Oct 9, 2014 -- The call for entries opens today for the 13th annual Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards. Autodesk Inc. is supporting the Steven Spielberg-inspired award for “Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project” for the 7th year in a row

The VES Awards recognize the most outstanding visual effects projects of the year, honoring the artists who created them, and Autodesk is proud to support the artists, animators, designers and filmmakers of tomorrow through its sponsorship of the student award. On February 4, 2015, the VES will honor the artists behind the work, including the prestigious Visionary Award which will be presented to J.J. Abrams .

The winning student or team of students will receive the award live on-stage at the annual VES Awards Show, to be held on Wednesday, February 4 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Students can enter eligible projects released between January 1, 2014 - December 31, 2014; submissions will be accepted between October 6 - November 23, 2014.

Established in 2009 to recognize the amazing visual effects work being done by students, the VES student award has proven to be a springboard for aspiring visual effects professionals as past winners have gone on to work at leading visual effects studios such as MPC, Pixomondo, Glassworks, The Mill, Psyop and others.

Autodesk's support of the VES student awards builds on its commitment in education and to grooming an industry-ready workforce. In fact, all students, teachers and schools around the world have free* access to Autodesk's full portfolio of creative applications and professional 3D design software. In North America, more than 35,000 middle schools, high schools, and higher education institutions can take advantage of Autodesk's pledge in education which is valued at over $450 million in software and services .

Learn more about the VES Awards online: http://www.visualeffectssociety.com/ves-awards and follow @VFXSociety on Twitter.

Learn about the Autodesk Education Community online: http://students.autodesk.com/, follow @AutodeskEDU and join the community www.facebook.com/Autodeskcommunity

Free Autodesk software and/or cloud-based services may only be used for educational purposes and are subject to acceptance of and compliance with the terms and conditions of the software license agreement or terms of service. Details and restrictions available at http://usa.autodesk.com/legal-notices-trademarks.

Pictured: “Rugbybugs,” last year's VES Student Award-winning short film from Filmakademie Baden-Württemburg.