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37th CG Boost 3D Art Challenge
For our 37th challenge, we received 213 submissions (109 for the "Pro Arena" and 104 for the "Training Arena").
After each judge picked their top 10 submissions for each category, we sat together and chose the winners for the "Pro Arena" and the highlights for the "Training Arena". This was a long discussion and a hard decision, since there were so many fantastic artworks.
We also picked the random winners for the challenge raffle (Training Arena only), see the results below.
Regrading the prizes, we will contact the winners during the next few days.
Congrats to the winners, and a big “Thank You” goes to our sponsor and everyone, for taking part!
Now scroll down to see the winners.
We’re congratulating Phillip Diaz for winning the First Place!
“For this artwork, I decided to go for the mad genius style of science lab, and what better choice than Dr. Frankenstein; mixing occult knowledge, necromancy, sorcery, alchemy, and revolutionary science, he achieves the impossible. It's alive!!! The software I used is Blender and Photoshop for the final compositing, I tried to replicate the black-and-white horror ambiance of the original classic film.”
Created using Blender.
Zach Reinhardt: “At the first moment, the image, it might look a bit messy. But the longer you look at it, the beauty and story of the render unfolds. I like the black and white stop-motion feel of it. The circular composition, framing the waking monster, combined with the spooky lighting, works really nice. Love all the little details in the laboratory.”
Jesse Schuuring: “What a cool piece! So much story, so much detail, and what a great choice to go for a monochrome final image. Not only because it looks great, but mostly because it fits the 'frankenstein' style and directly relates to the original movie in that way! It's also very cool that they first draw your eye to the scientist, after which you'll quickly notice the monster. I think the monster could've been lowered a bit more to get a slightly better composition and create more room for the rest of the artwork to shine!”
Daniel Nees: “There is such a great amount of imagination on display here. The style is great, and the composition is very well done. I found it a little bit hard to know where to look at first as there are so many attention-grabbing objects in the scene, but overall it's a really nice piece of work.”
Masha Bazueva: “I love the incredible amount of details in the scene! It’s incredible how you can zoom in and see a little piece of storytelling in every angle! I would probably love to see the same amount of detail on the monster, since it should be the main subject of the artwork. Apart from this, fantastic work! ”
Jan Egon Preiss: “Using Black and white stylized look and feel gives even more story to this piece. At first sight, you might think that the image is very busy, but when you look again, you see an order in the composition. The spiral staircase and window portal leads the eye nicely to all story elements. The more you look, the more you will discover. Simply amazing!”
Martin Klekner: “A very unique artwork with a lot going on, yet the story idea is still retained and fun to watch. The monster could maybe be a bit more highlighted, but it doesn't take away from how fun and well-made this piece is!”
We’re congratulating Ondrej Kubac for winning the Second Place!
Follow Ondrej:
“My main goal was to create a cozy Christmas lab. After that, I started to come up with a story that would go with the overall idea. The main tool for creating this image was Blender.”
Created using Blender.
Zach Reinhardt: “This one looks nearly too perfect, from a technical perspective. Fantastic realistic rendering, great details in the laboratory, and a fun, cute and quirky ice monster. Great job!”
Jesse Schuuring: “This is one of those works that really blows me away! The image is so clean, the fidelity extremely high and the realism has been cranked up to the MAX. The little ice monster is perfect, but what really sells it for me is the lighting. The combination of the cooler tones from the winter world, combined with the warmth of Christmas lights and greenery, is great. Also look at those sandals with socks, amazing! It's nitpicking here, but the floor texture is not my favorite. The roughness feels too noisy in my opinion!”
Daniel Nees: “The realism on display here is simply incredible. Every object in the scene looks flawless and the character's pose is very expressive, which is great to see. The little creature was a bit hard to spot at first, so maybe it would have worked better in front of the window, but once I noticed it, that looked really good too! Great stuff!”
Masha Bazueva: “oh, this is one of my favorites! I love the Christmas atmosphere we have in this lab, and we also have a nice little Christmas story here with the weird creature scaring the scientist! The lab is greatly done, with a lot of details. Everything looks very realistic. Maybe the floor is too empty, I would try to throw some needles around the tree, maybe add more seats here and there. Anyway, the scene looks already super cool, so well done! ”
Jan Egon Preiss: “Super realistic render with a funny twist. Very well-chosen composition, color palette, and lighting. All the science lab elements with a Christmas vibe.”
Martin Klekner: “Technically awesome artwork with very natural lighting and fun little story. I enjoyed this one!”
We’re congratulating Kenton Lam for winning the Third Place!
Follow Kenton:
“After being transferred into a bionic robot following an apocalyptic virus, a former scientist returns to his lab for reasons unknown, coming face to face with the horrors of his consciousness transfer experiments. I used Blender for modelling and texturing, then Photoshop for post-processing.”
Created using Blender and Photoshop.
Zach Reinhardt: “This is one of these renders, where you can imagine a whole story happening, just by looking at this one frame. This robot might intrude the laboratory, to get back his former real body? Love the color choice of the lights, from the bright white light behind the intruding robot, over to the dark with an orange highlight. Great work on the modeling and shader work too.”
Jesse Schuuring: “Another piece with great storytelling! The environment has this apocalyptic vibe to it and makes you wonder what happened. There's bits of story scattered around on shreds of newspapers to help sell it, the detail is great, and the robot is even better! Also, the composition and lighting is very well done, which you can clearly see when you make the image tiny. It's still readable as to what's going on. I think the image could use a few tweaks to make it really fit the brief, as it doesn't really come across strongly as a science lab.”
Daniel Nees: “A great amount of skill has clearly gone into this image, and there's a lot to like about it. I particularly liked the use of the yellow lighting to draw the audience's attention to the human feet and the bright white lighting to draw our eye to the robot. A great example of lighting helping the composition!”
Masha Bazueva: “Very good work with good storytelling! I like very much the modeling and the texturing in this work, everything looks quite realistic. The lighting is also good, and we have many storytelling elements that help us to imagine what is happening. Great work!”
Jan Egon Preiss: “True sci-fi scene. You have to look for the story for a while, but it is there. Visual hints are very clean, and your eye will find all the elements easily. The minimalistic color palette and lighting work well. Technically very clean work.”
Martin Klekner: “Another great cinematic render with a lot of story background packed into one frame. Love it!”
We’re congratulating Andreas Philipp for the Honorable Mention!
Follow Andreas:
“Inspired by the artworks for the challenges, I decided to make a steampunk scene where the father of a small girl shows her the beauty and possibilities of engineering. To create the blueprints of the dragon-fly, I rendered my model from all sides and gave that Midjourney as a base to create the blueprints, same for the small family photo. The characters are made with Character Creator, the pocket watch is from Poly Haven, the books in the back are from Poliigon, the clothes I modified in Marvelous Designer and the rest I made in Blender. The post-processing was made with Blender and Photoshop.”
Created using Blender, Marvelous Designer andPhotoshop.
Zach Reinhardt: “Nice steam-punky render, with a lot of attention put on the tools and gadgets. The material work and lighting is great. Only the characters feel a bit stiff, and the skin too much like plastic. But aside from that, great render.”
Jesse Schuuring: “I really like the detail and story in this image. It has a sense of wonder about it, and you can feel this girl being mesmerized by the amazing capabilities of this scientist! The lighting is great and all the objects in the scene have a unique and well created style. So overall great art direction on this piece! However, the background feels quite empty, and I get a bit of uncanny valley vibes from it. I can't really explain why, but I feel like this piece is super realistic on one hand, whilst being stylized at the same time. It also doesn't feel like a science lab, but more like a Tinkerer or Inventors workshop.”
Daniel Nees: “This was one of my favorites. The lighting in this scene is amazing, and I love all the intricate little tools on the desk. The slightly haunting eyes of the small girl are the only real issue I have. The realistic texturing with the stylized characters works really well.”
Masha Bazueva: “Aaaaw what a lovely artwork! I love the colors that are fantastically combined and the bright, warm atmosphere. The steampunk lab style is so fascinating! I also love the story of daddy scientist and his daughter building up incredible objects together, very heartwarming. Well done!”
Jan Egon Preiss: “Science lab is the science lab, regardless of the era. And it can be fun for kids too. The warm color palette, soft light, and stylized render give us the feeling of an animated movie.”
Martin Klekner: “There is a feeling of awe and wonder in this piece, that goes great along with its warm lighting and the wonderful inventions in the scene - great models! The subsurface scattering on the characters could use a little work, but it doesn't take away from the image. Very well done!”
We’re congratulating Peter Lányi for the Honorable Mention!
Follow Peter:
“The professor is getting closer and closer to the solution in his experiments, but he might lose the sense of reality on the way, so he doesn't know who he is anymore or what he's doing. Just working hard from morning to late night and chasing the results. Is it worth it?”
Zach Reinhardt: “It takes a moment to understand what is happening here, a funny little story that made me laugh. From a technical side, this render is solid, good lighting, shading and modeling. The materials on the robot could use a bit more work, and the head and body of the robot could look a bit more interesting.”
Jesse Schuuring: “Such a fun piece! To be honest, it took me a while to get it, but the idea is very funny and original. The modeling is well executed, the lighting makes sense, and none of the elements feel unnecessary or out of place. In regards to the composition though, I'd add less lighting in the top left as this distracts and makes you look there instead of the main subject of the image. When looking closely, it also looks like the mouse might not fit the maze!”
Daniel Nees: “The story and charming style of this image was a really nice change from so many other dark and gritty scenes we saw in this challenge. The computer mouse being dropped in the maze is very amusing and the lighting, texturing and composition of the scene all works extremely well. It was also really good to see the development of this piece in the community!”
Masha Bazueva: “I loved the idea of a robot scientist doing his experiment on a pc mouse. I like very much the style of this work. The composition and lighting looks very good, creates a nice atmosphere and greatly drives our attention through the scene. Well done!”
Jan Egon Preiss: “The 3d test is ready! Put the test objects in the scene, then illuminate the stage and set the right framing. Time to observe…all went well. Clean work with a funny story.”
Martin Klekner: “Despite the lighting and atmosphere is lacking a bit in this piece, I just love the main idea - well executed and so much fun. Great job!”
We’re congratulating Adam Simek for the Highlight!
Follow Adam:
“M-XMS-BIOLAB // 24 Soon, we shall all be scanning our trees for surprises; it's just that time of the year. :) Blender 3D, Illustrator, post in Photoshop. Tree model from Cubebrush, scuba guy from Sketchfab, inspired by the art of Tarik Keskin.”
Created using Blender, Illustrator and Photoshop.
Zach Reinhardt: “This is a quite refreshing different take on the subject, being in a very clean sci-fi laboratory. I enjoyed the composition and the shape of the tree a lot. The colors and lighting could use a bit more work, to make it easier to focus on the tree at the center. Also, the character looks a bit stiff.”
Jesse Schuuring: “This image has an amazing sci-fi style! The lighting is great, and the materials really sell that futuristic clean look and gave me strong 'Passenger' vibes. To make this even more awesome, I feel like the science-lab prompt could've been conveyed a bit stronger and that the character doesn't have to be in the image for it to work well. Overall, a very good artwork though!”
Daniel Nees: “I really enjoy the futuristic, clean style of this image. It would be really good to see a bit more story in the scene, and it feels a bit bland overall, but the modelling is really clean, the lighting is great, and the composition is excellent. Well done!”
Masha Bazueva: “Very nice work with good amount of details and a nice futuristic style. Maybe in general it’s just a bit too clean, but apart from that, well done!”
Jan Egon Preiss: “Very clean and very detailed. The subtle use of colors and the organic flow of the scene lines give this environment a purely futuristic look.”
Martin Klekner: “Quiet a non-traditional color palette, but it works nicely and goes well with the amount of detail in the image. I really like the shiny surfaces that, however, do not make the image chaotic. Well done!”
We’re congratulating Bart Karpe for the Highlight!
Follow Bart:
“When I googled for examples of laboratories, I found all clear white blue pictures. I wanted to convey this feeling in this work. I used translucent green for my character because I think it's a bit of an alienated color. It also reminds people of the film Flubber that is still in the collective memory of 90s kids. I made this work in Blender. No other programs have been used.”
Created using Blender.
Zach Reinhardt: “This reminds me of the 90s movie "Flubber". Nice and clean render of a sterile laboratory. I love the little creature, that adds life and story to the scene. Good job!”
Jesse Schuuring: “I really like the clean lab depiction in this image. I think it's inspired by the movie Flubber, and it's executed well. The modeling and lighting looks clean and overall the subject of the image is portrayed clearly and with story! To take this image to the next level, I'd say make the lighting a tad more interesting and have it focus more on the character to really bring out the focal point of the image. Great work!”
Daniel Nees: “This was one of the more light-hearted images, and it was really refreshing. The humourous concept combined with the nice lighting and good composition all really worked very well for me. It would be great to see some more texturing and some detail outside the windows, but in general, it's very nicely put together.”
Masha Bazueva: “Love the reference to the flubber movie! Well done with the modeling and also the lighting is good. I like the texturing too, but maybe adding some more imperfections here and there would give us a more real feeling. Anyway, great work, I like it very much!”
Jan Egon Preiss: “Sometimes the lab experiment gets out of your hands. Good work with materials, minimal use of colors, and camera DOF help to focus on the story.”
Martin Klekner: “Even though the lighting and color palette could be a bit more dramatic, the artwork works, especially because of its fun story. Enjoyed this one :)”
We’re congratulating Fathul Imran for the Highlight!
Follow Fathul:
“Hi there. The ideas coming from the character from one sci-fi movie that I watch. I just blend it with lab scene to make it happen. I'm using 3D Blender for modeling all scene and using Photoshop for color correction parts.”
Created using Blender and Photoshop.
Zach Reinhardt: “What a mess, ha ha! Love the shape of the robot drone and the cable arms, mixing portions and liquids, which results in funky explosions. The arms could use a bit higher resolution, and the drone material could use some more details.”
Jesse Schuuring: “A very fun artwork! Lot's to be seen in a colorful and vibrant manner. There's a good story in the image, which makes me curious about what's going on. I kind of want an animated version of this! To make this piece even better, I'd advice to maybe remove a couple of the colourful flasks, just to create some more focus on the robot and what he's doing. Sometimes less = more!”
Daniel Nees: “Despite the business and overall chaos of the scene, I really liked this image. The modelling is all very nicely done and the colours are fabulous. It's a touch hard to see what's happening and the geometry of the cables is a bit jagged, but the scene is great fun and executed quite well. The use of image planes for the smoke is a great use of resources!”
Masha Bazueva: “Very creative scene! I like that, even if there is confusion, we still clearly see the subject and understand the story. I would probably add some more subdivisions to the robot’s arms. Very nice color combination. Well done!”
Jan Egon Preiss: “The explosion of colors and visual noise? Not really! Vibrant colors and visual effects bring a perfect mix to a dynamic story. Wild robot experiments at its best. Very nice work.”
Martin Klekner: “Despite seeming a bit chaotic, everything important is clearly visible, and the image is quite a bit of fun thanks to the funky robot.”
We’re congratulating PK Manner for the Highlight!
Follow PK Manner:
“Making the new age of mankind. Software used: Blender and Photoshop.”
Created using Blender, Photoshop.
Zach Reinhardt: “Very cool sci-fi render. Great lighting and lots of details to discover around the scene. Only the white texture on the glass is a bit distracting.”
Jesse Schuuring: “Wow! What a great piece of work. The composition is very well done and there's a good amount of story in this image! It's one of those works where, the longer you look at it, the more you're seeing. For me personally the glass-like tube doesn't have to be there, as the 'greeble' style rings do the job of containing the subject, or maybe it should just be clean glass, as it now creates some unnecessary visual noise.”
Daniel Nees: “The detail in this scene is great! The more you look, the more there is to see, and that's always great for making an image interesting. The glass texture on the tube is a bit distracting, and it took me a while to notice that the character in the tube had legs as they blended a bit too well into the background, but the composition and lighting are really great.”
Masha Bazueva: “This one looks very cool! Great composition and selection of colors. The materials look great, and we also have storytelling here. The glass (or force field) looks a bit noisy, but apart from that, everything is greatly done! ”
Jan Egon Preiss: “Nice work. The foreground and background separation with the light and colors work well. A slightly different crop or camera angle would engage the "shadow scientist" even more in the story.”
Martin Klekner: “I love the cinematic atmosphere and the amount of detail in this one. The left side of the image drowns in darkness a bit, but the main highlight is top-notch. Changing the cyborg's body color to something more different from a skin tone (red, blue) could maybe help, but that's a minor flaw on an otherwise awesome result!”
We’re congratulating Ryan Choi for the Highlight!
“It's an eastern-style home lab. I want to make a feel s cozy in there. I leave a lot of tools and paper that work on. So it is kind of a mess, like my room. :P I use only the blender, I'm learning texturing. So I want to keep it simple and look neat. I use the Cubic World shader with simple shapes. I'm using the grease pencil and the outliner modifier to more separate shapes.”
Created using Blender.
Zach Reinhardt: “Great to see different art styles from time to time. This warm and cozy laboratory, reminds me of Ghibli movies (which I love). Good job on the art style and lighting. Maybe a few more hints on what is going on, story-wise, could help to make the scene more interesting.”
Jesse Schuuring: “Stylistic and unique are two of the keywords I would use to describe this piece. It has a warm, almost Ghibli-esque style to it and feels like a very different approach vs. many of the other submissions. I would like to see a bit more 'storytelling' to really get the viewer interested in this image! Maybe the door is open, and the chair has fallen over, because someone had to leave in a hurry? Again, though, great work on this piece!”
Daniel Nees: “It was really nice to see a more unique take on the theme. The stylised approach worked really well for this scene, and the colors are lovely. The room feels a bit empty, but the detail and variety on the shelves is really great. Excellent work!”
Masha Bazueva: “I like this work very much. We have good composition and a nice warm atmosphere. Maybe I would choose a different background for the window that looks a bit low resolution in some spots. I like how the slight mess around the room makes it feel more alive! Well done! ”
Jan Egon Preiss: “Simple, nice, stylized render. Good choice of warm colors, and a pleasant scene setup. You can clearly see "the Ghibli style".”
Martin Klekner: “Love the stylization in this one. It is surprisingly difficult to achieve a good-looking stylization in 3D, but this scene pulls it off!”
Felipe Sani - One copy of the Blender Secrets E-Book
Michael Paleoyiannidis - Choose one course from CG Boost
Thomas Ventura - Choose one course from CG Cookie
Jacek Jamrozy - Choose one course from CG Masters
Justin Newall - Choose one course from Creative Shrimp
Martin Cieslar - Choose one course from P2Design
Nanyak Famwang - Choose one course from Polygon Runway
Abdullah Sardar - Choose one course from TOAnimate
