What’s
special about the Ivybridge Scoring Machine?
A special feature of the Ivybridge Scoring Machine
is that it allows judges to be recruited from the clubs participating
in the competition. Thus there is no cost or time overhead
for the host club and this style of competition is very easy
to run. Of course, independent judges may also be recruited
as normal, and the Scoring Machine can also be used for any
type of multiple-judge event such as normal inter-club events,
Salon or Adjudications.
The Ivybridge Scoring
Machine is a software device and runs on a personal computer.
It does not need any special hardware and uses off-the shelf
numeric keypads available in UK stores at less than £10.
This makes it attractive for small clubs, for a range of competition
styles. There is no DIY construction needed, merely a little
minor external alteration to the keypads.
Where the images are
digitally projected, the projection computer may also be able
to run the Scoring Machine. (Dual-screen operation needed
- most laptops have this already.)
A further option of
the Ivybridge Scoring Machine is a ‘Tidemark’
scheme where judges may be encouraged to mark (on average)
near an optimal mark for the type of competition. A feature
of self-judged competitions is that judges tend to mark lower
than normal as they are always marking images belonging to
competitors. The option works by redistributing ‘spare’
marks from low-scoring judges to other clubs, thus encouraging
judges to not have 'spare' marks.
We are making the machine
available to other clubs - see below.
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Background
In the South Hams area of Devon we’ve been holding a 4-way
DPI battle that is extremely easy for clubs to hold and avoids some
of the organisational overhead. The images are sent by email to
the host club a week or so before the battle and are merely checked
and put in semi-random order on a computer. On the night of the
battle members from the participating clubs turn up and one member
from each club becomes a judge for the competition. So there are
four judges, but only three judges mark each image – Judges
don’t mark their own club’s images. The marking judges
thus see many of the images ‘fresh’ for the first time
on the evening, and it behoves clubs to preferentially put in fresh
images, which also makes for an interesting viewing experience.
On the evening, the images are shown for the first time, but not
marked, with plenty of time for the audience and judges to appreciate
the images and make notes if they wish. After a break the images
are shown again, this time marked by the judges and the individual
scores announced. Finally, the club
scores and top images are announced. Previously the four different
type of marking sheets were added up and resolved by hand, but now
the Scoring Machine does all this automatically.
With
the introduction of the scoring machine there is even less to organise
and the judges are free to concentrate simply on the marking. (Previously
judges’ marking sheets were used.)
We’ve found this type
of battle fun and easy to hold and it gets photographers together
for an entertaining evening too. The 'Ivybridge' Scoring Machine
should enable more clubs to easily organise similar events.
Some
of the types of competition that may be held
Inter-club competitions with as many as 8
participating clubs. The judges may number from 2 to 5, recruited
as ‘impartial’, generally out-of-area.
Inter-club competitions
with judges recruited from participating clubs. In this case the
number of clubs must be the same as the number of judges. From 2
to 5 clubs can take part.
Straight multiple-entrant
competitions may be run as a one-club
competition with from 2 to 5 judges. (Three is a good number for
such). The result page shows a score for the whole club, not a lot
of use for one club, but a spreadsheet report is available and this
scores all the images. One click in Excel ranks them in order.
Self-judged club
competitions may be made more fun by
allocating as many as five members as judges and running the event
as a multiple-entrant competition as described above. This is also
useful if you don't have many judges to call on in your area
Adjudication of
images often requires multiple judges
and the straight one-club mode can be used for this type of event.
Salon scoring
with up to five judges may be run in the one-club mode in batches
of 200 images at a time.
Main
features of the Ivybridge Scoring Machine
Updated Features List!
(Oct 2011))
* Runs on a
PC and simply needs a USB hub to connect the keypads
* The display is ‘chunky’ allowing all the judges to
see one screen but still see what’s going on.
* Instruction video for judges' edification.
* Colour clues for judges: (Keypad acknowledged, Mark accepted)
* Marks may be displayed, concealed or momentarily displayed.
* Judges may be prompted to mark if desired.
* Judges are prohibited from marking their own clubs in Self-Judged
competitions.
* 2 to 5 judges and 1 to 8 clubs.
* Marking range 1 to 10 or 2 to 5.
* Judges may ask for remark without issue and before score is announced.
* Image scores added automatically.
* Club scores added automatically.
* Top image scores recorded automatically.
* Image ‘sequence’ may be loaded manually or from a
spreadsheet.
* Club placing and scores screen available immediately competition
is completed.
* Image placing and scores screen available immediately competition
is completed.
* Reports for image marks, club scores, top images and image sequence.
* Automatic backup of marks as every image is scored.
* Full help menu structure with instructions.
David Rayner, the Machine designer, is making
the machine available to other clubs - see below.
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Download a PDF
specification for the Scoring Machine |
New! Version 1.17 |
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Download a trial version of
the Scoring Machine (limited to 20 images)
Testing may be carried out on the
computer keyboard (without keypads) |
New! Version 1.17 |
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Play the judges'
instruction video on YouTube
A full-resolution 96MB video is
supplied on the CD, but not with the trial version download. |
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What's in the latest Scoring
Machine version? |
How
to get the full specification version
Simply fill in the contact form below. I will then
send you a PayPal invoice for £35. When it’s paid (you
can do this from a PayPal account or by credit card), I’ll
email you a zip file with the full version licensed to you. If you
are buying on behalf of your club, please make sure you send me
the full name of the club for licensing reasons. If you'd like a
CD with the video included please include your full postal address.
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