8 projects across five categories are honored, demonstrating a wide array of styles, topics, and skill levels that show how the animation program supports streamlined creative diversity.
After two months of creativity, Reallusion’s 2023 “Animation At Work” Contest for Cartoon Animator (CTA) has come to a close. The company “thanks all of its wonderful sponsors including XPPen, Affinity, and Magix, as well as everyone who submitted.” Overall, the event received 132 global entries, each with their work-in-progress videos, among five categories: Business & Commercial, Comics & Art, Education, Vertical Shorts, Best Use of Cartoon Animator 5, and Best Mascot Animation.
A total of 33 “outstanding works” have been selected from 39 countries, all demonstrating varying levels of skills and experience. Additionally, a wide array of styles and topics were created, proving that the Cartoon Animator is streamlined for creative diversity. The company also noted that several first-time Cartoon Animator users were even able to use their newly acquired techniques, combining other pipelines for excellent submissions.
See the 2023 Animation at Work Winners.
Business & Commercial Animation - 1st Prize
Bringing to Life by Nandor Toth (Hungary)
Prize: USD 1500 + XPPen Artist Pro 14
Nandor Toth comments:
“As I started using it in March 2023, I consider myself a newcomer to CTA. I've never come across such good animation software that moves characters in such a professional way: I can save the movements and add new movements made by others so easily, and even edit them afterward. And that’s the most important benefit of the program!”
Judges’ comments:
“Nandor cleverly combines stock videos with his own characters. Viewers can quickly understand the key features of Cartoon Animator 5 in 2 minutes. We also enjoyed watching his drawings in his WIP video. Lots of details are added to make his Superman mascot pop out. Well done!”
Comics & Art Animation - 1st Prize
Valiant Seven by Astrovique (Australia)
Prize: USD 1500 + XPPen Artist Pro 14
Astrovique comments:
“As a new user to the program, it was a very simple software to pick up and learn with all the resources and tutorials available to help you learn. I was only really able to learn the very basics of the software but knowing that it has the ability to motion capture your mouth for lip sync and body animations for 2D characters is such a cool feature to have.”
Judge’s comments:
“Webtoon artist Astrovique successfully animated his hand drawings with Cartoon Animator. This entry and WIP video show the potential of how to make manga art with Cartoon Animator 5. We hope to inspire more XPPen artists to leverage our tools for films and video production!”
Education Animation - 1st Prize
Prize: USD 1500 + XPPen Artist Pro 14
How the Human Body Protects Us from Viruses by Prosenjit Biswas (India)
Prosenjit Biswas comments:
“Cartoon Animator stands out as one of the few software that enables you to create a full animation in just a week without a large team. Its extensive resource library is always beneficial, and the vast 2D and 3D motion libraries are instrumental in saving a significant amount of time. Cartoon Animator's interface is exceptionally user-friendly, making it both clean and accessible for beginners.”
Judge’s comments:
“An informative explainer video made by Prosenjit Biswas. With fluent narrating, we were impressed to see how contextual the animation was showing great potential for the author to make educational videos! Finally, check on his WIP video and learn how he did it in Cartoon Animator 5!”
Vertical Shorts - Winner
Grovely and The Unicorn by Anita Bell (Australia)
Best Use of CTA 5 - Winners
Time Travelling Timmy by Warwick Hays (Australia) & Declan Walsh (Ireland)
Magic Pencil by Farid Muminov (Russia)
Best Mascot Animation - Winner
Going to School by Jeng-son Wu (Taiwan)
Student Animation - Winner
PROFESSOR EXPLAINS | Types of blood groups by ABHINAV P M (India)
Just as the contest ended, Reallusion announced the Cartoon Animator 5.2 update. This version introduces two major highlights: Motion Pilot and Motion Path Animation, a natural evolution of contemporary puppetry. Motion Pilot is the first significant feature allowing users to animate characters and props instantaneously, significantly reducing production time. The other eagerly awaited feature is Motion Path Animation. This enhanced path editing tool is exceptionally practical for creating precise animations across various applications. Take advantage of the 30-day Free Trial to experience these amazing features in Cartoon Animator.
Source: Reallusion
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
