Sumadha Monastery | Saphire Studios

Nothing in particular says you can't use external software. The rules just note that you can't use anything that produces an output and then uses a 3D model converter as an example. It depends if the judges considered WorldPainter a building aide, but personally since I feel WorldMachine/WorldPainter both require time and skill to learn, they should not be classified with a 3D model converter and rather should be a (permitted) building aide.

As WorldMachine/WorldPainter have been used in finalist entries in previous contests, as well as our placement in 2nd place without being disqualified for using the software (and I'm sure the judges from the building community could likely assume it was used), I believe WorldPainter/WorldMachine are allowed in certain cases. Seeing as the terrain is not the siginificant factor in this build and the temple/town were, I'm going to assume if we did enter something that was just very intricate WorldMachine/WorldPainter terrain with a tiny 30x30 temple on the top of a mountain, we would have likely been disqualified for using the software as a major factor in our entry and in that case it would have done a large portion of the work for us.

In conclusion, I believe that you can you Worldpainter and WorldMachine in contests, but if it ends up being a more significant factor in your entry over that which is built on it, I understand if that entry recieves disqualification.

Discussions regarding the rules are kinda pointless, if there is the limitation of 75% it has to count for all the pictures, otherwise it would be completely senseless. For instance, use an unedited shot as only "screenshot" and fill up your description with shadered renders ... nonetheless, I think such information should be defined more clearly (though as for my view, it already is)

Much luck to the contestants nonetheless, stunning work here!

pretty sure the report came in before we added the gifs.