Challenge FAQ

Contests Make a Splash in Amsterdam
1

Participating

How do I submit my entry?

Upload your entry to Sketchfab and tag it with bcon22challenge. See the Sketchfab Help Center for more information.

What is the submission deadline?

2022-09-15T21:59:00Z (GMT+1) - click the link for some international times.

Do I need to maintain a Work in Progress (WIP) topic?

You don’t. But we want to encourage sharing knowledge and inspiration, so having a nice WIP topic will give you bonus points and it can be the deciding factor if there’s a tie for winners.

Do you have any tips for keeping a great WIP topic?

Here are some quick ideas:

  • You can use your WIP topic like a sketchbook - just post some screenshots or thoughts that you’re having every few days or so.
  • Talk about the technical issues that you ran into and how you solved them.
  • Your topic will be represented by a thumbnail in the challenge gallery - this is either the first image in your first post in the topic, or an image in your first post that you mark as the thumbnail (read more about that here). Keep your topic attractive by regularly updating its thumbnail.

The Creative Process

Can we use various splash screens as references or are we suppose to stick with one splash screen for idea?

Your entry should focus primarily on one specific splash screen, but it’s ok to borrow elements from others.

Can I use Creative Commons assets in my scene?

Yes, you’re allowed to re-use existing Creative Commons material, but do remember to provide the required attribution for all the assets that you use.

Using Sketchfab

Do I have to publish my entry on Sketchfab to enter?

Yes, this is a challenge requirement.

Where can I find documentation about the Sketchfab viewer?

The Help Center is the best place to start. You can also explore many features here (each model links to the relevant documentation too).

Prizes

Can I win the cash if I don’t plan to attend the Blender Conference?

Sorry, but no. We really want to give the Blender community the chance to visit this amazing event. If you can’t travel you can’t win.

I live in (country), am I eligible for the prizes?

I’m afraid I can’t answer that for you. Are you allowed to receive money from abroad by bank or paypal and to travel to Amsterdam?

What if I don’t have a passport?

Same restriction, sorry. If you can’t travel, you can’t win.

What if my trip is cheaper than EUR 2500?

We’ll pay you the full sum anyway, so if you live close to Amsterdam or you pick a cheap place to stay, you’ll walk away with some extra cash!

How much is EUR 2500 in USD?

About the same.

Can you book my trip for me?

No, you have to make your own travel arrangements. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have of course.

Thumbnail

BCON CHALLENGE - 1080x1080 FAQ
BCON CHALLENGE - 1080x1080 FAQ1080×1080 194 KB

10 Likes
5

This is so exciting! I Had a question :

Can we use various splash screens as references or are we suppose to stick with one splash screen for idea??
Thanks

3 Likes
6

Glad you like it! Your entry should focus primarily on one specific splash screen, but it’s ok to borrow elements from others.

2 Likes
7

I’m putting together resources for anyone looking for help with Blender, Sketchfab, and this contest in general. If people have additional resources, I can add to the list :smiley:

11 Likes
8

Cool, And can I use characters from other splash screens into one ?

1 Like
9

Yes, same as above applies: Your entry should focus primarily on one specific splash screen, but it’s ok to borrow elements from others.

10

Question: are we allowed to (or even supposed to) download the splash screen we want to reimagine and then modify/build on top of it?

Or start from scratch?

11

Yes, you’re allowed to re-use existing Creative Commons material, but do remember to provide the required attribution for all the assets that you use.

1 Like
12

Although Blender Cloud’s Art Gallery includes downloads of all the Splash Screen blend files back to 2.77, prior splashes are also good for this – the renders are available even though the blend files aren’t. A higher-res render is usually the background of each verson’s release notes page:

2.76

1002×460 369 KB

2.75
1024×556 72.4 KB

2.74
2048×940 210 KB

4 Likes
13

Yes, what Bart said. If you want to go down a rabbit hole, I’d say this contest is an excellent example of embracing Remix Culture

14

Still grappling with ideas? Not sure if your idea is allowed? Let’s get the ball rolling and pitch some ideas! Over the next few days I’m hoping to draft a pitch for all of Blender’s former splash screens. Here’s the first batch, 3.2 to 2.75.

  • 3.2: The glacial boats attacked from the briny deep by a sea monster
  • 3.1: The ethereal forest deer crashing horns with a challenger, sending up sparks and blossoms
  • 3.0: Same pose, but it’s a Sprite cheerfully holding a severed human nose
  • 2.93: It’s a new season, so our basket has a crop of different seasonal phyllotaxian plants
  • 2.92: A few weeks earlier, those baby dinosaurs are hatching from their eggs
  • 2.91: Same girl in the field, but now it’s a cyberpunk metropolis
  • 2.9: Chibi splash fox
  • 2.83: Change that cyberpunk dystopia boat into a pastel utopia boat
  • 2.82: Remake this chill urban scene with real-world scissors, cardboard, tape, markers, and sharpies, then photoscan your papercraft and clean it up in Blender
  • 2.81: A giant robot runs a human shop with a human helper, and the bins are full of human parts
  • 2.80: We’ve seen what happens in Spring. What happens in Fall?
  • 2.79: The flabbergasted charred husk of Agent 327’s enemies
  • 2.78: Switch this cocky dude’s cybernetics out for ceremonial samurai armor
  • 2.77: The ice cream roadster’s challenger: the pizza car
  • 2.76: The yellow kid’s all grown up and going to work, while his blue dad (now old) looks on with pride
  • 2.75: Say, what alternate lives did Franck have floating in those other washing machines?
2 Likes
15

I beat you to the punch on this one :wink: WIP - Glacial Airships (Make a Splash in Amsterdam) - #2 by joseph

Jokes aside, I do hope somebody runs with this idea, it’s such a cool one.

Great list!

1 Like
16

Is there documentation about the real-time sketchfab viewer? I found the global one, but I am still wondering:

  • Does it support subsurface scattering?
  • Does it support animated textures?
  • Does it support camera’s depth of field?
  • Does it support volumetrics?
    Thanks in advance
17

This is the best place to start. You can also explore many features here (each model links to the relevant documentation too).

  • Does it support subsurface scattering?

Yes, see this page.

  • Does it support animated textures?

Not for default models. You can achieve the effect using the Viewer API, but this is outside the scope of this challenge. Here are some Viewer API examples.

  • Does it support camera’s depth of field?

Yes, see this page.

  • Does it support volumetrics?

No, but you can often approximate these effect using common game techniques.

4 Likes
20

I just rolled some of the answers above up into the FAQ.

1 Like
21

That’s awesome!
Are there countries that are not eligible for paticipating?

22

The only restriction is that you need to be able to travel to Amsterdam and to receive the payment. So if there’s a travel or bank sanction against your country that would be a problem.

3 Likes
23

Here’s images of all the early splash screens from 2.30 onward:
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Blender_splash_screens

2 Likes
24

I feel very silly, but I cannot find a contest deadline for submission anywehre? Just that the winners will be chosen 30th (I originally said Sept 20th)