A SIMIAN CYBORG BEATS HIS MIGHTY METAL CHEST

July at Stan Winston School was full of amazing mechanical characters, including CatBots, ArachnoBots, Nano-Disarticutators and even a Giant Happy Carnival Mech... of DOOM.

Picking a favorite, like surviving a robot revolt, was nearly impossible. But in the end we chose to crown a mighty metal monkey (or ape, really). As King Kong was displayed to the ladies and gentlemen of New York, so we proudly present the Grand Prize Winner of the SWSCA Forums Robot Art Contest to you...

BEHOLD THE ARTICULATED ROBOTIC GORILLA BY ANDREW CHASE!

See more: http://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/1826/articulated-robotic-gorilla

THE PLANET OF THE MECHANICAL APES ANYONE?

According to Andrew, his all-metal, fully-articulated gorilla sculpture is "roughly four feet tall standing upright and weighs around 100lbs." The only thing missing is a simian propulsion system to make this big guy swing for real.

To show the posability of this formidable figure, Andrew created a "herky jerky stop motion animation of him brachiating across a ladder." Check it out below.

Please join us in congratulating Andrew on taking the Grand Prize with his awesome metal ape, including:

• Screen-Used Terminator Salvation T-700 Endoskull!
• 1-Year Unlimited Subscription to Stan Winston School
• Artist Spotlight on the Stan Winston School Blog
• Stan Winston Studios Behind-the-Scenes DVD

-Team Stan Winston School

THE REST OF OUR TOP 11 (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

Dan Jones - APEX

See more: http://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/1797/apex

Daniel Cox - Summer Robot Build

See more: http://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/1859/summer-robot-build

Edwin Priest - 'TerminEscher' Portrait in Reflective Sphere

See more: http://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/1778/terminescher-portrait-in-reflective-sphere

Morgan Loebel - Nano Disarticutator

See more: http://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/1846/nano-disarticutator

Christopher Hamburger - Design to Fabrication

See more: http://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/1715/robots-design-to-fabrication

Andrew Paul - "Schlitzie" the Giant Happy Carnival Mech... of DOOM

See more: http://stanwinstonschool.vanillaforums.com/discussion/1813/schlitzie-the-giant-happy-carnival-mech-of-doom

Ema Klucovska - Alienbot

See more: http://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/1748/alienbot

Roger Adams - Cats in RoboCat Suits

See more: http://stanwinstonschool.vanillaforums.com/discussion/1762/cats-in-robocat-suits

Chris Neuhahn - Harvard the Buddy-Bot

See more: http://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/1764/harvard-the-buddy-bot

Shawn "Fuzzy Modem" Weixelman - Arachnobot

See more: http://stanwinstonschool.vanillaforums.com/discussion/1734/arachnobot-by-shawn-fuzzy-modem-weixelman

Hi. My name is Shawn Weixelman. I’m a 3D concept artist working in Maya and Photoshop. On the internet I go by "Fuzzy Modem". You might have seen my entries in other art contests for Star Trek, Eve Online, Star Citizen, Ballistic and StarCraft (if not, feel free to check out fuzzymodem.com)

I once had the pleasure of meeting Stan Winston at the San Diego ComicCon. I told him I was a CG artist, but that I had enormous respect for practical effects artists. He told me he had no problem with CG, but that it was one tool of many, and not always the best choice.

It was with this in mind that I created my entry for this contest. I wanted to create a robot by combining CG with real world objects. I got permission to take photographs in my local power plant, and modeled in Maya on top of these photos using polygon extrusion, then I used the same photos as textures, and assembled the parts into the shape of a spider.

I then captured a real spider from my wife’s herb garden in a jar, and photographed the jar, then released the spider onto a leaf, photographed it, and combined the two images. In Maya, I positioned my robotic spider to match the position of the real jar. Once rendered, I took the final image into Photoshop for compositing with the photo background.

I wanted to create an image that told a story, and rewarded a second glance, while leaving much in the subtext, inviting imaginative extrapolation. I envision an eccentric arachnologist inventor, who created the robot to collect samples, but many of you will likely have a more interesting take.

As we can enter the contest three times, I’ll keep a brain storm on the back burner and see if I can’t come up with another two ideas before the deadline. I look forward to following the competition, and seeing all the fantastic entries flow in from my fellow competitors.

Best of luck to you all!

[edit]

"Making of" video.
https://youtu.be/z_VQ1sTt-0Q

Welcome to the Stan Winston School of Character Arts Robot Art Contest!

How to Enter:

To enter this contest simply post a new discussion in the "ROBOT ART CONTEST" category. Please include a description and high rez pictures of your robot artwork. Video submissions are cool, too! Just upload your video to YouTube and share the link in your post.

We'll consider robot art of ALL KINDS, including drawings, paintings, digital designs, sculptures, puppets, and even full-size costumes. The only requirement is that the submission is your original artwork.

Do you make lots of robots? Not a problem! You can submit as many as 3 entries to the contest. So share your mechanical creations and you could win the Grand Prize!

Grand Prize:

The winner will receive this incredible prize package:

• Screen-Used Terminator Salvation T-700 Endoskull
• Artist Spotlight on the Stan Winston School Blog
• 1-Year Unlimited Subscription to Stan Winston School
• Stan Winston Studio Behind-the-Scenes DVD

Entry Prize:  

All contest participants will receive a special promo code for 20% Off Stan Winston School webcourses, DVDS & Merch!

Judging:

Your submission will be reviewed by the team here at the Stan Winston School of Character Arts and judged based on quality of work. Prior to judging you can update or remove your entries as often as you like. Once the contest has ended our judges will review all submissions and the winner will be announced.

Deadline:

To be considered for the contest, all entries must be posted by July 31st, 2015.

Winner Announced:

We will select and announce the winning Robot Artist on August 7th, 2015!

Official Rules  NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THE CONTEST (“CONTEST”). Entry into this Contest constitutes your acceptance of these Official Rules from The Stan Winston School of Character Arts ("SWSCA" or "Sponsor").
  
1. CONTEST ENTRY DATES: Contest start date and time, and end date and time are as outlined in the SWSCA Website(s) described below (“Contest Entry Period”).

2. WHO MAY ENTER: Contest is open to persons 18 years or older (or younger than 18 years with the approval of a parent or guardian) with valid email address OR who are new or existing registrants of www.stanwinstonschool.com with valid email address OR who are Facebook and/or Twitter “fans”/“followers” of SWSCA with valid email address. When entering the Contest, an opportunity to sign up to receive follow-up information from SWSCA and its advertisers may be available. Entrants subject to all notices posted online including but not limited to Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Employees of SWSCA and their immediate families (spouse, parent, child, sibling or partner and their respective spouses/partners, regardless of where they reside) or those living in the same household (whether or not related) of SWSCA, are not eligible to enter or win. Contestants may need to provide proof of residency upon request.  

3. CONTEST PRIZE: As indicated in contest sign up, as Sponsor may designate. 

4. CONTEST ENTRY: All submissions must be the ORIGINAL WORK of the contest entrant, and received by the date and time outlined on the Website(s). For purposes of these Official Rules, “receipt” of Entry occurs when Sponsor’s servers record the Entry information resulting from contestants’ entry being posted in the SWSCA ROBOT ART CONTEST forum category. Any automated computer receipt (such as one confirming delivery of email) does not constitute proof of actual receipt by Sponsor for purposes of these Official Rules. By entering this contest, you grant SWSCA the irrevocable right to share your submission photos and/or videos on our website, email, and social media channels, copyright is retained by original author. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Entry for any reason, in its sole and absolute discretion. Odds of winning depend upon number of entries received.  

5. WINNER SELECTION: Within seven days from the end of the Contest Entry Period your submission will be reviewed by the team here at the Stan Winston School of Character Arts and judged based on quality of work. Once the contest has ended our judges will review all submissions and the winner will be announced.

6. WINNER NOTIFICATION: Winner(s) will be notified by email, and, if Sponsor so chooses, will be listed on a Website blog posting and Facebook wall. Winner(s) will be required to provide mailing address which will be used to fulfill any physical prize.

7. MODIFICATION OF RULES: Sponsor reserves the right to, at its discretion, reschedule the Contest, entry and/or end dates, modify the entry procedures, or cancel the Contest. Prize(s) are not redeemable for cash.  

8. GENERAL CONDITIONS: Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, damaged, stolen, altered, garbled, incorrect, incomplete or delayed Entries, all of which will be void. Sponsor is also not responsible for problems related to technical malfunctions of electronic equipment, computer online systems, servers, or providers, computer hardware or software failures, phone lines, failure of any Entry to be received by Sponsor on account of technical problems, traffic, congestion on the internet or the Website, or for any other technical problems including telecommunication, miscommunication or failure, and failed, lost, delayed, incomplete, garbled, or misdirected communications which may limit a contestant’s ability to participate in this Contest. Sponsor is not responsible for any other errors or malfunctions of any kind, whether network, printing, typographical, human or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors or malfunctions with may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing or judging of Entries, the announcement of the prize or in any Contest-related materials. Mass entries generated by a script, macro or use of automated devices will be disqualified. Sponsor reserves the right to modify, suspend or terminate the Contest in the event it becomes infected by a computer virus or is otherwise technically impaired, and to cancel or suspend the Contest in its entirety should tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or other causes corrupt the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper play of the Contest and, if terminated, at Sponsor’s discretion, determine the Winner using all non-suspect, eligible entries received up to time of cancellation using the judging procedure outlined above. In the event of a dispute regarding entries received from multiple users having the same email account, the authorized subscriber of the email account at the time of Entry will be deemed to be the contestant and must comply with these Official Rules. Authorized subscriber is the natural person who is assigned the email address by the Internet Service Provider (ISP), online service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses. Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual (and void his/her Entries)) it finds to be tampering with the Entry process or the operation of this Contest or website, intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other contestant, Sponsor, or any of its representatives or to otherwise be acting in violation of these Official Rules. 
 
9. MISCELLANEOUS CONDITIONS: Failure to comply with these Official Rules may result in disqualification from the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to permanently disqualify any person it believes has intentionally violated these Official Rules. Contest subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited by law.
  
10. ARBITRATION AND CHOICE OF LAW: Except where prohibited by law, as a condition of participating in this Contest, Contestant agrees that (1) any and all disputes and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action lawsuit, and exclusively by final and binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association and held in Los Angeles, California; (2) the Federal Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation, enforcement and all proceedings at such arbitration; and (3) judgment upon such arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. Under no circumstances will contestant be permitted to obtain awards for, and contestant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys’ fees, other than contestant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e., costs associated with entering this Contest), and contestant (or, if an eligible minor, his/her parent or legal guardian) further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of contestants and Sponsor in connection with this Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the State of California.