Team Mocap from Bowling Green State University took top prize in the inaugural FJOG! competition, an “iron animator” event held as part of SIGGRAPH 2007, taking place this week in San Diego, Calif. Sponsored by ACM SIGGRAPH, DreamWorks Animation, HP and AMD, the contest had 16 teams from around the world competing to create the most impressive character-driven animated short with provided materials in just 32 hours.
Teams were judged by a panel of industry experts, including recruiters from such top companies as Pixar Animation Studios, Industrial Light & Magic, DreamWorks Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks. Competitors had access to sound and voiceover selections, a rigged model for Maya, 51 HP xw9400 Workstations with Dual Core AMD Opteron processors, Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Maya, Macromedia Flash, Adobe Photoshop and After Effects and Softimage|XSI.
Based on storytelling, animation talent, use of resources, creativity, and technical skills, the judges selected Team Mocap for their animation titled Switch. The team consists of Jim Levasseur, Tomas Jech and W. Jacob Gardner. Picture This, a team from Miami International University of Art and Design, came in second place, while Impulse from Illinois Institute of Art-Schaumburg placed third.
‘The response from the animation community surpassed all expectations,” says FJORG! chair Patricia Beckmann-Wells. “All the teams did a fantastic job throughout the competition and it was clear early on that is was going to be very difficult for the judges to select one winner. The winners ended up having just a slight edge from a humor, technical and creative perspective.”
The three winning teams will be treated to lunch with top Sony execs and animators. The first- and second-place teams will also be given an all-expenses-paid trip to DreamWorks Animation headquarters for a dinner with top DreamWorks execs, a tour of the facility and sneak preview of the new CG feature Bee Movie.
For more details on all FJORG! participants, go to http://www.siggraph.org/s2007/attendees/fjorg/. All entries and a documentary will be featured on this website in the near future.
