Digital Creation Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

Digital Creation is the multimedia discipline of an international Games for French-speaking countries: one artist aged 18 to 35, or a group of up to four, makes a work with digital tools and can win gold, silver or bronze from a jury of five.

Digital Creation is the multimedia discipline in the cultural programme of the Francophone Games, an international event in which French-speaking countries send young artists to compete in music, dance, literature, the visual arts and performance. Where most of the programme is performed live or hung on a wall, this discipline is made on a screen: the entry is a work created with digital tools. The programme’s general rules do not say what kind of work that must be, so a page like this one cannot honestly list formats such as animation, game, interactive piece or digital image as allowed or banned. What the rules do fix is who may enter and how many.

Digital Creation is one of only two disciplines in the programme that accept both a single artist and a group. An entry is either one competitor or a group of up to four, which is why the eTalenter template installs it twice, once as an Individual item and once as a Team item. Every competitor must be over 18 and under 35 during the Games, and the programme is open to men and women alike. Entry is not open to the general public: it goes through the member state or government that sends the artist, after a national pre-selection, and an international pre-selection then limits the number of artists per discipline.

Judging is by a jury of five, one president and four members. The jury ranks three winners and two further mentions, and gold, silver and bronze medals go to the top three. The general rules print no marks, no judging criteria and no time limit for the discipline, and they do not fix a language, so the template installs the item out of 100 with none of those set. The detailed technical rules for the discipline, such as file formats, maximum length or size, software limits and the theme, sit in a separate document that eTalenter does not hold, so a coordinator running the same class at a school, regional or club level should write those limits into the registration notes before entries open.

Organisers like a digital class because the judging does not depend on the room: entries can be collected as files before the day, viewed on a calibrated screen and marked calmly. It also suits teams, since a group of up to four can split design, sound, motion and code between them, which is how digital work is usually made outside a competition.

Where Digital Creation is run

The title Digital Creation appears in one eTalenter template, the cultural competitions of the Francophone Games, where it is one of ten disciplines for artists aged 18 to 35, installed as an Individual item and as a Team item. No other template carries this exact title. Digital art classes under other titles, such as Digital Art, Digital Painting or Digital Media, are run at school festivals and community competitions and have their own pages; this page does not describe them as the same item.

• Francophone world (member states and governments of the Francophone Games)

Key facts

• Installed twice in its one template: as an Individual item (one artist) and as a Team item (a group of up to four)
• Open to men and women aged over 18 and under 35 during the Games
• Judged by a jury of five, one president and four members; the jury ranks three winners and two mentions
• Gold, silver and bronze medals; the rules print no points for placings, so the template installs First, Second and Third with 0 points
• Installed out of 100 with no printed judging criteria, no time limit and no language fixed, because the programme’s general rules do not print them
• Entry is through a member state’s national pre-selection, with an international pre-selection to limit the number of artists per discipline

On eTalenter, Digital Creation is filed under Multimedia and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Digital Creation is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100.

What judges look at in Digital Creation

What a Digital Creation panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• The printed rules give no criteria for this discipline, so this list is general advice drawn from how panels usually look at digital work, not a sheet taken from the Games
• Idea and concept: a clear, original idea that the finished work actually delivers; a panel can tell a tool demonstration from a work that has something to say
• Craft with the tools: control of the software, clean finishing and no visible shortcuts such as stretched images, broken layers or distracting glitches that were not meant
• Design and visual or sound quality: composition, colour, rhythm and balance, and sound where the work uses it, held together as one piece rather than a pile of effects
• Coherence for team entries: the parts made by different members should read as one voice, not four separate pieces placed side by side
• Technical delivery: the work opens and runs as submitted, on the equipment the organiser names, and respects any length or size limit the discipline sets

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Digital Creation under Scoring Setup, or start from the judging and scoring guide.

How to prepare for Digital Creation

How entrants and their teachers usually get Digital Creation right on the day:

• Ask the organiser first for the points the rules leave open: the theme, the file format and size, the maximum length, the software allowed, and whether the work is made beforehand or on the spot
• Choose a form you can finish well. A short, tightly made piece beats an ambitious one that is half built on the day of submission
• Write the idea in two sentences before opening any software; if you cannot, the work will wander and the panel will notice
• For a group, give each member a clear job, such as concept, visuals, sound and assembly, and agree one person who makes the final export
• Build in checking time: open the finished file on a different computer and a large screen, and fix colour, volume and timing problems that a small laptop hides
• Keep every source file and a copy of the final export in two places, and use only material you made or have the right to use
• Show the piece to someone who has not seen it and ask what it was about; their answer tells you whether the idea came across
• Ideas, not rules: a short animated portrait of a market street, an interactive map of a neighbourhood’s sounds, a looping digital collage on a local proverb, or a tiny game that teaches a traditional tale

Frequently asked questions

Is Digital Creation judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

Is Digital Creation the same as Digital Art?

They are close, since both are made on a screen, but they are separate items in eTalenter. Digital Creation is the multimedia discipline of the Francophone Games programme, open to one artist or a group of up to four aged 18 to 35. Digital Art is a school art item with its own year groups and theme.

Can a group enter Digital Creation?

Yes. The rules allow either one competitor or a group of up to four, so the template installs the discipline as both an Individual item and a Team item.

What formats or software are allowed?

The programme’s general rules do not print any. Those limits belong to the discipline’s own rules, which eTalenter does not hold, so a coordinator should set them in the registration notes.

How is a digital work marked?

The printed rules give no criteria and no marks. The template installs the item out of 100 so a coordinator can set the sheet; the Games itself ranks three winners and two mentions by jury decision and awards gold, silver and bronze.

Who can enter the Games’ version of this discipline?

Entry is through a member state or government, after a national pre-selection, and only for artists over 18 and under 35 during the Games. A school or club running the same class can set its own age band.

Want the full judging picture? Read the judging and scoring guide, or browse every multimedia competition item.