ArtStation's ILM Art Department Challenge

MagicSugar

https://www.artstation.com/contests/ilm/challenges/8

Finally a real Artstation contest with real prizes than what they've ran recently.

Too good of a judge lineup to pass up.  We all needs exposure! 

Joining?

leonardteo

Hey so just to jump in.  Yes, we're thrilled about the ILM Art Department Challenge. Many people are signing up for it.

I did want to respond to your comment though about the "real prizes".  We had very good reasons for not putting up hardware or software prizes for The Journey challenge. We specifically decided not to focus on a prize pool to not lose the community spirit. It wasn't that we couldn't - we chose not to. Prizes changes the dynamics of a challenge immensely. We found that the vast majority of people weren't motivated by the prizes to join a challenge and over 3400 people still participated. The amount of effort put in by people in the spirit of self-improvement is astounding. If you asked them, majority the challengers will say that not having "real" prizes was a good thing because it motivated people to be more open and community focused. The thing is, most of the "prizes" offered by challenges are hardware and software that most people either have, can get, or wouldn't use anyway.
Future "community"/"open" challenges on ArtStation will likely be similar in nature. We're very happy with the community spirit and camaraderie that came out of The Journey.

This ILM challenge is a completely different beast. it's a private/closed challenge and is effectively an art test where you'll be judged by real ILM art directors. There is no community involvement in this one as you cannot see what others are submitting. You can't see their Work In Progress and comment on them. The prizes are the incentive to bring everyone in and go Kylo Ren on the challenge.

Oh and btw - if prizes is what you're after, do check out the THU Reborn Challenge: 
https://www.artstation.com/contests/thu2016/challenges/7
There's only 400 contestants (good odds) and the prize pool is much larger than the ILM challenge.
It also proves a point that prizes aren't the motivator. There are far fewer contestants on this challenge than the others with no prizes. 

Cheers. Hope you join the challenges!

MeAndMyDesk

Thank you Leonard Teo for such an great event (ILM Art Department Challenge). Really exited about this challenge but i have a very noobish query hope you will be able to answer, P.S. i read the rule but couldn't find my answer :
Since i am at my initial stage of learning concept art and have fully competent to put my ideas on paper/canvas and but have not fully grasp to render my images. so my question is AM I ELIGIBLE? even if its just for the First Phase (The Moment) of the Challenge ?

leonardteo

MeAndMyDesk said:

Thank you Leonard Teo for such an great event (ILM Art Department Challenge). Really exited about this challenge but i have a very noobish query hope you will be able to answer, P.S. i read the rule but couldn't find my answer :
Since i am at my initial stage of learning concept art and have fully competent to put my ideas on paper/canvas and but have not fully grasp to render my images. so my question is AM I ELIGIBLE? even if its just for the First Phase (The Moment) of the Challenge ?

Hi - please don't ask me any questions about the challenge here on Polycount. I cannot answer officially here. Please direct all questions to ArtStation via regular channels - support or via the announcements section on the challenge

Thanks for understanding!

beefaroni

Great contest, but I'm a bit annoyed by how the rewards are handled. Sure the hardware and software prizes are fantastic; however, the studio tour kind of bugs me.

Inviting the top entries to the studio but making them pay airfare and hotel? Meh. Feels a bit cheap. Going off of what Leonard mentioned, it's like taking an art test for a studio, getting invited to the interview, and having to pay your own airfare to get there.....