Sumea Challenge #1 Final Results

Steve Stamatiadis - Creative Director and co-owner of Krome Studios

Rank 1 - Challenger #2 - Malus

Most interesting variation on the original art yet it still manages to retain the feel of the drawing. The chainmail works really well with the armour. On the downside I think it's a little too monotonal in the colour scheme, hard to tell where the skin ends and the armour starts. Also there are a lot of spare polys that could be used to take a few off a few of the harder edges.

Rank 2 - Challenger #3 - Adie
Another good solid model, I like the colour scheme on this one better than #2 but it's misses top just by a whisker. Nice variation in the materials but texturing could use a little more contrast to pick out the details. Again if you have 3000 polys don't be scared to use them, there are plenty of places on this model that could use that extra bit of detail to define the silhouette better, like the toes.

Rank 3 - Challenger #1 - Pantmonger
The texture is a little to clean looking but there's some interesting details there. The shoulder pads are nice and smooth looking but his thighs are very angular - again work at the silhouette. The face could use a little looking at.

Rank 4 - Challenger #5 - Eagor
The mesh looks ok but the texture lets it down. Could use more variation in colour/material texture. A few more views would have been nice.

Rank 5 - Challenger #4 - Dan Ward
A lot of potential here which seems to be let down by inexperience. Definitely keep at it. Learn about smoothing groups and how to paint better textures but I like the color scheme best on this one. Again you have way more polys to play with so use them.

All in all nice work people. Looking forward to seeing what come forward for the 2D challenge.

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Stefan Kamoda (Blue Tongue)

1st : Challenger #3 - Adie
Best overall I thought, nice pose, nice texture, good proportions, nice heavy feel to it. Consistant.

2nd : Challenger #1 - Pantmonger
Nice texture but the proportions seem a little off, especially the thin neck, weakens the design. Still pretty damn good though.

3rd : Challenger #2 - Malus
Excellent, on par with entrys #1 and #3, would liked to have seen a pose.

4th : Challenger #4 - Dan Ward
Harsh edges where there shouldn't be, textures look bland and slapped on. Seems a bit too thin.

5th : Challenger #5 - Eagor
Only one view, poor textures, pose is symetrical, shoulders look oddly placed and lack strength.

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Rod Green - Technical Director Graphics, Infogrames Studios Asia

1st : Challenger #3 - Adie:
Geometry:
The shape (silhouette) of the character looks really nice.
The shape of the head looks good.
The layering on the armour is well done too.

Texture:
I really like what you've achieved with the texture. Over all it ooks very natural.
There is some areas that need to be made sharper (flat of the weapon).
The metal is a little too 'cloudy' it could do with a flatter texture (but still sharp).
The nicks and cuts in the texture are good but still could be a little sharper.
Nice cloth/leather.

2nd : Challenger #2 - Malus:
Geometry:
Good distribution of polys through the mesh.

Texture:
I really like the scales on the skin and around the face.
Horns, tails and claws look great.
The metal textures look a little too burnt and would 'blow out' when lit in an engine. However since a specular map couldn't be used it would be hard to achieve a good metal look.
This 'blow out' is evident on the gold chest buckle.
The chainmail looks good but the links don't interweave like chainmail should.
Texture looks a little too 2D, needs some work to make is more realistic ('render' it further).

3rd : Challenger #1 - Pantmonger:
Geometry:
Overall there seems to be a good distribution of polygons through the mesh. The upper body is well constructed with nice smooth curves to the armour.
There is a little too much detail in the feet and not enough in the legs. The silhouette of the legs shows some obvious facets.
There is some odd polygon construction around the knees and buttocks.
I know this wasn't part of the brief however the knees wouldn't deform well when animated.
Some twisted quads present that might cause issues.

Texture:
Is nice I especially like the metal fastener on the leather straps for the chest.
'Scales' on the back of the neck is a nice idea, might need a little bit of work to better integrate it.
Nice paint detailing on the armour pieces.
The texture looks a little hand painted/air brushed in places (esp. cloth, muscle shading and skin folds).
Face looks a little odd - mouth too small and too close to the nose.

4th : Challenger #5 - Eagor:
Geometry:
Shape looks ok - though it's hard to tell from the supplied image.
Armour is nice.

Texture:
Looks good but a little flat - again it's hard to tell from the supplied image.

Rank 5 - Challenger #4 - Dan Ward:
Geometry:
The area around the waist looks ok.
The shape of the character is very 'blocky'. The silhouette shows some obvious facets.
The legs look a little thin from the side.
Not much detail in the head, hands etc - very square.

Texture:
The textures need some work to get them looking better.
The yellow texture on the back of the next looks out of place.
The texture on the weapon is a little too saturated and it's hard to tell what material (metal, wood etc) you are emulating.

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Many thanks to Steve, Stefan, and Rod for their time in writing and ranking the results!!!!! I'm sure these guys are very busy, and commenting on stuff like this take a good portion of their time.. and thanks to the challengers too. You took to the challenge when a tonne of others even didn't.. And I thought all the works were fantastic, and it's pretty cool to see everybody's interpretation of the concept art.

1st rankings get 5 points, 2nd gets 4 and so on...

Adie 4, 5, 5 = 14 points
Malus 5, 3, 4 = 12 points
Pantmonger 3, 4, 3 = 10 points
Eagor 2, 1, 2 = 5 points
Dan Ward 1, 2, 1 = 4 points

Good Job Adie and Malus,
*Crowd goes wild*

And thanks to the Judges for your time and comments, (its nice to know).

Pantmonger

[img]http://home.iprimus.com.au/evilbunny/Jagged/GamaPantsWeb.gif[/img]

Congratulations Adie.
Thanks to the judges for spending the time to look over our work and for the constructive feedback. (knew my armour would kill it lol)

Way to go Pants, we got the top 3 man.

Great job to everyone else, can't wait for the next one.

Dean Ferguson - 3D/2D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/Portfolio/index.html

[:D]*bow* [:X]
I like to thank ...(struggling to hold back tears).. My dog Chewie, Wacom, Discreet, Right hemisphere, all the judges,this little monkey [B)]

And a spesial thanks to Malus, Pantmonger, Eagor, Dan Ward, can't wait to battle it out with you in round 2

And a giant thanks to Souri for the kick ass site !!hope u get some sponsors real soon.

oh yeah I'm still unemployed so if anyone knows of any work going
( nudge nudge [;)][;)] )

wicked adie.much congratulations :)...hope you can just go out and get a job :)

Grats guys great job :)

Bring on the next challenge i have almost 3 months of 3dmax experience under my belt now as opposed to a week i had on the first challenge, ive learnt a few things now like how to UVmap and meshsmooth!