Do We Need More Contests?

[Xtaz]

I'd prefer a contest somewhat more focused than "anything".

I'm with you Robert ....

 

I would like to see some animations based in sports ...

for example ... Olympics

 

Fencing

Long Jump

Soccer

shot put....

....

....

 

they are great to study all animations principles....

[Darkwing]

...Why do we need to vote on them? Why does somebody need to win? I'm more inclined to the no winner idea and perhaps the ultimate goal is basically for a critique by experienced members of the community. Almost an American Idol sort of thing, except we're not weeding them out to see which is best, we're weeding out what needs improvement and what works...

 

You can get critiques on your work from the forum members at any time. There is no need for a contest.

 

 

Yes and no, this is more of an incentive to work on your project or pre-defined ones or whatever. But I dunno, I've no idea why I'm part of this discussion really because in any scenario, I just won't be entering anything ever anyways, so my opinions are somewhat invalid But I think you'd get more people involved if they knew either they had a good chance at winning or it wasn't about winning at all

[mouseman]

We've had quite a few ideas fly by, some of which were conflicting, which is what brainstorming is all about. At some point, we'll have to limit down to a few. Below, I tried to incorporate as large of a set of ideas that were mentioned that work together; I had to drop some conflicting ideas. Here's a summary of the points that stood out in my memory and fit together.

 

Content

Ilidrake is leaning towards focusing on animation.

Robcat mentioned a short project is better for improving animation skills.

John Bigboote mentioned (and I agreed) that having a pre-made set similar to the Bus Stop could help focus on animation.

Xtaz mentioned something small in scope, like specific sporting events.

 

Judging and Awards

Darkwing mentioned issues with only the best person winning and everyone else has no chance.

Will Sutton said you can get critiques on the forum, so it wouldn't make a great prize. (However, I think the forum environment tends towards being more supportive than offering in-depth critiques, which take a lot of effort to do well but are also extremely valuable.)

I mentioned two possible prizes, both of which focus on improving animation skills:

1. one prize where someone who is not the best but whose project could best be critiqued as an example of points to improve would be the one that is reviewed, so everyone. That way, anyone could "win" but everyone benefits.
   
2. one prize where the best person gets a post pinned with their own objectives and lessons learned; I'd like to add that maybe an interview format would work.
   

There was also the question of who judges, and trying not to place a burden on Hash to do all of the vote collecting and tallying. Ilidrake mentioned either a panel or a voting poll. Rodney mentioned Hash Fellows grading/critiquing. I like the idea of a panel that including the person that does the critique. Maybe the person that won the last contest could be one of the judges for the next contest (in addition to having the pinned post).

 

Future Ideas

Remember, not every contest has to be the same or have the same focus. A second contest could focus more on poses and "sequential art" as suggested by Nancy and Robcat. A third contest could be a "dust off and finish up your WIP" contest.

 

General

We'd probably need a contest chair for each contest.

 

I hope this summary is helpful.

[mtpeak2]

We could do a 'bus stop' type thing... where we upload a project complete with a rigged character(s), setting and sound file. It would be up to the individual participant to download, animate, direct camera angles, lights and render to file.

Why not exactly like the "Bus Stop"?, but with less restrictions (camera moves). A premade set is made available to participants, then the animations are all edited together and viewed as a whole. Then a "surprise" winner is picked by either voting or maybe the hash fellows.

[mouseman]

We just need a set ...

[TheSpleen]

Myron came up with the idea of the "AMMY" long ago.

It was a golden THOM posed like an Oscar.

[mouseman]

I think there is a lot of overlap with the idea of a contest and the idea of a forum project. Maybe it would be best to do forum projects, and add a voting aspect to them?

[Ilidrake]

Well had a complete computer meltdown and finally got it back up and running. And I have finished my 28 day work week and have 28 days off the get back to AM. So we seem to have a lot of mixed feelings on this, as well as a lot of great ideas. I must say I was impressed with the Bus Stop project and I think something like that would be pretty good to do again. This time I would be more than happy to do a short myself.

[Bruce Del Porte]

I was wondering if this was dead, welcome back to the living. I even had thoughts of hijacking the thread and declaring a contest myself.

 

I would get too hung up on getting consensus. Many posts (mine) were just suggestions rather than adamant disagreement with another person's idea. Unanimous agreement is likely impossible.

 

If you choose to manage a contest or group project, you get to make the rules. You have a lot of interesting input to take into consideration. Keep in mind how much time and effort the rules place on yourself. In the end, those inclined to participate will and I can't remember a contest that didn't produce interesting work.

 

GO FOR IT!

[Ilidrake]

It's not dead, my PC was LOL. The motherboard just died on me and I had to build a new one. Anyway I'm still rolling the idea around and I'm still open to all ideas, though I'm leaning more towards a BUS STOP type thing.

[robcat2075]

I think a BUS STOP type thing doesn't need to be a contest.

 

A Mascot thing needs to be a contest because we need to choose one mascot, but a BUS STOP thing wants as many people to try and be pleased with their participation and not feel like they've "lost" or came "that close".

[Gerry]

I agree, I think a cooperative forum project would be preferable to a contest with winners and losers. I thought the bus stop worked well and, time permitting, I'd participate again. Just working within constraints set by others was good practice.

[Ilidrake]

Lot's of good ideas! So since this has stretched out so far I'm inclined to go with a sports type theme. Each person involved could choose a sport and then animate a small segment, sort of like a training video or guide...ie the old Goofy films. I would assume everyone involved would prefer the forum project over a contest?

[Gerry]

i like that and it gives me an idea for a very specific structure. It would go like this. Say it's called "The Animation: Master All-Sports Video Instruction Manual".

 

First we agree on a list of segment titles, e.g., Broken-Field Running, The Lay-up, Batting stance, etc. The sillier the better. The bridging device would simply be nicely designed title slides. Then we each pick a segment to do, and from there we're each on our own.

[Ilidrake]

My biggest problem would be storage for people to upload there finished segments to so that it can be edited together. What about drop box?

[robcat2075]

The problem i anticipate with the "sports event" is that every sport really needs a different set for the action to happen on.

[Ilidrake]

I've been considering this and I don't really see a problem really. We could keep the set semi-simple. It's really a matter of props.

[Gerry]

Do we even need a set? Why not use a generic high school gym wall or something? or a plain white background?

[Ilidrake]

Thats what I was thinking. Maybe a small track field.

[robcat2075]

i guess the bottom line is... whoever is organizing it will need to make sure it really works for all possibilities and define it so there aren't any possibilities that don't work.

 

I thought we had BUS STOP made foolproof but a whole bunch of segments came in not meshing with other segments. Gah!

[Ilidrake]

That's why I haven't rushed in to anything just yet. Still trying to roll all the kinks out. One thing also would be version. I think version 15? Like I said, lots of things to work out.

[robcat2075]

I think people really liked the continuous appearance of BUS STOP because it made the various individual contributions seem part of a bigger whole.

[zandoriastudios]

Myron came up with the idea of the "AMMY" long ago.

It was a golden THOM posed like an Oscar.

 

Jim Talbot made this "Golden Shlitzy" for a trophy--could be used as a Forum graphic, for "contests won", instead of ****

[fae_alba]

The problem i anticipate with the "sports event" is that every sport really needs a different set for the action to happen on.

 

This theme would also need someone with a good voice to provide a consistent narration in my mind, that would be what ties active animation together. The animator provides the script with his submission, the narrator records it.

 

I'm liking this one..got a couple of ideas already!

[Gerry]

Hm, I hadn't thought about narration but that would be fun! So the unifying elements would be: Nicely designed (and consistent) title slides, a plain white background, and narration. Keeps the focus on the animation.

[Ilidrake]

Nice The narration would be the last thing we need though as we'd have to see what we have before we narrate it but definitly a great idea. So the next question would be deadline. What would be a nice realistic time frame to have it finished?

[fae_alba]

Nice The narration would be the last thing we need though as we'd have to see what we have before we narrate it but definitly a great idea. So the next question would be deadline. What would be a nice realistic time frame to have it finished?

 

 

no....the narration should be written by the animator/story teller as part of the creation of the story...they go hand in hand. Think of writing a script to drive the animation process....the script would then become the narration to be read. Good practice for us all.