NEWS CENTER

Fox Renderfarm's FGT Art Campaign is ongoing and the featured artwork for November is "Future Shopping" created by LA BARBED. Congratulations! This cinematic artwork was created with Blender and rendered with Fox Renderfarm. Thanks to LA BARBED for choosing us!"Future shopping" © LA BARBEDLA BARBED's social media: https://www.instagram.com/la_barbed/As a leading cloud rendering service provider and render farm in the CG industry, Fox Renderfarm regularly hosts CG challenges, and FGT Art Campaign is one of our 3D art contests that runs monthly. You can submit your artwork which is rendered with Fox Renderfarm to get a free $20 render coupon as a submission reward. The winning entry will be selected as the featured artwork of the month and the winner can receive a $100 render coupon as the prize. We look forward to your impressive work!

Paul Webb, a talented digital artist, recently earned a well-deserved second place in the renowned polygoniq 3D challenge "Into the Future". His artwork, "A Sort of Homecoming," which skillfully balances technical proficiency with imaginative storytelling, stood out in a field of exceptional entries. Congratulations to Paul! Fox Renderfarm as the industry's top cloud rendering service provider and render farm, was honored to sponsor this contest and interview Paul.Let’s uncover the inspiration and process behind Paul's remarkable work through this interview.Fox Renderfarm: Hi Paul! Thank you so much for accepting our interview! Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?Paul: Hi, I live in the UK, VFX and 3D is not really my main job. At the moment it’s a hobby, but I dedicate a lot of time to what I do. I grew up watching lots of Sci-Fi, Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, and Farscape. Love it all. I got into Blender many years ago, but never did much. However I have started to delve into it more, and I am hoping to make a short film someday.Star Wars © Lucasfilm Ltd.Fox Renderfarm: Congratulations on winning second place in the polygoniq challenge "Into the Future"! How do you feel about it?Paul: Amazed!! There were so many great entries and talented (and genuinely nice) people. It was just a pleasure to be a part of it. Fox Renderfarm: Can you walk us through the conceptual development of your piece? How did your initial idea evolve into the final work?Paul: I have a problem with self-control. It started as a small idea, a man and his robot walking in a field. But I love creating stories and it just developed from there. Trying to build up the story of why and how. I kept wanting to add more and more!Fox Renderfarm: What kind of emotional journey do you want the audience to experience through your work? Are there any symbolic themes that you would like to share?Paul: I tried to kick it off on a high, but the ship crashed, you don’t know why, but you see the fear in the robot. You see the relationship they have, I guess almost a parent/child kind of thing. And then hopefully left wondering what they’re looking out at. Screenshot of "A Sort of Homecoming" © Paul WebbFox Renderfarm: Were there any specific films, books, artworks, or real-life events that inspired the story and the characters?Paul: I’m a huge U2 fan and love the song - "A Sort of Homecoming" - about returning home after a long journey. And that’s what I was going for, they’ve returned home but things aren’t quite how they left them.A Sort of Homecoming © U2Fox Renderfarm: Can you elaborate on the technical aspects of creating the visual representation of the man? What tools and techniques did you use? Paul: I used several techniques for him. The main body is a ProductionCrate asset, I am a huge fan of theirs, the head is from a Blender addon called MakeHuman. I stitched the two together. I then used Move AI for the motion capture and an iPhone app called Facemotion 3D for the face motion. That’s one of the things I love about Blender, bringing different add-ons and techniques together to create things. Screenshot of "A Sort of Homecoming" © Paul WebbFox Renderfarm: Could you please tell us about your pipeline for this work? And how long did it take you? Paul: One of my problems is I don’t always have a pipeline. I love how projects expand, grow, and develop - it is by no means the best way to work! So it is very difficult for me to keep it contained. But when writing I love how things grow and expand almost with a life of their own. I’m not sure about the exact time, but over a couple of weeks, I spent 2 - 3 hours each night working on it and watching it grow. © Paul WebbFox Renderfarm: What were the main technical challenges you faced during the creation of your work and how did you overcome them?Paul: Animation. Just in general. I love creating animation rather than still images, but I struggle with timing. So this time I did a lot of previs, rendering low poly, non-textured versions to see how it flowed. It really helped. Another thing I struggled with and didn’t quite accomplish with the exterior scenes is making things look natural and creating a world that is alive and believable. Fox Renderfarm: Are there any moments you enjoyed during the creation process? And what was the most memorable?Paul: There’s one scene when the robot nudges the hero to wake him up. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but I was really happy with how that scene turned out. Fox Renderfarm: Do you have any favorite artworks or artists that you want to share with us?Paul: I follow a lot of different creators on Instagram, far too many to mention!! I just enjoy seeing what some people create using Blender and other software knowing that one day, with practice, I could make something similar.Fox Renderfarm: Have you tried Fox Renderfarm’s cloud rendering services before? If so, how do you feel about Fox Renderfarm’s cloud rendering services? Paul: No I’ve never used it before, so I’m excited to try it out. Fox Renderfarm: Any future plans at the moment that you would like to share with us?Paul: I wrote a sci-fi novel a few years ago and I am trying to clean it up so I can get it self-published, and there’s an idea for a series I wrote, so I would love to bring that to life in animation. In the short term, I would say continue to learn and meet other amazing people who love creating. There’s so much talent out there, so it’s an honor to have been a part of something with them. I will continue posting on my Instagram and YouTube and hopefully someday be as good as those I follow. Thanks again to Paul for accepting our interview! Wishing new heights in your professional career!!Paul’s social media:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pwebb2006/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@paulwebb311

Fractal Orange, also known as Hanna Loegering, triumphed in the polygoniq 3D challenge "Into the Future," securing first place with a stunning depiction of a lone robot in a fast-paced future world. Her winning piece "Missing" skillfully utilizes cg time-lapse to highlight this poignant narrative. Congratulations to Hanna! Fox Renderfarm as the industry's top cloud rendering service provider and render farm, was honored to sponsor this contest and interview Hanna.Let’s explore Hanna's creative journey in crafting this technically impressive artwork in this interview.Fox Renderfarm: Hi Hanna! Thank you so much for accepting our interview! Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?Hanna: Thanks for having me. My name is Hanna. I’ve been in the creative industry since 2015 and I’m very fortunate to do what I love for work.When I’m not at my computer you can find me swing dancing, at bible study, or playing overly complicated board games like Scythe and Twilight Imperium with my friends and family.Fox Renderfarm: Congratulations on winning first place in the polygoniq challenge "Into the Future"! How do you feel about it?Hanna: Thanks! I’m honored to receive first place. I’m always looking to improve my work and it’s cool to see how I’ve grown from the days of holding crayons in my hands and I hope to keep pushing forward.I love contests like this because it’s so inspiring to see different creators’ concepts, techniques, and artistic styles for the same prompt.Winning piece "Missing"© Fractal OrangeFox Renderfarm: Can you tell us a bit about how you started "Fractal Orange"？What is the meaning behind this name?Hanna: Post college I moved out of state to the amazing city of Fort Worth TX for a job at Serendipitous Films. I was first introduced to the idea of freelancing by the many freelancers that I worked with on set. I decided to move back to my home state of ND to be back with my family and working as a remote freelancer allowed me to do that.I wanted a catchy name, so I just started mashing two different words together until I found something interesting that made sense for my business and personality. I liked "fractal" because I am constantly using fractal-based effects in After Effects and really enjoy creating procedural materials in Blender that often require some sort of fractal noise. I chose the color orange because in my mind, the decision to go freelance was a bold, risky, and exciting opportunity and I think the color orange represents that.AIR•ER © Fractal OrangeFox Renderfarm: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your work "Missing"? How did you come up with this idea?Hanna: I don’t know where my idea for this animation came from. Maybe it’s because I was feeling sad about the impending snow and cold weather and so the robot ended up sad as well.I took part in pwnisher’s render challenges before and was blown away by the 5th place winner Anna on her Moving Meditations Challenge a year ago. She made an awesome time-lapse and I knew I wanted to learn that technique as well. The polygoniq challenge gave me the opportunity to finally try it out.Moving Meditations Challenge © AnnaDynamic Machines - Garage Style © Fractal OrangeMy Friend Bear - Boss Fight © Fractal OrangeFox Renderfarm: Could you please tell us about your pipeline for this work? And how long did it take you? Hanna: I didn’t track my hours for this project (I probably should have). My best guess is 50 hours. I got an idea for the animation in the first half of the month but wasn’t able to work on it until a week before the contest deadline. The final render was 4 hours total (2 hours for each pass).Since I knew I didn’t have much time to work on this, I used assets from Kitbash 3D, Pollygonic, and Mixamo. I also purchased Trash Kit which is an amazing add-on for, you guessed it, scattering trash.I used Blender, After Effects, and Audition. I also used Adobe Firefly to generate the poster image of the boy and cleaned it up in Photoshop.Fox Renderfarm: Can you tell us how you use time-lapse to create the contrast between the robot and the background? Hanna: There is definitely a contrast between how the robot moves and how the time-lapse crowd moves. Temporarily, It doesn't make sense. Either the crowd is moving really quickly or the robot is moving really slowly, but then he kicks the can and it rolls as if in real time. But that is the great part about animation, we can break the laws of physics!The time-lapse crowd was intentionally used to create a sense of loneliness for the robot. The world keeps rushing on, not caring about the sad little robot.Missing © Fractal Orange Fox Renderfarm: Why did you decide to make the crowd in the background partly transparent? And how did you achieve this texture?Hanna: The robot is the star of the shot, so I didn’t want the crowd to distract from him. Initially, I tried decreasing the shutter speed to allow for more motion blur, but the crowd was still too distracting. I ended up rendering the entire animation twice: one render with the crowd and one without. Then I composed them and made the crowd partially transparent. So the time lapse isn’t physically correct, but I think it helps tell the story better.Fox Renderfarm: How did you achieve the overall atmosphere through the use of colors, materials, and lighting setup in your work?Hanna: This is a hard one. Throughout the entire process, I’m always thinking about the story and trying to make it more clear and I’m constantly tweaking things every step of the process.The cyberpunk city aesthetic allows me to be a bit more free with the placement of my lights. I have a few points and spotlights that are just floating in space, but since there are so many neon signs and possible light sources, I can cheat a bit.I also do a bit of color correction and effects in posts.Fox Renderfarm: Are there any challenges that you encountered during the process of creation? If so, how did you overcome them?Hanna: One of my favorite parts of working in 3D is setting up the scene with the lights and materials and blocking everything out. Character animation is more difficult for me, but my story called for the robot to walk. For some reason, I am just not good at walking cycles. To make it easier on myself, I decided to give the robot an injured foot. This way the walk does not have to be symmetrical and precise. Because his foot is broken, there can be a bit of jank in the walk. I also found some great references to BD-1 from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Walking with a Broken Foot.BD-1, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order © Respawn EntertainmentFox Renderfarm: Are there any moments you enjoyed during the creation process? And what was the most memorable?Hanna: There are several moments in the pipeline that I enjoyed. I do a lot of test renders (a still or entire sequence) to reassure myself that I’m on the right track and it’s just a great feeling seeing the whole thing come together in such a short time.I think one of my favorite parts was animating the can. I hand-animated it and used a slight noise modifier on the Z axis to make it seem like it was rolling on bumpy pavement. I like doing little physics-based animation like that. It would have been far too finicky for me to simulate it rolling in such a specific way anyway.I also enjoyed doing the sound design. When I was testing music tracks, I couldn’t help laughing out loud. One of the tracks was so depressingly dramatic, It was like the robot was part of a soap opera. Needless to say, that one didn’t make the cut.Fox Renderfarm: Any favorite artworks or artists?Hanna: This is a hard one. There are SO many amazing animations and creations out there. Some of the ones that come to mind right away are the Spider-Verse films and the Arcane series. I also really like the work of concept artist Sergio Castaneda.Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse © MarvelArcane © Riot GamesConcept Artist Sergio Castaneda's ArtstationFox Renderfarm: Have you tried Fox Renderfarm’s cloud rendering services before? If so, how do you feel about Fox Renderfarm’s cloud rendering services?Hanna: I have never used Fox Renderfarm or any other render services before. I have a pretty good GPU that I rely on, but I could see render farm services being more important in my pipeline if I start creating longer-form animations.Thanks again to Hanna for accepting our interview! Wishing new heights in your professional career!!Hanna’s social media:Website: https://www.fractalorange.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fractal_orange/Artstation: https://fractalorange.artstation.com/Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/fractalorangeLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hanna-loegering/

December is here, is Christmas still far away? CGandWE is launching its latest 3D challenge for this special month, themed "Santa's Vehicle". As a leading cloud rendering service provider and render farm, Fox Renderfarm is a long-term sponsor of CGandWE's challenge. We are delighted to witness the birth of many outstanding artworks in every competition, and this time is no exception.Guidelines:Submit before the deadline in the dedicated discord channel. (Deadline: December 31st, 2023, 11:59 PM - UK Time).Use any 3D program, but everything must be your own creation and created within the month.Subscribe to all CGandWE's social media platforms to qualify for rewards.Technical Specifications:Provide at least 2 renders: 1 final and 1 greyscale/wire-frame.Resolution: 1920 x 1080 min, 3840 x 2160 max (16:9 aspect ratio).Prizes:Amazon Voucher + Fox Renderfarm's Render VoucherFor more information, please join the Discord of CGandWE. We look forward to your submissions!

The Hum3D Sci-Fi Industrial Zone 3D Challenge focuses on the theme of science fiction and industrial design, allowing participants to explore futuristic settings. Todor Vladev, a professional 3D artist who is experienced in creating industrial-themed 3D art, won second place in the competition. Congratulations to Todor! Fox Renderfarm as the industry's top cloud rendering service provider and render farm, was honored to sponsor this contest and interview Todor.Let’s take a look at the creation process behind Todor’s stunning 3D render “Interplanetary Pioneers” in this interview.Interplanetary Pioneers © Todor VladevFox Renderfarm: Hi Todor! Thank you so much for accepting our interview! Could you please introduce yourself first to our readers?Todor: Hi, thank you for selecting me for an interview. My name is Todor, and I've been involved in 3D art professionally and personally for quite some time. In my free time, I enjoy working on personal projects and engaging in outdoor activities such as bike riding and bouldering.Fox Renderfarm: Congratulations on winning second place in the Hum3D Sci-Fi Industrial Zone Competition! How do you feel about it?Todor: It feels great to be among the top 3 winners of the competition. For me, it's about being part of a great community of artists and for my art to be recognized amongst other great 3D artists.Fox Renderfarm: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your work “Interplanetary Pioneers''? How did you come up with this idea?Todor: At first, I wasn't sure what I wanted to create. The inspiration behind “Interplanetary Pioneers” comes from sci-fi movies such as “Aliens”, “Prometheus” and “Star Trek” and some sci-fi action first person shooters like “Quake 2”, “Doom” and “Dead Space”. I wanted to create an atmospheric environment that is grungy, worn, and old, a place that has been lived in, a space station that has been floating through space for a long time. I also wanted to make the image with a cinematic feel, as if straight from a sci-fi movie.Fox Renderfarm: Could you please tell us about your pipeline for this work? And how long did it take you?Todor: First, I researched and gathered inspirational images for ideas of what I want to achieve. I also study lighting examples to determine the mood of the image. I start by blocking out the scene with basic modeling and setting up preliminary lighting to get the overall mood. Then, I proceed to detail and texturing the assets while simultaneously adjusting the lighting to achieve the desired atmosphere. Once all that is done, I add the finishing touches, make any necessary lighting adjustments, and then perform some post-production to achieve the final image.Modeling and scene setup © Todor VladevModeling and scene setup © Todor VladevCheck out Todor's pipeline in more detail here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/8b1dLQFox Renderfarm: The metal texture in your work is so realistic! Can you tell us how you achieved all the different complex textures and details?Todor: That was the main challenge for me in the competition. I needed to capture the right look and feeling as if the space station is very old and well-used. The metal textures were created in Substance Painter by blending different materials, painting details, and adding decals and grunge to surfaces to achieve the desired appearance.Texturing models in Substance 3d Painter - Walls © Todor VladevTexturing models in Substance 3d Painter - Floors © Todor VladevFox Renderfarm: There are several different character figures in your work, can you tell us about the blocking and the relationship between them?Todor: I aimed to create a bustling atmosphere while keeping the focus on the two main characters, the space pilots. I wanted the space station to feel alive, teeming with activity. Picture engineers maintaining corridors and machinery, workers welding pipes and metal plates, others having lunch and chatting, a briefing room where new missions are discussed, and astronauts making their way to the space hangar.Interplanetary Pioneers © Todor VladevInterplanetary Pioneers © Todor VladevFox Renderfarm: How did you achieve the overall atmosphere through the use of colors, materials, and lighting setup in your work?Todor: Lighting played a pivotal role in this image. Achieving a moody space environment presented challenges. For instance, if the lighting is uniformly distributed, the scene lacks depth and narrative. To convey the right mood, I focused on highlighting key features of the space station. The colors emanating from the briefing room, the distant corridor—these accentuated secondary elements. The primary lighting source from the space hangar on the right underscored a crucial part of the story, while simultaneous lighting from the left emphasized the path of the astronauts navigating the bustling space station corridors. This deliberate arrangement drew the viewer's attention to secondary elements such as corridors, hallways, the briefing room, and workers welding.Base model and lighting © Todor VladevBase model and lighting © Todor VladevFox Renderfarm: Are there any challenges that you encountered during the process of creation? If so, how did you overcome them?Todor: The creation process didn't pose many challenges. I had a clear vision of what I wanted to achieve within the given timeframe.Fox Renderfarm: Are there any moments you enjoyed during the creation process? And what was the most memorable?Todor: Yes, lighting is the most enjoyable part of the creation process for me. It offers freedom and creativity, opening up numerous possibilities. I also find post-production to be quite enjoyable.Fox Renderfarm: We see that you have done many industrial-themed works in the past too, why do you choose to stick to this theme? Any favorite works that you would love to share?Todor: I'm drawn to the grungy look and feel of those environments. As a child, my dad used to take me to his workplace in shipyards and ship engine rooms. I would imagine myself on a spaceship, surrounded by control panels, blinking lights, and immersed in the smell of engine oil and grease. The moody lighting and the bustling activity in those places left a lasting impression on me.Late Night Snack © Todor VladevOutpost Planet © Todor VladevMission to Minerva © Todor VladevFox Renderfarm: Any artworks or artists that inspire you the most?Todor: My inspiration comes from concept art in sci-fi games and movies, with a particular appreciation for Ian Hubert's work. His creations encompass amazing sci-fi and cyberpunk environments, along with captivating animations.Party Tug © Ian HubertFox Renderfarm: Have you tried Fox Renderfarm’s cloud rendering services before? If so, how do you feel about Fox Renderfarm’s cloud rendering services?Todor: I haven't really tried Fox Renderfarm’s cloud rendering services before. But I know the services are quite good and useful for big and small projects too.Fox Renderfarm: Any future plans in mind?Todor: Not at the moment. I've recently begun exploring Unreal Engine 5 and I am eager to create more amazing work and animations using this platform.Todor’s Social Media:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/todorvladev/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todor-vladev-5b496635/Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/tvladev

The 3D Challenge "Into the Future," which was launched by Polygoniq, has recently ended and the winners have been announced on Polygoniq's Discord. Fox Renderfarm, as a leading cloud rendering service provider and render farm, was honored to be a sponsor of the competition and witnessed the birth of many outstanding entries.The 1st Place: "⁠Missing" by Fractal OrangeThe 2nd Place: "⁠A Sort of Homecoming" by webboThe 3rd Place: "⁠After everything" by KekoCommunity Pick "⁠Curious BD-1 Final" by Prince Eagle@ Prince EagleCongratulations to all the winners!If you want to learn more about this challenge or see other entries, you can join the Discord here.Polygoniq is a major player on the Blender addon scene, delivering many architectural and product visualization projects yearly. Let's look forward to their next competition.

CGandWE, a platform dedicated to 3D challenges, has announced the winners of the Food 3D Render Challenge in September. They revealed the Top 5 winners as well as 5 honorable mentions. The winners will be awarded Amazon vouchers from CGandWE as well as render vouchers from the cloud rendering service provider Fox Renderfarm. Congrats!CGandWE announced winners for Food 3D Render ChallengeThe first place "Still Life" by TERMINATHAThe first place “Still Life” by TERMINATHAThe second place "Fried Egg" by qxt2019The second place "Fried Egg" by qxt2019The third place "Restaurante" by EmanoelThe third place "Restaurante" by EmanoelAs a dedicated render farm focused on providing the best cloud rendering services, Fox Renderfarm is honored to be a long-term sponsor of CGandWE, providing render vouchers as prizes to 3D artists in the community to help them render their CG work, inspire them to participate in competitions, and develop the CG community together.Join CGandWE's Discord community and you can communicate with other 3D artists as well as improve your CG skills by taking part in 3D challenges.

Kay John Yim, an architect by day, CGI artist by night, again created an amazing CGI animation, Fiery, which is the September featured entry in our FGT Art Campaign.In John's Fiery, adorned in a fiery kimono, Kitsune and her feline companion journey through the ethereal realm beyond the torii gate, where they discover a radiant landscape of vibrant Ginkgo trees, and their path softly illuminated by a carpet of fallen leaves.Final StillFinal StillFinal StillIn creating this beautiful animation, he used Houdini, Axiom Solver, Redshift, Marvelous Designer, CharacterCreator, iClone, Premiere, Rhino and rendered with Fox Renderfarm's cloud rendering service to speed up the animation rendering to get the final image.BreakdownBreakdownWIP (Rhino)WIP (Houdini Vellum + Axiom Solver)WIP (Axiom Solver)WIP (Redshift)WIP (Houdini Axiom Solver)WIP (Houdini)Final Still Clay RenderFinal Still Clay RenderFinal Still Clay RenderJohn has posted a YouTube video showing the animation and how it was made in detail.In the production of 3D animation, for complex scenes, it may take several weeks to render using your local computer, such as John's 3D animation. However, with resources of a render farm, which owns hundreds of computers rendering the 3D animation simultaneously, the final render results can be obtained in a few hours. This is why many famous CGI animation studios choose to use cloud rendering to accelerate their rendering process.The fast and secure cloud rendering service shortens the animation production cycle, accelerating the creation of works and providing opportunities to modify the final images. Since 2011, Fox Renderfarm has been committed to providing the best cloud rendering service, working together with our users to create excellent works.Learn more about John: John's personal site, Instagram, Artstation.

3DModels is running the 10th annual Best Car Render competition, which is the largest awards event for automotive 3D modeling and visualization. The competition is open from September 20 to December 6, 2023. The submissions end at 15:00 GMT.You need to create a 3D car model, place it in an atmospheric 3D environment and make a beautiful rendering. There are no limits to your creative ideas, and you can choose any car you like, whether it is a racing car or an imaginary one.It's a great chance to push your creative boundaries, improve your skills and get inspired, and if you win you'll get plenty of prizes.Image via 3DModelsAs a leading cloud rendering service provider and render farm in the CG industry, Fox Renderfarm is also one of the prize providers for this competition, and if your work is selected by us as the best render work, you will receive an additional render voucher prize from us.Learn more about the Car Render Challenge here.Source: 3DModels

Domeble and Symetri, two companies with strong ties to the automotive industry, have joined forces to launch the Domeble Symetri Student Awards (DSSA), a competition for students of 3D design and photography. It aims to encourage and help students around the world to unleash their creativity while giving them access to the best resources for their work.Domeble Symetri Student Awards 2023 started from 1st February to 4th August 2023 and included a wide range of prize categories. As a leading cloud rendering service provider and render farm in the CG industry, Fox Renderfarm was honored to be one of the prize providers for the competition and witnessed a lot of great entries.Let's take a look at some of the winning entries.Best Automotive Full CG Automotive ImageGold Award by Raphael Silvian© Raphael SilvianSilver Award by Siddharth Sangwan© Siddharth SangwanMerit Award by Anand Sharma© Anand SharmaBest Full CG Scene Open categoryGold Award by Tom Bloomfield© Tom BloomfieldSilver Award by Charlie Gibbs© Charlie GibbsMerit Award by Liam Irons© Liam IronsTo learn more, you can visit the page of Domeble Symetri Student Awards 2023.

Welcome to the whimsical world of the Pumpkin Mage, where pumpkins turn magic into reality. Participate in Pumpkin Mage Challenge and let your artistic talents and 3D rendering skills bring this fantastical vision to life.As the CG industry's leading cloud rendering service provider and render farm, Fox Renderfarm is beyond excited to witness new talents!This challenge is free and open to all skill levels.Theme: Pumpkin MageDeadline: September 20 - December 4, 2023 (UTC+8)3 Professional artworks and 3 Student artworks will be selected and awarded! Click here to see the full list of awesome prizes!How to SubmitUse this submission form to submit your entry before December 4, 2023.Also, you can join the Discord community and enter the FGT3D Challenge!The challenge ends on December 4, 2023 (UTC+8) and the winners will be announced on December 20, 2023 (UTC+8).RulesYour entry must relate to the challenge’s theme (we strongly encourage you to set your imagination free).Your entry must be a 3D rendered image. Video or 2D or concept art is not accepted, AI-generated images are not accepted.Your entry can be created by one artist or a group.You can only submit 1 final render for the competition.There’s no limitation on styles and the choices of software and plugins.We do not accept award-winning entries from other 3D challenges.Minimal use of third party assets is allowed, as long as they are not the main focus of your scene (third party textures and materials are not included in this rule and can be used freely).Feel free to enhance your rendering.Images that depict hate, racism, sexism or other discriminatory factors are not allowed.Works must be submitted before the deadline.Fox Renderfarm reserves the rights to alter, amend or add these conditions at any time without prior notice.If you have any problems please contact fgt3d@foxrenderfarm.comMore to Offer!Render Service Special Offer: Each participant can get a free $50 render coupon! You will receive an email with the coupon code after the results of the competition are announced.Free Clothing Assets: Enhance your Pumpkin Mage Challenge entry with Style3D free Halloween clothing assets. Click to join our Discord to learn more!We look forward to seeing your submissions!

Kenny, a self-taught 3D artist and illustrator with two years of experience, took part in the Abandoned Spring Sanctuaries 3D contest organized by True-VFX and won third place. Congratulations to Kenny for this achievement! Fox Renderfarm as the industry's top cloud rendering service provider and render farm, was honored to sponsor this contest and look at all the spectacular talents.Let's look at the interview with Kenny and learn more about his amazing works.Kenny’s artwork for Abandoned Spring Sanctuaries ChallengeFox Renderfarm: Hi Kenny! We are honored to have you here! Could you please introduce yourself first to our readers?Kenny: Hi I'm Kenny, a self-taught 3D artist and illustrator, I have been doing 3D for about 2 years now.Fox Renderfarm: Congratulations on winning 3rd Place in the Abandoned Spring Sanctuaries Competitions organized by True-VFX! How do you feel about it?Kenny: I feel very happy to win 3rd place. It was a very enjoyable experience, I learned a lot, and there's definitely room for improvement too.Fox Renderfarm: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your work? How did you come up with this idea?Kenny: I was mostly inspired by the "Garden of Words" movie by Makoto Shinkai.Makoto Shinkai’s The Garden of WordsFox Renderfarm: Your render has an overgrown springtime atmosphere of rebirth, which fits the theme. Could you tell us how you considered the colors, materials, and lighting setup to achieve it?Kenny: Since it is a nature scene the predominant color would be green, and I wanted to add some other colors to complement the green, for example brown. For lighting, I had an overcast HDRI blocked with tree models to add more interesting shadows. There is also a volumetric material for the lighting to bounce and reach all parts of the scene.Fox Renderfarm: Why did you choose two birds to be the only creatures in the scene? Was it a consideration for the theme? What is the story behind your work?Kenny: As it is an abandoned place I didn't want there to be any human being, and having 2 birds interacting felt like the perfect touch of life in the scene without overdoing it.Fox Renderfarm: Could you please tell us about your pipeline for this work? And how long did it take you?Kenny: It took me about 10 hours total spread across 4 different days (Not counting render time). I didn't have a proper pipeline other than dropping assets in the scene and following my intuition, so I'm not really proud of it and am trying to change it.Check out Kenny's breakdown video here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtiyYyQqJSe/Fox Renderfarm: Are there any challenges you have encountered during the process of creation? If so, how did you overcome them?Kenny: I was having some trouble integrating the foreground into the background, as you can see the midground in the scene is a bit poorly done. Also, the high focal length made it harder for me to keep the composition together.Madman’s Basement © KennyFox Renderfarm: Are there any moments you enjoyed during the creation process? And what was the most memorable?Kenny: I personally really like looking at reflections. Having rocks and trees and seeing their reflection in the water material was kind of fun.Fox Renderfarm: Any artist or artwork that inspires you the most?Kenny: I am mostly inspired by Makoto Shinkai and Ian Hubert.Farmhouse by the Lake © KennyFox Renderfarm: How do you update your knowledge and practice your skills to follow up with new trends in the CG industry?Kenny: I probably bite off more than I can chew and do many things at once which is not a good idea. There are so many things to learn and I don't limit myself to a certain subgroup of CG, so I just give myself projects that would explore different aspects of CG and improve my skills in it. Recently I have been working on projects that would focus on animation, proceduralism, and stylized art.Jurassic Park Warehouse © KennyFox Renderfarm: Have you ever tried the cloud rendering service from Fox Renderfarm? If so, what do you think of our services?Kenny: I haven't yet, but it's on my to-do list. There's a big animation challenge coming up and I'm saving my credits for it.Fox Renderfarm: Do you have a goal in mind for the future? How long do you plan to achieve it?Kenny: I want to do many things, for example making my full CG short film, learning filmmaking, and becoming a VTuber. I don't have a long-term plan but I am trying to hold a 30-day marathon this September where I will make a different thing each day regularly to improve my illustration skills.Kenny’s social media: YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Artstation.Thanks again to Kenny for accepting our interview and we wish you all the best!