VFX Challenge - The Rebelway FX Challenge

For as long as humans have told stories, we’ve dreamed of conquering beasts in uncharted lands. From ancient Greek mythology to modern gaming adventures, we’re captivated by the idea of welding our magical abilities to slay the monster and bring peace to our land. This contest will ask you to tap into that creative spirit by challenging you to develop incredible FX for an epic fight scene.

We want to see your own unique take on this battle for the ages by adding in VFX to make the scene pop. You’re the hero of the FX journey.

You may select a single shot from the trailer or complete the entire trailer, it’s entirely up to you. We are looking for attention to detail, execution, and (most importantly) a ‘WOW!’ factor that leaves us speechless.

Prizes

We have a huge prize pool to share amongst the top 3 entrants:

• One (1) Winner will get an amazing high end workstation built by the team at Puget Systems
• One (1) Runner Up will win an RTX 3080 Graphics Card to help with those FX renders.
• One (1) Highly Commended will win a Houdini License and a Rebelway course.

Important Dates

• Open for submission
• Entries close 15th April 2021.
• Finalists Announced 22nd April 2021
• Winners announces 26th April 2021.
• Dates mentioned are at 11:59 pm on the date in question.
• All dates are based on GMT.

Requirements

• No modifications are allowed to the provided models.
• No modifications to the animation.
• You can use any software to create and render your FX.
• You must share your progress. This is a Play-by-Play contest that requires you to add multiple updates to your entry page, similar to how a forum discussion works. Learn more about Play-by-Play contests in our Helpdesk. Entries that only upload a single update will not be considered.

Deliveries

Entrants must submit at least 200 frames of rendered FX work (1280x600 minimum resolution). The render should incorporate at least one entire shot from the trailer. You do not have to render the entire scene, but it is encouraged.

You may use any software of your choice.

How to start your entry

• Watch the 3 videos below to get a complete brief on what you need to do for this competition.
• Download the complete asset pack from here.
• Add FX to the provided assets. The design brief is wide open and only limited by your imagination.
• Share your progress and update entry multiple times.
• Upload final renders with The Rookies logo in your last update.
• Include the hashtag #RebelwayFXChallenge if you share on your social media so we can reshare your work.
• Join our Discord channel to ask questions and get feedback.

Who Can Enter?

Only members of The Rookies can enter this contest. This means that you must be an aspiring artist. You can be a student, self-taught artist, or even a hobbyist. Please note that anyone with more that 12 months professional employment in a related industry is not eligible to enter.

How to Enter

Follow the link below and create an entry. Use your entry page to share updates as you create your masterpiece. Your last update will be considered as your final submission.

FAQ

Can I add textures to the character?
You can add textures, but it will not be considering at judging time.

Can I modify the mesh?
Yes.

I'm a professional that has more than one years full-time employment, can I enter into this contest?
To enter the Contest, you (the Artist) must be an amateur artist with less than 1 year of professional experience in the visual effects industry.

In other words, you are not eligible if you have been employed and paid as a professional artist for a combined period of more than 1 year in a field that is closely related to the subject matter of the contest.

Exceptions to this rule are paid internships which do not contribute to your combined period of professional experience. The intent and spirit of this rule is to ensure you have not gained an unfair advantage over other competitors. There will always be complicated use cases, so please contact the organiser if you'd like your eligibility reviewed.

Does my age make me not eligible to enter?
No. It doesn't matter what your age you are as long as you meet the criteria in the previous question.

Can I break the hydralisk claw and growing it back again ?
Yes.

Can I rupture the hydralisk skin and making it bleed ?
Yes.

Can I retime the animation, to do slowmo effect and  adding camera shake ?
Yes.

Can we add lights?
Yes.

How do I do a play-by-play?
Check out this link if you're unsure of how to create a play-by-play entry

Can we use the contest assets for our own personal work outside of the contest?
The data is free to use outside of the competition and for educational uses or anything that is not commercial use. Good luck

Known Technical Issues

• When importing the model into 3DS Max 2018 you will have to scale all character assets by 10 (from 100 to 1000), by selecting their root, and scaling. And then all cameras and non movable models (mountains and rocks), and they need to multiply by 100 (from 100 to 10000). That way everything fits, and cyborg character is around 180cm height.
• There is a problem with camera transform cache when you import into Blender. You will need to manually scale it by 10.