Animation Smash Was A Success!

The Animation Smash was a tremendous success! Featuring presentations from some of the animation industry’s most well-established icons, including Cinza Angelini, who exercised her talents on How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, and Despicable Me. Cinzia examined student portfolios to aid in finishing Mila, a 12-minute film to be submitted to festivals around the world. Also joining Animation Smash was Hock Wong, a computer animation icon who has worked on The Croods, Eagle Eye, and Transformers. He reviewed student animation portfolios to staff future projects as well. Peter Clark, a character / special effects artist for Legacy Studios and Stan Winston School, presented at Animation Smash, and brought an enormous animatronic robot. Award-winning Los Angeles Film School Instructor and Pixelogic ZBrush expert Damian Szeibert was in attendance as part of our esteemed panel of judges for the animation contests.

Exciting contests took place over the two days of Animation Smash in the advanced production facilities at The Los Angeles Film School, including the following:

Sketchbook Contest – This open submission contest revolved around a review of artist’s work in pen, pencil, or mixed-media formats. Held in the newly constructed International Center, participants gained exposure to industry-standard facilities and gear, and received invaluable feedback on their artistic creations from leaders in the field.

Model Creation Smash – Participants modeled a digital car from the beginning concept to showroom-ready in this immersive contest. The winners received prizes sponsored by ChaosGroup, including two one-year licenses of V-Ray for the AutoDesk Maya animation suite.

Digital Sculpting Smash – This engaging 16-hour contest charged contestants with converting a 2D art concept into a 3D model using Pixelogic ZBrush software. Held in the Computer Animation Lab at the Los Angeles Film School, contestants gained access to industry-standard gear used to create professional-quality work in the field. At the end of Animation Smash, participants submitted their final renders and turntables of their work. The winner received a Wacom Intuos 5 tablet.

Animation Smash – Participants were charged with creating compelling 10-second walk-cycles in this dynamic contest. The winning animator won a Kingston DataTraveler 101 G2 128GB Flash Drive.
Concept Challenge – In this contest, participants created designs, both in 2D or 3D, for characters and their unique hover-cycle vehicles.

Environment Smash – In this open submission art contest, judges looked for the best 3D video game environment renders from Los Angeles Film School Computer Animation students and alumnae. The grand prize winner received a Wacom Intuos 5 Tablet, while the runner up received a copy of Grand Theft Auto V. The Grand Prize winners of the Animation Smash contest had their work exhibited in the “Student Film Airtime Panel Room and Student Film Airtime Exhibit Hall,” a 3-minute demo reel showcased throughout the CTN conference! 2nd place winners were provided with 3-day passes to CTN Expo, and 3rd place winners were given a 1-day pass to CTN! Capping off Animation Smash was a presentation of Cinza Angelini’s short film, Mila, in our Main Theater.