Challenge Ideation

#1

As we plan for our upcoming challenge, let’s here some feedback from the community.

Topic
Scale
Limitations
Timeline
Voting
Prizes

While we have plans, we are always interested in what our users are up to and looking forward to.

#2

Hey Travis,
I have participated in probably 4 or 5 of these challenges in the past and I appreciate them immensely.

The first one was Grand Space Opera and it was a great learning experience for me all round. I found the comments/critiques I got from the other contestants and people in general where great and it was a very enjoyable experience… In the last couple of challenges I entered (Ten) there was almost no interaction with other people which made it less enjoyable and easier for me not to get motivated. The format of the threads changed several challenges back and the whole feel of the challenges changed for me at least. If you could somehow combine the 2 different formats that would be great or motivate the interaction a little bit that would be great.

I like the Categories you have had in the past. ie: 2D image, 3d image and , Video categories. I plan on entering in the Video Team category this time and am already trying to get a team together to enter. I wasn’t totally fond of the breakdown of Best Concept Art, Best Model, Best Character etc. either. I think the best top 5 ( or whatever ) for each category is the way to go. Just my opinion.

As for your points

Topic - all the topics in the past have been fine… My Ideas-- Origins, Trouble, Last Hope, Discovery, What is that? Where am I ?
Scale - Don’t know what you mean here for sure.
Limitations- I do think modeling your own characters is good thing to keep if that is what you mean here . Maybe you could allow modelled figures but say you have to model the clothing.
Timeline- I would say 3 or 4 months or same as before.
Voting - maybe combination of Jury and CG Society members
Prizes - I do think prizes do get people to enter which is good. Software sponsors, Cgsociety courses .

#3

I actually re-read the rules for the last challenge regarding the use of pre fab models/figures and it was a little different from what I thought. The rule as it stands now is okay with me .

#4

Any topic would be good.
3 month should be enough time
Sponsors are good for getting more people in

#5

Limitations - Wish there was a Real Time Character and Environment Category.
Prizes - Apple gear would be nice.

#6

Good feedback so far i’ll chime in after a few more post I like the idea of realtime and environment categories though.

Let’s keep the dialogue going.

#7

So, what exactly do you mean by “Realtime Character” . I would think this would be very Software/Hardware dependant, ie;it would require a render engine and graphics card that can handle it.
I like the environment category idea.

#8

My thoughts,

I hope CGSociety won’t veer too far away from the structure of past challenges. IMO the challenges were a success because of their simplicity and exciting topics.

I also liked how in past challenges, participants had their own thread page and how updated work showed up as thumbnails on the main Challenge page. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. :slight_smile:

Can we get an approximate timeline as to when the challenge would run. Personally I think early spring or fall works better for getting the most participation.

Thanks for starting this thread.

#9

I think it is important to keep the structure of the contest simple and clear.
For me, in the most recent challenges, the categories have been quite complicated.

I suggest we do:
illustration (single)
short film 30sec-2min (single)
short film 30sec-2min(team)

The milestones of which you need to hit, are important, because it really makes it a lot more interesting for the whole community to follow. So no one just uploads everything in one go.

For me, the strength of the challenges has been this mini society of crazy support and help among the challengers. This forum is so huge, it is hard to get to know people.
But the challenge forums narrows it down, and connects people in a very cool way.
So anything that can be done to help improve this, I think is a big plus.
Maybe do some “featured” thing to put spotlight on projects or whatever. Haven’t really thought it out.

I think for timeframe, 3 months is great. Makes it more approachable for the people who work during the day :slight_smile:

As for voting, I think it’s great to have a panel of big industry people. Makes it a lot of fun. But I like the idea of a “peoples choice” as well. Maybe it falls on someone, who struggled a lot. Like a student who’s final product might not be the best, but the other challengers saw his/her progress and are really impressed.

Theme can really be anything, but I would stay away from a book or do something technically specific like realtime.
Anything open and inspirering. For instance I personally like “Last Hope, Discovery”, just because they are really open, but at the same time makes my mind come up with images right away.

Anyways, just throwing out some thoughts. Thanks for involving the community in the process. :slight_smile:

#10

Regarding prizes; it really is the icing on the cake. The thing that makes you finish.
When I participated way back though, it was discouraging to see everyone else in comparison to one self cause I knew I had a snowballs chance in hell. (Rip Snowball!)
So one prize that I think would benefit the process of doing a challenge would be a prize for well explained and documented progression. Gifs, mini tutorials, speedpaint videos etc. That would benefit the newer artists immensely.

#11

I have great memories of the old days of CGTalk, where artists could have more chance to show their work in incredible challenges. I learned a lot with great artists in that time. I would like to have a challenge in the same mods.

Answering your question:

Topic - Anything about Sci-Fi or Monsters has great audience impact.
Scale - International contest, every artist should make one final image for voting
Limitations - any 3d or 2d software and must include the making-of during the challenge
Timeline - 3 months should be enough
Voting - 5 TOP artists should be enough
Prizes - Paypal money and interview with the 3 winners.

That is my opinion.

#12

Hello Everyone! :smiley:

Topic: Bounty Hunter’s Layer
conceptually this could entail a character or two with perhaps a pet or two, weapons and gear, and open ended variety for different artists of the spectrum from 3d and 2d Artwork. Appealing to a variety of winning categories.

Scale: I think these challenges do a little better when the scale is a bit more focused. A single scene rather than a short.

Limitations: I feel allowing contestants to use 3rd party assets, models or otherwise, should only be allowed when the scope of the challenge is too large for one person, ie The Unity Game Dev Challenge. Otherwise I feel we should be limited to only using things we create ourselves.

Timeline: 3 Months usually seems fitting.

Voting: As always, I appreciate the panel of experts from across the industry.

Prizes: To Live Forever as In Game Notoriety!
ie, a level in the release of a new AAA title game has a giant monolith with your name and challenge title on it, etc.
ArtBooks are also a favorite of mine.

Your friendly neighborhood artist,

  • Bergquist
#13

I like the idea of a short film category (by team or a single artist). The only thing I’d like to add to shis category is a visual effects prize. A thing like that could defenitly attract more people and make the chalange even more spectacular.