The Mixamo Blog: Mixamo’s Adventure Character Contest

The Mixamo Blog
the official blog for mixamo.com

Mixamo's Adventure Character Contest
May 9th 2013, 22:49

Voynich ManuscriptThe time has arrived for our new character contest, and this time the winnings are greater than ever! For the first time we are offering a Mixamo All Access pass in addition to the cash prize, allowing the first place winner to use all of Mixamo's services for an entire year! Other prizes will include:
1st Place: $1000 cash + 1 year subscription to Digital Tutors + 1 Mixamo All Access pass
2nd Place: $500 cash + 6 months subscription to Digital Tutors + 1500 Mixamo credits
3rd Place: $250 cash + 1 month subscription to Digital Tutors + 500 Mixamo credits
Community Favorite: $100 cash + 1 month subscription to Digital Tutors + 200 Mixamo credits
Note: Even if you don't place, don't worry Mixamo will offer to buy spectacular models of high quality even if they are not in the top four.
Now that we know the winnings, on to the contest! This time around we have a topic that will really get your creative juices flowing. Here is the story based on real events!

Voynich Manuscript

In the early 19th century a mysterious book, the Voynich Manuscript, made its world debut. Written in an unknown language the secrets within are still debated to this day. Every generation has had its adventurers take hints from the Manuscript’s broken ciphers and cryptic images. From the high mountains of the Himalayas, to the lost jungles of the Amazon, from cities of gold, to buried underworlds, those brave enough to call themselves adventurers must be ready for the challenges the book alludes to. Help us discover the great adventures of the past century and the world’s most mysterious book.

Your Task:
Starting from the beginning of the 19th century up to modern day, create an adventurer to seek out the treasure of the Voynich Manuscript. Will it be a 19th century scholar from England, or perhaps a German code breaker from World War One? A Chinese medicine man or a hired thug for the Railroad barons of the expanding United States? Will it be a modern day billionaire, searching for thrills, or the descendant of Voynich himself? Use the greatest adventure stories you can think of as your inspiration and create your ideal hero!
Here’s how the contest works:
1. Register at www.mixamo.com/c/adventure for the contest to get access to Mixamo’s tech for      your entry and create your WIP thread on Polycount’s forums.
2. Model an adventure character using any 3D package you want. (Your model must be under 20,000 triangles, including everything except background elements or pedestals.)
adventurer_character_example3. Auto-Rig and animate it using Mixamo’s Auto-Rigger and at least one animation of your choice.

4. Submit your entry by using the submission guidelines below.
Submission Guidelines:
Please submit all images as JPG files.
Dimensions of every image you submit can be up to 1000px x 1000px and no larger than 500k for file size.
Please include the following images and use this specific naming convention:
FirstName_LastName_BeautyShot.jpg
FirstName_LastName_PresentationShot.jpg
FirstName_LastName_ConstructionShot
FirstName_LastName_ExtraShot01…02…03…etc.
When you're ready to submit your character please create a final thread on Polycount entitled, “Final Submission – [Your Character's Name or Description]” and include all of your final rendered .jpg images. When that is complete send an email to contests@mixamo.com with the link to your Polycount thread containing your submission. Please submit your character no later then Sunday July 7th, 11:59:59 pm PST.
Beauty Shot:
Use this image to showcase your character in the best way possible. Show your character from different angles or one full image, be creative. You can include Background elements, matte paintings, post effects and anything else.
Presentation Shot
This image must contain one full front pose and one full back pose of your character. Post effects from 3d softwares or 2d programs like Photoshop are NOT allowed in this image. No Lens Flares, Fog, Smudge Tool, Paintovers etc. The only adjustments allowed are: Brightness/Contrast, Levels, Sharpness, Color Balance, Curves, and Hue/Saturation.
Construction Shot
This image should depict how your character was made. The image must contain at least one wireframe shot. You may also include shots like: high res models, multiple angles or just one big wire frame shot.
Optional Extra Images
You are free to submit up to 10 extra images of your choosing. Can be whips, construction shots, area specific highlights, texture sheets, concepts, etc.
Contest Judges: For this contest our judges will be Stefano Corazza, CEO and Co-founder of Mixamo. Jason Patnode, Maya Coordinator at Academy of Art University, Joshua Kinney, Lead Game Development Tutor at Digital-Tutors. Mark Deloura, Game Technology Consultant and Ed Fries, Former Vice President of Microsoft Game Studios.
Rules
By submitting to the Mixamo Contest you agree that you did all the hard work and didn’t buy the character online or steal the images. Submitting stolen images or a copyrighted character is in direct violation of our rules and probably some laws. Doing so will get you disqualified, and totally shamed by your peers.
WINNINGS: The prize winning submissions will be awarded their respective prizes listed. Cash prizes are delivered via Pay Pal or Mailed Check on request.
ADDITIONAL PRIZES: Sweet new prizes can and may be added to the already present present price list, so please keep watch.
CONFIDENTIALITY: Your privacy and data is sacred to you and us and will never be violated. But if you want the full confidentiality legal stuff, visit http://www.mixamo.com/home/legal
Now that you know the rules and submission guidelines it's time to start creating, best of luck to you and we are looking forward to seeing what you create!
Facebook LinkedIn StumbleUpon Twitter

No comments: