Accelerate - CG society - Synd Mead challenge

The winners have been announced for the latest CG society competition. I did not get chance to enter this one. To be honest i just fancied a break, as we resently entered the CG society animation challenge (see our entry here) and we were pushed to the limit on this one.

Still, there are some great images here from some fantastic artists. Congratulations all who entered:

Dmytro Zyubyairov (Carbofos) of Kharkov, UKRAINE wins Fifth Prize in NVArt5 - Accelerate. His winning image 'Arrival' was created with an NVIDIA laptop card under the boot. Carbofos wins 1 x NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 4GB - 240 CUDA Processors (or latest model) valued at US$3500 Artist Comment "Syd is absolutely the best of all times and it's impossible to do better even after all these years. In my artwork I tried to concentrate on simplicity of design and painting value. It was not easy to move the image forward after certain stages of a sketch. It was first time I participated in NVArt contest. Now I'm looking forward for the next one." Judges' Comments Syd Mead "The vehicle in this color sketch is one of the most exotic, expertly convoluted use of twisted planes that I have ever seen. The front, with the two projecting flat points transpose elegantly into the vertical rear fins, enclosing the cabin as an intermittant geometric configuration. Brilliant design." Lorne Lanning "Impressive innovative take on a the car form.  Manages to retain a classic 60s futurism while still retaining futuristic in a contemporary way. A tough balance to capture, but manages to do it." Mark Snoswell "Beautiful concept & rendering." Mark Frauenfelder "The biomorphic, crustacean body is menacing in a cool way. I really like the colors used in the vehicle. I also like the way the figures in the image take this kind of marvel for granted, by not even looking at it. What a world!"

Roman Mrazek (MrBUBEN) of Brno, CZECH REPUBLIC wins Fourth Prize in NVArt5 - Accelerate. His winning image 'BLACK CUCUMBER TH BIO 8000' was created with an NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800 under the boot. MrBUBEN wins 1 x NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 4GB - 240 CUDA Processors (or latest model) valued at US$3500 Artist's Comments "When drawing the sketch, my idea was, that the shape should be as simple as possible. The real inspiration for me was a cucumber, which I was just having for breakfast and I liked the name. I also tried to make the machina technologically possible. My vision for the engine is organic liquid full of sea creatures producing electrical currant which is being enforced and runs the electrical engine. I made the model in 3ds max. I exported the model to Hypershot and there I rendered it. I made the final composition in Photoshop." Judges' Comments Syd Mead "A pure, elegant take on the motorcycle with the now popular 'axle-less' RIM DRIVE characteristic, the sleek integration of utility and rider accommodation. The black sheen of the finish, the graphics and the name? Well, perhaps a bit tongue far back in cheek but very, very resonant with the contemporaty 'naming' gimmick of designation artifacts with titles that are both humorous and 'kinky' in a colloquial sense. Impressive." Lorne Lanning "Love the wheel solution and overall concept." Mark Snoswell "Awesome design and beautiful render."

Pavel Mikhailenko (MPavel) of Moscow, RUSSIA wins Third Prize in NVArt5 - Accelerate. His winning image 'NASTRA015' was created with an NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 under the boot. MPavel wins US$1000 cash 1 x NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 4GB - 240 CUDA Processors (or latest model) valued at US$3500 Artist's Comments "For this image I didn't use any particular reference image. I just tried to derive main features of Syd Mead's style and put them on some original shapes. I don't remember how this idea came to me (probably in my sleep). I did a rough sketch on the paper and the vehicle was 90% like it is on the final image. Than I did some different angles sketches to refine final shape and simply take a look on my car from different angles. In searching of a good composition I did rough 3D model of my car, put some guys around it, choose light scheme and did about 10 test renderings in 3ds Max. Composition was detected and I did clean drawing on paper with simple pencil. Sketch was scanned and painted in Photoshop. Syd Mead has really blown my mind out and put my imagination up on extremely high level. When I entered this competition, I spent a lot of time to collect more of his artworks up. Now they are kind of a model of design and concept art in my work. Many thanks to Syd Mead for this kind of experience. Amazing how even distantly you can learn something from him! Dreaming to learn more and more from the Living Legend in the future!" Judges' Comments Mark Snoswell "Way cool and believable racing car concept."

Anthony Scime (amscime) of Fort Lauderdale, USA wins Second Prize in NVArt5 - Accelerate. His winning image 'TS 2850' was created with an NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT under the boot. amscime wins US$2,000 cash, 2 x NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 4GB - 240 CUDA Processors (or latest model) valued at US$7,000 Artist's Comments "As soon as I found out about this competition I realized it was an awesome opportunity to push my skills, and being a challenge inspired by Syd Mead, this made it that much sweeter. I am a huge sci-fi fan, and to have one of the greatest visionaries of that genre even look at my work was enough. My approach to this was to create a design that not so much made people say 'that looks like a Syd Mead' but for Syd to say 'I would do that. I am very thankful for the this honor given to me by NVIDIA and the CGSociety. It's really amazing." Judges' Comments Syd Mead "I originally picked this one because of the success of using a very limited pallet for the entire picture. The vehicle is startlingly geometric with a proportional fllair not usually seen with this bold confidence in the design concept." Lorne Lanning "The simplicity of form and grandeur of scale is striking.  Great execution though I’m still not completely sure of what I’m looking at, but what I’m looking at is WAY cool and I want to see it operate!" Mark Snoswell "Iconic, radical, and very stylish. Well executed – the setting and colours work well making it a realistic and very powerful image." Mark Frauenfelder "Sleek, and like many exotic vehicles, kind of phallic. I appreciate the admirers. Are the figures in the foreground striking some kind of bargain about the car?"

Arnoldas Vitkus (Arnol2x) of , LITHUANIA wins First Prize in NVArt5 - Accelerate on CGSociety. His winning image 'Crono Viper' was created with an NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT under the boot. Artist's Comments "This has blown my mind and razed me to the ground.  I mean it! I can't describe how thankful I am for this great prize. I entered the competition, because this was something I really like to imagine and take the vision into something readable by the human eye. Since I saw Mead's designs in those futuristic posters and artwork and later in movies Tron and Alien, I thought this was the opportunity to try somehow catch his thinking about the future and represent it. However, I didn't thought I had achieved this. But it looks like it's one of the biggest successes in my life! So a Big Thanks for the judges." Judges Comments Syd Mead "The overall coloration of this piece is an expert shift from highly specific detail on the vehicle to the 'overexposure' palette of the background. The result is a combination that enhances the vehicle, provides an eerie otherworldly setting and removes the design from recognizable hardscape yet reminds of architecture. The metallic toning on the vehicle is brilliant; a suggestion of titanium, of silver, of exotic alloy yet to be fabricated." Lorne Lanning "Great design take on the future muscle vehicle.  CG rendering is excellent.  Would have ranked this higher had the people and environmental structures been rendered with same attention to detail and lighting as the excellent vehicle." Mark Frauenfelder "The hinged suspension and massively oversized front wheels give me the feeling that this beast isn't going to sit still for long. It's ready to tear up the road." Mark Snoswell "Sexy and very strong design – great proportions and good balance." Adam Savage "I love this vehicle. Powerful lines. Excellent form. It feels right and real and drivable." Jamie Hyneman "The Crono Viper has a massive, muscular quality in the vehicle that is striking. It does a great job of blending an organic feel with the mechanical. The use of earth tones reinforces this. The design does not offend reality in any particular practical sense. The general look of the work is appropriate to Syd's realm, but does not copy."