After a successful October Contest, now announcing the second and final MCprep contest of 2020! TL;DR submit your entry HERE, but please read rules below.
Theme
A “Happy New Year” Card!
This contest is unique in that all entries should function like the cover of a (paper or digital) holiday card. See judging criteria for more details, but imagine the output is something you would actually give to someone in your family, to a friend, online to your followers, or anyone else you want to wish a happy New Year.
And by the way, all entries will be collated together to create one big Happy New Year webpage that will be public to the world! Let’s send some positive vibes for the new year.
Who is the contest for
This is a contest made for Minecraft content creators who use Blender and MCprep. It is open to anyone in the world!
The goal is to showcase your creativity, and encourage creators to utilize the knowledge from the https://bit.ly/MCprepTutorials series.
When does the contest start?
The contest starts on Sunday, December 20th 2020 at 12pm EDT and runs till Wednesday, December 30th 2020 at 11:59pm EDT (that’s midnight US eastern time). Entries submitted after this time are not eligible to win, and may not be included in the final card showcase!
Judging will occur on the 31st and hopefully be released by Jan 1st.
The Rules
- All entries must be submitted by the deadline. If you submit past the deadline, you are not eligible to win.
- You are limited to ONE entry. If you enter multiple times, only your latest entry will be considered for winning and included in the card showcase.
- You must make the render/animation yourself, and it must be made for this contest (no reposting or remastering old work – see Q&A for more details and examples)
- Use of MCprep is optional, but encouraged – see judging criteria.
- Minimum resolution is 1280×720, and feel free to user other “card-like” resolutions or orientations (such as 1280×1280 or 720×1280)
- Entries can be either still renders or short animations (max 10 seconds if animated).
- The 3D render part of the image must be made in Blender – it’s ok if you edit in photoshop or another software as well. It is not ok if you only use Blender as a reference and did a complete paint-over, or used another 3D software to render the primary image.
- Keep entries family friendly – no explicit, overly gory, overtly sexual, or inappropriate material.
- You must join the MCprep discord server, so we can identify by username and ensure no duplicate entries. We will also use this to reach out if there are any concerns with entries regarding the above rules.
Judging and Criteria
We have five judges for this contest: TheDuckCow, Sunkissed Animations, TheKindKitten, and more to be finalized.
Judges will use the following criteria when voting for their top choices:
- Overall production quality | This includes animation polish (if relevant), composition, and any other techniques that add to the overall production quality and aesthetic.
- Quality Holiday Card | All entries should be able to stand on their own as “cards”, use of text / overlay messages is encouraged, but is not required and also shouldn’t distract or overpower the render itself. You are free and encouraged to add text, seasonal borders, and framing like you would expect on the cover of a card you’d give to family or friends. Don’t be afraid to “tell a story” too, but it’s ok if it doesn’t!
- MCprep basics | Are your materials non-blurry? Did you utilize meshswap? Are you using a variety of mobs (including self-made) or item spawning? Do you have good MC sky lighting, or light-emitting blocks from meshswap spawner? Show off what you learned bit.ly/MCprepTutorials!
- Originality | Don’t just make the first thing that comes to your head, think of something creative or unique! Make your card stand out from the crowd.
There will be 3 winners for the contest, with no further sub categories.
Stating the obvious: Be fair and don’t try to sway your judges! Big thanks up front for this team offering to not only help judge the entries, but also help answer questions on the discord server.
Rewards
As there is no country restriction, the below rewards are fair and feasible to deliver for anyone who enters or wins.
- Hall of fame | Permanent spot on TheDuckCow’s contest hall of fame site, to be established when winners are announced.
- YouTube highlights reel | The winners will be highlighted up front in the contest recap reel, before highlighting additional entries in a longer playlist and card website.
- Social media blasting | All winners will be given some love and shared on social media from TheDuckCow!
- Call with TheDuckCow | Chat with TheDuckCow on a personalized half hour call! You can use the time however you like, such as to elicit feedback on past work, hold a one-off private blender lesson, or even just hang out.
Note that everyone who enters will be highlighted on the Happy New Year page. All entrants will get full credit and hopefully grow their audience and skills some!
Contest Submissions, Enter Here!
Submit your entries to be included in the contest and final Webpage below:
Entries are now closed
Note: this time around, you should directly upload your card (still render or animation of <10s) via this form directly. This way, you can wait before sharing your card publicly on your own account if you choose. This form requires you to have a google account to upload the file, you can create a temporary one here if needed in order to upload your entry.
Any info captured such as email is a requirement of forms itself, and will not be used for any other purpose except for judging the contest entries themselves. Emails will be deleted after the contest closes.
Questions?
Please direct all questions through the contest-discuss channel of the official MCprep Discord server. The judges will be active there and ready to respond to specific questions.
Do I have to say “Happy New Year” in my card entry?
Nope! You don’t have to have text, though it is encouraged. And you are certainly writing your own message, whether it’s a big bold 2021, perhaps something more specific, that’s ok too. The focus here is more that the entry is in a card format than exactly what the card is saying.
Note that the final Webpage will have a title that is focussed on Happy New Year – so just know that writing something like “Merry Christmas” will not quite fit with the theme, though we would still include it.
Is there an official hashtag to use on social media?
Yes! #MCprepContest is great to use on all social media accounts. Just remember to officially submit using guidance above to be considered for judging.
Am I allowed to release my entry publicly before the end of the contest?
Yes, you are free to do this. Note that either way, you need to upload your raw entry to the contest form before the deadline.
Can I include animation/graphics from other software?
It is okay if the final entry has non-blender elements such as titles, animated overlays, or borders made in other software. Just be sure the majority of the card is coming out of Blender.
Are group entries allowed?
For this contest, we are only supporting individual entries – but please voice your suggestion if you want group entries in the future!
Can I reuse old or existing assets?
Generally, that is ok – e.g. you don’t have to custom make rigs from scratch. Consider using those from MCprep itself, but if you made general rigs previously it is fair for you to use. However, if you spent hours and hours making a special custom detailed rig with extra modifications, and this character and its detail is the primary focus for your render, it would not be in the spirit of this guideline. Think of it this way: The majority of the work you do for the contest should be done during the contest, not before.
Can I use maps found online?
This is allowed, though of course be sure to give credit! Please note: quality of the Minecraft map/sets are not going to be judged, however your use of the set (camera angles, character placement, how you bring it to life, and what custom details you add post import) will be accounted for under the production quality judging criteria.