International Competition Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Autodesk 3ds Max Software and Advancements in GPU-Accelerated Rendering

LAS VEGAS, Autodesk University, Dec. 1, 2010 -- Autodesk, Inc., announced the winners of the Rendering Revolution contest -- a still-image architectural visualization competition hosted by CGarchitect.com. The winning entry, submitted by Chinese artist Qingfeng Chen, shows an artistic rendering of the 3ds Max 20th anniversary logo.* The image was inspired by a diverse pile of steel pipes Chen noticed on a construction site. Second- and third-place prizes went to German artist Benjamin Brosdau and Italian artist Dionissios Tsangaropoulos, respectively. View the winning entries at gpu.cgarchitect.com/gpu-competition-winners.

Sponsored by Autodesk, along with the support of NVIDIA, the Rendering Revolution contest was held in celebration of Autodesk 3ds Max software's 20th anniversary and recent advancements in GPU-accelerated rendering solutions. The term " Rendering Revolution” describes the broad changes taking place in rendering as GPU-based computing power brings revolutionary workflows, speed and performance capabilities to many aspects of the rendering process.

“We have reached a point where artists can scale their rendering resources according to deadlines and other requirements. This will help artists and designers to explore ideas in a way that has never before been possible,” said Ken Pimentel, Autodesk director of product management, visual communication. “The submissions we received for this contest showcase what can be done with new rendering technologies, such as QuickSilver, iray and V-Ray RT. Congratulations to Qingfeng Chen and all our finalists on their exceptional work.”

Chen, Brosdau and Tsangaropoulos will each receive a license of the Autodesk Design Suite Premium 2011 software and NVIDIA Quadro cards. As first-place winner, Chen elected to receive a cash prize, which he will put towards his up-coming wedding, instead of the trip for two to Autodesk University.

Submissions were judged for artistic merit and originality by a distinguished panel of industry judges: Matthew Bannister (dbox), Jules Cocke (Squint/Opera), Lon Grohs (Neoscape), Torgeir Holm (Netron/VRAY.info), Alex Morris (Alex Morris Visualisation), Ximo Peris (Crystal CG) and Michiel Quist (3idee).

About the Contest Winners
First-place winner Qingfeng Chen is the founder of chen3d company, based in Xiamen, China. He has been using 3ds Max software for nine years to produce animations, still renderings and computer-generated artwork. He is a graduate of Xiamen University of Technology where he majored in Architecture Structure, which has contributed to his success as a 3D artist and visualization specialist. His winning entry was created using 3ds Max software and the V-Ray RT renderer.

Second-place winner Benjamin Brosdau is a self-taught 3D artist who has been using 3ds Max software for more than 10 years. Based in Berlin, Germany, Brosdau is technical director for shading and lighting at purerender GmbH. His museum-inspired winning submission was created with 3ds Max software and mental images' iray renderer. The iray renderer is now available to current 3ds Max Autodesk Subscription members, as part of the Advantage Pack for 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design 2011.

Third-place winner Dionissios Tsangaropoulos is founder and CEO of Delta Tracing Srl, with offices in Treviso and Marcon, Italy. He has been using 3ds Max for more than 15 years and shares his experience through his work for TechData as a 3ds Max product specialist. His winning entry was created with 3ds Max and iray.

* Use of the logo to be in accordance with Autodesk’s trademark and logo usage guidelines and logo images files that can normally be found at: http://usa.autodesk.com/company/legal-notices-trademarks/trademarks/guidelines-for-use as it may be updated from time to time.

Autodesk and 3ds Max are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. Iray and mental images are registered trademarks of mental images GmbH licensed for use by Autodesk, Inc. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.

© 2010 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.