Assiniboine’s Parklan Cross wins bronze at National Competition

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Parklan Cross had two days to develop a video game ready asset based on a brief requiring: life-like models, textures and materials and animation.
Parklan Cross had two days to develop a video game ready asset based on a brief requiring: life-like models, textures and materials and animation.

Assiniboine Community College student Parklan Cross won bronze at the Skills Canada Virtual National Competition in the 3D Digital Game Art category announced June 15, 2021, becoming the first Manitoban ever to medal in this new contest.

“I liked participating in Skills Canada due to the fact it allowed me not only to use a medium I was fond of and fascinated with to create something unique and truly my own, but it allowed me to utilize my learning from the past two years in a practical way. I was able to hand in something that I'm proud of and it opened up a wealth of new career opportunities I hadn't considered before,” said Parklan Cross, Assiniboine Interactive Media Arts 2021 graduate.

Parklan, who graduates from Interactive Media Arts - Interactive this fall, competed against fellow games artists in-training. A games artist is a graphic artist who specifically focus on video games, creating 2D and 3D art for the visual elements of a video game, such as characters, vehicles, props, scenery, background, objects, colours, textures, and clothing. All these things create the look and feel for a video game. They imagine what items will look like, sketch out preliminary designs, develop sketches into forms that go with the game's desired feel, and turn the chosen sketches into 2 or 3D computer graphics.

“I'm most proud of being able to compete against highly skilled designers in Skills Canada, as 3D modelling is something that's relatively new to me and being able to hold my own and earn bronze felt really good. It was good indicator on how strong the skills I've gained over the Interactive Media Arts program have developed,” Parklan said.

In response to the ongoing global pandemic the Skills Canada National Competition 2021, Skills/Compétences Canada’s annual flagship event was cancelled as a face-to-face event and hosted virtually, allowing competitors from across Canada to participate to become the best of Canada. Cross competed against students who had also qualified for the Skills Canada National Competition by earning a gold medal in their respective provincial/territorial competitions in April this year.

“We are extremely proud of Parklan’s commitment to bettering his skills in 3D Digital Game Art and his performance at the Skills Canada Virtual National Competition. It is a credit to himself and his coach, Interactive Media Arts Instructor Derek Ford to be named bronze medallist in the 3D Digital Game Art contest after going up against Canada’s best,” said Jana Sproule, Chairperson, Media and Office Technology at Assiniboine.

The Skills Canada Virtual National Competition brought together virtually more than 500 students and apprentices from across the country to participate in more than 40 competitions. The philosophy behind the competition is to reward students, involve industry and to keep training relevant to employers’ needs. Competitions are designed and judged by industry professionals and educators.

Assiniboine recently unveiled plans for innovative new learning spaces within the Centre for Creative Media, which will house Assiniboine’s three new creative media programs—Digital Art and Design; Media and Communications; and Web and Interactive Development. If you are interested in learning more about these new programs visit assiniboine.net/programs or attend an upcoming online information session at assiniboine.net/infosession for more information.