FGT3D Hunter Challenge organized by the TPN-Accredited cloud rendering services provider, Fox Renderfarm, was started in June, 2021 and sponsored by our amazing sponsors, including Corona Renderer, TopoGun, Friendly Shade, Graswald, Raysync, Textures.com, Texturebox, iCube R&D Group and Marmoset. After the selection by our jury, 3 Professional artworks and 3 Student artworks were picked and would be awarded the prizes provided by our amazing sponsors. Congratulations to all the winners! And thanks to everyone for participating!
What a well-designed and executed piece. The first place winner in the Professional category of the FGT3D Hunter Challenge goes to Hideyuki Ashizawa with his work, Elf Hunter.
“This image stands out. The level of the character design and rendering materiality is fantastic. The dark theme successfully blends a sense of danger and charm - or I would rather say, the danger becomes the charm. Besides the character, which occupies most of the composition, I am also impressed by the pattern in the background. The seemingly discursive design of the pattern makes one think that the creator is paying tribute to the style of the movie Prometheus. Most importantly, the sophistication of the image does not just stay on the surface. The complexity and richness of the image also make the viewers want to explore something more profound, which is the character’s spirituality and ontology. The world the character lives in is not something that can be comprehended and processed with our banal human mind.” One of our judges, Frank WANG Yefeng said, who is the Assistant Professor in the Art Department from Rhode Island College.
Let's find out how Hideyuki made the amazing artwork through the exclusive interview with Fox Renderfarm.
Elf Hunter © Hideyuki Ashizawa
Fox Renderfarm: Hi, Hideyuki! Thank you so much for accepting our interview! Could you give us a brief introduction about yourself?
Hideyuki Ashizawa: My name is Hideyuki Ashizawa. I live in Japan. I’m now 47 years old. I started making 3DCG for fun in May of 2018. My regular work is composing game music and creating sound effects for games. I've engaged in game production for about 27 years.
Fox Renderfarm: Congratulations on winning 1st place in the Professional Category of the FGT3D Hunter Challenge, how do you feel about that?
Hideyuki Ashizawa: Thank you for choosing me as number one! I couldn't believe it when I saw my name. I was so delighted! My wife and kids were as happy as I was to hear it.
Fox Renderfarm: How long did you finish the work, Elf Hunter?
Hideyuki Ashizawa: It took three days from idea generation to rendering.
Fox Renderfarm: What software and plugins did you use?
Hideyuki Ashizawa: ZBrush, Teya Conceptor, Keyshot, Affinity Photo
Fox Renderfarm: What’s the inspiration behind your artwork?
Hideyuki Ashizawa: Hans Ruedi Giger most influenced me. As for the film, Alien and Hellraiser affected me a lot.
Fox Renderfarm: The level of the character design and rendering materiality is fantastic. How did you make it?
Hideyuki Ashizawa: I can't draw at all, so I started creating with ZBrush from the beginning.
Before I made it, I had an image in my head and used ZBrush and Teya Conceptor to shape it. I use Keyshot for rendering and Keyshot procedural textures for the textures.
Fox Renderfarm: The dark theme successfully blends a sense of danger and charm. The seemingly discursive design of the pattern seems like you are paying tribute to the style of the movie Prometheus. How did you make it?
Hideyuki Ashizawa: Prometheus is one of my favorite movies. When viewed from the side, it looks like a bad picture, but the objects are layered back and forth to represent the scene. I placed them so that the shadows would come out nicely when rendering. I completed it, seeking balance, which I think is intuitively good for me.
Fox Renderfarm: Did you meet any difficulties when creating this work? And how did you solve it?
Hideyuki Ashizawa: Nothing particularly difficult, but I tried to express what I liked as much as I could.
Fox Renderfarm: Could you briefly tell us your educational and work experience along your CG journey?
Hideyuki Ashizawa: I have taught myself 3DCG for three years. I make 3DCG as a hobby, and I have no work experience in 3DCG.
© Hideyuki Ashizawa
© Hideyuki Ashizawa
© Hideyuki Ashizawa
Fox Renderfarm: Do you have any recommendable learning methods to improve professional skills?
Hideyuki Ashizawa: I'm learning by purchasing tutorials from Artstation and Gumroad. Like my regular job of composing music and creating sound effects, I enjoy learning a lot from my favorite artists' works. And I feel that I can pursue what I like and get good results.
Fox Renderfarm: What do you think of the FGT3D Challenge, any suggestions for us?
Hideyuki Ashizawa: We all live in a challenging world. I want to thank you for holding such a fantastic contest. It was very inspiring to see the works of artists from all over the world. I hope you will continue to hold this contest in the future.
Fox Renderfarm: Do you have any advice for future participants in the competition?
Hideyuki Ashizawa: I create as a hobby, so I can't give any advice on skills, but if you pursue what you like and create as you like, I'm sure there will be people who will appreciate your work. Chances will come. So, although I know that creating is hard work, I truly hope you can continue to be a creator for as long as possible.
