Challenge “Researchers. The point of no return”

About the theme

Dear Participants, we have prepared some wonderful stories for you, and you can choose any one or several of them and compete. In all the stories, your team of researchers will encounter the mysterious, the unknown, and the dangerous, and decide to go beyond the point of no return. It will be an amazing contest, different worlds and different times await you, with no limits on style, and finally in 2D and 3D. The goal of the participants is to create a high-quality illustration on the chosen topic and reflect the most epic moment.

We present you with six topics; you can find a detailed description below: "Trail of the Giants", "Hyperion", "Conquistadors. Cruel gods from the stars, "The Scourge of Jupiter," "The Ark of the big reboot," and "Where do we come from."

The first story: “Trail of the Giants”

The present time. Scientists named this phenomenon in “honour” of the Giants' Causeway in Iceland. It is 100 km long and at the beginning and end there are some foggy portals. Giants pass along it with varying frequency - many are anthropomorphic, many not. They travel in packs or sometimes as a few individuals, appearing in the first portal and disappearing at the end of the path. The terrain became isolated and the group of scientists will have to work out what these creatures are and whether they are dangerous. Whether this phenomenon is accidental, whether it hides an ominous secret, or will disappear in the same way as it appeared, is up to you to decide. Don’t forget to tell your story in the description of the work.

The second story: “Conquistadors. Cruel gods from the stars.”

In 1965, an independent international expedition was organised, the purpose of which was to study the network of the previously closed temple complex of the Mayan civilisation, presumably related to the pre-classical era (2000 BC. - 250 BC). The reason behind the organisation of the expedition was declassified archival documents and artefacts obtained during other expeditions. The technologies and materials highlighted in the documents from which the artefacts were made, and most importantly the stucco reliefs of the temples, left no doubt that someone or something intervened in the development of this civilisation and, judging by the reliefs, which were very different from all currently known this someone was really intimidating.
The bas-reliefs told the story of the tomb of the cruel God from the stars, guarded by some dead brothers. The thousands of victims of the Indians were not dedicated to the opening of new temples and gods of the Indian pantheon, but to him. The expedition discovered the tomb and entered it; a grandiose network of temples was the only part of this huge construction which was above ground. Tell us this story.

The third story: “Hyperion”

The future, the huge spaceship lost over 250 years ago is returning to Earth’s orbit. The “Hyperion” was launched in the golden age of hyperspace. Setbacks had been left behind long ago and mankind decided to build and send the giant to a remote, but very promising area of space search for life. Hyperspace beacons made it possible to communicate with minimal delays, even at extreme distances. Nothing boded ill, but one of the largest ships disappeared and reappeared many years later, broadcasting an alarming and incomprehensible message. Even from its outward appearance, it was clear that something was wrong with the ship. A team of researchers led by the charismatic epidemiologist Akira Hanzo is trying to board and discover the ship’s secret. Unfortunately, they did not have to wait long. Your task is to show us most clearly the moment the terrible secret of "Hyperion” was revealed.

The third story: “The scourge of Jupiter”

The not-too-distant future and there is an active search for life within the solar system. They brought people to Europa, a satellite of Jupiter. The satellite is one of the main candidates for a source of extra-terrestrial life in the solar system. Under the icy surface of Europa lies the subglacial ocean, which turned out to be twice as large as the oceans on Earth. Traces of life were found in it, but something was wrong with them. The researchers have to figure out the secret of life in the icy oceans of the satellite of Jupiter. Underwater bases were rapidly deployed and, to the surprise of researchers, even light sources were found in the icy oceans, but the deeper the explorers dived, the darker were the secrets they discovered. What did the people find in the icy oceans of Europa?

The fifth story: “The Ark of the big reboot”

- 1952 The International scientific conference in Vienna dedicated to the so-called "Ark".

"For heaven’s sake, don’t get into it, it’s been lying there for hundreds of millions of years, leave it alone Nothing good awaits us there! " - Henry Tokins, world-famous biologist

An object called the "Ark" was discovered immediately after the Second World War or, more precisely, several objects were found at a considerable distance from each other and it later became clear that it was one object. It was also found not by accident. The ark lay in rocky voids where underground rivers poured into it, probably feeding it. After some time, it became a source of local earthquakes and it appeared on the surface in some places on the planet. Its distinguishing feature was its simply monstrous size - hundreds of kilometres! Most of the Ark lay at the bottom of the ocean and went deeper, presumably to the core of the Earth. Over the past 10 years, the Ark began to show signs of life, creating strong earthquakes with increasing frequency, local disturbances in gravity, the "northern lights" and other atmospheric phenomena. It had a complex cellular structure. Some of the giant cells close to the surface were open, but the deeper segments of the ark were mostly closed. Studying the open cells, scientists found fossils of creatures not previously known to mankind. After 15 years of study, the biologist Tokins made a bold assumption that the Ark was nothing but a “planet reload” mechanism that destroys everything it can with a certain frequency, and then activates fresh cells, probably starting a new life cycle, but already different from creatures inhabiting the planet. After another 30 years, the Ark entered its active phase. Probably the previous civilisations that inhabited the planet simply did not become sufficiently well developed to study the Ark and try to at least do something to stop it. Earth’s scientists are convinced - they need to fight it and they have a plan. First, the Ark was disconnected from the water, then a number of nuclear strikes were carried out, including on the underwater part. It was possible to partially destroy the outer shell, but as soon as this happened, the Ark began to transmit a signal of incredible strength into space. Tell us about this time. Tell us this story.

The sixth story: “Where do we come from”

In the near future, traces of the remains of some, at first glance ancient, civilisation are found on the Moon. At that moment, we expected anything, but not that ... It was not an alien civilisation, it was earthlings. Yes, there were a number of differences, but, in general, these were definitely earthlings. There was a whole complex of buildings and ships, which was revealed after nuclear weapons were tested on the lunar surface. After several months of research and analysis of the materials, it turned out that they were no older than 5,000 - 6,000 years. Everything is made of familiar terrestrial alloys, but the shape of the ships and the technological approach are very strange, alien, if you like. The remains of the residents of the base were studied, they showed a close DNA structure, which suggests that these are definitely our "relatives", but very, very big. The materials found described the periods of Earth's history, the movement of the continents, even the fall of large meteorites and their consequences. In the materials found, the Earth was described as a "house", but there was not a word about people, and on Earth, in turn, not a word from them, not a single bas-relief, not a single legend, nothing. Within a few months, the scientists of the research group managed to discover the secret.

Prizes

The total prize money for the competition is over $6,000. It will be divided into prizes for each category:

First place (for 2D and 3D)
- $1,400 from MyTona
- VIP-account at Renderu.com
- 50 points on the website

Second place (for 2D and 3D)
- $1,000 from MyTona
- VIP-account at Renderu.com
- 30 points on the website

Third place (for 2D and 3D)
- $700 from MyTona
- VIP-account at Renderu.com
- 20 points on the website

Technical task

- The entry must be in jpg format, saved with maximum quality and at least 1200 px on the minimum side.
- For 2D, use of the "photobashing" is allowed, but so it’s not evident, and don’t bet on it, this is rather an exception, and a low-quality "photobashing" will count against you.
- For 2-3D matting may be used, but only for backgrounds and not a photo in its pure form; outline and style the background stylistically. For 2D you can use 3D just to build the correct perspective.
- Don’t forget about at least a minimal description of the work, and also attach a link to the competitive WIP to the description. If you forget, this can easily be fixed using the editing menu on the page of your work or add it to the comments below it.
- The choice of style is up to you, your task is to do an interesting and high-quality piece of work.
- Works that promote racism, drugs, sex, violence, as well as insulting religious beliefs that can offend the feelings of believers are not accepted for consideration.

Terms of participation and competition rules

- Register on RENDERU.COM, if you do not already have an account. (In order to have time to send work to the contest gallery, register immediately, and not on the last day).
- You can create a WIP blog post, updating once a week is enough. WIP is needed to control the workflow, it disciplines and prevents you from starting work, protects the idea of your work from plagiarism, and also gives you the opportunity to receive criticism and advice from the audience.
- No more than 3 pieces of work from one participant are allowed. (Pieces of work, not images; you can have as many images in one piece of work as you need).
To take part in the competition, you must send the work to the competition gallery. To do this on the main page of the competition, click the big green button "Add work". ATTENTION!!! If you add work simply to your gallery, it will not be connected with the competition and will not be able to take part in it!
If you are a winner, to receive a monetary reward, you must transfer the rights to your competitive work to the organiser of the competition. The payment of a monetary award to a bank account shall count as payment for the transfer of rights to the competitive work. You will have the opportunity to place your work in your portfolio.
- Prize amounts in $ are approximate since before the payment, the currency is converted from the country where the organiser's company is domiciled.
- International competition - Participants must be 18 or over.
A short text explaining the history of the work needs to be added to the description of the work; this is necessary in order to delve deeper into the atmosphere of the illustration.
Refrain from plagiarism; such things cannot be hidden, and work with a crudely borrowed element will be disqualified.
- The work sent to the competition must be done specifically for the competition, you cannot send work done for other competitions or at other times.
If possible, refrain from publishing your work on other resources until the end of the competition.
- If you have a question, you can ask it in the comments under the contest post.

Competition Dates

The duration of the competition is 58 days (almost 2 months).
Work for the contest is accepted from October 1 to November 27 inclusive. Please note that the selection is not instantaneous. Your work may be in the selection process for several weeks, or may pass through it quickly, but by the end of the term 100% of the work will have been moderated.
Announcement of results - 4 business days from the date of the end of the competition. The competition cannot be extended!

RENDERU.COM expresses special gratitude to an amazing artist Vladimir Manyukhin4 (mvn78) for the works provided for the design of the competition.