August 26, 2024
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RenderMan "SciTech" Art Challenge
August 26, 2024
In our eleventh art challenge, we’re excited to be collaborating with the IEEE. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity, so join the "SciTech" Art Challenge and showcase your shading, lighting, rendering, and compositing skills for the possibility of winning amazing prizes, including a Dell Mobile Precision 5690 Workstation!
The assets for this art challenge were made in honor of RenderMan's IEEE Milestone Award, including a model inspired by the Pixar Image Computer! To highlight the art challenge's theme of "compute," the 3D models also include present landmarks in computing at Pixar, courtesy of AMD and NVIDIA.
We are excited to have our friends at AMD, AWS, DELL, NVIDIA, Ranch Computing, Foundry, fxphd, SideFX, SpeedTree and Xencelabs co-sponsor this community event with tens of thousands in prizes.
To honor the IEEE’s commitment to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity, the theme of the challenge is Compute. Create a cityscape showcasing future human innovations or maybe an alternate reality where electricity was never invented … The only limit is your imagination.
Whatever you choose (day or night, pulp or classic), make sure the image looks physically plausible, meaning the final image needs to have physical shading and lighting.
There are different aesthetic choices which can be made within this spectrum, two of the most popular are photorealism, common in visual effects to match footage, or stylized, common in Pixar films, and you're welcome to create your own style within the physically plausible parameters.
Example of Photorealism: The Mandalorian.
Example of Stylized: Inside Out 2.
Get critiques and help from Pixar’s RenderMan team who will moderate this challenge. This is an opportunity for you to learn and develop your skills. Everyone is encouraged to post works in progress and ask technical questions … the challenge is intended to let participants try out new techniques.
All images must follow the following standards:
When the Challenge is closed, all semi finalists chosen will be notified to submit their final projects. This will help us verify compliance with challenge rules. A BOX folder will be provided for submission.
Post work is limited to:
Tuesday, November 26th, 2024 - Midnight PST (Pacific Standard Time - USA).
Winners will be announced on Monday, December 9th, 2024.
All participants have to be members of the RenderMan community. Commercial and Non-Commercial customers are welcome to participate.
Please use the following attribution when showing any of your images (description or watermark):
Walking Teapot by Dylan Sisson. Assets by Joshua Mills and Eugene Riecansky © Disney/Pixar - RenderMan "SciTech" Art Challenge
This challenge has three top prizes: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Honorable mentions also receive a surprise box of Pixar goodies. Prizes are listed below and their value is shown in US Dollars.
Prizes are non transferable and cannot be exchanged for their cash value.
A set of Pixar judges will determine the winners, giving you an unique opportunity to interact and receive feedback from professionals. Judging will be based on both artistic and technical merits, but don't forget to tell a good story!
Kathy Herring Hayashi, Dr. Matt Francis, Eman Abdul-Razzak, Jeremy Birn, Michael "Cash" Cacciamani, Masha Ellsworth, Chia-Chi Hu, Markus Kranzler, Leif Pedersen, Eugene Riecansky, Vandana Sahrawat, Dylan Sisson.
All decisions of the judges are final.
A key purpose of this challenge is to encourage members of our community to learn more about RenderMan, and there are a number of educational resources available to help you get started, whether you’re looking for introductory or advanced materials.
Even though some training materials reference previous RenderMan releases, you'll find great consistency from previous versions.
Our friends at Poly Haven have made their public 3D asset library available in FBX and Blender, so download models, textures, or HDRI to take your creativity to the next level!
Thanks to a collaboration with SideFX, you can get a 2 month trial of Houdini Indie by filling out this Art Challenge form:
Thanks to a collaboration with our friends at SpeedTree, you can try a full working version for the duration of the Art Challenge!
Embergen has a great collection of free explosions, clouds, and more volumetric VDB files with a CC0 license, ready for use in all your 3D apps:
You can get a 30 day trial of Adobe Substance 3D tools on the Adobe website:
Export Lama and Pixar Surface materials from Substance with unofficial RfSP plugin:
Entrants have access to the rendering power of The AMD Creator Cloud, powered by AWS VMs and Ranch Computing, the professional render farm with the same speed the pros use. Now you’re free to explore things you never could on your own machine. To access this amazing resource, all you have to do is sign up and send Ranch a link of your WIP thread.
By participating in RenderMan's "SciTech" Art Challenge, you agree to the Terms of Use from Pixar, SpeedTree, and NVIDIA.
Please watermark or credit the image with the following:
Walking Teapot by Dylan Sisson. Assets by Joshua Mills and Eugene Riecansky © Disney/Pixar - RenderMan "SciTech" Art Challenge
*RenderMan community account required to participate.
All decisions of the judges are final.
Prizes cannot be exchanged for their cash value.
Prizes are non transferable.
Contest Participants agree to comply with all applicable export control laws and sanctions. Contest Participants agree NOT TO use, export, reexport or transfer (in-country) RenderMan in or to: (1) a country or region subject to a US partial or comprehensive embargo, such as Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Crimea, Donetsk People’s Republic, or Luhansk People’s Republic; OR (2) any person or entity listed on the “Entity List” or "Denied Persons List" maintained by the US Department of Commerce, the list of "Specifically Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons" maintained by the US Department of Treasury or any other applicable prohibited party list of the US Government. Contest Participants further agree that they are not nationals or residents of the countries or regions listed in (1) above.
Assets intended for use in RenderMan "SciTech" Art Challenge only and cannot be redistributed. Please refer to Unity's Terms of Service for limitations.
By participating in RenderMan's "SciTech" Art Challenge, you agree to share your email with our partner, NVIDIA. Your information will be handled in accordance with NVIDIA's Privacy Policy.
