From December 1-5 Autodesk will host a series of 3December events to celebrate 3D artists and their work. For the tenth consecutive year, these events provide Autodesk 3D software users with the opportunity to share their art, learn and network with their peers. 3December 2008 will include 3D art contests, live events in numerous cities around the world, and a virtual celebration on Autodesk's online user community -- the AREA. Autodesk will host live events on December 3 in London, Paris, Seoul, and Tokyo. Live events will also be hosted in New York City and Las Vegas on December 2 and Melbourne on December 5. In New York, free MasterClass Tips & Tricks sessions for Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Mudbox software will be offered by Derald Hunt and Erik Paynter from Turner Studios, renowned 3ds Max VFX artist Allan McKay, and Bill Harper from The Dreamhive. At the New York evening event, Harper will also offer a demonstration of Mudbox modeling techniques, while other high-profile artists will present tips and tricks for Maya and 3ds Max. The program line-up for the London event includes presentations by artists from Double Negative and The Mill. Registration is required for these events. For more information, or to register, visit: http://area.autodesk.com/3dec. Approximately ten Autodesk Animation User Group Association chapters will hold meetings in conjunction with 3December, including Los Angeles, New Jersey, and Oklahoma City. This year's Los Angeles meeting, at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, features Blur Studio discussing the cinematic pipeline used to create Warhammer Online. The user group chapter in Oklahoma, based at Digital Tutors, also promises a stellar line up of guests for its meeting, including Greg Punchatz, senior creative director at Janimation. Autodesk's AREA community website will serve as an online venue for the weeklong celebration. The site will offer free content including, tutorials, demonstrations and show reels. With the support of HP, Intel, and Wacom, Autodesk will also offer videos and images of 3December events online. Artists can register to become a member of the AREA community free-of-charge year-round at http://area.autodesk.com. During 3December, Autodesk will launch two contests, which will run until the end of January 2009. The "Alien Landscapes" contest invites artists to use Maya, 3ds Max, Mudbox and/or Softimage|XSI software to design an alien landscape. The grand prize winner will receive an HP DreamColor LP2480zx Display, courtesy of HP and a Dual Quad Core Intel Xeon based HP xw8600 workstation, courtesy of Intel. The winner will also receive one license of Mudbox 2009 software, as well as his or her choice of one license of Maya Complete 2009, 3ds Max 2009 or Softimage|XSI software. To celebrate the event's tenth anniversary, the "3December Logo Design Challenge" requires artists to design a logo for 3December using Autodesk SketchBook Pro software. Among other requirements, the 2D design submitted must be transferrable to 3D and easily animated. The grand prize winner will receive a Wacom Cintiq 12 tablet, provided by Wacom. On December 1, more information, including contest terms and conditions, are to be available at http://area.autodesk.com/3dec.

Zoie Films Festival is open to feature films, film shorts, documentaries, animations, music videos and mixed media projects utilizing innovative techniques. A media panel judges all entries and winning films are showcased online via special screenings available at high-speed Internet connections. Zoie Films utilizes the latest encryption technology to present the finest quality streaming programs. Zoie Films Festival presents certificates, prizes and awards in animation, drama, comedy, action and new media forms. Founded by Victoria Lynn Weston in 1996, Zoie Films Festival is an exclusive online film festival dedicated to the development of independent artists and exploring innovative exhibitions of their work. The early deadline is December 1, 2003. For more information, contact e-mail: info@zoiefilms.com or Web: www.ZoieFilms.com.

January 13, 2004 Deadline: November 12, 2003 Celebrating a small niche of the advertising industry, the Website Gamespot.com is hosting the First Annual Game Commercial Awards. The contest hopes to recognize the best and most creative gaming commercials on television. Game companies are invited to enter any and all TV commercials, which will be viewed and voted on by GameSpot's audience of nearly 900,000 daily unique gamers. Commercials will be promoted on GameSpot.com between Thanksgiving Day November 27, 2003 and New Year's Day, with the winners announced on January 13, 2004. Online entries must be received by Wednesday, November 12, 2003.

Can You Make A Movie Under the Gun?
Do You Have What it Takes?

Take the Ultimate Moviemaking Challenge!

AnimationHQ is hosting a chat with talented and veteran animator, Heidi Guedel. She spent time at Disney, Don Bluth Productions and Warner Brothers. She has worked on many Feature Animation titles including The Secret of NIMH, The Fox and the Hound, An American Tail, and Quest for Camelot. In addition, she did character layout for Rough Draft Studios (Futurama), worked in multimedia at Vortex Media Arts, and worked on videogame animation for the classic 80's laserdisc games "Dragon's Lair" and "Space Ace". The chat will take place on Saturday, December 6th at 8 pm EST. You can go to http://animationhq.net/v2/features/events.htm for more information on him and the directions on how to get to the chat room located towards the bottom of the page. Don't miss it!

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Anima Mundi Web 2004 is the 5th edition of the Internet Animation Contest of the International Animation Festival of Brazil, Anima Mundi. The contest is open to works specially created for the Internet, which may or not be previously released, produced by professional or amateur animators. There is no restrictions on themes and genres. Works are accepted in a single category: animations produced in the ".swf" format only and not exceeding 1MB in size. A cyber-jury -- anyone who registers online in the Anima Mundi Website -- and the professional jury, will decide the winners. There will be two prizes of R$ 1,500. For more information, visit www.animamundiweb.com.br.

1st Annual Portfolios.com Awards Show will highlight the best advertising, graphic design, Web design, photography and illustration of 2003. An international panel of judges will judge online, and the Winners' Showcase will be announced and shown online. For more information, visit www.portfolios.com/award, e-mail customerservice@portfolios.com or call (800) 303-9277 ext. 261.

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The Haydenfilms Online Film Festival is open to all student and independent films that have been created for production of all media. All genres will be accepted for review, including shorts, animation, experimental and documentary. All qualified films will be shown on the Haydenfilms Online Film Festival Website beginning June 30, 2005 through August 30, 2005. Grand prize Online Film Festival winner will receive $10,000. Top three finalists will receive a HF Filmmaker's prize package including Movie Magic Screenwriter software by Write Brothers, and other affiliate prizes valuing up to $1,500. The winner of the festival will be based on Haydenfilms