On July 19, the finals of the 20th China Creative Challenges Contest – CHINGMU "Digital Dream-Making" Special Contest concluded successfully at the CHINGMU MCP Boundless Studio in Shanghai. The competition was hosted by the Organizing Committee of China Creative Challenges Contest and undertaken by Shanghai CHINGMU Vision Technology Co., Ltd. Focused on the intersection of digital art and cutting-edge technology, the contest featured four tracks: 3D Animation Short Film, Digital Human Performance Show, Virtual Production Short Film, and AI Storyboard Creation – providing a professional, industry-level platform for young creators from universities nationwide.

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Hundreds of Schools, Thousands of Entries – Four Tracks Ignite Creative Energy

The China Creative Challenges Contest (3C) is a key event listed in the Analysis Report on College Students' Discipline Competitions in National Regular Institutions of Higher Education released by the China Association of Higher Education. It is China's first authoritative competition spanning digital art, digital design, digital creativity, digital media, and digital technology innovation – comprehensive in scale, interdisciplinary, multi-specialty, with broad participation across institutions – and has long been a benchmark in the field of university creativity.

This year's CHINGMU "Digital Dream-Making" Special Contest focused on the integration of digital art and technological innovation, encouraging participants to leverage cutting-edge technologies such as optical motion capture, virtual production, and AI to explore the deep convergence of art and technology. Since its launch, the contest received wide responses from universities nationwide, attracting entries from 266 institutions, including 181 first-time participants. After rigorous selection, 65 teams advanced to the national finals to compete for top honors.

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Full Technical Support – Professional Judging Ensures Event Quality

As the industry partner hosting the "Digital Dream-Making" Special Contest for the second consecutive year, CHINGMU provided comprehensive technical support and operational assurance for the event. During the preparation phase, CHINGMU conducted pre-competition technical workshops and creative empowerment sessions across multiple universities nationwide, delivering 40 free professional technical guidance and creative empowerment sessions for teachers and students through hands-on equipment training, on-site technical instruction, and case analysis.

During the finals from July 16 to 19, CHINGMU opened its 4,000 sqm industry-level motion capture creation base, deploying 28 optical motion capture systems running simultaneously to provide professional creative space and equipment for participating teams. A dedicated technical support team was on-site throughout the event, offering full-time assistance from equipment calibration and mocap operation to creative consultation. With CHINGMU's cutting-edge optical motion capture system, teams completed the full creative workflow – from equipment operation and brief interpretation to final production – in a 48-hour extreme creation sprint, fully replicating the real production process of the digital content industry.

To ensure the professionalism and authority of the event, the contest invited an authoritative judging panel composed of academic leaders from over ten top universities nationwide. Professor Kang Xiuji, Dean of the School of Design and Art at Zhejiang University of Media and Communications, served as the Chief Judge, with panel members including department heads, academic leaders, and senior scholars from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Donghua University, Northeast Normal University, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts, and other renowned institutions. The judging panel conducted rigorous evaluations across differentiated core dimensions – including artistic expression, technical application, creative conception, and production quality – tailored to the characteristics of each of the four tracks.

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Glory Crowned – Witnessing the Rise of Young Creative Talent

On the afternoon of July 19, the award ceremony of the special contest was held at the CHINGMU MCP Boundless Studio, bringing together academic experts, university representatives, and participating teachers and students to celebrate the moment of glory.

At the ceremony, Chief Judge Professor Kang Xiuji delivered a speech, highly commending the professional competence and creative energy demonstrated by the participants during the 48-hour extreme creation. Professor Kang noted that digital art competitions serve as an important vehicle for assessing teaching outcomes and stimulating students' innovative capacity, and expressed his hope that participants would bring the practical experience gained from the event back to their campuses to advance the integration of art and design with digital technology in teaching.

Following that, Zu Houchao, Co-founder of CHINGMU, stated in his address that CHINGMU firmly believes "technology is the foundation of creativity." The significance of hosting the "Digital Dream-Making" Special Contest goes beyond providing venue and equipment – it is about enabling more university students to gain hands-on access to industry-level motion capture and virtual production technologies, so that creativity is no longer constrained by technical barriers. As a dedicated practitioner of innovative technology in education, CHINGMU is honored to contribute to China's art education and will continue to build bridges for creators to showcase and practice their work, extending outstanding creativity from the competition arena to broader application spaces.

In the presence of all guests, the awards for the special contest were officially announced, with a total of 10 National First Prizes, 21 National Second Prizes, and 15 National Third Prizes. The award-winning works demonstrated both creative ingenuity and technical sophistication – showcasing solid professional skills while conveying young creators' unique perspectives on cultural heritage and technology integration.

To recognize the dedication of frontline educators, the contest also presented the National Excellent Instructor Award and Provincial Excellent Instructor Award, paying tribute to educators working at the forefront of digital creative education.

The photos above showcase only a portion of the award-winning teams. For the full list and certificate downloads, please visit the official China Creative Challenges Contest website to access.

As the first high-tech company in China to achieve full-stack self-development (algorithm – hardware – software) in optical motion capture, CHINGMU maintains 100% core technology independence. With years of deep focus on the education sector, CHINGMU has supported over 300 universities – including Tsinghua University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Communication University of China – through a collaboration model of co-building training bases, co-developing courses, and incubating real-world projects. Covering over 90% of China's "985" and "211" universities, CHINGMU remains the undisputed #1 in the education motion capture market.

From creative conception to technical execution, from competition to industry connection, this special contest was not only a national creative competition but also a vivid practice of industry-education integration in digital creativity. CHINGMU will continue to partner with universities and industry collaborators to continually upgrade the competition ecosystem, empower the growth of young creators, and jointly drive China's digital art industry toward higher-quality development.