Personally I think the first and second competitions worked the best. The last one, with no disrespect to the competitors, was probably the least successfully.
Whilst I liked the freedom to take the subject and run, it got a bit out of control and it showed in the end. In the first couple of comps, the quality of the work took priority and the end results were incredible.
As a result the competition got a lot of credibility in the CG community and helped bring architectural visualization to the forefront of mainstream CG. It has been interesting seeing the evolution of Arch viz in the wider CG community. When the competition started, arch viz was considered to be just a hobby, and not taken seriously. Gaming and VFX were the driving force in the development of 3D. Today arch viz is the driving force, especially for render engines.
I would be very disappointed if the competition were to fall to the wayside. In fact I would rather see it being a bigger part of the wider CG community.
I agree with EB that the judges are a great part of what gives credibility. I also agree that the judges should have a say in who is selected to compete and who gets to proceed. However I don't think they should be part of the WIP commenting process. That should be down to the competitors and public.The final score should be a combination of public vote and judges choice. Hell the format works so well with the umpteen TV competition shows on at the moment like "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Idol". Just don't bring in payed voting
As to the format, I like the idea of a single theme with specific challenges to demonstrate essential skills. Once of those challenges being compositing. Just like the first comp. I found it quite disappointing that the group/team component didn't work. It would be great to work out a way to get it to work considering that Arch Viz is very much an individual, "Jack of all Trades" industry.
Hopefully we can work together to really make this competition stay alive and grow.
JHV