Autodesk Droid Design Contest

The Autodesk Droid Design Contest, also known as the Autodesk Droid Maker Competition, was a contest hosted by Autodesk in collaboration with Lucasfilm to promote the 2024 television series Star Wars: The Acolyte. In response to Special Creature Effects veteran Neal Scanlan utilizing Autodesk’s "Fusion" software to bring the handheld droid Pip to life for the series, Autodesk promoted the contest, where entrants were required to utilize either Autodesk "Fusion" or "Maya" to design their droid. Four categories for winners were created, two "Mechanical" submitted as static models, and two "Animated" submitted as moving videos, split among professionals (designated Jedi Masters) and students 18 years or older (designated Padawans).

Winners of the contest received a trip to and guided tour of the Lucasfilm headquarters at either the Presidio in San Francisco, California, or The Walt Disney Studios Lot in Burbank, California, as well as a meet-and-greet session with a Lucasfilm executive on site, a virtual meet-and-greet session with a Disney or Lucasfilm executive, special merchandise from The Acolyte, and a chance to have their design transformed into a real life display model.

Hundreds of applications were received across the four categories, with winners revealed on June 26, 2024. The grand winner, Jedi Master Mechanical Droid Winner Tramaine Thornberry, had his droid brought to life in one of Autodesk's Technology Centers, which has since been installed as a display at Lucasfilm HQ.

To promote the competition, industry associate Adam Savage collaborated with Autodesk and Disney, being offered the opportunity to design his own droid and have it brought to life with the help of Autodesk Fusion, as well as CAD and prop specialist Bill Doran.

Text and facts from the “Autodesk Droid Design Contest” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.