The entries for our Heroic Voxels contest are in, voted on and counted! 39 artists submitted 48 entries (you can see all of them here) and I think it’s fair to say that this was the hardest contest to vote for yet. Before I continue let me refresh your mind: the challenge was to design a fantasy diorama and use annotations to tell a story. So don’t forget to actually read them!
Okay, on to the prizes.
Judging was done by the entire Sketchfab team and by our judges. The vote of a judge carried twice the weight of a team vote – they’re the experts after all. We also asked each judge to comment on their favorite entry. Here’s who we had on board:
Voxel artists:
- Zach Soares – @y2bcrazy – contract Voxel artist and animator
- Ben Weatherall – @SunraHeadgear – artist of Crossy Road
- Gabriel de Laubier – Elbriga on Sketchfab, winner of our Star Wars contest
Voxel tools:
- Tim Wesoly – CEO of Minddesk Software GmbH and Lead Developer of Qubicle
- Sylvain Huet – CEO of 3D Slash
- @Ephtracy – creator of MagicaVoxel
Enjoy!
3rd Prize – The Hydra Protector by ediediedi
Zachary Soares:
This had the most solid and consistent style. They weren’t afraid to setup the scene outside of a voxel grid and use voxels as a means to making art and not completely dictate the results.
The scene in itself tells a good story, and the annotations say just enough to complete it.
Gabriel de Laubier (Elbriga):
An amazingly dense, yet readable scene, full of beautiful details, a bold yet magnificent palette, and very fun annotations. Presenting the scene as a live RPG is a great concept and perfectly carried-out. The characters are simple but dynamic and adorable. I only wish this was a real game!
Ediediedi wins a $50 budget to 3D Print his work at 3D Hubs, a Qubicle Home license, 3 months of Sketchfab PRO, a Sketchfab T-Shirt and a Cardboard.
2nd Prize – Battling the Guardian by NomadKing
Zachary Soares:
While the golem itself has a simple design, the level of detail on the scene is gorgeous. The hidden cave underneath and the subtle details that bring life to the world he’s buildings. The colors blend well with one another and with minor improvements the scene would be perfect.
Gabriel de Laubier (Elbriga):
This scene really stands out, it’s full of poetry, the Guardian is very touching, and I love how it mixes different moods and lights, especially the hidden scene under the ground, which is very ingenious. A perfect take on the theme!
NomadKing wins a $100 budget to 3D Print his work at 3D Hubs, a Qubicle Home license, 6 month of Sketchfab PRO, a Sketchfab T-Shirt and a Custom Cardboard.
1st Prize – SkyLand- Erin and her leap of faith by Midio
Ben Weatherall:
Style, colour choice, presentation, great cinematic camera angles and tour through the model with the diving into 7 levels of hell narrative. I’m a fan of the top city part. I picked this for best overall.
Zachary Soares:
The scene, while large, executes its scale perfectly and feels very much like a small diorama of an even larger world. The hierarchy from top to bottom feels complete and works beautifully with the story being told in the annotations. The story is both hopeful and dark.
Tim Wesoly:
Very detailed scene with a lot of hidden areas that can be discovered by using the annotations. Best use of annotations of all entries.
Ephtracy:
Following the true heart through the cloud, falling from the heaven to the hell, really impressive
Midio wins a Lego Studio box, a $200 budget to 3D Print his work in full color at 3D Hubs, a Qubicle Master license, a Parrot Airborne Cargo drone – sponsored by 3D Slash, 12 months of Sketchfab PRO, a Sketchfab Hoodie & T-Shirt and a Custom Cardboard. Wow 🙂
Thanks so much for participating everyone, we had an awesome time following your WIPs and casting our votes. We’ll see you at our next contest!
Can’t get enough of voxel art?
Thanks to Heroic Voxels, Sketchfab is now quickly becoming a home to voxel artists – check out the voxel tag gallery. To celebrate that fact, we’re now hosting a weekly voxel design challenge – details on Twitter and Facebook. Have fun 🙂
About the author
Bart Veldhuizen
Community Lead at Sketchfab. 3D Scanning enthusiast and Blenderhead.
