KitBash3D's Mission to Minerva accomplished | Winners announced

KitBash3D’s Mission to Minerva Challenge wrapped up in December, with the winners announced earlier this month. Following the competition closely, CG Spectrum was wowed by the creative stories told through such a high caliber of concept and in-motion work — futuristic settlements sprawling across extraterrestrial landscapes draped in dramatic light and shadow, with fantastical creatures lurking in between!

Here are some of Mission to Minerva's impressive stats:

• 1 Kit containing 60 models, 63 materials, 459 textures, and 648 meshes
• 52 days
• 32,000 artists from 174 countries joined in the fun
• 5 industry experts led the judging panel
• A swag on enviable prizes were awarded to the winners
• 20 winners placed across two main categories (concept art and in-motion)
• The entries showcased immeasurable talent!

Breakdown of the winning concept art by Gavin Manners.

CG Spectrum’s very own FX Department Head, Daniel Hourigan (Deepwater Horizon, It: Chapter Two, Terminator: Dark Fate) also entered the competition, demonstrating techniques in his special Mission to Minerva livestreams, and had a blast doing so!

"I was blown away by the quality of the work produced in such a short time. For Individual artists to achieve those results, it takes real dedication.

Daniel enjoyed working on the challenge, and even after working in the film industry as an FX Artist for almost two decades, he still gained new skills. During the challenge he pushed himself to learn the new Karma rendering workflow in Houdini, which he says he loves and will continue using going forward.

Mission to Minerva in-motion highlight reel.

Congratulations to the first-place winners who, as part of their prize, each receive a CG Spectrum scholarship (valued at $7,999!):

• Gavin Manners (Concept Art First Place Winner)
• Oren Cloud (In-motion First Place Winner)

Check out their final submissions, and hear what the judges had to say, below.

Mission to Minerva winning concept by Gavin Manners.

“Captivating composition, color choices, and lighting are all expertly done. Broad spectrum of light and shadow contrasts adds to the depth and clarity of the composition. Together with an intriguing narrative layer depicting a snapshot of a drama unfolding in space, this illustration truly stands out in the competition. Fantastic work!” — Judge Paweł Mielniczuk (Art Director, CD Projekt Red)

Mission to Minerva in-motion winning work by Oren Cloud.

“This is a great vision of Minerva, the assets were used to support the story and not be the story. There is a wonderful overall atmosphere for the animation. The environment and color grading really adds to being drawn into the story. The design work on this is extremely well thought out lending to strong visuals.” — Judge Michael Lentz (Art Director, NASA Concept Labs)

Congratulations to everyone who entered, had fun, and learned some new skills along the way.

Missed out on the challenge? We have some great news: you can still download KitBash3D's Mission to Minerva Kit for free and create your own settlement! Head to the KitBash3D website to get started.

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