May 7th: DRUMROLL PLEASE! And the winners are...
On this Challenge page you'll find everything you need to know about this challenge. Feel free to use this forum thread to ask questions, seek advice, look for feedback, or to just hang out and talk about Blender and cookies. Everyone is welcome to join the conversation! 😃
Showing work in progress is highly encouraged, we would love to see what you're working on. Also, getting (and giving) peer feedback is one of the best ways to improve your skills! Create your very own WIP thread on the forum or share your work here in the comments below.
On social media use #cgcookiechallenge so we can check out what awesome things you guys are up to!
Blender 2.8's brand new realtime render engine Eevee and trusty old Cycles are a hot topic these days. There's a blazing battle going on about which one is better, people taking sides, friends become foes... let's settle this discussion once and for all!
We challenge you to take Blenders very own mascot Suzanne (the monkey head) and create an awesome render with either Eevee or Cycles. You can use Suzanne as your main subject or add her as a detail to spice things up, but she has to be chilling somewhere in your scene (examples a bit further down below 😊)
It's a great way to practice and hone your CG skills, fill up you portfolio, learn something new, hang out with likeminded people, and most importantly to have some good ol' fun!! 😄 oh and let's not forget the XP and eternal bragging rights if you win 😉
✅ Use either Eevee or Cycles for your final render. Want to use this challenge as an opportunity to dive into Eevee, but you've never used it before? Just watch this brand new Eevee course and you'll be up to speed in no time!
✅ Use Suzanne somewhere in you scene 🐵
✅ Use Blender for modeling and / or sculpting, since it's a Blender kinda challenge 😉 add-ons are allowed, they are for Blender after all!
✅ You can use whatever software you want for texturing & shading (like Blender, Substance or Photoshop) and you can use whatever textures you would like to use.
✅ Using an image or HDRI as a background is allowed.
✅ Post processing with the compositer is 100% an awesome idea! It's part of Blender so go wild 😎 As for other software (like Photoshop or Gimp), it's allowed, if kept to a minimum. Some firefly removal, sharpening or basic color correction is okay. No drastic changes though, your render should still look like what you made with Blender.
✅ Whether you are just starting out or you're an experienced Blender-head, all skill levels are welcome! We're all in it to improve our CG skills 😄 Everyone with a CG Cookie account can enter this challenge (grab a membership or get a free account if you don't have one yet).
✅ One entry only. And it has to be a still render, no animations for this one. Give it your one best shot 👊😎
❌ No old work or 3D models created by other people. Everything in your scene should be brand new and made by you. It's a challenge after all, let's get those creative juices flowing and start stretching your CG muscles. You got this! 👍
There's a separate Challenge Submissions page. Just drop your finished image in the comments of that forum thread before the deadline hits. Don't forget to mention whether you've used Eevee or Cycles!
From left to right:
🍪 Suzanne, where are you hiding? Tip for people new to Blender, this video from the FREE beginner course here on CG Cookie shows you how to add objects to your scene, including the monkey head!
🍪 Some good free resources are HDRI Haven (HDRI's), Texture Haven (textures) and Pixabay (images). Do you know more great places to get free resources? Share them in the comments below!
🍪 Use as many Suzanne's as you want. One, two, five, or even create a whole wall out of hundreds of monkey heads. It's all up to your imagination!
🍪 All types of Suzanne's are welcome, but if you're unsure about something just ask your questions in the comments below.
The CG Cookie gallery is a great place to find inspiration, there's amazing art to be found! Here are some Suzanne influenced artworks for you to enjoy (click to enlarge):
(We have many different time zones in our community, so as a rule of thumb just stick with whenever it's midnight in your time zone 😊)
I'm so happy you guys are exited!! And I'm glad I can finally talk about it, had to be Silent for quite a while lol 😛
Super curious to see what y'all cook up! 🤘🏻😄
ssmurfmier1985 I guess "long live 2.79" is no longer a valid saying. Jumping back in to the saddle - just not sure what horse I'm riding yet. Sounds like I need to put down the ole gray mare and saddle up the new pony in the pasture. Feel like I'm gonna be learning all over again.
Giddyapp
pffsfs you get used to 2.8 really fast, I promise. It is build with new users in mind (left click select default, handy widgets everywhere so you don't have to know the shortcuts to start out, handy layouts, etc.)
Also, CG Cookie is on it an has a lot of courses and such with 2.8, check out this overview article with links to them 😎
But if you feel more confident starting with 2.79, by all means do so. 2.8 is still in Beta after all 😉
Good luck Scott! you got it 👍🏻
ssmurfmier1985 Are you talking about me? lol
Good luck to everyone participating! I haven't decided if I want to join yet or not. Real life is being quite distracting currently.
silentheart00 haha yeah I pretended to be you for a while lol 😂
Sorry to hear real life is still a bit in the way. You can always do a smaller project once it settles a bit. 4 weeks is a long time to create something 😎 It is good practice for grad school after all!
Good luck with everything 👍🏻
Great! ...Honestly, I've been unsure of things to make in Blender lately, so a challenge would push me! I'm also warming up (a little) to EEVEE! Still like cycles plenty, but EEVEE gets some love. ;)
I've been thinking about whether to use a character or not. So would be possible to use the baker rig as part of the submission?
blenderrender1993 Hi Nathan! I do love mister Baker, but the challenge rules clearly say no 3D models made by other people, so I'm afraid I can't allow it for this one ☹️
jjazze Good to hear you're excited Jasmine! looking forward to what you can do 😊
A really nice challenge! I hope I can manage to join in.
For free resources I just copy what I wrote a few minutes ago in another topic::
You can use the free material library of Substance. There are over 1200 materials for free, and you can tweak them with the free Substance Player, then export the PBR maps and use them in Blender. All you need is a free account with Substance, you can use it to download the free Player as well as download the materials.
Substance Player (free without time limit)
Substance Share (over 1200 free materials)
For Substance Share: You can not use the "Smart Materials", they don't work with the Player. The Player needs the file format .sbsar, and those are under "materials".
You can also find free .sbsar on CC0Textures.com
Good luck to everyone and happy blendering!
chrismckay Thanks! It's always nice to add new resource pages to bookmarks 😊
ssmurfmier1985 Quick question!
"No old work or 3D models created by other people. Everything in your scene should be brand new and made by you. It's a challenge after all, let's get those creative juices flowing and start stretching your CG muscles. You got this! "
Do the 2d concept made by other artist, is included in this affirmation? I will be responsabile with the 3d concept!
Thank you!
irinel0790 Inspiration by others is allowed, as long as the creator doesn't mind you using it 🙂👍🏻 Though I do encourage you to make it your own, give your own flavor to it!
pperrythegood I hope you had fun making it, and maybe learned a thing or two, 'cause that's what's it all about 😊
