Contest: The Alien Next Door

[DjVoyager]

Contest theme: The Alien Next Door

Your neighbor is an alien migrant from another planet. She, he or it is adjusting to live like regular human being, like mowing the lawn, driving a car, or watching TV etc.

Theme Requirements
- Create a 3D or 2D scene showing your alien neighbor engaged in an everyday human activity.
- The alien's character design should be original.
- For 3D, you must create a character concept, rough drawing is fine, and post it before working on the 3D version.
- For 2D, you must create a rough sketch before moving on to detailing and coloring it.
- Regularly post WIP screenshots in your project thread, at least three during the time frame of the contest.

* Animation is highly encouraged and will receive an extra point. Animation must not exceed 15 seconds.

Duration: May 25th, 2012 - June 30th, 2012 - 3:00 AM GMT

Who can enter: Novice to advanced artists.
* DT administrators and moderators can create this project but are not eligible to compete for the prizes.

Software: Any taught by Digital Tutors. Permission of moderator is required for any other software use.


Contest Rules
1. Create a thread under the Work in Progress forum for June 2012 with the title of your project.

2. Specify your user level with the application/s of choice.

3. The project has to be created within the time frame of the contest. Previously created projects will be disqualified. Ask permission from the moderator for use of older models for props/supporting objects.

4. Use of stock models and plagiarism is completely forbidden, and will cause in disqualification from the contest.

5. Submit your final entry as an attachment in Final Submission forum. Work posted elsewhere will not be considered final entry.
* For submitting an animation, create a basic account on animation hosting site Vimeo and upload your final animation there. Link it in Final Submissions forum. Youtube is also acceptable though Vimeo is preferred.
8. Gore and vulgarity is not allowed in projects, DT is a family friendly site. Negative comments and foul language will be removed.


Winner of the June's contest will be announced on July 10th, 2012. S/he will be notified via PM and will have one week or 7 days to respond, otherwise a runner-up will be chosen. The winner will receive a $50 gift certificate for Amazon. In addition to this, the winner will be included in the next Digital-Tutors Newsletter. Subscription to the newsletter can be done via your DT user ID options.

Judges: DT administration, staff, and moderators.
Judging is based upon the following criteria:
* Character design, modeling, shading, and rendering.
* Participant's ability to take in constructive criticism from other members and also share his/her techniques.

Here are some of the many excellent training courses from DT to help you with this project:

Modeling a Female Hero in Zbrush 4 and Maya 2012

Essential Strategies for Hand Painting Textures in MARI

Creative Development: Artistic Character Modeling in 3ds Max with Jacques Pena

Polygon and Sub-D Modeling Workflows in 3ds Max 2012

Fiber Techniques in ZBrush

Creative Development: Creature Concept Sculpting in ZBrush with Pat Imrie

Character and Scene Development in ZBrush and Maya

Here's some inspiration.







Have fun!

[dilenshah23]

Hey can zombies, vampires or werewolves, ghosts and outer world creatures be considered as aliens?

[XavierB]

Cool contest! I'll participate to that one for sure! Looking foward to see everyone's work!

Good luck to all the participants!

[DjVoyager]

@dilenshah23: Well, Zombies are undead humans, and the rest of the ghoulish creatures are not considered beings of another planet. However, an alien can have zombie or vampire like attributes.You are free to make it anyway you like.

@XavierB: Awesome! Looking forward to seeing your work.

[dilenshah23]

@DjVoyager thank you got it

LET DO THIS!

[umarfateh]

Excellent. Looking forward to taking part in it.

[DjVoyager]

@umarfateh: Excellent!

Couple of inspiration: Futurama, Planet 51, Lloyd in Space, Jetsons.

[timeRemapper]

Wow. Awesome topic! I wish I could enter for this one, but time is stubborn, despite remapping. Looking forward to watching the progress from the bench! There is so much potential with this topic. Enjoy, all who enter!

[Daniel "Sound"]

DjVoyager I just realized I'm using a student license of Maya, that doesn't allow me to make money with anything produced with it, so I'm not entirely sure if I can participate in contests with it. If that's the case, can I still participate in the contest unofficially just for the fun of it?

[DjVoyager]

Although I am not certain I think you can use it for entering student competitions, because that is main purpose of DT contests, to give you opportunities to improve your skills. In addition to that, DT does not own any of the contests' work or distribute it for commercial purposes. Hope this helps.