Evermotion Challenge 2020 - winners announced!

The jury selected three winning works and three awards. This year all works were judged by:

Lucia Frascerra is an Italian architectural visualizer with a great passion for dogs, good food and CGI. Her career started in 2015 when she moved to London. There she worked for some of the most influent studios in the Industry such as DBOX, Cityscape Digital and Secchi Smith.

Her personal work was nominated in the CGArchitect's 3D Awards 2015, gained a 1st Award in the Evermotion Challenge 2015, a Honorable Mention in the Project Soane Competition 2016 and it was also featured in "Great talks About Photorealism", a book by Bogdan Sasu. Between 2016 and 2019 Lucia had the honour to be speaker at multiple CG and Archviz events like the Architectural Visualization Day 2016 in Goteborg, the UY!CG conference 2018 in Montevideo and D2 Conferences 2019 in Vienna.
Today Lucia works in London for Secchi Smith as Senior Visualisation Artist and she is post-production teacher at the Master in Digital Architecture (MADI) at the University of Venice (IUAV).

András Kaldos (Brick Visual) is a true architectural artist. Having extensive experience as an architect, visualizer, functional supervisor and trainer in technology, and he has received recognition in a number of competitions such as the Junior Prima Primissima award of Hungary. He is the CEO of Brick Visual since its establishment, grew the company from scratch to its current more than 70 professionals, while being active as senior 3D artist as well. His interests cover experimental architecture and fractals. He sees education as one of his missions and he wishes to share his extensive experiences with newcomers of the industry.   

Hrvoje Cop - Polymachine - (commonly known as Chopmeister) is a 3D artist, obsessive tinkerer and the CTO of Polymachine, an archviz studio from Zagreb, Croatia. In the archviz business since the early 2000s, he enjoys discovering new ways to solve technical problems, and is addicted to most things that feature LEDs and buttons.         

Michał Horba (Evermotion) - Degree in architecture and urban planning mixed with passion for 3d - during my university times I discovered the most fun part for me was making the project look great. And so my journey began. Ten years of experience as 3d generalist shows that my main interests are architecture illustrations and material making. I am responsible for some of Evermotion's crazy scenes as well. 

The method of voting:

The best works were evaluated in the following way:

1. We've sent a complete folder with works (including WIPs) to judges. We also included a file with works descriptions, so they could read about the mindset behind work of an artist.

2. Each judge had to choose 6 works and assign them to 3 places and 3 awards.

1st place - Reyz - Bravehearts

Prizes:

• Evermotion: €1000 in cash, 5 Evermotion collections of winner's choice
• Pulldownit : 2 years pro single license (€540)
• Rebusfarm: 700 Render Points (€700)
• Fox Renderfarm - render credits (€504)
• Humano 3d: five collections (€895)
• Chaos Group: 1 year V-Ray licence (product of choice)
• Corona Renderer - 1 year license - 3 render nodes, the winner can pick the 3ds Max or Cinema 4D version (€869)
• iCube R&D Group - MultiScatter, MadCar 3, CityTraffic licence (€760)
• RD-Textures - the whole product-library with over 260 highend scans (€982)
• TopoGun single license (€85)

Lucia Frascerra: Amazing job! This image was a clear winner to me. I love the atmosphere and the narrative - very much in line with the theme! Beautiful composition and execution - keep it up!

Hrvoje Cop: Congratulations! This was well envisioned and well executed. I love the color palette, the composition is simple (not in a bad way) and effective, and the lighting skillfully emphasizes the center of attention. I like practically everything about this, with the sole exception of the train side materials which seem a bit too exaggerated and due to the perspective this effect is even more noticeable. Still, that's only a minor issue and the rest more than makes up for it. I also like that the image doesn't use 'obvious' clues like written words to show what exactly it's about, but relies on contemporary context instead, which I prefer as an approach. It's very easy to go too far and in-your-face with clues regarding the context of the image, but this has just enough of everything and not too much of anything.

Andras Kaldos: Amazing mood, lighting and composition. I played a lot with Cyberpunk during the holidays so I can relate to this faint atmosphere :-). Although the story is simple, I think the message is still strong. Trains and train stations are strong symbols of freedom. It's just sad to see how real this is and I really hope we can put 2020 behind us.  

Michal Horba: Regardless to the world pandemic, this work shows some great skills. The mood is very overwhelming and even its just a train station it delivers some of sci-fi ambience. I very like the composition, colors, light which makes the reception stronger and of course the message behind the work hit the jackpot of 2020. Lets hope for better tomorrow. Congratulations you truly deserve the first prize! Cheers!

2nd place - CMaster - Final Stand

Prizes:

• Evermotion: €750 in cash, 5 Evermotion collections of winner's choice
• Pulldownit: 1 year Pulldownit pro single license (€270)
• Rebusfarm: 500 Render Points (€500)
• Fox Renderfarm: render credits (€336)
• Humano 3d: three collections (€537)
• Chaos Group: 1 year V-Ray licence (product of choice)
• Corona Renderer - 1 year license - 3 render nodes, the winner can pick the 3ds Max or Cinema 4D version (€869)
• iCube R&D Group - MadCar 3, MultiScatter licence – (€400)
• RD-Textures - the whole product-library with over 260 highend scans - (€982)
• TopoGun single license (€85)

Lucia Frascerra: This image is incredibly powerful. The one point perspective and symmetry together with the almost monochromatic color palette really give a real sense of desperation and loss (in a very good way!) Love the details of the floor. Congrats!

Hrvoje Cop: Much like the first image, this work has a strong, simple composition, and a clear focal point. The well executed, meticulously populated details add a lot of character, and the overall atmosphere and color palette complements this in a great way. My only gripe is the graffiti on the walls which are a bit too obvious for my liking, and stylistically 'off' compared to the rest of the image, almost like an afterthought. Nevertheless - splendid work! Definitely brings out the 'Chernobyl' vibe, which is both scary and awesome.

Andras Kaldos: Strong and simple composition and lighting. I think technically It's one of the strongest work from this challenge. It reminds me of a movie called The Road which is scary and realistic dystopian, apocalyptic vision like this image. 

Michal Horba: Congratulations an WOW. This is so well made; modeling,composition and lighting shows that you know your skills.I love the mood so much and it reminds me of the Chernobyl mini-series. I also noticed the signs on the walls: "wash your hands" "covid"... let us all hope this is not a bad fortune. Again my congratulations, good job !

3rd place - Grigory Khatlamadzhiian - NATURE

Prizes:

• Evermotion: €500 in cash, 5 Evermotion collections of winner's choice
• Pulldownit: 1 year Pulldownit pro single license (€270)
• Rebusfarm: 300 Render Points (€300)
• Fox Renderfarm: render credits (€252 euro)
• Humano 3d: one collection (€179)
• Chaos Group: 1year V-Ray licence (product of choice)
• Corona Renderer: 1 year license - 3 render nodes, the winner can pick the 3ds Max or Cinema 4D version (€869)
• iCube R&D Group: MultiScatter, VRayPattern (€350)
• RD-Textures - Collections 6,7 and 8 - (€447)
• TopoGun single license (€85)

Lucia Frascerra: Beautiful work, I absolutely love the grayscale and the sense of depth. The relationship between light and dark areas is perfect and for this reason the final result is very photographic. Fantastic job!

Hrvoje Cop: Great stuff, and I'm not sure this one image does the project justice, since I really like some of the additional images in the project, and the provided description really puts it all in context. The strong and dynamic B&W rendition is well complemented by the volumetrics, and the superb technical details on the pipes really help to 'ground' the image and give it a true photographic feel. While perhaps it doesn't tell its story as directly as some other works without some explanation for context, I don't find it a problem in this case because the photographic nature of it more than makes up for it. Sort of like passing by and witnessing the state of the land before you with a well crafted photo.

Andras Kaldos: Amazingly beautiful shots. It reminds me of Tarkovsky's Stalker.  Many people think 2020 is about Covid so I like the eye opening message in this work. Covid is just a small issue compared to other and bigger problems; nobody gives a shit today but what about tomorrow?!

Michal Horba: Eyesore that gives you aesthetic impressions is turpism. Well done. Congratulations on your skills; the composition assisted with fog and this unhappy envinronment does it. You are undeniably a master of your craft. I very like the photographic approach to this subject; in the day of flashy and catchy coulours you took the opposed subtle way of telling your story. Congratulations and keep this quality work coming!

1st award - nadeemka - UNSUNG HEROES

Prizes:

• Corona Renderer - 3 months license (€224) of 3 render nodes, the winners can pick the 3ds Max or Cinema 4D version
• TopoGun single license (€85)
• 2 Evermotion collections of winner's choice

Lucia Frascerra: I really like this image especially for its story. it really struck a chord with me as it reminded me of the big and small sacrifices everyone had to make in these difficult times, including small children./ mood and colour palette are working very well rto create a sense of "sickness" in the air. well done!

Hrvoje Cop: We've all seen scenes very reminiscent of this lately, perhaps not as exaggerated, but still - it rings true. I find the disinfection crew a bit too much, one well placed character would have probably been more than enough to convey the point without overwhelming the image, and there is something about the kids which, while otherwise great, makes them not sit so well in the image. From a technical standpoint, I would have removed the few leaves on the trees because they scream of being 3D, and the whole image feels a bit oversharpened. Other than that, excellent mood and details all around, especially on the ground - good job!

Andras Kaldos: Nice mood and lighting. Congratulations! The two main characters are not that well integrated otherwise the story is working pretty well so it's not a huge problem. This image shows typical elements of "happy" architectural visualization (kids, park, playground etc..) but flip them upside down. I like it!

Michal Horba: Good job! The subject of your work is so current. I do like the foggy mood and the story that your work tells. The composition is good, models are decent but yet I don't find the figures integrating well.Otherwise it is a hell of an image! Congratulations!

2nd award - Thinkyogurt - My first strange Pandemic

Prizes:

• Corona Renderer - 3 months license (€224) of 3 render nodes, the winners can pick the 3ds Max or Cinema 4D version
• TopoGun single license (€85)
• 2 Evermotion collections of winner's choice

Lucia Frascerra: I really like this image because it's so original! this dream-like mood is incredibly effective in telling the story and I love the idea of the building facade turning into the hospital floor! Great work!

Hrvoje Cop: The 'main characters' are really well placed and emphasized by the lighting in a great way, but it took me a while to figure out what's going on in the rest of the image. I do like that it's very surreal, and doesn't even try to cover it - very nice idea with integrating the facade with the hospital walls! However, the transition between the floor tiles and the facade is a bit overwhelming and confuses the eye, and I don't think the image needs the little floating viruses, because they just introduce even more visual noise, and 'cheapen' the overall look. Something about the smoke in the bottom looks a bit off, and the red in the lower right corner has no counterpart in the rest of the image, so it creates a visual anchor which needlessly destabilizes the otherwise very symmetrical composition. I think making it a bit simpler and more easier to read would make it a lot better.

Andras Kaldos: It's a dense and strong picture. One of my favorite images from this challenge. I think the idea is super great but there are too many details, and the lack of contrast makes the image a little bit hard to read. Still an amazing concept. It's like a M.C. Escher drawing. :-)

Michal Horba: Great work, congratulations. I like the syblolic resonance of your work; the forces united to fight with the virus. Thats really a great idea. A minus is that the whole image got a little blurry and there is too much of everything on everything.But hey, next time will be better, right? Again you did a great job, cheers!

3rd award - CubaBrady - Lockdown Birthday

Prizes:

• Corona Renderer - 3 months license (€224) of 3 render nodes, the winners can pick the 3ds Max or Cinema 4D version
• TopoGun single license (€85)
• 2 Evermotion collections of winner's choice

Lucia Frascerra: This image is really sweet. it really captures a slice of life during lockdown almost everyone experienced in a way or another. good job!

Hrvoje Cop: Conceptually, this is very powerful and speaks volumes about the state of affairs in the world today. Being basically an interior image, from an archviz standpoint there are some subtle technical issues I might nitpick about, but nothing too important. It's a great composition, well made, well lit, well rendered. The Amazon package is a great detail, and I love the material on the baloons. The brother's stance is a bit weird, but both of the kids are really well integrated into the image. Good job!

Andras Kaldos: Good job. This could be me and my family :-) I think there are some issues with the composition and lighting, mood. I like that it's using architectural visualization elements and symbols. Overall a sad story but with some fun elements. Exactly like 2020 home office with kids.

Michal Horba: Great stuff! Its incredible that an image of an ordinary day can tell so much about the times it shows.You concluded all of 2020 bitter reality facts and documented it on a great image! The composition is nice, the light is splendid- great job and congratulations!

Honorable mentions: 

Erick Alejandro Moya Olmos - No-Thing Changed

lisadelladora - Shell-ter

waikin7 - Shadows

Andrea Cogo - The IT Guy

little3d - Adversity

FINAL NOTE FROM EVERMOTION TEAM:

Thanks for all of you that took part in our Challenge! Last year was tough for many of 3d artists and companies. The global pandemic is still going on, but we are hoping to fight it this year and get back to new normal. All works that were sent to Evermotion Challenge 2020 were outstanding not only as visualizations, but also as a sign of our times. We wish that the year 2021 will bring all of you on track to the bright future, full of amazing works and people. Congratulations to winners and participants, see you in the next Challenge!

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