3D Artist Contributor Guidelines

Getting Published for User/Artists as Writers

Who Writes for 3D Artist?
3D Artist magazine is written by its own readers--real users sharing with each other about what they do and how they do it. We are always looking for short tips and full articles about a wide range of desktop 3D graphics applications, from Poser and Bryce to Softimage and Maya.
Help for new writers
It is not unusual for someone to never have been published anywhere before they appear in 3D Artist. If you know your software and have something to tell about it, we can help you create an interesting and useful article.
Community
We are looking for more women artists/writers, and for more artists/writers from the international 3D community. Look for info about such contributors in our Comprehensive Index under the topics, "3D around the world" and "Women in 3D graphics." 		Mission Statement
3D Artist serves freelance and other 3D graphics users on desktop computers (Mac, PC, WinNT/2000, and even still some Amiga) engaged in the many and various 3D graphics disciplines including education, or in just plain having fun.
___ Regular coverage for individual 3D applications requires both a reader constituency and regular users ready to contribute articles. (Advertising certainly helps provide space for articles, but isn't a criteria.) 		Getting images published
The only way to get images published in 3D Artist is to tell something about how you created them (usually some key part, not every last detail).
Where's my program?
If you don't see a 3D application being covered in 3D Artist, that's because members of its user community haven't been stepping forward to support it. This is a reader-written publication and every writer is an everyday actual user, volunteering how-to info about what he or she wants to talk about. We simply do not have any writers standing around waiting for orders telling them what to write about!
___ The editors are waiting to hear from experienced users ready to write how-to articles that will "fly the flag" for programs currently "missing in action" including (but not limited to) Amapi, Cinema 4D, Form-Z, Maya, Rhino, and Softimage. Recently we've also had a shortage of proposals on some former regulars such as Bryce, Poser, and trueSpace, and we really need some Animation Master writing about character animation. 		If a tool can't be obtained by our readers for their own work, there is no point in talking about it in 3D Artist. A number of products are currently disappearing from sales channels.
Note
Please do NOT attach files to E-mail to ANY <3dartist.com> address.
We will provide special instructions when we're ready to receive images.

Article Topics
We are looking for . . .
1) short tips and tricks that might only require 100 to 200 or more words, with or without a screen shot or rendering, and
2) how-to articles of 800 to 1,100 words, occasionally longer, plus related screen shots and usually at least one medium-size (c. 1024x768) rendering. Such an article should speak peer-to-peer, aimed at advanced-intermediate to advanced users, should talk about something not covered directly in the software documentation, and should NOT take the form of a full-blown tutorial (that is, not be a complete project shown step-by-step from beginning to end). You will sometimes see tutorials in 3D Artist, but that's not what we're looking for, as our pages can be better used to get right to the point about specific tips.
Write for fellow users
Your primary audience is only those who use the product you are writing about, including those who don't have it yet but will. This audience has the product and its docs and tuts, so don't bore them with what they already know. Tell them something new you've learned or been able to do with this product. If you like, clue in non-users about what you're talking about, but that's optional.
NO news reporting - NO reviews
As a 100% "nuts and bolts" how-to publication since issue #32 in 1998, 3D Artist today does not do "first looks," software/hardware reviews, "tool tours," news reporting, or book reviews.
___ New details pertinent to a how-to article are OK to include, of course. And neutral writers, within the context of their how-to writing, are invited to include personal reviewish comments, such as about how well a product does its job, where its problems are (include how to avoid or work around them), or how well a product works in tandem with the author's other graphics tools. 		Note 1
Never approach a company about writing about its products for 3D Artist without first contacting the magazine. For an article proposal to be accepted, you need already to have a thorough working knowledge of any product you write about, and that usually means that you already own or have ready access to that product.

Note 2
We sometimes receive article proposals for telling about how a TV or movie character or object was copied or closely emulated. Such images can only be accepted if accompanied with all the copyright and trademark permissions and clearances provided by the respective owners (Paramount for Startrek, Lucas for Star Wars, etc.), which is highly unlikely.

Note 3
It is not our or your job to sell the product you are talking about. The best way to "fly the flag" for your favorite app is to show it at work doing something nifty, writing to your fellow users but intriguing non-users, too. 		Issue focus
Special issue focus topics and deadlines are listed on our Editorial Calendar page. A focus does not limit an issue to that topic, and some articles may be judged too important to wait for the next issue with a related special focus.
Who to contact about submitting articles:
Send a brief proposal or inquiry first to <editors@3dartist.com> with NO ATTACHMENTS.
Please be patient about getting a response, as our small staff often gets backlogged.

Do NOT attach files to E-mail to <3dartist.com>.
Do NOT attach files to E-mail to <3dartist.com>.

  • Article Details

    Articles should be plain ASCII files (with MS-DOS type line returns if possible), generally about 800 words (5,000-6,000 bytes) for most how-to articles. Short tips often can fit into 200-500 words. We will publish slightly longer articles when appropriate to the topic, although it may have to wait until an issue comes along with enough space.
    ___ It is OK to send articles as E-mail messages (but not as attached files) to <editors@3dartist.com>. (In fact, most articles arrive as E-mail messages.) Please do not send .DOC files or images or any other large files attached to E-mail to any <3dartist.com> address. When we're ready for images, we'll provide special instructions. If you send an article as an MS-Word .doc file, we probably will ask you to resubmit it as MS-DOS plain text. If you must send a formatted file, send it in .rtf Rich Text File format (a File/Save_As option in both Word and WordPad).
    ___ A printout from your original word processing document can be occasionally useful, but is not required (most contributors don't send one).
    ___ We prefer that articles NOT be written in a tutorial style except where needed for good reason, such as explaining a tricky non-obvious technique to advanced users. Most ideas can be communicated in fewer words and images to our sophisticated readership than a tutorial approach requires. We do not have the room, and most readers won't be interested in following articles about how to do a complete project from start to finish. Pick out important highlights and tell about a fresh approach to an old technique, or something else readers may not know.
    Do NOT attach files to E-mail to <3dartist.com>.

  • Media

    We will be happy to download text and images from your ftp or Web site, or we can provide instructions for sending attachments to a special E-mail address. If using courier or postal system, files must come on PC 1.44Mb floppies, PC Zip disk, or universal CD-R.
    ___ Articles can be sent by E-mail to <editors@3dartist.com>, but do NOT attach images or animations unless we give you special instructions. (There is no upload area at 3dartist.com, so you cannot ftp files to us.)
    ___ We like to keep original low-cost media as an important part of our archive process, but will return materials on request.

    File naming: Long file names are acceptable (previously we requested old-style MS-DOS file names in 8.3 format). However, file names must be Windows 98/NT4 legal, which means no periods, question marks, asterisks, or certain other characters reserved for system use: .?*/\:"<>|
    Spaces are OK, but, otherwise, for safety and simplicity, please just use alphanumeric characters in file names. A period, of course, must come between the file name and its three- or four-character file-type extension, which we ask you to use even if your app and system don't require it, for example...
    .eps = .EPSF
    .jpg = .JPEG
    .pct = .PICT
    .pic = .PICT
    .tif = .TIFF
    .txt = .TEXT
    Do NOT attach files to E-mail to <3dartist.com>.

  • Image Format

    Images can come in most formats except complex Pict, QT-compressed JPEG, or any other kind of JPEG. JPEGs are completely unacceptable for screen shots, and the compression artifacts even at the highest Photoshop 5.5 quality level (level 12) can interfere with getting a rendering to print well.
    ___ We can read .zip (WinZip or PKzip), .gz (Gzip), .arj, and .sit (Stuffit) compressed files.
    ___ Package disks carefully! A 3.5" floppy in an unprotected envelope almost always gets broken by postal equipment. Backups shipped separately are sometimes advised, such as when submitting materials from outside the U.S.
    ___ For renderings that you think we might run large, do not crop closely. Give us about 3/8" (10mm) "dead area" around all four sides at 200-266 pixels per inch. We are more likely to run images larger if we can "bleed" one or two edges off the page (a narrow area on one or two sides gets chopped off after printing).
    ___ Supplying the alpha channel or corresponding matte is also a really good idea that can help us to make more impressive use of an image.
    ___ Images in 3D Artist presently run at 167-333 pixels per inch. You can divide any image by 167 to find the maximum size in inches that that image can run at in our pages.
    ___ Screen captures work best at around 1024x768. We will work with whatever size, but doing your shots at 1024x768 instead of some higher res will work best for page layout. Do not ever scale or JPEG screen shots! Use your Windows (PrntScrn or Alt-PrntScrn to the Clipboard), Mac, or Amiga operating system screen capture, or a third party utility to get screen shots. ___ Please let us make all color conversions/adjustments, resizings (up or down), and grayscale conversions. However, if your software (e.g., Ray Dream) gives you the option of working in the CMYK color model, that will give you better control over how images will appear in print.
    ___ Your work is digital and 3D Artist is published digitally. We never use prints or slides.

  • Assignment

    All cover images are preassigned. We usually accept unassigned intermediate-advanced to advanced how-to's that aren't overly long, but we rarely assign or accept full-blown tutorials.
    ___ Send proposals (without attachments) to <editors@3dartist.com>, or call Sally Beach or Bill Allen at 505/424-8945, or fax to 505/424-8946. Materials can be mailed to 3D Artist, P.O. Box 4787, Santa Fe, NM 87505.

  • Types of Articles

    We are looking for short tips (around 200 to 300 words, without or without images), main how-to articles (usually about 800 words with a rendering and one or two screen shots), as well as longer how-to articles that go into greater detail (1,100 and sometimes more words). We try to avoid full-blown tutorials (e.g., "here's how to copy my project in complete steps from start to finish"). Writers should get right to the point with info that readers can put to use for their own projects. Remember that your target audience are not beginners.
    ___ One way to catch the difference between a how-to article and a tutorial is the tense in which it is written. How-to articles are generally written in the past tense ("I extruded a tube") while tutorials are often written in the imperative ("next, extrude a tube"). How-to's get right to tips that readers can apply to their own projects. Tutorials tell how to copy the author's project and readers are forced, if they have the patience, to pry any useful tips out of all that text. There are times when a tutorial is the best approach to conveying a piece of how-to info, but readers and tips are usually better served with concise articles.
    ___ One of the most unique aspects of 3D Artist is that we want articles from only regular users of 3D and 3D-related applications. Cold-start articles are generally unacceptable, so please do NOT approach a software publisher to request free software to write about on 3D Artist's behalf. Occasional exceptions are made where deemed necessary, but contact the editors first.
    ___ How-to articles often present information that may be news to readers, and neutral authors are welcome to present relevant opinions within a how-to context. However, we emphatically do not assign or accept articles in the nature of primarily news, reviews, product introductions ("tool tours"), industry overviews, or interviews or profiles. Look at recent issue supplements and at our Comprehensive Index to get an idea of what kinds of articles have run in recent issues.

  • Other

    Leave out details that will be known to anyone who has gotten past the tutorials for the software about which you are writing (e.g., "now press Enter"). Remember that about half of 3D Artist's readers are professional 3D graphics users, the rest are at or striving for the advanced user level, and your article will be read in many film/TV/game/architectural studios.
    ___ Always include some biographical info about yourself and your work, and give your E-mail address and/or Web URL for readers to reach you. We usually advise against printing voice telephone numbers, but will if you request it.
    ___ We like to publish stereo pairs, both with articles and also to post in low-res on our Web site. If it is appropriate to your project for 3D Artist, consider including a stereo pair, with each of the two images at 450 pixels wide by whatever height.
    ___ We also may post small animations with an issue's Web supplement page, and to our Animation Collection page (ask for special preparation instructions).

  • Payment

    Published by a small independent business (Columbine, Inc.) and financially supported primarily by its readers, 3D Artist provides an international forum for peer-to-peer sharing of 3D graphics how-to information. A small "honorarium" is provided to those who contribute to this exchange. The honorarium includes a small cash payment, a first class or airmail copy of the issue they're in, extra copies by slower mail, and a five-issue first class/airmail subscription to 3D Artist, including the benefits that go with that subscription (eligibility for a 3D Artists Directory listing, free classified ad, etc.), which can be used to start or extend your own subscription, or can be assigned to someone else, such as a friend or library.
    ___ Indirect payment includes the proverbial "15 minutes of fame." Contributors may and have gotten work as a direct or indirect result of their exposure in 3D Artist. Examples include one contributor who was hired to work on a major computer game, two who were hired to product support teams, many have gone on to book contracts, and some have been recruited to teach 3D. We, of course, can't guarantee similar results from this exposure.
    ___ All contributors have contact info and brief bio's posted on the Byliners Page, and their work for 3D Artist is cross-referenced, all as part of our Comprehensive Index.
    3D Artist is a completely independent business. Our only backing is that from writer-contributors, subscribers, advertisers, and boosters such as user groups. We welcome your participation.

    What's New on this Page

    [3DA home page] [Site News] [Comprehensive Index] [3D Artists Directory] [back issues] [subscription form]
    Revised: 18 Sep 00 rev 2
    http://www.3dartist.com/guidline.htm
    © Copyright 1996-2000 Columbine, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
    3D ARTIST magazine / Columbine, Inc. - P.O. Box 4787, Santa Fe, NM 87502 USA
    505/424-8945 voice - 505/424-8946 fax - E-mail: webmaster@3dartist.com
    Any mentioned trademarks are the property of their respective owners.