How it
works

Mission Atlas is a pan-African creative competition aimed at discovering, supporting, and promoting African 3D artists. Participants are invited to create short 3D videos (maximum 1 minute 30 seconds) celebrating the spirit of football using free 3D assets provided by Afro VFX.

The video must be produced using 3D assets provided by AfroVFX.

Intellectual Property

• Participants must be the sole authors of the submitted works (application and final production) and guarantee that no third-party copyright is violated.
• The use of assets (including characters) not included in the pack is permitted, but ownership (original creation) must be proven.
• The use of animation support tools (e.g., Mixamo) is permitted but must be acknowledged.
• By participating, finalists grant AfroVFX and its partners a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, and distribute their works for promotional and educational purposes, with attribution.

• Participants must respect the image and values ​​of AfroVFX and its partners.
• Participants (finalists) are strongly recommended to participate in all activities (training and mentoring) throughout the competition.
• Participants agree not to share the 3D assets provided by AfroVFX, either free of charge or for commercial purposes.
• Work must not contain any offensive, discriminatory, or illegal content.
• Participants agree not to distribute any version of their creation that violates the intellectual property rules of AFCON 2025 or by mentioning them.
• Any plagiarism, fraudulent behavior, or non-compliance with the rules will result in immediate disqualification.

Registration is free.

• Applications must be submitted by completing the registration form between September 8th and September 20th at 11:59 PM GMT. Following this first phase, a pre-selection of 30 profiles will be submitted to the jury.
• Each application must include:

• The completed registration form
• A portfolio presenting previous work (in the form of a link)
• A storyboard (10 to 20 images) presenting your proposed video project (possibility ti use AI) Click HERE to access the pre-registration form

To enter the competition, applicants must:

• Reside in an African country at the time of entry.
• Be at least 18 years old on the date of entry.
• Be the original creator of all submitted works (portfolio and storyboard) even as a team
• Participate individually or as part of an unincorporated team (no formal studios allowed).

Phase 1 – Pre-Selection

• Afro VFX reviews all eligible applications and pre-selects up to 30 applicants. 
• The official jury selects five finalists based on the relevance, creativity, and originality of their storyboards and portfolios.

Phase 2 – Selection and Integration of Finalists

• The 30 semi-finalists must create a profile on the platform www.cgafrica.com to present their application to the jury.
• The jury selects the five finalist teams.
• Online bootcamp for integrating the finalist teams: Competition content, schedule, schedule, access to tools (assets, Autodesk Media & Entertainment pack)

Phase 3 – Final Production

The five finalists will receive:

• The Autodesk Media & Entertainment Collection
• AfroVFX's free 3D asset pack (stadiums, buildings, monuments, etc.)
• Crowd simulation training using Golaem software, as well as Layout and Lighting in Maya
• Mentoring provided by industry experts

Finalists must produce a final video of no more than 1 minute and 2 seconds, in accordance with the technical guidelines provided.

Finalists are invited to supplement the AfroVFX assets with their own assets (not purchased on any platform).

The jury evaluates the final videos according to :

• Fidelity to the original storyboard
• Artistic creativity and originality
• Technical quality (animation, layout, lighting, rendering, crowd simulation) Narrative strength and suitability to the competition theme
• Technical Excellence (animation, layout, lighting, rendering, crowd simulation) and Narrative Impact, including storytelling quality and alignment with the competition theme.

In addition to the $500 cash prize awarded to the grand prize winner, the finalists will benefit from exclusive tools, training, and mentoring—invaluable assets for advancing in the 3D and VFX industry. 

List of all prizes offered as part of this competition:

• $500 cash prize
• 1 trip for 1 person (all expenses paid) to Morocco (period to be specified by AfroVFX)
• 1 trip for 1 person (all expenses paid) to participate in the LISOLO 2026 event in Abidjan
• 1 year of the Autodesk Media & Entertainment Suite
• Access to a series of training courses offered by AfroVFX (Crowd simulation on Golaem, CG lighting on Maya, Cinematic Layout on Maya)
• Access to an online bootcamp offered by AfroVFX after the competition

Prizes are distributed according to the following ranking:

• Grand winner (1st place) determined by the jury
• 2nd place determined by the jury
• Public or public vote

If circumstances beyond its control prevent AfroVFX from providing any of the above-mentioned items, AfroVFX will not be held liable and will provide a replacement of equivalent value.