The theme for this challenge is favorite toys and you can make any sort of toy you like. It can be a classic toy from your childhood or something more adult like your current favorite gadget. Final entries in this challenge should be models which are textured and lit. You can use any software you like to help you create the final toy renders, however the primary focus for this project should be Maya.
The prizes for this challenge are:
1st prize - $500 USD
2nd prize - Lifetime Membership at SimplyMaya
3rd Prize - The Art of Toy Story 3
Challenge Duration: May 2nd - June 30th
The challenge will run for two months with the deadline for your final entries set to June 30th. All entries must show WIP on the forum and as this project is shared with SimplyLightwave you'll be competing with people from our Lightwave site as well. This challenge is open for all types of Maya users, you don't need to be an expert to join. The main point here is to challenge yourself and to have some fun.
Your judges will be:
Jason Edwards - Senior Modeler at Windmill Lane VFX
Michael McKinley - Author and Environment Artist at Zombie Studios (Hopefully)
And of course, yours truly 
To join in simply start a new thread here with this in the title:
My Favorite Toy Challenge - Your User Name
Good luck, have fun and we hope to see some great entries for this challenge!
Hi David
What are the criteria of judgement ?
Is it about likeness ( if so do participants need to post an orginal photo of the said toy)
Are interpretations of toys alowed ( like they did with Toy story where they made the toys alive, or even better a rendition of pinochio which was a rendition of a toy in an animation)
Is it about scenery or about the model?
So just to make things clear:
If someone models an entire ruined city with a beaten teddybear beneath some rubble, a Spielberg camera angle, Michael Bay effects( so basically focussing on composition/staging etc) and someone else models a pixar quality teddybear like lotho( focussing on getting the toy looking right and not so much on compostion) and someone else makes a beautiful illustrative final render of aliens playing with the earth as a ball ( totally imaginairy) which one would win, or in short what are the criteria?
I know some now think this question is bollocks, but if in the end we have 9 half decent attempts at an existing toy and there is one person who enters with a really beatiful render of the aforementioned 2 aliens playing with the earth as a ball and wins it can lead to discussions so I think it's best to set some clear guidelines with absolute do's and don'ts, and what is considered to be the most important criteria( modeling/renderquality/posing/staging/Composition)
Last edited by mastone; 03-05-2011 at 02:24 PM.