BFX Competitions

BFX Easter Jams

The 2022 BFX Easter Jams are co-organised with the Bournemouth University Animation Society and are open to all Bournemouth University students.

All participants will benefit from two two-hour Zoom sessions with industry mentors. The winner and runner-up of each category will be announced in late May and awarded Amazon vouchers. They will also be listed and mentioned at the BFX Festival 2022.

Themes

The BU Animation Society bring their passion for environmental change and awareness for a sustainable future to the BFX Easter Jam. The chosen theme is inspired by one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This years theme, Life on Land, juxtaposes last years theme, Life Below Water. For each category there is a sub-theme. Deforestation will be explored in the category Modelling/Texturing; Extinction in the category Lighting/Rendering; and Invasive Species in the category Real-Time Art.

Categories

Modelling/ Texturing – participants should create the concept art, and model the object given the specific theme. The submission should include design stages as well as the turntable of the resulting object.

Real-time Art, supported by Epic Games – participants should create a short cinematic trailer based on the theme. It can be animation, environment design, or even shader-development as long as it is rendered in Unreal Engine as a cinematic piece. Participants are free to use any publicly available assets.

Lighting/ Rendering – participants should create a CG image, given the theme. The goal is to set up the lighting, compose and render the scene to achieve the best quality of the generated imagery. Participants are free to use any publicly available assets or make their own

Sign-up deadline: 1 April 2022

Public vote opening: 6 May 2022

For more information contact: eastercompetitionorganisers2022@live.bournemouth.ac.uk

Vote for your Easter Jam Winners

Sign-up for the BFX Easter Jam

Easter what?

Similarly to game jams, we are doing three col-located events where students should create an artefact, in a short period, in a specific category based on a particular theme. At the end of the event, each participant submits their artefact, and the best projects win prizes.

How long do I have?

You will have the whole Easter break to create your artefact, which is approximately three weeks.

What are the categories?

This year there are three categories: 1. Modelling/texturing 2. Real-time art 3. Lighting/ lookdev. All the categories will be based on a specific theme.

What are the themes?

This years theme is Life on Land. For each category there is a sub-theme; Deforestation will be explored in the category Modelling/Texturing; Extinction in the category Lighting/Rendering; and Invasive Species in the category Real-Time Art.

Are there any restrictions on the software?

The Real-time art category is supported by Epic Games, so we expect participants to use any version of Unreal Engine to create their cinematics. Apart from that, you can use any software you like.

Why should I participate?

With feedback from industry mentors, you will gain valuable experience, and hopefully develop something to add to your portfolio/showreel. Isn’t that worth more than a prize?

What are the prizes?

For each category we have a prize of £100 for first place and £50 for runner-up. All the best works will also be screened/exhibited at the BFX Festival 2022 in November 2022. Prizes are in the form of Amazon vouchers.

Who are the mentors?

We have mentorship from industry professionals. Each category will have two online feedback sessions from professionals working in companies such as Epic Games, DNEG and MPC, where participants will be able to show their work-in-progress and get some feedback.

OK, I’ve signed up. What do I need to do next?

Before the launch event you will be added to the Teams channel where you will get further instructions and information.

Is it only for BU students?

Yes, Easter jams are only for current undergraduate and postgraduate Bournemouth University students and exchange students with an @bournemouth.ac.uk email address. If you want to work with other students outside of BU, we have more competitions coming later this year.

Can I use labs to work on my project for any category?

Yes, the labs will be available during the Easter break, so you can use them as you normally do.

How will voting work?

We are using a Eurovision-like voting style, where we have two groups voting separately: participants and professionals. Participants cannot vote for themselves. When all the votes have been counted, we will know who will be awarded what prize.

When will the results be announced?

We aim to announce the results and send the prizes in late May. The winners will be announced on our social media and also mentioned again at the BFX Festival 2022.

BFX Competition

The 2022 BFX Competition is a short animation competition. Unlike other animation competitions, participants will be provided with scripts, prepared by charity organisations, to implement in the form of animated movies during a 9-week online production period. During this time, all participating teams will benefit from virtual mentor sessions with industry professionals and regular online meetings with the charities they choose to work with. The normal length of the resulting film is 30 seconds. The competition is open to teams consisting of UK Higher Education students.

There are awards for the winner and runner-up for the competition, as well as other awards for various categories, such as Best Design, Best Character Animation, Community award for the most impactful film etc. All winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony at the BFX Festival in November 2022 where your movies will also be screened.  You’ll be able to choose if you and your team attend the awards ceremony in-person as part of the 2022 BFX Festival.

We are delighted to be working with the following charities this year:

Firmitude

Firmitude is building a non-elite sporting community, focused, but not exclusively, around women’s beginner football. Firmitude provides opportunities to a forgotten generation of women to play the game that is familiar to all. These individuals want to play for varied reasons, including relating to their children through the game, finding friends through play, and building confidence through learning something new.

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is special and we believe everyone should be able to enjoy it’s landscape, wildlife and heritage. Being a coastal National Park we have some amazing beaches and have a small fleet of beach wheelchairs servicing them. These beach wheelchairs help people with disabilities or limiting health conditions have a day out at the seaside with friends and family and experience the wonder filled coast.

Planet Purbeck Youth Group

The Planet Purbeck Youth Group (PPYG) is an environmental voice and action group for young people in Purbeck. This group is run by young people for young people! It’s a place to share the youth’s voice, come up with ideas and make real change! The ages of the group are secondary school and sixth form ages.

Sign-up deadline: 1 May 2022

What should the team size be?

The team should have at least three students and at most five.

Are there any restrictions on the team members?

All participants should currently undertake undergraduate or postgraduate studies at a UK university or HE College.

Can students on a placement year participate?

Yes.

How long do we have to create a short film?

You will have 9 weeks starting from 9/05/2022 until the submission deadline of 11/07/2022

Are there any restrictions on the software?

Any software can be used as long as it can produce animated film.

Are there any restrictions on the format (2D/3D?)

No.

Why should I participate?

It’s a great opportunity to work with industry mentors and to add an extra piece to your portfolio, the best outcomes will be screened and don’t forget about prizes.

What are the prizes?

There will be plenty of prizes: apart from the first and second prize for the best animated piece you might win in categories such as Best Character Animation, Best Design and so on. We will announce exact categories and prize amounts soon.

Who are the mentors?

Participants will get mentorship from industry professionals working in companies like ILM, DNEG, MPC and so on. Mentors will cover different parts of the pipeline and every team will be able to attend several online sessions with our mentors. Who exactly our mentors are will be announced in early June.

OK I’ve signed up what do I need to do next?

Please make sure you are checking the email address you entered when you filled in the sign-up form, we will send you further instructions in early May.

How will the voting work?

Participants, industry professionals (including mentors) and general public will be voting in different categories and then by using clever mathematics we will find out who wins in which category.

When will the results be announced?

The results will be announced during a special Awards Ceremony at the BFX Festival 2022.

How will we work with the mentors and charities?

You’ll receive industry mentorship via online sessions, most likely over teams or Zoom. Meeting and working with the charities will also take place virtually. Wherever you are in the UK this is a chance to get involved.

How can we attend the awards ceremony?

The awards ceremony will take place during the 2022 BFX Festival, 8 – 13 November, final date and time of the ceremony is to be confirmed. You and your team can decide if you would like to attend in person.

I have another question but it is not listed here.

Contact us at bfx@bournemouth.ac.uk and we will get back to you.

BFX Game Jam

More information coming soon.

Video Gallery

BFX has a 9-year history, a variety of competitions and Game Jams have and continue to be hosted. Peruse through previous entries.