Reallusion Is Offering A Free Trial So You Can Participate In Its Annual Animation At Work Competition

Reallusion is hosting its annual 2d competition Animation At Work from now until October 5, 2020. Participants are encouraged to exploit Cartoon Animator 4’s real-time character-creation and 2d motion-capture technology to create entries in categories including commercial, educational, comic/static artwork, and Youtube.

Cartoon Animator is an easy-to-use 2d animation software with a complete cartoon assets hub. Anyone can use it regardless of animation experience, thanks to its intuitive workflow design and vast pre-made content libraries. The event is offering up to $14,000 in cash prizes along with XP-Pen drawing tablets (worth $8,000) and more.

2d animation with 3d technology

This contest is set to empower many up-and-coming 2d artists. Cartoon Animator’s technology offers visual communicators many creative opportunities through its real-time tools for social media, entertainment, education, business, music videos, and more. Here are some of its tools:

• Easy character creation: Turn images into rigged characters by utilizing character templates with standard bone structures that quickly build up actors with any PSD editor. Users can use the 360 head feature to create head-turning sprite animations.

• 2d motion capture: The integration of simultaneous face, hand, and body mocap replaces traditional keyframing to greatly accelerate production. Animators can combine webcams and Iphones to control characters’ facial expressions. This can be combined with Leap Motion Controllers and mocap gloves for hand animation, complemented with body mocap suits from Perception Neuron or Rokoko.

• Vast character and motion libraries: Creating characters and motions from scratch is time consuming. To speed up the creation process, Cartoon Animator provides vast libraries with thousands of pre-made characters and motions.

Previous Animation At Work winners

Previous Animation At Work contests highlighted amazing 2d talents who made the leap from casual animators to professional artists. The winner of the first prize in 2019, Howard Vause, has found great success with his entry The Curious Child at various international film festivals.

Another past third-place winner, Jim Stedman, is now creating an animated series for pop group Now United, contracted by renowned tv producer Simon Fuller.

Four categories, 12 winning spots

The Reallusion Animation At Work contest invites participants to animate real-life projects for business promotions, educational/training materials, animated comics, Youtube videos, and more.

Each category includes three prizes: USD$2,000 for first place, $1,000 for second place, and $500 for third place. Each winner will also receive an XP-Pen drawing tablet sponsored by XP-Pen.

Read for more information on each category:

• Best comic animation: Entries must turn original static drawings, illustrative art, or comic images into animations. They will be expected to give characters a suitable personality and tell an interesting short story.
• Best business animation: Entries must promote any real or fictional idea, product, or service using animation. The video entry can also be educational: illustrating how things work in a logical manner.
• Best Youtuber animation: This special category welcomes seasoned Youtubers who have more than 1,000 subscribers to create Youtube videos by adding a virtual host, or using an animated story to engage followers. Animators can even use the motion capturing features inside Cartoon Animator.
• Best educational animation: Both students and teachers can enter this category with a video focusing on math, science, environment, sports, or any other educational area. Reallusion will request teachers and students to provide educational ID proof for this category.

Submit to the competition on Reallusion’s website.

You can sign up for a 30-day free trial of Character Animator 4 here.