₦airaland Forum

Welcome to want will hopefully be one of many cg art competitions in this section of Nairaland.

Lava Man
A concept art by fantastic illustrator APE( Agu Polycarp Ekene)

The Challenge:
Create a 3d render of the artwork.
Your work should included texturing, lighting and rendering.

Rules:
The challenge will run from the 21st of July 2014, to the 16th of August, 2014.
All models must be done from scratch.
Work in Progress screen grabs are required. These can be uploaded here on this thread or a dedicated WIP thread

Judging:
Judging will be based on the overall quality ,from modelling, texturing, lighting and rendering.
Judging will be performed by a panel of experienced 3d artists.
Final artworks will also be presented to Nairaland community for voting.Artwork with most likes gets one vote.

Prize:
20,000 for 1st
10,000 fo 1st runner-up
5,000 for 2nd runner-up

The modeling challenge has been decided
It's going to involve creating a 3d art based off a character design by a friend.
In case some might be wondering I'm forgoing the chance to win the prize.
So no concerns that I'm providing art that I may have worked on before.

Having said that, I'll be participating. It's actually a work I've always wanted to create in 3d but I've never felt confident enough to tackle.
I think it would be challenging,though some of you might even find it very easy.

Also, it's decided the modelling challenge comes first, followed be the animation challenge.
So you have the opportunity of entering both if you're interested.

Post details soon.

OKX: @cg
awesome. Ur da man!

d prize structure u proposed totals 35k per contest. That leaves us 20k short.

perhaps we should start with the modeling challenge first, while we aim to raise the balance, or even exceed it....or do both run concurrently?

u can txt me on 08023289217 since the house seems to favor private consultation among us.

Wow, I feel very stupid right now. My maths was completely off, lol.
That wasn't deliberate.
Ok, I could eventually raise the remaining 20k, but wetin, NA ONLY ME WAKA COME?
Please, donations from the house!

Was already planning another wall of text for the details of the competition. Will text u
Here's my number - 08078057592

Good morning all, I only just found time to compose a proper post.
My posts have been mostly from the office where I work as a graphics designer.
So often times I don't the patience to post in detail.

Again, just so we have a clear vision of what we're trying to achieve here-

OP set up the thread to question the lack of activity from 3d artists on nairaland.
Royver made reference to a previous attempt to spark some activity through a competition.
We decided it would be a good idea to hold another one, only this time providing greater incentives for participation

So, we were able to raise 40k as prize for the winners.

The next task was deciding on the nature of the competition.
My decision was to go with a modelling, or rather, cg art challenge.
I realized saying modelling challenge might be misleading.
My intention was always a cg art competition,complete with modelling, texturing,lighting and rendering.

I also realized some of us are also interested in character animation.
I also noticed,out of passion to create our own animated movies, most of take on the sole responsibility of modelling, texturing , rigging, skinning, animating, lighting,compositing and even add VFX if needed.

It's not like that's strange,there artists that do this well -http://vitorugo.com/
The problem is, for an inexperienced artist doing this, it's the animation part that suffers the most.
A well animated piece done with only stick figures will always look more appealing than a poorly animated one with 3d characters,texturing and GI lighting.


You can now understand why OKX suggested a challenge that focus strictly on character animation. No need to model or rig . You can if you want to, but the effort would mostly be ignored.The focus is majorly on character animation. Again, this isn't new as you'll find similar formats on some other animation sites


Eventually we've arrived at a modelling/animation challenge to include works from both and attempt to judge them equally.
This would be quite difficult.
So I've decided to add 10k, making everything 50k

We then make two separate competitions,a cg art challenge and an animation challenge
That makes 20k for 1st, 10k for 2nd , 5k for 3rd in both challenges.


Will post more soon

Alright, so far so good.

@ all, just to remind us, the original purpose of the thread wasn't to setup a competition.
We're just making things up as we go along.

As OKX pointed out, the main aim is to learn not necessarily compete.
For me, it's also to stimulate more 3d activity in this section.

So, for the modelling challenge/cg challenge, the format I'm proposing is similar to what already exists on many other 3d sites.

Tos87: I dont get this modeling and anime thing. Why not say still image and anime. Cos u cant just model and post...i want to believe it must pass tru lighting,texture, n compositing. @lad..i dont get it.

Of course, texturing , lighting and rendering will be considered part of the challenge.

I'll post details soon.

Would just like to know OKX's idea for the single challenge - something that ties the modeling and animation challenge together.

For the animation challenge, OKX has given a few options to choose from.All we'll be judging will be the performance of the characters.
So the options seem simple enough, but I think we can still have some interesting results.

I think everything will be settled by weekend, so we can all start next week

kazuna: Oya make una doo oo.. am interested in animation...when is the story line comin up.....

If I MAY SUGGEST ONE......

Lets do a story based on African mythology....
But the xters could be modern day peeps.
>>>
Perhaps a story about a gal who discovers she has an OTHER by chance... but this OTHER lives in the ephemeral spheres, that is the spirit world....
This OTHER now wants to interchange worlds....She wants to inhabit the gal's body and drive her being to its spirit world......
The question is will the gal allow this Parasitic Obanje 'takeover' or will she fight it with all her wills....
Lots of magic and simulation involved....hehehehe. pity the modellers.

WATCH OUT FOR PART TWO.....LOL

Goodays: Every character model used here must be built by one self and the modeler must be able to give brief/synopsis of his/her project(that is 'model').
The proposed storyline by "OKX" is perfect but we really need to model : the street, car(s), restaurant building, male model, female model and all needed objects for the restaurant.

kazuna, Goodays
I think we should keep this competition light for now.Let's just have fun with this for now. I'm sure most of us here have other personal projects we're working on.We don't want something taking too much of our time

@OKX
Still interested in knowing what you have in mind for the single challenge.
I would still prefer a concept that's consistent with both the modeling and animation challenge.

The environment thing is just an idea. The building is just one of many shots I take for ref. Will definitely consider taking wider angles next time

I agree with sharing the token among the top 3 instead.

Safari29: Helloooo u guys are fascinating. sorry to take ur time pls I have interest in animation and modelling. I watch cartoons alot but I don't know where to start from. Am a graduate I have a good laptop and am less busy for now. Any ideas where I can start from will be appreciated. my dream is to become a movie producer or cartoon creator. on my laptop I have Adobe cs3 photoshop installed

Bros, y u just hijack this thread anyhow

K then, final decisions before ppl start losing interest.

Let's go for the modelling and animation challenge.

Participants are free to enter just one or both challenge(s)

20k for modelling challenge , 20k for animation challenge - not much, but will do for now.

Individual or teamwork allowed.

Nairalanders with at least a month old account will vote for best works.

For the modelling I still feel a theme should be provided, while participants create their work based on that theme.
As a suggestion, "Environment modelling: My hood" - model a scene of choice from your area.
You post an image first to let everyone see what you are creating
e.g.

The current challenge seems to be deciding on the nature of the contest.

I think it breaks the flow of the competition to have a modeling challenge first,select a winner, and then share the model among animators.

it's best participants handle the entire workflow themselves.

However, we should still allow the choice of collaboration.So a modeller may choose to pass on his work to an animator,(here on nairalland or elsewhere) complete the project.

The individual or team with the best work gets the prize.

K, my suggestions *clears throat*

First, should it be a team or individual challenge? - We should allow both. If it's a team of 100,all good.
If you want to go solo,fine, more money for you if you win.

Instead of coming up with a particular story, i suggest we go with a theme and let participants develop their story/concept based on the theme
- e.g.
World cup 2014 - develop art based on brazil 2014 world cup or
Niaja 2055 - create your vision of a futuristic Nigerian city or
create fight scene e.t.c just some ideas
I think that should still involve all the steps highlighted.
Also, this way one has the ability to build a work centered around his/her strength(s)( whether it's modelling,lighting, or character animation) while still adhering to the theme.

Next, should it be a still or animation.I would say allow both, but I think an animation would most likely get more votes.
So maybe just animation instead

kazuna: infact i like all of una suggestions .... I pity the Competition chairman or commitee that will have to decide on any of these thoughts.....
All OF THEM SOUNDS GOOD

Yeah, I've read all the suggestions and I'm wondering how are we going to do this

Kazuna, Goodays, PeterReezer you're welcome.
Anymore artists interested? Show ur support.

jjk24: Me me me ... Hmm well ma systems screen is broken rhyt nw buh me still in... Hehehe .. Bou d whole topic cant speak for odas buh my self.. Its lyk okx said .. Life aiit dah easy.. Been learning blender for a year now am good buh nt too good. Main point i shuld b better dan where i am rhyt nw.. Am jst a 17 year old who loves animation and cg lyk stuff and still tryin to geh in2 a good institution . Life is not easy buh one thing is sure we do have very good animators and modelers ..in Nigeria you guys keeps me going really.

Bro u on d right path,don't give up. I feel age especially is on ur side.The more time you put in, the better you become. A few more years and you could become a master
When I was 17 I didn't even know 3d existed

Honestly I feel a full production for a competition is quite ambitious.
As a personal project,yes, but as a competition not too sure.
Maybe it's cos I've never tried it before,not afraid of a challenge tho
But yeah,competing as a team helps a lot.
As long as we can get a lot a decent number of participants I'm down.
I see a few artists on the blender thread tackling this already.

So interested artists let us know what u think

The idea about with the judges is not bad, but anyone knows artists that would be interested

I hail all blender users in here
Pls lend ur voice in this threadhttps://www.nairaland.com/1795420/where-3d-animators-cg-artist/1#24627658

Donations still welcomed, nothing is too small o!

I also vote for a modeling challenge.
Interested participants pls vote.

On the subject of judges, my humble self would like to apply . I will still be participating, but I won't qualify for the prize money
Forum mod could also be a judge if interested.
I think nairalanders should still vote with the highest number of likes counting as one vote
Anyone else interested let us know

What do you guys think?

OKX: @roy
hi man.
ur last competition wasn't complex at all.
its d finer details that affected participation, in my opinion.

points to consider r:
prize: how valuable is it?
structure: is it an animation challenge? A modeling challenge? A cinematography challenge? Storytelling etc...or all of the above?

if its purely animation, then the models don't need to be original. Indeed, all participants using the same model makes for easier assessment.
if its modeling, then it should be to an agreed upon reference drawing and so on.

Might be a good idea to first let everyone vote on the type of challenge they would want

modeling challenge
animation challenge or
lighting and rendering or even a short movie
We can then start posting other suggestions from there

Royver: Who is this competition targeted at, the expert 3D animators or the Amateurs?

It should be open to everyone, but participants should at least have the basic knowledge of the entire 3d creation process - modeling, texturing, lighting & rendering to animating. I think that covers a lot of artists here.

reidkrugger: Hello guys and a lot has happened here i must say. With a lot of thread diversion as well.
Well kudos to all the guys that have contributed to the growth of the thread and also to those that are trying to encourage other artists with some prize money. that's alot to give away at this time trust me.
So when is the competition kicking off and why hasn't anyone shown interest in competing? At the organizers, what next? I'm keen on seeing how this ends.

I was waiting to see if we could get more donations, maybe even the 100k OKX suggested.
Also, we haven't decided on what the competition will be. Once that is done, we should be able to make FP and that should attract more ppl.

+1 to competition

OKX: @spy
kool. I will match ur kind offer with 20k, so we r 25k up n counting.
more partners r welcome. If we hit 100k or more i believe that isn't so bad.
so, all of u that talk about change and progress.....its ACTION time.
lets raise worthy prize money.

+15k to prize money.
Pls, for the competition, let's come up with something a challenging and interesting

A stick of suya,a box of sugar, a basin of garri?

OKX: seeking 3d artists on a site that caters to several other interests (of which 3d art is a minor one at that) is bound to give misleading impressions.
visit dedicated art sites to experience real growth.
d serious artists do, that's why it seems like they don't exist here.

True, there are plenty other sites a serious 3d artist should visit before Nairaland. Not saying artists that visit nairaland are not serious
but if you're serious about learning and improving, visit these sites - they attract artists, from beginners to industry professionals, from all over the world.
I usually have nairaland open next to 3dtotal,cgtalk,cg.tutsplus and some other sites
The attraction with Nairaland is the avenue to relate and share experiences with fellow Nigerian artists, 'cos we do face some peculair challenges here that only a Nigerian can relate with.
Of course, there's also the intention to see a strong cg community grow from here to the level of some of these other sites. So i hope to see more artists post their works here.

@Royver
I remember the contest - https://www.nairaland.com/1552349/3d-animation-contest-indeginous-3d

The problem is the skill level required to produce a short is very high, making it impossible for a lot of artists here to participate
not to mention the deadline.
Little surprise only one person was able to come up with anything at all.

If you are planning another animation contest you might still get the same lacklustre response.A 3d short might just be way beyond the skill level
of many here, myself included

One like for you

Facebook,twitter,whatsapp,BBM is fine and all but they are still exclusive.
Better to post on a public forum where anyone can participate, even if it's just as a guest.
I agree with spywareczar tho

If you're making your judgement based solely on activities on Nairaland, then the situation may seem worse than it is.
I agree we need a stronger and more united community of 3d artists. There are quite a few 3d artists scattered all around, but
having a community where artists can share their works and experiences,provide help and support to other artists e.t.c will help progress CG art in Nigeria.

We have that here already on Nairaland to an extent (although i would still prefer a site solely dedicated to cg artists )
I think in Nairaland's case, we just need more contributors and less spectators, I myself I'm guilty of the latter

Amazing stuff!
I wouldn't blame anyone for doubting the genuinity of those drawings.They are just too real
His blog contains shots of work in progress http://kelvinokaforart..com

i recognise a face on the smedlab poster.
I wanted to apply but couldn't raise the money then, but i know 2 guys that did and i did notice a drastic improvement in the quality
of their animation.

Happy New Year,everyone!
I agree with u reid, lots of good artists in modelling, texturing, lighting & rendering.(just look at works from artists doing arch-viz)
But very few good animators. I just think artists need to dedicate time to learning animation.

For me personally, my obsession for now is with modelling ,lighting & rendering. It all started from doing Architectural renders for pay.
In fact my current job mostly involves modelling and rendering.

I would still like to make a short animated movie, but animation is still my major weakness . I wouldn't mind having a dedicated team of animators
to work with on a project.
.
So along with some other challenges i think a lack of skilled artists is a major problem hindering the growth of the industry.