Judges - Unearthly

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- 3d Art Judges | Concept Art Judges | 3D Judging Criteria | 2D Judging Criteria -

Listed by last name in alphabetical order
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Renier Banninga – Studio Art Director - Streamline Studios

Renier Banninga was already an accomplished artist and animator when he co-founded Streamline Studios in 2001, having contributed greatly to the award-winning Gunman Chronicles. As Studio Art Director at Streamline he sets the visual quality and overall style for all of Streamline’s projects as well as leading the studio’s internal mentorship program. Streamline’s art training includes both traditional fine arts and CG art, and Renier leads both program aspects. He is active within the art community including participation with GDC, FMX, and CG Society.

Todd Broadwater - Lead Environment Artist – Big Huge Games

Todd Broadwater studied both Illustration and Industrial Design while attending the Art Institute of Philadelphia (way back in the mid 1990's). At the time, his emphasis was in the field of special effects as he wanted to create creatures and model set pieces for films... but everything quickly changed when 3D started to appear in films. He spent a number of years at Bethesda Studios as a Senior Artist designing world art for The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and continued there for a number of years working on additional content as well as Fallout 3. Todd has been at Big Huge Games since May of 2007, happily developing fantastical environments for brand new worlds!

Stuart Campbell - Lead Technical Environment Artist - Realtime Worlds

Stuart made the move into the games industry 6 years ago having previously spent 4 years at IBM UK as a Product Designer then Graphic Designer. He was a Senior Environment artist on the award winning Xbox 360 title, Crackdown, and was involved in all aspects of environment creation from level design and concepts, through to final modeling, materials creation and tech development. He is currently Lead Technical Environment Artist on the forthcoming MMO APB where he leads a team responsible for prototyping environments, Unreal Engine 3 materials development, and prop creation. He also works closely with in-house tech teams to refine the environment tools and pipeline and ease the process for the other artists on the team.

Eduardo Gonzalez - Art Director – Threewave

Eduardo has been in the Games Industry for over 5 years. In that relatively short time, he has influenced the art direction for some of the biggest hits in recent game history: AAA titles such as God of War, Kill Zone, and Twisted Metal to name only a few. Eduardo is the owner of Artemis, a contractual art service studio where he worked with film and TV studios like Identity Studios, Uncharted Territory, TVX, and many more. For the last several months, Eduardo has been with Threewave Software, leading the visual direction of a number of undisclosed AAA titles. Prior to his time in the Games Industry, Eduardo was an instructor at Montecito College in Arcadia, California, where he taught such courses as Figure drawing, Character design, and 3D design. Eduardo graduated from the Art Center College of Design, in Pasadena California, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration.

Josh Harvey - 3D Artist - Liquid Development

With a little over 3 years of experience Josh has proven himself a viable asset in the gaming industry as he continually pushes the limits of today's graphics ever higher. Currently he works for Liquid development as an Artist/Art manager helping to produce artwork for the next top game. Josh has worked on numerous big name projects, most notably of Josh's recent titles is the Rock Band series of games.

Ben Hayden - Head of Computer Graphics – Digi-Guys

Ben Hayden has over 20 years experience in computer graphic imagery - from the first pioneering work for the BBC to modern Star Wars themes. In his spare time he likes to enjoy game-play, movies and practices medative reading as well as the occasional photo experiment. He has experienced success on both sides of the Atlantic, contributing to countless cutting-edge award winning digital products. Currently he is Head of Computer Graphics at a Digi-Guys Ltd, a hybrid game/film studio in London that is creating what is best described as a '5th Gen Experience'.

Joe Mirabello - 38 Studios - Core Environment Artist

Joe Mirabello is a core environment artist for 38 Studios. He’s worked in the games industry for four years on five different titles, dealing with a large variety of technical and aesthetic tasks. Prior to games he worked in government contracting for The Boeing Company and Autometric, Inc. Joe is a longtime member of the art community, and has done freelance work for books, documentaries, and comics. He’s guest lectured at the New England Art Institute and Worchester Polytechnic Institution, and is currently a moderator for GameArtisans.org. From past to present, Joe has always been fond of helping the community as a judge for big or small events on GameArtisans.org, DominanceWar.com and CGChat.com.

Sam Rucks - Environment Artist – Cryptic Studios

Though Sam has only been in the industry for a short time, he has been influential in the development of Star Trek Online and Champions Online. Sam is also a very accomplished traditional and 2D artist, and played the bass badly in The Waifs, a Nirvana tribute band.

Jorge Verea - Project Manager – Shadows in Darkness

Jorge Verea was born in Miami, Florida. He started developing his 3D skills on his own 15 years ago, eventually becoming a freelance artist and over time finding his way to Shadows In Darkness where he has been for the past 5 years. Starting as a 3D Artist at Shadows, eventually becoming a Project Manager over seeing projects that come in from beginning to delivery. Helping to keep the pipeline moving wherever needed, making sure and helping artists meet their deadlines while keeping quality up. Overall, Jorge has been a part of game development for over 10 years and has worked on more than 30 titles in that time, most notably "Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway", "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare", and "Dragon Age".

Valve Software

Valve is an entertainment software and technology company founded in 1996 and based in Bellevue, Washington. The company’s debut title, Half-Life®, has won over 50 Game of the Year Awards and was named "Best PC Game Ever" in the November 1999, October 2001, and April 2005 issues of PC Gamer, the world's best-selling PC games magazine.

Today, Valve is composed of just over 160 of the industry's best artists, programmers, and writers. In the company's 12-year history, it has risen from "unlikely new entry" to industry leader, producing a string of best selling and critically acclaimed PC products and technologies.

A2M - Artificial Mind and Movement

Based in Montreal, Quebec, A2M is dedicated to creating memorable games and original concepts that capture the player’s imagination. Since 1992, A2M has developed nearly 50 titles across every genre, on every viable platform. The studio has also partnered with the industry's top publishers and licensors, including Activision Blizzard, Disney, Electronic Arts, LucasArt, Sony and Warner Bros.

A2M is Canada's largest independent game developer, employing over 500 talented people, and is committed to producing unparalleled game experiences with original or licensed Intellectual Properties, in a creative environment where talent thrives.

Over the past three years, A2M has ranked amongst the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and also as Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies, two years in a row.

Listed by last name in alphabetical order
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Thom Ang - Director of Art - 38 Studios

Thom Ang is the Director of Art at 38 Studios in Maynard, MA. Over the course of his diverse and accomplished career, Thom has illustrated for clients such as The X-Files, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, BusinessWeek, Random House, White Wolf, Topps, Eclipse, and The Village Voice. He has garnered awards from and exhibited in the annual publications of Print, Society of Illustrators New York, Society of Illustrators Los Angeles, and Spectrum. Concurrently, Thom has worked in video game production as a Senior Artist and Art Director for Disney Interactive, Electronic Arts Los Angeles, and most recently at THQ. He has also storyboarded for Sony T.V. Animation on Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, Max Steel, and Heavy Gears. Thom has a broad artistic aesthetic that he has successfully employed, Art Directing on diverse video game titles such as Medal of Honor, Conan, Sopranos, SpongeBob SquarePants, Disney’s Tarzan, A Bug’s Life, and Toy Story II. Thom majored in Illustration and received his B.A. with distinction from the world renowned Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Dan Murphy-Hecht - Art Manager - Liquid Development

Who is Dan Murphy-Hecht? Some describe him as a leader, a visionary, a ladies' man. Dan eats triangles for breakfast and UVs for lunch. He has established his career with Liquid Development over the last 8 years, managing numerous titles ranging from Rockband to Fallout 3 to Killzone 2. As Dan leaves a wake of titles behind him, he eagerly awaits the next big wave!

Jens Holdener – Concept Artist – Cryptic Studios

Jens has been working in the gaming industry for a year and a half. He has worked on recent shipped titles such as The Simpsons Game, Dead Space, and Tomb Raider Underworld. He Is now a contributor to the production of Champions Online and Star Trek Online.

Marcel Mercado – Art Director - Shadows in Darkness

Currently an Art director for Shadows in Darkness, Marcel Mercado has worked on over 15 next-gen titles to date. He started out working within the cinematic department as a compositor/lighter and moved his way out to next gen game assets where he lead the texture department. Now, his responsibilities lie in making sure all assets look good from start to finish, as well as the creation of concepts for new developments. When not making art at work Marcel enjoys working on art at home.

Sean A. Murray - Concept Art Lead (RPG) - Big Huge Games

Sean is the Lead Concept Artist for Big Huge Games/THQ in Timonium, MD. Sean started his career as a freelance illustrator after graduating from Syracuse University's Illustration program in 1998. He has worked for clients such as White Wolf Games, Wizards of the Coast, Steve Jackson Games, EA Games, and others. As a concept artist at Turbine, Inc. of Massachusetts he worked on both of their massive-multiplayer-online games: "Dungeons and Dragons Online", and "Lord of the Rings Online". He is currently working at Big Huge Games on their unannounced next-gen console RPG title. Sean’s illustration "The Globe-Chaser" appears in this year's "Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art" and he also placed 11th in 2008's Dominance War III - 2D.

Nicolas Oroc - Concept Artist – A2M

12 year veteran artist with 6 yrs experience in gaming. Currently a senior illustrator/concept artist at A2M. Nicolas has worked on triple AAA titles such as Prince of Persia Warrior Within as a lead character texture artist, Rainbow Six Lockdown as a marketing artist/art director, Rainbow Six Vegas as a marketing artist, and Splinter Cell 5 senior pre-conception character concept artist. When not creating artwork at home or at work, he takes pride in being a 21yr addicted veteran snowboarder and hopes to continue snowboarding for the rest of his life.... or until he breaks every bone in his body!

Thomas Schmall - Lead Concept Artist - Streamline Studios

As Lead Concept Artist, Thomas is responsible for artistic direction, as well as leading individual artists and art teams in order to produce concepts for current and prospective projects. Thomas joined Streamline in 2005, since then he has worked on Gears of War, UT3, and Overlord amongst many others. Prior to Streamline Studios, he freelanced in a variety of disciplines within game development such as concept art, texturing, modeling, and animation. Thomas broke into games back in 1999 when he started working for a small German development house. Thomas has a traditional art background, and in his leisure time he enjoys being creative with traditional art methods, materials, and techniques such as oil painting.

Gert Stevens - Concept Design Supervisor - Digi-Guys

Gert was born and raised in the Flanders of Belgium. After his studies in Product Design at the former Henry Van de Velde Institute in Antwerp and some projects in the world of Product Design he specialized in Film Design in London and works since 1999 as a freelance Concept Designer/3D Set Designer in the Feature Film Industry on projects such as Harry Potter I, The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Troy, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Star Wars Episode III, etc... and the most recent City of Ember. Attracted by the unique technicalities, the newly developed hybrid movie-game production pipeline and the immense to be designed universe the storyline from the project has to offer he immediately came onboard as Concept Design Supervisor on the Digi-Guys Hybrid Movie-Game project 'WarDevil'. Moving between feature films and computer games has been the ideal background for this kind of project. Combining the realism needed in feature films with the high technological tools from the computer games world gives a 'no limit' approach in conceptual design that suits him well. Translating scripts and creating designs, yet believable but actually only imaginative is the aim of his brain. This was only possible by going into the direction of Entertainment design for Film and Games, a decision he never regrets. Besides his hobby turned job he stills enjoys designing for the real world and produced recently the 'Flemish TV and Film Award'.

Jonathan Stockwell - Realtime Worlds - Senior Concept Artist

After studying illustration on the south coast of England, Jon initially worked as a freelance illustrator before entering the games industry as a concept artist. He has been working at Realtime Worlds, Scotland for the past 4 years and is currently working on the MMO title APB.

Valve Software

What you will be judged on:

You or your team's ability to expand upon the direction given to you in the concept you chose to recreate. The more creative, the better, but remember, your chosen concept should still be seen somewhere or somehow in your 3d recreation.
How well your surrounding environment supports your center of interest.
Important – How well you optimize your scene. Don’t use 250k worth of triangles if you can do everything with 60 000.
Your ability to create a convincing environment as a team - Or individual if you enter alone.
Final lighting & scene composition.
Effective story telling and mood setting.
Ability to demonstrate that your scene is fun to play in or would make a great location, room, or area in a game.

What you will be judged on:

Your idea. Does your work look Unearthly? Have you created a striking image or set of images that demands attention?
How well your surrounding environment supports your center of interest.
Your ability to create a convincing environment.
Final lighting & scene composition.
Effective story telling and mood setting.
Ability to demonstrate that your scene is fun to play in or would make a great location, room, or area in a game.

CHALLENGE DEADLINE:
11:59 p.m Eastern Time, Monday, November 10th, 2008