Next GAC comp

#41

well guys…good news and bad news…

bad news: i was unable to secure any kind of sponsorship for the time being…no prizes for this comp except for the pleasure of working alongside your peers, learning along the way and finishing a model. i will say that while there are no sponsrs for prizes at the moment, a stronger comp with lots of participants and more people finishing can look better to sponsors.

good news: we should now feel free to brainstorm for the next UGAC. i would like some open debate on whether or not you guys think the current format? what went wrong? what went right? what is a good timeline? what are good restrictions? sound off and let us know.

on another note, I don’t think we should let the winners choose themes any longer or the restrictions of the comp. there has been some major differneces between th comps that might account for the lack of finished models and participation. this is in no fault to the winners,rather it is a result of the community not being unified enough in the guidelines from challenge to challenge.

what are your thoughts? this is your challenge people, so speak up. :slight_smile:

cheers.

#42

  1. I think the comps need to be be 4 weeks or shorter. There are already a bunch of long term, heavy work comps out there (cg challenge, etc), i think the UGAC’s greatest strength is being something fun people can do on the side for a couple weekends to make their portfolios stronger and practice new techniques.

  2. I think it would be cool to make sure that the comps encourage people to do work that is valued in the industry right now. I think most of the comps have so far, and I like that about them.

  3. Also, as I may have mentioned before, I think that the comps so far have basically excluded environment, prop and vehicle artists (with the exception of the vehicles challenge of course) from participating. I dunno about you guys, but the last few games I played had a crapload of environments and props! Much more than characters, that’s for sure. I don’t know the best way to make sure each comp is able to include more people of different disciplines, but I think this should be a goal.

#43

hey guys, i’ve not actually participated in any of these comps, but will definitely try for the next one,

as for suggestions, i’d have to agree with adam atomic’s shorter deadlines plan, but further than that what would people think to interim deadlines? for example it could be a week for concepts, week for modelling, a week for texturing and a final week for touch-ups and posing/lighting?

personally i know this would help me actually get on and do it, as i’d know exactly where i was heading and when, but it is very hampering for those with little free time…

as for comp content suggestion would it be awful if they were just single words for artsitic styles (eg. a steampunk UGAC, or an h.r. giger UGAC. awful examples, but you get the point)? then whether the entrant chose to do a character, environment or selection of props was up to them?

i think it would be quite interesting to see aswell, showing how much originality people can push out of often used styles.

to me this makes more sense for a game art comp, as game artists have to create so many different styles depending on the art direction of the game.

what does anyone think?

#44

Wohooo, bring on that challenge!

I think we should have a trophy! Something to put on your website or whatever. it´s nice to get something. Especially if the winner dosen´t get to choose the next theme.

I think environments would be cool for the next challenge.

#45

not read the entire thread. kinda glossed over areas.
(ok now i have, but this is just me sticking up for texturing, cos i used to be like BAH i hate textureing )

i think the idea of a texturing mini comp would be very good for people who may not be too comfortable with the whole texturing process. it means they would have a finished model and ready made UV’s to paint over. and with a decent time frame, you could really get stuck into it and make something you are proud of and help kick start your way into be able to do textures. from personal experiance i was always scared of painting faces. i forced myself to do a few (1 being an arttest for a company) and it really helped me loosen up and feel more comfortable with tackling something like a face texture. its the purest Practise Makes Perfect situation. you just HAVE to do it.

Problem being is that it does take TIME. even the pros take a decent time to knock up a lovely texture. i find that i have to get myself in a “zone” and just go at it.

WIPS of peopls textures could help inspire and teach the less experianced.

Not every studio allows its artists to Just be modellers. its absolutly critical you learn to texture so that when it comes to getting a job, you can prove that you are well versed in the creation of a character OR weapon OR static mesh. i enjoy the whole process of polygon pushing to pixel pushing. and since i have practised both areas i have very fortunatly landed myself my first job.

One thing that annoys me a shitload on this forum is that you get billions of folk posting thier models and stuff. But never any textures (yes, i too have been guilty). that might be cool in the high poly land of 3D where u can see all details in the mesh alone. But as Neil clearly pointed out. its the textures that are the final Key to making your model awsome, and essentially a peice of game art.

man, i better go shower…

  • after reading rest of thread. Yes i think something that maybe environmenty or static meshy would be cool.

for characters, how about NPC’s for a cool RPG? like pick a period of time out of some point in time that that game may be set in. maybe edwardian, egyptian, future, medieval. i dunno. Or maybe pick a soldier from a historical army. maybe an english knight, a scotch highlander, a Saracen, a japanese archer, a grenadier. Basically something from RTS games like Cossaks or Age of Empires, but turn it into a lovely 2000-5000 poly character with all the lovely trimmings or something?

#46

Well now that cgtalk is turning more paid and membership based, those offers could always be given away as prizes too. (granted I don’t have the power to give em away, but others do)

#47

Never having joined a GAC, I hope my opinion is appreciated.
I always wanted to join one but the complexity of the asignment and the extent of the deadline put me off.

Perhaps 3 categories of GAC’s could be run simultaneously? Each a month long and starting with a week offset, so every week one finishes (and starts also).

Categories:
[ol]
[li]Characters/Animals [/li][li]Weapons/Vehicles/Props [/li][li]Environments/Buildings [/li][/ol] And each time have the assignments with a varying degree of difficulty.

#48

Great ideas so far. I like the idea of a trophy to place on a website. A simple graphic along the lines of “CGtalk UGAC #3 Winner/2nd Place/3rd” perhaps. I’d like to see a more structured competition that’s well managed. When I was awarded the responsibility, it seemed like a lot of work to keep things running smoothly. I wasn’t well prepared. The person in charge should take steps towards keeping the participants motivated.

I believe something very important to the challenges is to keep it open enough for everyone to participate along with enough room for creativity. It’s been proven that a well designed yet simple low polygon model with a single texture can receive more credit than a weak attempt at a higher polygon model with the latest per-pixel techologies. So no over the top guidelines will prevent people from being discouraged. Those who are capable of creating such high detailed assets may choose to if they believe they can finish on time. It’s also a great idea to focus on the 3 categories mentioned above, instead of just characters…and no more remakes. Maybe throw in some simple concept, texture, and animation challenges.

One month sounds like a good pace for designs.

#49

Enough talked! NEW COMP!! :smiley:

#50

Being someone who only entered one comp and doesn’t show his face around here much, i know no one will care about what I say, but I’ll post it anyway. Enivroments are not a good idea, sorry they aren’t. It’s been tried before, many times infact over at cgchat and each time they have got a really small entry turn out. It just seems that people don’t like the idea of modeling a piece of land or house as much as a fully fleshed out character.

Also I agree with ElysiumGX that the more requirements you place on the comp the less will enter. I know for a fact that 10k is much to high for my free time, and I think thats what turned a lot of people off last time. Knowning that would have to make the high poly mesh, then unwrap it, and skin it. So definately, 3-5k poly models seem to be the sweet spot right now.

Last but not lease, no animations. That will turn even more people away and takes even more time to create. I think 3weeks to a month is perfect for a compition and as long as the brief is good, I’ll be entering the next one for sure :).

#51

Dammit!
People should just make whatever - you couldve already made 10 models in the time its taken to announce this comp!

Messy organisation like this kinda puts me off the whole challenge thing. Id rather model what i really want to make and set myself the challenge of improving my skills. At least then you can motivate yourself 100%

Lets see a decision, eh?

#52

As much as youd all like to see the comp start quickly, do i need to remind you all that e3 is just around the corner. I’m sure many people are busy enough at this moment. Just a reminder.

#53

eclipse 3d’s avatar rules!!

maybe a game crossover comp???

^^
-KDX-

#54

perhaps a shorter 2 week ‘prop’ challenge can be fun with a full month one AFTER E3?

the ‘prop’ could be a weapon for a character… or device in an environment… or a piece of a vehicle…

that way we can get some modelling AND texturing done, the challenge would be relaxed enough for people working on E3 demos and it would shake some rust off and wet our gears for a full challenge apres E3…

thoughts?

let me know and I can setup a thread, lay down the guidelines and PLUG IT!

Woot.

#55

sounds good to me!

#56

Agreed!
Also, If you don’t want to have to deal with more rules, ect

For this challenge that is going to fill the gap until the next UGAC, lets just make it a Mini Challenge

Sounds good? Doing a mini challenge would be the fastest solution, with the lest amount of fuss. And will give Bentllama more time to sort things out (rules, prizes?, ect.)
:smiley:

#57

Sounds pretty cool man, Ive been wanting to try something new that wouldnt be too time consuming.

#58

A short prop challenge sounds like a fun idea. I’ll join in on that idea.

#59

Lets get started!

#60

Ya, I think that most of us just want to continue with the challenges

But as Neil already pointed out (thanks, it completely slipped my mind), E3 is coming up, and for many people, this could mean a low attendance rate at the challenge. But a mini challenge seems like the perfect solution. It would only last a week (maybe 2, depending on participation) and would not only allow for some of us to make quick little items (like Bentllama pointed out) such as props, but would also allow the UGAC to begin right after E3. And who knows, maybe there would be more entries after E3, because everyone would still be in the “spirit” of E3, making an increased interest in creating 3D content for games