Evermotion Challenge 2016 Winners Announcement!

Our judges have chosen the best works - three main prizes and three awards. We also included honorable mentions.

Our jury:

Barbara Witkowska - Evermotion artist, author of many great 3d scenes and models that were the milestones for the company and architectural visualizations.

It was really dificult to choose the best works from among 140 submitted to 2016 Evermotion Challenge. Level was high and "The Secret Garden" theme turned out to mean something different to each participant. Among technically impressive artworks there was noteworthy amount of those created by growing artists. Some of them don't possess enough technical skills but already have inspiring ideas. I would like to congratulate each one of them!

Robert Filipowicz - Evermotion artist that stand behind the most acclaimed 3d scenes made for various rendering engines, from V-Ray to Unreal Engine.

The topic of 2016 challenge was wery demanding. That was hard do choose the best works. Most of artists which took a part in this contest had a great ideas and skills. Congratulations for all participants! :)

Yavor Stoikov - a 3D Artist with years of experience in 3D modelling and visualization. He holds a Master’s degree in Architecture from the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy in Sofia, Bulgaria. Yavor joined the Chaos Group 3D team in 2010, after working for an architectural practice. Since then he has been one of the main driving forces behind the creation of the V-Ray Training Programs and arch-viz demos. Chaos Group CG specialist.

Nguyen Manh Hung - Nguyen Manh Hung is Co-founder of the CGRecord.net. He has made a good reputation having numerous CG Awards plus having his work featured in Expose, a collection of the most beautiful cg Imagery published by Autodesk INC. and Ballistic Publishing.

I'm thrilled to be a part of Jury for Evermotion challenge and It's not easy to choose the winner with many stunning works from all the artists around the world. Congratulation to all winners and the artist who joined the contest!

The method of voting

Voting wasn't easy, our jury had to spent quite a long time to evaluate final winners. At first, each member of jury picked their favourites, then they chose the best from the best. We assigned points to each place:

• 1st place: 30 points
• 2nd place: 20 points
• 3rd place: 11 points
• 1st award: 7 points
• 2nd award: 4 points
• 3rd award: 3 points

And here are the results of final voting of each judge:

After counting all points from all judges the results are... (drumroll....!)

1st place - Leandro Oliveira (Leolmg) - Link to Challenge 2016 Thread

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Robert Filipowicz: It is definetely my favourite work. Big plus for telling a story with this illustration. Great mood and composition. This ant did the job ;). Congratulations! 

Barbara Witkowska: Finally I agreed with other members of jury to give this artwork the first place. Beautifully and carefully executed work, a catched moment in time. Wisely chosen and perfectly fitted quality models, mastered lighting and composition. I'd change nothing here!

Yavor Stoikov: This image is a winner in every aspect: it has a balanced composition; great colours; despite the somewhat botched bokehs, the quality of the work is beyond every other contestant. 

• €1000 in cash from Evermotion
• 5 EVERMOTION collections of winner's choice
• Chaos Group Annual V-Ray license + vrscans library license: (€680)
• AXYZ Design an(i)ma + 10 compatible human 3d models (€629)
• Bundle (Forest Pack + RailClone) 3 years subscription (€550)
• Rebusfarm render credits worth €650
• Fox RenderFarm Rendering Credits for €600
• GarageFarm render credits worth $600
• 2 years of Corona Renderer - 3ds Max: FairSaaS License (1 Workstation + 3 Nodes) (€579.98)
• Xrender coins worth €500
• Pulldownit Pro single license for 3d Max or Maya (€395)
• R&D MultiScatter and MadCar license (€400)
• RenderBuzz 9000 renderpoints (€180)
• TopoGun Single License ($100)
• Evermotion T-Shirt + paper notebook + cup

2nd place - Mark Selga Nesperos (ME-nesperos) - Link to Challenge 2016 Thread

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Robert Filipowicz: Im impressed of photorealistic look of this image. Very solid work. Lovely place to "pitch" your own secret garden.

Barbara Witkowska: I love the sense of a peaceful place hidden behind the trees which protect it from wind and outside world. Composition and lighting guide us directly to the couple finding themselves in this hidden paradise. I appreciate the amount of work put in this image, author's personal attitude - as it's based on his own experience and overall outstanding work done here. What needs more author's attention is definitely a fog.

• €750 in cash from Evermotion
• 5 EVERMOTION collections of winner's choice
• Chaos Group Annual V-Ray license (€380)
• AXYZ Design an(i)ma + 5 compatible human 3d models (€439)
• 1 year of Corona Renderer - 3ds Max: FairSaaS License (1 Workstation + 3 Nodes) (€289.99)
• iToo Forest Pack or RailClone 3 years subscription (€290)
• Rebusfarm render credits worth €250
• Fox RenderFarm Rendering Credits for €250
• GarageFarm render credits worth $400
• Xrender coins worth €300
• Pulldownit Pro single license for 3d Max or Maya (€395)
• R&D MultiScatter and MadCar license (€400)
• RenderBuzz 6000 renderpoints (€120)
• TopoGun single license ($100)
• Evermotion T-Shirt + paper notebook + cup

3rd place - Strahinja Drazic (strale) - Link to Challenge 2016 Thread

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Robert Filipowicz: I really like the lightning and level of detail in the final image. Very interesting idea of the secret garden and one of the best in my opinion.

Barbara Witkowska: I like the contrast between old, dusty objects bathed in a warm light and clear blue fluorescent glow of a miniature garden that must have just grown in a jar. Choosing just one brightest point in the picture would make this artwork even more interesting.

Yavor Stoikov: This image is in the selection because of its interesting idea and appeal. The actual rendering work does not correspond in quality to the other top contestants and there's too much post work involved.

Strahinja Drazic (strale) will receive prizes worth about €2959

• €500 in cash from Evermotion
• 5 EVERMOTION collections of winner's choice
• Chaos Group Annual V-Ray license (€380)
• AXYZ Design an(i)ma (€249)
• iToo Forest Pack or RailClone 1 year subscription (€200)
• GarageFarm render credits worth $200
• Xrender render coins worth €200
• R&D MultiScatter license ($200)
• 6 months of Corona Renderer - 3ds Max: FairSaaS License (1 Workstation + 3 Nodes) (€149.94)
• Rebusfarm render credits worth €100
• Fox RenderFarm Rendering Credits worth €150
• RenderBuzz 4000 renderpoints (€80)
• TopoGun single license ($100)
• Evermotion T-Shirt + paper notebook + cup

1st award - Mustafa Oner (mozoner) - Link to Challenge 2016 Thread

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Robert Filipowicz: You created here a small beautiful world which i really like. Good idea, great materials and detail makes this work one of the best. 

Barbara Witkowska: Perfectly crafted miniature. The boat and the light on the path is so inviting to discover this small garden. The model of garden is clearly brought out of the background. Great attention to details and well-balanced colour composition. What I'd suggest to make this work even better, would be to make light from the little lanterns a bit brighter and warmer.

Yavor Stoikov: Love the model feel and the fact, that the secret garden can be observed only as an artificial representation. The design is great, the whole image has a lot of artistic merit to it. The image contains more modelling and detail then all the other contestants, yet still has a subtle feel to it. The only setback is the insufficient lighting.

Mustafa Omer will receive:

• 2 Evermotion Collections of winner's choice
• TopoGun single license ($100)
• RenderBuzz 2000 renderpoints (€40)
• Evermotion T-Shirt + paper notebook + cup

2nd award - Matt McDowell - koako - Link to Challenge 2016 Thread

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Robert Filipowicz: Interesting image but I see some lacks in lightning and postproduction. After all it is a good work. 

Barbara Witkowska: A very detailed scene, a lot of attention put into every element including the main character. The first plan is so detailed and so interesting, that it could stand as an individual image. A moment caught in the artwork intrigues, it would be even more eye-catchy with more dynamic pose of the character. A big plus for overall outstanding quality!

Yavor Stoikov: Great incorporation of movement in a still image; great interpretation of the idea; and a very appealing rendition, which accentuates floating a lightness and not speed and blurs. The whole concept of rising up to Heaven/another world/the clouds is conveyed to us through subtlety and emotional triggers, hidden in details.

Matt McDowell will receive:

• 2 Evermotion Collections of winner's choice
• TopoGun single license ($100)
• RenderBuzz 2000 renderpoints (€40)
• Evermotion T-Shirt + paper notebook + cup

3rd award - Ajai P K (ajaipk) - Link to Challenge 2016 Thread

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Robert Filipowicz: Only thing which i can tell is that I would like to be there right now! Almost I hear this falling water and smell those flowers. Good job :)

Barbara Witkowska: A really eye pleasant picture with successful backlight approach. One point perspective guiding us towards light always works!

Yavor Stoikov: Regardless of the somewhat standard composition, the image is full of life and colour. The busy vegetation and the hint at hidden/secret bring great appeal and serenity to the image. There is a great combination of natural growth and man-made amendments, and an appealing hint into a bigger story. The only thing that brings this image lower in my top list is the presence of entries witth even bigger appeal

Ajai P K will receive:

• 2 Evermotion Collections of winner's choice
• TopoGun single license ($100)
• RenderBuzz 2000 renderpoints (€40)
• Evermotion T-Shirt + paper notebook + cup

Honorable mentions: 

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FINAL NOTE FROM EVERMOTION TEAM:

Thanks for all participants - you are great! :) We want to also thank our sponsors - without you this challenge would not be possible. And finally we want to thank our jury that spent a lot of time revealing Evermotion Challenge 2016 winners. Congratulations to all and see you in the next Challenge!

OUR SPONSORS: 

AXYZ Design, established on 2004, develops state-of-the-art 3D products especially for CG artists, architects and designers, including ANIMA, the fastest crowd animation software for artists, Metropoly, a line of 3D ready posed and animable characters and aXYZHUB, the free 3D assets browser.

Chaos Group is a worldwide leader in computer graphics technology that helps artists and designers create photoreal imagery and animation for design, television, and feature films. Chaos Group’s physically based lighting and rendering software V-Ray is used daily by top design studios, architectural firms, advertising agencies, and visual effects companies around the globe. Recently, VRscans was released - the world’s most photorealistic scanning technology, where 5,600 images are used to create a single scan.  Today, the company's research and development in cloud rendering, material scanning, and virtual reality is shaping the future of creative storytelling and digital design. Founded in 1997, Chaos Group is privately owned with offices in Sofia, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Seoul, and Tokyo. For more information, visit chaosgroup.com.

iCube R&D Group brings together leading  Russian 3d visualisation companies to develop and provide cutting edge and affordable tools for 3D visualisation industry. Our team is made up of highly qualified programmers and 3d artists who work together to bring 3d visualization into a new level. Our recent developments include VRayScatter for Maya, AutoWrinkles, MultiScatter, MadCar, CityTraffic, VRayPattern and SplineLand.

Itoo Software, founded in 1999 in Spain, is a 3D software developing company, and creators of Forest Pack and RailClone, plugins for Autodesk 3ds Max. Our main objective is customers´ satisfaction with our product, providing a high quality software and personalized support.

Corona Renderer is a new high-performance (un)biased photorealistic renderer, available for Autodesk 3ds Max. We at Corona believe that artists at every level should get top-class tools which are powerful, intuitive, and affordable. Corona Renderer delivers predictable, reliable, and physically plausible results with no compromises in quality, while the the fully-featured Interactive Rendering revolutionizes the 3D workflow. The Interactive LightMix feature allows changing the color and intensity of lights before or after rendering, without the need to re-render - get day, night and other versions of a scene, all from one render. Features like bloom & glare, LUTs, and filmic tone mapping reduce or remove the need to rely on third-party software. Our mission with Corona Renderer is to liberate users from the technical, unnatural process that rendering was in the past and let them focus on their vision.

Thinkinetic Pulldownit plugin started in 2009 as a project to demolish digitally the “Acueducto of Segovia ( 
Spain)” in a realistic and credible way without using real models at all. This was a great challenge 
at that moment, after a few months the shot was fisnished and published to the internet, having an 
unexpected impact among social networks. Thinkinetic brand was created after that to offer digitals tools and simulation services to the motion graphics industry. Pulldownit plugin is now available for 3D Max and Maya in Windows, Macos and Linux systems and has been used in many productions all around the world.

RAYVISION Inc. (Fox Renderfarm), founded in 2007, is one of the world's largest cloud computing and rendering solution providers for both the motion picture and animation industries. With its proprietary multiple patent cloud computing technology, RAYVISION has become one of the leading rendering solution providers with thousands of super powerful computing nodes. The company provides customized platform and infrastructure level services specifically tailored for motion picture and animation companies, with clients in over 50 countries and thousands of projects per year, our Academy Award (Oscar) winning support and great customer experience has earned RAYVISION a great reputation in the industry. In 2015, RAYVISION formed a global strategic partnership with Aliyun (Alibaba Cloud Computing) to provide global visual cloud computing services.

GarageFarm.NET is a fully automated render farm based in the cloud. It combines all the traditional on-site render farm components such as hardware management and network setup with the new cloud technology. It enables any user to integrate their software of choice with our back-end all through the cloud without any time consuming or complicated setups. Our software that seamlessly integrates into your application's interface connects you with the farm through a simple plugin. It does everything for you behind the scenes so that you can send and render your project with an ease of a single click. GarageFarm.NET has a ten people team working 24/7 to ensure full support and responsiveness for our clients. We offer unbeatable prices coupled with new technology that has made thousands of customers from over 40 countries happy. Read the Google Business reviews, Facebook reviews, and Case Studies to see what our clients say. Visit https://garagefarm.net for more info and get free credits to test us out to see if you like our service. Supported software: Max | MentalRay | V-ray; Maya | Mental Ray | V-ray | Arnold; Modo | V-ray; LightWave | Native | Kray; Blender | Cycles | Internal | V-ray; Octane.

The Rebus Render Farm 

The Rebus Render Farm instantly provides you with 5000 XEON CPUs to render your animations and still-images. No matter which 3D-application you're using: Our Render Farm supports them all! We're the only Render Farm that utilizes a system which seamlessly integrates into your 3D software.

Renderbuzz.com is an easy-to-use rendering service, available 24/7! We support the most popular 3D environments along with the most commonly used plugins! Just create an account, log in and send scene using our wizard available for registered users or by the exporter dedicated to your 3D application. 3D scene is automatically verified and rendering progress can be watched on your own profile or through a mobile application on your phone/tablet (available on GooglePlay)! Don’t hesitate and find us on social media for newest updates!

Xrender, as a cloud rendering service platform, can help to improve users’ rendering computing capacity without regional restrictions. By the way of cloud computing, Xrender provides fabulous service for animation companies and interior visualization teams. Meanwhile, it takes the responsibility to coordinate resources and accelerate interaction among people in this industry by organizing interior visualization competitions every year. Nowadays, Xrender has formed a group of people with professional background who are willing to share their passion in rendering. So far, Xrender has already served more than 50,000 clients and won a great reputation. Not only because of the professional R&D team, but also the extraordinary service for customers. Massive nodes supported by Amazon allow Xrender to be capable of offering users unlimited render nodes and storage space. Advanced transmission technology and customized render speeds for users make Xrender the one and only.

TopoGun is a stand-alone resurfacing, and maps baking application. The resurfacing functions in TopoGun will help you modify and/or recreate the edgeflow of your digital 3D models. The maps baking functions, will help you bake various types of texture maps from your high resolution 3D models and then allow you to apply them to your newly created optimized meshes. These texture maps contain information that will help you recover the appearance and features of the original high resolution mesh.

Media coverage:

CG Record - Coputer Graphics online Newspaper