LDraw.org runs contests and challanges on a monthly or quarterly basis. The current contest winners can be found on the winner page, while the current ballots can be viewed at the voting page.

Wanna show off your cool new model, scene or part? What better way to do it than entering the Model of the Month, Scene or Part of the Month competition! If you win, your model, scene or part gets exposed to thousands around the world each month. Pick a contest and check out the rules.

Model/Scene Of The Month contests
Part Of The Month contest
RACHAL - The RAytracing CHALlenge

You may run for as many contest/challanges as you like.

Model/Scene Of The Month ( MOTM/SOTM )

• One entry per person per contest. You can have one entry in both contests in the same month.
• Each contest will run if and only if it has a minimum of five entries for competition. For the event the quorum hasn't been reached at the end of the month the contest will be postponed to the following month or until the minimum is reached. In this case it is not necessary to re-submit an entry.
• Entries must use your own model. You must have express permission to use someone else's model(s).
• Model(s) in an entry must be constructed of LEGO®-type pieces. Unofficial or mock-up pieces are allowed if they are not yet included in the official part releases. Custom parts are not permitted.
• Any rule changes/additions/deletions will be made by ldraw.org staff as necessary.
• Decisions concerning any entry anomalies that are questionable will be made by the contest coordinator.
• Follow applicable rules below for MODEL or SCENE entries.

• Entries will be in LDraw DAT, LDR or MPD format (the LDraw file will not be published without author's consent). For multi-part models, MPD is preferred.
• No LDraw files of official LEGO models sets (detailed in either the instructions or on the box) will be allowed to enter.
• Minifigs may be included as needed. This includes animal figs or plants that may pertain to the model. Keep it simple though. A model of a battering ram could well include a few minifigs as operators - but does not need 300 more as soldiers all around it. Any minifig's included should not draw attention away from the model. If it looks too much like a scene, it cannot be in the Model-only contest.
• Baseplates. Usable only as they pertain to a specific model. Example: A castle or house built on plate/baseplate is allowable. A car/plane/spaceship/etc on a baseplate is NOT. The plate must form part of the integral structure of the model.
• Entries will be rendered by the contest coordinator in 2 standard views (in L3P style global coordinates:<25,45,0>,<-25,225,0>). 1-3 additional camera locations (in L3P syle global coordinates) and look at values may be specified by the author (the author may submit an altered version of the model for cutaway views, alternate configuration, etc...)

• More of an "anything goes" format - with some limits.
• Models in a scene must be rendered - this is not a photography contest.
• Entries can be made using any available rendering method. Such as output from LDraw, LDLite, MLCAD, POV-Ray, 3DSMax, etc. Note that people tend to prefer higher quality renders, so a photorealistic render is advantageous - but not required.
• Static images only. No animations allowed.
• Voting will be based on the one image submitted. No linking to additional images will be made.
• Scenes may contain as many models or minifigs/animals/plants as you desire.
• Images may not include any representation of the trademark LEGO® brand insignia.
• Backgrounds can be anything you want to place the model in. It's your scene.
• Supporting or background scenery can be improvised, generated, or painted as you see fit.
• Postprocessing is allowed. Adding scene-enhancing effects or text is fine.
• Signing your image: You may, if desired, add a signature/copyright notice on the image in a location you choose. Digital watermarking is also allowed.
• Entries should minimize filesize in .jpg, .gif, or .png format (experiment a little and squeeze the file down as much as possible. The visual difference between a 150k file and a 75k file is usually insignificant, but the loading time isn't). Perferred image size is 800 pixels in width and height to match aspect ratio. These are not hard and fast limits on image and file size but the contest coordinator reserves the right to reject/resize any entries that are ridiculously huge.

Please note that submitting an entry into the LDraw.org Model or Scene Of The Month contest constitutes permission by you for LDraw.org to display and promote the entry. Copyright ownership remains with the author of the entry.

Entries can be emailed to the Contest Coordinators: motm(at)ldraw[dot]org.
Entries must be submitted by the 27th of the month to be included in the following month's voting. Incomplete or questionable entries may be delayed.

Please include the following in addition to the LDraw file (MOTM) or image (SOTM):

• Each entry email MUST include the entrant's FULL NAME (first and last) - email address. Example: John Doe - Jdoe@domain.orgs (required)
• Each entry email MUST include a TITLE of the model or scene (required)
  The name of the LDraw file or the image MUST be equal to the title of the entry and begin with the suffix "MOTM_" or "SOTM_" (without quotation marks). No blanks are permitted and the length should be limited to 68 characters. Example: MOTM_My_first_contest_model.ldr or SOTM_My_Scene_Entry.jpg
• Each entry email MUST include a short comment about the model or scene. Examples: What was your inspiration. How long has it taken to build, render. What was the most difficult part/step in the process. Where there LDraw part you've designed especially for the entry. Did you miss specific LDraw part in the library with the need to workaround. Are you an expert, novice builder/LDraw user (required)
• (for MOTM) Each entry email MAY include 1-3 camera locations (in L3P style global coodinates ONLY) and/or look at values that you wish to be used for renders. These are in addition to the 2 standard locations listed above.
• Email subject line should reflect which contest you're entering:
  LDRAW.ORG MOTM ENTRY or LDRAW.ORG SOTM ENTRY (capitalisation not necessary)(required)

Part Of The Month ( POTM )

The POTM contest has two categories:

Best part
Most desired part

All entries will run in both categories. People can vote for parts that they are happy about due to their own desire to use the parts, and also vote for the parts that took the most apparent effort.

• NO obligation for the part authors to take part at the contests.
• Authors who wish to enter their part(s) to the contests MUST communicate this via email to the contest coordinator.
• Only new parts which have been submitted to the LDraw Parts Tracker the previous month will be allowed to enter. The contest coordinator will match the entry against the first line in the PT history (Example: At Sat Jan 6 21:40:09 2007, the file was initially submitted. Submitted by: xxx). The contest coordinator will further decided if complete rewrites of existing parts fulfill the requirements for an entry.
• Multiple entries per person are allowed. Entries will run automatically for both contests: Best Part, Most Desired Part.
• Entries will be rendered by the contest coordinator in 2 standard views (in L3P style global coordinates: <25,45,0>,<-25,225,0>).
• Entries will be rendered in Colour 7 (light grey) unless this causes problems with the print in which case they will be rendered in a colour of the contest coordinator's choice.

Entries can be emailed to the Contest Coordinators: motm(at)ldraw[dot]org
Entries must be submitted by the 27th of the month to be included in the following month's voting. Incomplete or questionable entries may be delayed. It is up to the contest coordinator's discression whether or not the entry will be allowed in the following month's contest.

Please include the following:

• Each entry email MUST include the entrant's FULL NAME (first and last) as well as their LDraw.org USER NAME. Example: John Doe [johnnydoe] (required)
• Each entry email MUST include a TITLE for every entry respecting the following syntax:
  PART NUMBER - PART NAME. Example: 3754p90.dat - Brick 1 x 6 x 5 with Rocket Launch Pattern (required)
• Each entry email MUST include a LINK to the LDraw Parts Tracker for every entry. Example: http://www.ldraw.org/cgi-bin/ptdetail.cgi?f=parts/2892.dat (required)
• Each entry email MAY include a short COMMENT for every entry. Examples: Why have you chosen this/these part(s). How long has it taken to design. What was the most difficult part/step in the process.
• Email subject line should contain, at a minimum, the words:
  LDRAW.ORG POTM ENTRY (capitalisation not necessary)(required)

RACHAL - The RAytracing CHALlenge

RACHAL is a continuation of the two Raytracing Challenges originally set by Tim Gould on LUGNET ([1] and [2]). The challenge will run quarterly (every three months) each time featuring a new model. Information on the latest RACHAL can be found on the current RACHAL page.

• Everyone is encouraged to join in. Even if you've never rendered before this might be a good chance to start and to learn something.
• You can join at any time before the 31th of March, 30th of June, 30th of September, 31th of December by submitting an entry to the contest coordinator marking it with the correct title.
• Multiple entries are allowed in the challenge. Enter as many times as you wish.
• Original model must be kept mostly intact (minimal change is allowed) and in its original colours. However props of any form may be used so long as the original model features obviously and prominently.
• Any postproduction is allowed using whatever techniques and software you choose.
• POVray or MegaPOV rendering is preferred but not required as it allows the greatest number of people to learn.
• All techniques and settings should be described as clearly as possible. This includes render settings and postproduction. If other people can reproduce your work then you have done well.
• It is requested that you post a POVray file (or multiple files) containing as much information as possible to allow others to render your model. More details on submitting this information are provided in the 'Submitting an Entry' section below.
• It is quite acceptable to use techniques mentioned in earlier entries however this should be credited. Verbatim copying of POV files is discouraged.
• Images may not include any representation of the trademark LEGO® brand insignia.
• Signing your image: You may, if desired, add a signature/copyright notice on the image in a location you choose. Digital watermarking is also allowed.
• Entries should minimize filesize in .jpg or .png format (experiment a little and squeeze the file down as much as possible. The visual difference between a 500k file and a 250k file is usually insignificant, but the loading time isn't) Perferred image size is 800 pixels in width and height to match aspect ratio. These are not hard and fast limits on image and file size but the contest coordinator reserves the right to reject/resize any entries that are ridiculously huge.
• Each entry email MUST include the entrant's FULL NAME (first and last). Brickshelf nicknames may be included in brackets.
• Entry email subject line should contain, at a minimum, the words LDRAW.ORG RACHAL ENTRY (capitalization not necessary).

Please note that submitting an entry to RACHAL constitutes permission by you for LDraw.org to display and promote the entry. Copyright ownership remains with the author of the entry.

The following constitutes a general outline of the RACHAL rules. For the latest information please go to the current RACHAL page.

Entries can be emailed to the Contest Coordinators: motm(at)ldraw.org.
Incomplete or questionable entries may be delayed.

Please include the following

• Your name & email address (required), Brickshelf gallery nickname (optional)
• Title of the scene (required)
• One image of the completed scene named according to the guidelines on the current RACHAL page (required)
• One zip file named according to the guidelines on the current RACHAL page. This will contain information for recreating the scene. It should include a description (or a link to a description) of the rendering and editing process, relevant POVray files (include files such as colour definitions, LGEO, lugnet_colors.inc are not required), photoediting files (eg. XCF or PSD) if they provide useful information and any modifications to the original MPD.