The title says it all, the first ever MCprep contest has begun!
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 at on Thursday, October 1st 2020 at 9am EDT and runs till Thursday, October 15th 2020 at 9am EDT (that’s morning US eastern time). Entries submitted after this time are not eligible to win!
Categories
The contest has the following four categories – there will be one winner for each!
| Sill render – Novice (using blender less than 6 months) | Animation – Novice (using blender less than 6 months) |
| Still render – Veteran (using blender more than 6 months) | Animation – Veteran (using blender more than 6 months) |
A novice is defined as someone who has been using blender for less than 6 months. This is a loose definition, noting that if you used blender 1 time a year ago and haven’t touched it until a day ago, you still count as a novice. Please use your best judgement, and be honest!
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 still render entry, and ONE animation entry. If you submit multiple within those categories, only the latest will be counted.
- 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)
- It must be made in Blender
- Use of MCprep is optional, but encouraged – see judging criteria.
- Static render entry rules:
- Minimum resolution is 1280×720
- The 3D render must come from 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.
- Upload images to a third party site like https://imgur.com/
- Animation entry rules:
- Minimum resolution is 1280×720
- Must contain at least 15 seconds of animation rendered from Blender; there is no maximum time limit.
- Entries must be uploaded to YouTube. Reach out to judges if this is a problem for you!
- Keep entries family friendly – no explicit, overly gory, overtly sexual, or inappropriate material.
- You can only win one category at most – either Animation or Still render.
- 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 any concerns with entries regarding the above rules.
Theme
The theme for this contest is…..
Stuck Indoors!
You are free to interpret this theme however you like – and yes, even if that includes shots that are outdoors! See the section on judging for more details, but entries will be judged in part based on how well they represent, complement, or play with the theme. Don’t be afraid to take a creative twist, but taking it literally is okay too.
Judging and Criteria
We have five judges for this contest: TheDuckCow, MidnitePixel, AmazingProGamerDude, Sunkissed Animations, and TheKindKitten.
Judges will use these criteria:
- Overall production quality | This includes animation quality (if relevant), composition, and any other techniques that add to the overall production quality and aesthetic.
- Creative use of the theme | How well does the entry match, or creatively include, the theme (“Stuck indoors”)?
- 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!
- Story | Applies to both still renders and animation – is there a story or a message being shared? Is there a clear message or idea being presented? Even a single frame can give a sense of a broader story.
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
This is the first MCprep contest, so prizes are not as tangible as they could be. If all goes well, future contest will have more compelling 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 4 winners will be highlighted up front in the contest recap reel, before highlighting additional entries in a longer playlist. The two animation winners (novice and veteran) will be highlighted first in the YouTube entries playlist. Note: for animation entries, the highlights reel will only include a short snippet of the winning novice and veteran animations, to encourage viewers to see the full videos in the playlist
- Social media blasting | All four winners (novice and verteran for both still render and animation) 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.
There’s something for everyone – we are also planning to create a youtube playlist for all animation entries, and a highlights reel for the still renders. All entrants will get full credit and hopefully grow their audience some!
Contest Submissions
Entering an animation? Make sure to upload to YouTube as either unlisted or public!
Entering a still render? Make sure to upload to a third party website, and copy the link!
To keep judging streamlined and quick, entries will not be accepted through discord directly.
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.
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 entries publicly before the end of the contest?
Yes, you are free to do this. At a minimum, entries (still renders or animations) should be unlisted on submission so judges can view and perform judging.
Can I include animation from other software? Do titles count towards the 15 second minimum?
It is okay if the final video has non-blender sections such as titles, live action video, or other forms of animation or animation from other 3d software. Just be sure the minimum of 15 seconds of blender animation is met.
Are group entries allowed?
For this first 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.