Hello Everyone.
Well, its been quite a while since we’ve pushed the creative circle here in the CGTalk / EI forum and I believe its time for another contest! Project Phoenix, our first Forum Leader’s Mini Challenge, was a great success. Its hard to imagine that it was over two years ago that we had that contest. With the advancements made to EIAS v.7, entire new technologies are needing to be exploited. Although the contest does not require v7 to participate, artists are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the new IBL capabilities within v7 for a more advanced result. After bouncing a new contest off a couple of other people, I’ve settled on the subject matter and the prize. So, with no further ado, I’m pleased to announce:
YESTERDAY’S FUTURE!
YOUR MISSION:
You must create a “retro-futuristic” 3D image depicting a conceptual mode of transportation as it would have probably been envisioned for the 21st century by the minds of someone living in the 1940’s.
I am opening up the object of transportation as being any kind of “people mover” type devices. This device could be a flying car, a multi wheeled truck, jet pack, hyper plane, orbital bus, atomic pulse rockets, or something totally new and different as long as its capable of transporting one or more human beings in the “far off future” of the 21st century. The judges are not looking for what actually exists in the 21st century today, but rather the outlandish designs you’d commonly see from the 40’s and 50’s on what they “thought” the future would look like.
Most retro futurism concepts began out of the art deco/neuvo eras of the 1920’s and 1930’s. By the time the 1940’s ended and WW II was over, optimism for the future was grand. The promises of technology were everywhere and the sky was the limit.
You will be expected to model the device (in a 3rd party program of your choosing), texture it, light it, and render it all within EIAS. Support applications, like Photoshop or After Effects, are permitted to take advantage of EIAS multi-layer output capabilities within v7. However, the main emphasis of the image must be 3D an rendered in EIAS.
JUDGES AND JUDGING CRITERIA:
The key task of the competition is to capture a moment in time depticting the central theme of this competition while utilizing the Electric Image Animation System. The rules and regulations will indicate what tools are permitted for this challenge.
Each contest must contribute 4 parts to their entry to qualify for judging.
Part 1: A written treatment on what you plan to create and sketches of your people mover
Part 2: A finalized 3D model (built in the package of your choice)
Part 3: A final rendering within Camera.
Part 4: Access to your material libraries for review.
This competition is to be an educational experience for all. Each contestant will enter by creating a new thread in the EIAS Techniques and WIPs Lab sub forum. You MUST document your workflow and contribute to discussions about your technique and decisions. Your participation within the forum, through your discussions, is a criteria for judging. So please contribute heavily.
Your entry should list a thread subject line of:
YESTERDAY’S FUTURE Entry: (Your Name)
This contest is being evaluated by three judges. They are:
Brian J. Pohl - CGtalk forum leader, filmmaker, & 3D animator.
Ian Waters - EITG forum leader, architectural designer & 3D illustrator.
Brad Parscale - EITG company president.
The judging criteria includes evaluation on:
- The final rendered image, its composition, aritistic merit, and how well it meets the spirit of the competition.
- The contestant’s participation in the community within their work thread.
- Providing deliverables for all 4 parts of the competition for evaluation.
- Amount of use of new technologies within EIAS’ feature set. Plug-in use is permitted.
- A compilation of the contestant’s materials and textures files for use to by other EIAS users in the universal EIAS material’s library.
PRIMARY QUALIFICATIONS:
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All entries must be posted on CGTalk for consideration. This requires the contestent to be a forum member.
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You must create your image utilizing EIAS.
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You must participate in the community by critiquing other’s works and by providing discussions and answering questions within your own entry thread.
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Screen snapshots of WIPs during construction are mandatory.
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Contest winner must provide EITG with a high resolution 300dpi image for potential marketing purposes.
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Contestants must be willing to grant access to their material libraries for all EIAS users to take advantage of.
DELIVERABLES:
Each part/stage requires snapshots to be posted within the contestant’s entry thread in order to qualify. There will be NO specific “template” provided for this contest, however, a black info bar running the horizontal length of your images will be required and must include:
- Copyright
- Name
- Date
- EIAS version
TIMELINE:
Contest opens 24 March 2008 and will run for a total of 7 weeks. There will be a cut off date for entry into the contest at the end of week 3 (April 11th). If your WIP thread is not present before that date, you will not qualify for entry. All parts must be included by the end date to qualify for judging.
All final entries must be delivered and annotated in your threads by May 9th.
PRIZE:
Once the three judges reach their decision on the qualified entries, a single prize will be awarded. A black 8GB iPod nano will be mailed to the winner once all requirements are met. There is no sponsor to this competition. I am awarding this prize independently and outside of any benefiting corporation.
