two, the GW judges picked the Elf because that\'s thier big \"thing\" they\'re selling now. They want to move their new wood elves off the shelves, why not have a sword winner be an Elf entry? Hasn\'t anybody considered product-pushing may be a factor? This IS GW judging, after all.

Just my thoughts on the matter..... I could be wrong.

what....you mean a GD that wasn\'t judged purely on the best quality piece in both conversion and painting, but actually driven (partially) by marketing?

No, never, couldn\'t possibly be.......this is Games Workshop you\'re talking about lol

 

[Grumb]

Leave it to Duende to smack the spike on the head with a 50 pound sledge!!!!

 

[Rodnik]

I guess I won\'t be the popular guy after saying this...
But I thought the judges did a fine job---and, I didn\'t win anything.

 

[Fefferlicken]

I was there, the level of talent was very good in the top catagories. Lord of the Rings squad was a bit poor but the rest were very good. Could have been several winners out of the first cut for W40k single, very tough choices IMHO.