Australian team wins best V-blog award at inaugural Autodesk PANORAMA 2009 Asia Pacific Animation Challenge
21 December 2009 – After four days of intense competition among 11 student teams, the three-man team from Swinburne University of Technology won first prize for The Best V-Blog Award at the inaugural Autodesk PANORAMA Asia Pacific Animation Challenge and Animation Bootcamp 2009 in Hong Kong.
Richard Osellame, Danny Masalkovski and Steven Donnet won first prize for their V-blog Tweet Revenge. The award recognised creativity, originality, motion, technical excellence and overall design.
Wendy Li, Autodesk branch manager, Hong Kong and Macau, Autodesk Far East Ltd, said, “We were very impressed by the high standard of the audition submissions for PANORAMA across the region and the winning animated productions delivered by the 11 student finalist teams under the mentorship of industry professionals and Autodesk customers. We have achieved our objectives of inspiring, grooming and providing young digital artists with opportunities to acquire the skills and industry exposure they need to excel.”
The Autodesk PANORAMA Animation Challenge received 57 entries across seven countries in Asia – Hong Kong, China, Australia, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. 11 student teams were shortlisted to compete at the Autodesk PANORAMA Animation Bootcamp held at the Hong Kong Cyberport from 11 to 14 December 2009. Teams were then trained under the mentorship of industry professionals and Autodesk customers from Lucasfilm Animation Singapore, Imagi Studio, Rhythm & Hues Studio and Rising Sun Pictures, who shared their invaluable knowledge on how to leverage Autodesk software to fine-tune the animated projects submitted by the teams during the qualifying stages of the competition.
Oscar Sheikh and Sin Yu Tsang from Hong Kong, winners of the PANORAMA Champion Award, said, “PANORAMA has been a valuable opportunity for us to not only compete against more than 50 student teams across the region, but to really hone our design skills and widen our horizons under the guidance and encouragement of our PANORAMA mentors.”
The seven winning teams were:
1. PANORAMA CHAMPION AWARD
Country : Hong Kong – Team 1
Film title : Tancho
Institute : City University of Hong Kong
Participants : Oscar Sheikh / Sin Yu Tsang
2. 1st RUNNER UP AWARD
Country : Malaysia – Team 1
Film title : My Territory
Institute : The One Academy
Participants : Chin Kuan Win / Julian Chai / Yow Han Chong
3. 2nd RUNNER UP AWARD
Country : Malaysia – Team 2
Film title : Nature’s Roar
Institute : The One Academy
Participants : Loh Yong Kang / Tan Guo Xiang / The Beng Eu
4. THE BEST ROOKIE AWARD
Country : Singapore Team
Film title : Alice
Institute : Singapore Polytechnic
Participant : Grace Ng Siew Mei / Owen Lim / Bavani Naidu
5. THE ANIMAX EXTRAORDINARY AWARD
Country : India – Team 2
Film title : The Moon
Institute : National Institute of Design, Paldi, Ahmedabad
Participants : Pratik Ghosh / Nikhil Bajpai
6. THE BEST TEAM WORK AWARD
Country : Philippines Team
Film title : Maskara
Institute : Ateneo de Naga University
Participant : Alejandra Karlo Zapanta / Albert B. Brisenio / James Jerome Raneses
7. THE BEST V-BLOG AWARD
Country : Australia – Team 1
Film title : Tweet Revenge
Institute : Swinburne University of Technology
Participants : Richard Osellame / Danny Masalkovski / Steven Donnet
Benjamin Huber, Lucasfilm Animation, said: “One of the hardest things for studios globally, particularly in this region where the industry is still relatively young, is finding talent that can immediately be productive without too much additional training. I applaud Autodesk for organising PANORAMA, as it contributes significantly towards raising the design skills of students and their awareness of industry standards and requirements.”
The finalist teams’ original animated productions will be aired as vignettes on Animax from 25 December 2009 onwards.
Li continued, “The success of this inaugural competition would not have been possible if not for the shared commitment and vision of our partners from Cyberport IncuTrain Centre, Hong Kong Cyberport, the Mayan Hong Kong User Group, and Animax. The positive feedback we have received from educational institutions and industry professionals across Asia has been overwhelming and Autodesk looks forward to creating more of such opportunities to showcase the creativity and innovative spirit of students across Asia Pacific.”
For additional information about Autodesk PANORAMA Animation Challenge and Animation Bootcamp, please visit www.apac-panorama.com.
About the Mayan: Hong Kong User Group
The Hong Kong Maya User Group is a passionate, non-profit organisation formed by dedicated Maya users. The primary objective of the group is to promote and cultivate professionalism in digital content creation with a focus on 3D computer graphics, animations and digital visual effects creation, especially to the education community. The group has developed a strong network among similar user groups in the APAC region, and aim to elevate users’ skills through the exchange of ideas, programs and best practices. For additional information, visit www.mayan.hk/mayan/Welcome.html
About Cyberport IncuTrain Centre
Funded by the Innovation and Technology Fund, Cyberport is Hong Kong’s first and only incubation and training centre for the digital entertainment industry. Dubbed as the “IncuTrain Centre”, it aims to promote the commercial success of Hong Kong’s digital entertainment industry, foster entrepreneurship and competence amongst small-to-medium size businesses, and generate a pool of creative business talents for the local industry. IncuTrain also provides incubatee companies with fully equipped office spaces, advance digital production facilities, support in business development, training, legal advice, internship recruitment, and facilitates partnership matching and collaborations with local and overseas organisations. For more information, visit www.incutrain.hk.
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc., is a world leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD® software in 1982, Autodesk continues to develop the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art software to help customers experience their ideas digitally before they are built. Fortune 100 companies – as well as the last 14 Academy Award® winners for Best Visual Effects – use Autodesk software tools to design, visualise and simulate their ideas to save time and money, enhance quality, and foster innovation for competitive advantage.