Welcome to the Adventure Character Contest!
The 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 cash and Digital Tutors subscriptions:
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: At every contest, Mixamo offers to buy several submitted models regardless of whether they win a prize or not.
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!
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 MISSION:
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!
HOW THE CONTEST WORKS:
1. Register for the contest to get access to Mixamo's tech for your entry and create a WIP thread right here on Polycount. (Name format: [Mixamo Contest] - "Your Name" - "Your character's name or description" (WIP))
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.)
2. Auto-Rig and animate it using Mixamo’s Auto-Rigger and at least one animation of their choice.
3. Submit your entry on our site.
On top of getting access to top quality rigging, animation and cloth simulation tools, you get to share your work right here on Polycount, get feedback from your peers, a chance for your entry to be selected for a purchase offer (regardless of whether it won a prize or not) and access to feedback from our judges panel.
CONTEST JUDGES:
- Stefano Corazza, CEO and co-founder of Mixamo
- Joshua Kinney, Lead Game Development Tutor at Digital-Tutors
- Jason Patnode, Maya Coordinator at Academy of Art University
- Mark Deloura, Game Technology Consultant
- Ed Fries, Former Vice President of Microsoft Game Studios
So what are you waiting for? Get more details and enter the contest by registering here.
Best of luck to everyone!
Best of luck to everyone!
Submission Guidelines:
Check this page out to learn about submitting.
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, "[Mixamo Contest] - "Your Name" - "Your character's name or description" (FINAL). (Example: [Mixamo Contest] - Anais - Cartographer (FINAL)). Make sure to 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 than Monday July 8th, 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.
Model Guidelines:
- 20,000 tris max. This includes everything except background elements or a pedestal.
- 2048 x 2048 are preferred (but not required) dimensions for: Color Map, Normal Map, Specular/Specular Color Map, Reflection Map, Bump Map, Opacity Map, Glow map, Glossiness map, Displacement Map, and all other masks.
- It is preferred (but not required) that you don't break texture sheets into smaller sheets. Just use a different Material assignment for different shader types, like skin, metal and other material specific attributes.
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!
Replies
Thanks for pointing this out.
It is a typo indeed.
Not required to use Houdini on this one!
Can't wait to see what you'll do this time!!!
Let's go for:
[Mixamo Contest] - "Your Name" - "Your character's name or description" (WIP)
ex. [Mixamo Contest] - Ana
And can I create a character that already have a concept art?
or can we use more abstract fancy character types with super natural abilities?
I had an idea for a spirit themed character with the ability to manipulate machines or a wrestler type of adventurer; but I am not sure it would suit your fancy.
So please feel free to interpret the theme with freedom.
Think of the two characters you mentioned and try to place them in the context of the story: which of the two seems the most interesting to develop? Sometimes imagining a more defined background for a concept character helps. Maybe you can try that?
I hope this helps!
Welcome to you and everyone else who is joining the contest! We were all excited and giddy to kick this off today at the Mixamo office. :P
Question: so polygon limit is 20k tris, but no textire limits?
Btw, @Anais, will the Mixamo gang be doing another Houdini character contest in the future? I really enjoyed the last one.
Anyway, good luck to all participants!
I have been lurking for a long time but never ever registered or posted. I have been trying to teach myself modelling for the last few months and when I saw this competition. I knew instantly that I must now take the plunge and dive in! Cannot wait to be approved so that I can post my WIP thread. I have an awesome idea for a model which I am busy sketching out now in Illustrator.
@chewy: Aww Chewy! Would have loved to see your entry for this. For now we don't have other Houdini-specific contests lined up but as you know, we have new contests every 3 to 4 months... so who knows what will come next!
@lotet: Nope, no limits so far. (I'll check with Oliver when he comes in on Monday to make sure I'm not mistaken). As far as I know, as long as your file is under 30MB it will be uploadable on our site and you'll be able to Auto-Rig it, so you should be good to go. What size are you thinking for your textures?
@ScubaJust: You should be all good to go to get started and create your WIP thread.
Welcome everyone!!!
Don't forget to register once you've created your WIP thread.
I will have more time this go around lol.
I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with.
Since I am using student versions of some software packages, I can not win any money (since I hold no license) correct?
Can I still enter the competition? I really like the broad concept, and it helps me by giving me a deadline and (although vague) guidelines.
I know about blender, sculptris, etc. Thank you for the help though!
I might start working with free programs, since I really love Maya and zBrush , but they are soooo expensive
You can go to http://www.graphicall.org/ to download the latest Blender builds.
There's even a 3ds Max and Maya preset that you can select from the Blender splash screen or the user preferences. With these presets, you can use Blender without having to learn Blender's key configurations. Switching from 3ds Max to Blender is difficult and frustrating because they have very different key shortcuts, these presets will help you a lot!
Oh that I did not know! I will check that out! Thank you
@Agrevain: Nope, you don't need to necessarily use your own concept. As long as you are not infringing any copyrights, feel free to use existing concepts as inspiration. That means historical characters are fair game too.
@chudork: You should now be able to create your own thread on this forum by clicking on "new thread". I hope that helps.
@Agrevain: That is correct. Feel free to add more character in your beauty shot or video, regardless of poly count limits.
@InfinityComplex: Yes, you are welcome to submit two characters together as a concept but they will be considered separately by the judges when they evaluate your technique. So each character can be 20,000 tris.
First of thanks to a fun topic for a contest this will be my first time entering one. Although I´m having problem registering on the page, when ever I click the link the next page dosen´t load.
Sorry If this post isn´t relevant to this thread here.
i guess my question goes along with complex's... if i want to make a character on top of a mount holding a huge complicated gun or even a explorers backpack as an example... would the gun, backpack be included in those 20k? and those the mount need to com[ply with the same 20k rule? or just the actual character being judged?
edit:
my girl wants me to make like an alien or bear type explorer so she wants to know if i can do that
Doubt I will have time but in anycase I would just like to know. Thanks.
good luck everyone!
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=121082
but forgot to add the (WIP) at the end..
Cheers!
@Turista: Your concept sounds pretty sweet! Keep in mind, however, that the bear would probably not Auto-Rig too well (since we take upright bipeds). You can still try, though.
@ambitious_nomad: Just like in Turista's case, the pet will be considered as part of the background elements of your beauty shot and/or video but will not be counted in the 20k triangle limit. Have fun!
@MDj: Welcome to you!
@Rpinto3d: Done! Thanks!
@Lotet: Hey there, just 1 big sheet.
I was wondering if our characters need to be human for the contest? I'd like to make a humanoid character, but not necessarily human. I'd just have to make sure it's work with the Auto-Rigger
Its giving me and error "Your account doesn't have permission "
Please guide me for this
@cgmaster79: It seems Polycount has a policy that requires new users to post on existing threads to be approved and create their own personal threads. Can you try now and PM me if you are still not allowed to create your WIP thread? Thanks for your patience and welcome to the contest!