Blog
Looking back at Vertex 2020
The Vertex 2020 event in London has come and gone all too soon. We packed a huge amount into a 3m x 2m booth and a single day! We would like to share our highlights with you.
Please note: Vertex was a very busy event, so as exhibitors we were unable to take part in everything the event had to offer. So this is very much the highlights of the event as seen from our point of view.
The Lighting Challenge
A 3D artist taking our Lighting Challenge
The lighting challenge was the star attraction at our booth. With a chance to win a Wacom One Creative Pen Display and a 1-year license of HDR Light Studio, 3D artists competed all day to light the same 3D scene using HDR Light Studio. The challenge was both entertaining for those visiting the booth, and provided an ideal live demo for us to talk about with artists that hadn't seen HDR Light Studio before. Participants of various 3D skill levels took part, with some entrants not even being 3D artists. Once shown how to use the software by Lexie (our Software Developer) for a few minutes, each entrant had just 10 minutes to light the shot using HDR Light Studio.
Some more of the Lighting Challenge entries
After careful consideration, Samantha Humphreys' lighting design was unanimously selected as our winner by our booth team.
"We loved how colourful the lighting was, it showed off the form of the car really nicely, and the sunlight glint on the left of the car was a finishing touch" says Mark.
Samantha Humphreys' Lighting Project in HDR Light Studio
Samantha Humphreys, receiving her Wacom
Samantha is a student studying Illustration and Animation, and although she sees herself as a 2D Artist, she still managed to create a really nice lighting design in just 10 minutes using HDR Light Studio for the first time.
When asked about her experience with HDR Light Studio she said “... it’s very effective and easy to use, and easily helped to enhance the model I was working on! I got very 'into it'. I will definitely be using it in the future, as it speeds up the process but still keeps a high quality to my work!”
Meeting Creative Thinkers
Throughout the day, we’ve had so many interesting characters stop by our booth. It was our absolute pleasure hanging out with every single one of them. Listening to everyone’s artistic journey was inspiring, and we learnt a lot about their lighting needs and wants.
Inspiring through Portfolio Reviews
Experienced Digital Artist Brendan McCaffrey was our special guest at the booth, and was also a speaker at the event. He was available throughout the day to provide free portfolio reviews to 3D artists.
Brendan's reviews created an inspiring atmosphere at the booth and attracted many aspiring artists. Thanks so much to Brendan for helping us out.
Brendan McCaffrey reviewing portfolios
Hanging out with Exhibitors
We took the opportunity to talk with other Vertex exhibitors where we got the chance. One of our interviewees was Jason Walden, Senior Account Manager UK & Ireland at Wacom, who has discussed the latest Wacom news and more.
"The new Wacom One is really the most affordable graphic display on the market, it’s really at the budget end of our range, so it makes it affordable for students that aspire to have a Wacom display but also those that are looking to get into the creative world, and want to start to learn." says Jason.
See the full interview below:
Watch this space for more interviews, we'll have more edited soon :)
Light Bulb Moments!
We filled a light bulb jar with diamonds - 956 to be exact - and asked both visitors and our online followers to guess how many diamonds were inside. This friendly, yet simple, game turned out to be a nice way to get both our online followers and booth visitors involved in a common activity taking place at the event.
Our online winner was Eric Gaudet-Traffy - a HDR Light Studio goodie bag is on its way to him.
Our event winner was Heather Williamson. We hope that she’ll enjoy using the license of HDR Light Studio that she won.
Heather Williamson, the winner of the Vertex event 'Guess the diamonds' challenge
To Conclude
We put a lot of effort into making Vertex an enjoyable and memorable event for all. We had a blast and made lots of new friends. A lot of 3D artists got their hands on HDR Light Studio for the first time and loved it. We gave away lots of stickers, light pens, goodies bags, prizes, and free software to students too. We've just about recovered... and we're already looking forward to planning the next event!