Winners for the 1st Annual International 3D Awards were announced at the evening ceremony May 9, 2003 at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, running in conjunction with the 3D Festival 2003. The winners each picked up a Digital Hero trophy, hand sculpted by Dan Platt, at the ceremony The winners are:

Feature Film VFX
The award for Best 3D Visual Effects for a Feature Film honors outstanding visual effects production used in a feature film. Entries were judged based on the criteria of Originality & Creativity, Design & Aesthetics and Technical Excellence.
- LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, Weta Digital, New Zealand

Television VFX
The award for Best 3D Visual Effects for Television honors outstanding use of 3D visual effects for a television-based production. Entries were judged based on the criteria of Originality & Creativity, Design & Aesthetics and Technical Excellence.
- DINOTOPIA (mini-series), Framestore CFC, UK

Commercials
The award for Best 3D in a Commercial is for outstanding use of 3D in a television or cinema commercial, fully CG or containing key 3D elements. Entries were judged based on the criteria of Originality & Creativity, Design & Aesthetics and Technical Excellence.
- CARL AND RAY: KUNG FU, Tippett Studio, USA

Music Videos
The award for Best 3D in a Music Video is for outstanding use of 3D (composited with live action or fully animated) in a music video. Entries were judged based on the criteria of Originality & Creativity, Design & Aesthetics and Technical Excellence.
- NATURE IS ANCIENT (Bjork), Glassworks Post Productions Ltd., UK

Short Films
The award for Best 3D Short Film honors an outstanding 3D-animated short film with no restrictions on commercial, studio or independent productions. Entries were judged based on the criteria of Originality & Creativity, Design & Aesthetics, Workmanship & Technical Excellence, Storytelling and Cinematography.
- SHOW & TELL, Kapow Pictures, Australia

Independent Animations
The award for Best Independent 3D Animation honors an outstanding animation or short film produced by independent 3D artists. Entries were judged based on the criteria of Originality & Creativity, Design & Aesthetics, Workmanship & Technical Excellence, Storytelling and Cinematography.
- ETERNAL GAZE, Sam Chen, USA

Game Cinematics
The award for Best Non-Interactive 3D Game Cinematics honors an outstanding cinematic sequence produced for a game, with no restriction on pre-rendered or in-game-engine sequences. Entries were judged based on the criteria of Originality & Creativity, Design & Aesthetics, Workmanship & Technical Excellence and Storytelling.
- WARCRAFT III: REIGN OF CHAOS, Blizzard Entertainment, USA

Logos and Idents
The award for Best use of 3D in a Logo or Ident honors outstanding use of 3D in a logo or ident. Entries were judged based on the criteria of Originality & Creativity, Design & Aesthetics and Technical Excellence.
- THE PRESENTATORS: PETS for Nickelodeon UK, Aardman, UK

Technological Innovation Special Award
This award honors the best recent Technological Innovation in the 3D industry. Technologies nominated in this category demonstrate a high degree of technical novelty, quality of commercial and proprietary implementations, novelty and quality of implementations, breadth of applications and impact on recent and current productions.
- Animanium: An Application For Character Animation with Flexible Inverse Kinematics, The University of Tokyo and Sega Corporation Mirari R&D, Japan

Industrial Design
The award for Best 3D Industrial Design honors outstanding use of 3D in a design project. Entries were judged based on the criteria of Originality & Creativity, Design & Aesthetics and Technical Excellence.
- Z1010, Jeanna Kimbré (Sony Ericsson), Sweden

Architectural Visualization (Animation)
The award for Best Architectural Visualization (Animation) is for outstanding use of 3D in an animated architectural visualization project. Entries were judged based on the criteria of Originality & Creativity, Design & Aesthetics, Technical Excellence and Animation.
- My House, Architecture in Motion, UK