What is next for the community

[mtpeak2]

A big problem i had with our most recent forum project is that we spent a lot of time creating special new assets for it and making them look good and testing them and created very clear directions on how to be part of this forum project and what to do for it...

 

...and then one person took the assets and ignored the directions and made something for himself that will never fit into the real project and it's obvious he never intended it to fit anyway and he put it out on the web before the real one could be done and now the newness and specialness of the assets that were made for our project is ruined.

 

It's gotta be the most thoughtless and selfish thing I've seen on this forum in a long time and it completely deflated my interest in collaborative projects. It's a lot of work to go through just to have someone take it all for their own show.

 

 

Boo Hoo!

 

Robert, you have nothing but your own poor leadership to blame for the 2011 project derailing. I suspect even Alfred Hitchcock would have been replaced had he allowed a 90 day schedule (Your rule 13) to slip to fourteen months, with no end in sight. In May, when you moved the end date to September, you were still soliciting new recruits rather that looking to wrap things up. Even at the end of November 2012, nearly eight months past the 90 day schedule, you were soliciting new participants.

 

In May it became clear to me that there was no plan to finish and so I stepped to finish off my own work myself. If you consider it thoughtless, let me assure you it was well thought out because you weren't making anything happen. You still aren't.

 

It is unfortunate that those folks that bought in to your leading this project to completion are now still in limbo while you have a pity party because of your "deflated interest". My sympathy is for them being duped, not your bruised ego.

 

I am proud I was able to recycle my own work from your failed project and make a complete piece. Hitchcock's movie was an interesting study. If at some point you decide to quit pouting and complete your compilation, I'm sure the two pieces will compliment each other.

 

Hey now Bruce! I spent alot of time on that set, remodeling and texturing, and I feel the same way as Robert (I didn't work on it for one person to use). Robert was not the leader in this project, fae_alba was, it just fell into Robert's lap.

 

I also did the set for "Bus stop" and I loved how it came out. It was exciting to see how it all came together in the end, but now with "Rear Window", it's not as exciting anymore because you posted your animation first.

 

I just hope the COMMUNITY project gets finished, despite of all of this. I just feel bad for all the people who submitted their work the right way and may not ever see it, the the way it was suppose to be seen (as a group project).

[Ilidrake]

So...at this point it is interesting to see the conversation turn to finger pointing. My own thoughts on community projects...it succeeds as a group or fails as a group. Yes, you will always have people burning with ambition when they get on for the ride. And then deflate and move on. That's called human nature. Always looking for the next exciting thing to play with.

 

Fair enough! Can we get past these trivial flaws and consider a real world case of another feature? What would be something that everyone can sink their teeth in, even if temporarily. What kind of project would allow all creative talents, good and bad to learn?

 

I am not asking this question lightly. I am looking for real answers. Not more questions...unless those questions can eventually lead to an answer.

 

I ask this because eventually I will have my own project ready for community help. And the question is are we the kind of community that will help when asked? Perhaps I am being selfish. I'm not sure. I get a real sense of accomplishment when I am able to help people here on the forums.

 

Having said that I believe I owe Robcat an apology. He was coaching a few of us on here and I let him down. So if your reading this Rob I am sorry. My interest in your lessons are still as strong as ever but were swallowed by Woke Up Dead. I hope we can pick it back up and I can learn more from you because your a pretty dang talented animator.

[Dpendleton77]

I would go with doing an anthology. I can see that working.

[Vertexspline]

Ironically even within the thread we see some of the issues we were speaking of with Community projects. So the issues are indeed real - and the trick I suppose is managing them so they do not become obstacles you cannot hurdle and more just roadblocks were you need to take a few detours to get to your destination.

 

But to keep the conversation going for Ilidrake's sake----There are some realities that are harsh for the prospects and production of a large community project.

 

There are only a relatively small number of very talented folks that are active here. (That is not to say they are not out there but they are quiet) . Then how many of those have free time or wish to use a lot of their free time on a group project ? that limits that number yet again. This is before you even get into the other obstacles of artisty control, direction , editing , group team work, coordination issues, render times --etc etc on and on.

 

Its easy to see why these things do not get started or finished.

 

That said, I also believe there are many folks who would love to participate (And often with a sort of rose colored romantic notion of working on a large group project) . I also believe that this group may not be the most experienced nor talented despite their initial enthusiasm.

 

Its just the balance of power in 3d applications. 5 Percent of a community are master level users (You know who they are) , then there are maybe 15 percent more members near master level or getting close to it. The other 80 percent are in various degrees of learning. Some with more talent then others who may eventually get to the top two levels but it will take years and most will try things for a while , try to learn , get frustrated and leave before they even give things a good chance. (3d is not and easy game to play)

 

What i am suggesting is the one real trick ---maybe the only trick to start or complete a large community group project is you have to somehow --tap into , teach, instruct, mentor , control and direct the 80 percent of the community so they can help the masters and near masters go about there work. The old idea of the key frame ---the master worked on certain key frames and the inbetween were done by lesser artists. That is just a concept -in reality its even worse than that ---as most of this group are not capable of producing results required to have a quality product. So the Masters ----would not be working just on the "keyframes" but mentoring folks in modeling,texturing animating etc trying to harness the numbers. But what master level person really wants to be responsible for producing while at the same time mentoring? And how many folks can teach or have the extra time for it?

 

And this is before you even deal with all the artistic issues.

 

I always think anything can be done -- but one has to understand the obstacles and judge if maybe today is not such a good day to climb Mt Everest.

[itsjustme]

What i am suggesting is the one real trick ---maybe the only trick to start or complete a large community group project is you have to somehow --tap into , teach, instruct, mentor , control and direct the 80 percent of the community so they can help the masters and near masters go about there work. The old idea of the key frame ---the master worked on certain key frames and the inbetween were done by lesser artists. That is just a concept -in reality its even worse than that ---as most of this group are not capable of producing results required to have a quality product. So the Masters ----would not be working just on the "keyframes" but mentoring folks in modeling,texturing animating etc trying to harness the numbers. But what master level person really wants to be responsible for producing while at the same time mentoring? And how many folks can teach or have the extra time for it?

 

If it were small teams (three to five people) with at least one "instructor/mentor" making individual shorts of something less than a couple of minutes (for the sake of speed, I would go for 30 seconds to a little over a minute), it could work.

[Dpendleton77]

Ironically even within the thread we see some of the issues we were speaking of with Community projects. So the issues are indeed real - and the trick I suppose is managing them so they do not become obstacles you cannot hurdle and more just roadblocks were you need to take a few detours to get to your destination.

 

But to keep the conversation going for Ilidrake's sake----There are some realities that are harsh for the prospects and production of a large community project.

 

There are only a relatively small number of very talented folks that are active here. (That is not to say they are not out there but they are quiet) . Then how many of those have free time or wish to use a lot of their free time on a group project ? that limits that number yet again. This is before you even get into the other obstacles of artisty control, direction , editing , group team work, coordination issues, render times --etc etc on and on.

 

Its easy to see why these things do not get started or finished.

 

That said, I also believe there are many folks who would love to participate (And often with a sort of rose colored romantic notion of working on a large group project) . I also believe that this group may not be the most experienced nor talented despite their initial enthusiasm.

 

Its just the balance of power in 3d applications. 5 Percent of a community are master level users (You know who they are) , then there are maybe 15 percent more members near master level or getting close to it. The other 80 percent are in various degrees of learning. Some with more talent then others who may eventually get to the top two levels but it will take years and most will try things for a while , try to learn , get frustrated and leave before they even give things a good chance. (3d is not and easy game to play)

 

What i am suggesting is the one real trick ---maybe the only trick to start or complete a large community group project is you have to somehow --tap into , teach, instruct, mentor , control and direct the 80 percent of the community so they can help the masters and near masters go about there work. The old idea of the key frame ---the master worked on certain key frames and the inbetween were done by lesser artists. That is just a concept -in reality its even worse than that ---as most of this group are not capable of producing results required to have a quality product. So the Masters ----would not be working just on the "keyframes" but mentoring folks in modeling,texturing animating etc trying to harness the numbers. But what master level person really wants to be responsible for producing while at the same time mentoring? And how many folks can teach or have the extra time for it?

 

And this is before you even deal with all the artistic issues.

 

I always think anything can be done -- but one has to understand the obstacles and judge if maybe today is not such a good day to climb Mt Everest.

I think there are quite a few people at the master level in this program. They just don't post here anymore,I have scoured the internet and they re out there. I am a beginner myself and probably would have been further along but hey things happen. My thing is and I have always said it lack of up to date tutorials like other programs have. I see that a lot of people on here are willing to help the new folks. Could another big feature happen I believe it can. The older more seasoned folks could help with more bootcamps and things like that.

[Vertexspline]

Dpendleton77 -------Oh I never want to squash any potential visions that folks might have ...just trying to bring a good enough spoonful of reality. You read through this thread and lots of good folks have spoken of the difficulties of a large community group project. Many of them who worked on the 2 Hash Films so its out of experiences which carry more weight than from folks who just think they know stuff---- like me. Smiles .

 

Does that mean something like that could not be done again ? I hope not. I think its the ultimate validation of a software and its users. But as I have written previously ---and as you yourself indicated perhaps some more tutorials could help grow the talent faster and keep it . I imagine that the number of folks who start up with AM and drop it out of frustration are rather significant. Now I can say the same for a lot of 3d software because they are difficult but because AM has such a nice price point more folks will "try" AM then say Lightwave or MODO at $1,500 for instnace.

 

So I am pretty convinced the only way we will see a large community project is after a pretty strong effort to mentor a lot of folks along. Growing the pool of folks who could possibly work on a large project by many fold. Perhaps focusing the learning on the project itself. ie. If you need 100 different flowers for some scene -----make a tutorial on making (modeling/texturing) flowers and ask for folks to watch, learn and make . If you do a good job teaching ---you might end up with 50 pretty cool flowers as potential props .....follow this kind of idea for everything you need and it might actually be a way to grow the talent and complete a large project. Smiles.

[Dpendleton77]

Dpendleton77 -------Oh I never want to squash any potential visions that folks might have ...just trying to bring a good enough spoonful of reality. You read through this thread and lots of good folks have spoken of the difficulties of a large community group project. Many of them who worked on the 2 Hash Films so its out of experiences which carry more weight than from folks who just think they know stuff---- like me. Smiles .

 

Does that mean something like that could not be done again ? I hope not. I think its the ultimate validation of a software and its users. But as I have written previously ---and as you yourself indicated perhaps some more tutorials could help grow the talent faster and keep it . I imagine that the number of folks who start up with AM and drop it out of frustration are rather significant. Now I can say the same for a lot of 3d software because they are difficult but because AM has such a nice price point more folks will "try" AM then say Lightwave or MODO at $1,500 for instnace.

 

So I am pretty convinced the only way we will see a large community project is after a pretty strong effort to mentor a lot of folks along. Growing the pool of folks who could possibly work on a large project by many fold. Perhaps focusing the learning on the project itself. ie. If you need 100 different flowers for some scene -----make a tutorial on making (modeling/texturing) flowers and ask for folks to watch, learn and make . If you do a good job teaching ---you might end up with 50 pretty cool flowers as potential props .....follow this kind of idea for everything you need and it might actually be a way to grow the talent and complete a large project. Smiles.

I see where you are coming from. I am trying to get a few of my friends to pick up this program because it has a lot of potential and it is just plain out powerful. The stalled treks,Zandoria,and few folks that I have seen on youtube can really make this program burn. I will say if another project is to done it should be kept to 30 minutes or 45 at the most. Possibly a cartoon or a sci-fi production.

[largento]

I think David's idea of teams is a great one!

 

I'm going to make an alternate suggestion for a community project.

 

I know my experience was that I got A:M in 2004, spent a month or two in love with the idea of doing something in 3D, but just couldn't understand the concepts and dropped out. When I came back in 2007, many of the old guard were gone, but I got lucky that so many of them had left behind tutorials that I could seek out. Hash should really attempt to buy Barry Zundel's training videos and make them available to all. They were such a key into my understanding this app and the difference between my 2004 experience and my 2007 one.

 

But even with all those tutorials, the real learning comes when you are trying to solve problems while working on a project. And you soon realize that hey, even though I'm capable of creating all the things I need for an epic feature film, I don't realistically have the time! The haystack doesn't look that big until you start trying to count the straws.

 

What saved me was doing a comic!

 

Doing 5 comics a week on The Wannabe Pirates was a huge learning experience for me. Each of those strips had 3+ shots that had to be set up, lighted, characters posed, etc. I had to figure out how to organize assets, deal with the demands of the story and my own abilities or lack thereof. The sheer volume of that helped me immensely.

 

Sure, it wasn't animation, but it was almost all the steps around animation... and a lot of animation is posing and composing, which is what most of the work is in a comic. It kinda' makes sense when you compare it to doing storyboards before animating.

 

Comics also don't require any audio, so you don't have to worry about soundtracks, voice artists, sound effects, etc. You can just concentrate on storytelling.

 

Comics can also be distributed much easier. They are smaller in file size and require less time investment from the audience.

 

Also, you get to cross the finish line over and over and over again. After having spent more than a year trying to make an animated Wannabe Pirates short, I suddenly found that I was getting to finish something five times a week!

 

I think it's worth considering doing a comic strip or comic book project as a stepping stone ...and I can tell you from experience, that once you've set up all those choreographies for the panels, it's not a huge leap to take them to animation and you've already got your storyboards finished, too!

 

Just my thought...

[Dpendleton77]

I like the idea of doing a comic it has crossed my mind a few times. I have seen what the guy at the dreamland chronicles has done and it is great. Yes I want to jump right into animating and all that but I can slow my a bit to try hand at a comic.

[largento]

I like the idea of doing a comic it has crossed my mind a few times. I have seen what the guy at the dreamland chronicles has done and it is great. Yes I want to jump right into animating and all that but I can slow my a bit to try hand at a comic.

 

Just bear in mind that Scott Sava pays for his models and sets. I'm wanting to say around 2007 or 2008, he said that he had already spent over $100K on assets for the strip. I don't know how much he's spent since.

 

That said, if Hash were to be okay with it, a team could work on a strip set in Oz using the assets already made. Essentially create their own stories in that universe leaning heavily on pre-existing assets.

[Dpendleton77]

I like the idea of doing a comic it has crossed my mind a few times. I have seen what the guy at the dreamland chronicles has done and it is great. Yes I want to jump right into animating and all that but I can slow my a bit to try hand at a comic.

 

Just bear in mind that Scott Sava pays for his models and sets. I'm wanting to say around 2007 or 2008, he said that he had already spent over $100K on assets for the strip. I don't know how much he's spent since.

 

That said, if Hash were to be okay with it, a team could work on a strip set in Oz using the assets already made. Essentially create their own stories in that universe leaning heavily on pre-existing assets.

Yeah I remember him saying something like that ouch. Well I am trying to learn hash now mostly modeling,hopefully I can graduate to animating. The Oz thing would be fun to play with.

[mouseman]

If it were small teams (three to five people) with at least one "instructor/mentor" making individual shorts of something less than a couple of minutes (for the sake of speed, I would go for 30 seconds to a little over a minute), it could work.

Yes! Small teams with small projects. As Steve Shelton said earlier, we have had a lot of success working together.

 

I'd love to see the people with the most all-round skills help lead/mentor a group to come up with a storyline, design a set and characters, model / texture / rig them all, and do a short. As far as I can tell, some of the people (off the top of my head, I'm probably missing a lot) with the best all-round skills that are recently active are probably Robcat and Nancy, followed by Largento and John Bigboote and xtaz; others with lots of skills include mtpeak, itsjustme, Gerald, William Sutton. Put together a few teams, divide the work, help each other out, do something and get it done and out there in a relatively short time (3 months?), then break up and reform different teams. Use Skype and/or Google+ to communicate; share files in SVN and/or Dropbox.

[Xtaz]

I would participate in a short project. A top notch one.

[Dpendleton77]

If it were small teams (three to five people) with at least one "instructor/mentor" making individual shorts of something less than a couple of minutes (for the sake of speed, I would go for 30 seconds to a little over a minute), it could work.

Yes! Small teams with small projects. As Steve Shelton said earlier, we have had a lot of success working together.

 

I'd love to see the people with the most all-round skills help lead/mentor a group to come up with a storyline, design a set and characters, model / texture / rig them all, and do a short. As far as I can tell, some of the people (off the top of my head, I'm probably missing a lot) with the best all-round skills that are recently active are probably Robcat and Nancy, followed by Largento and John Bigboote and xtaz; others with lots of skills include mtpeak, itsjustme, Gerald, William Sutton. Put together a few teams, divide the work, help each other out, do something and get it done and out there in a relatively short time (3 months?), then break up and reform different teams. Use Skype and/or Google+ to communicate; share files in SVN and/or Dropbox.

I would like to see something like this go down.

[largento]

I've got a project that requires my full attention until October, but after that, I'd be game to consider something like this. Especially if it had a reasonable production time (i.e. months instead of years). :-)

[Vertexspline]

Not that I would be much help in any project considering my level of expertise ...more like the 10th man on a basketball team but I have been getting more time back into AM again and who knows maybe with a little more focus might even come off the bench and make a lucky basket. Smiles.

 

So a short project down the road might be a good thing for me.

[Ilidrake]

Glad to see my fishing post has more people talking more towards creating something then debating the merits for doing or not doing something. Just what AM needs

[higginsdj]

As is usual for these things, there is a lot of talk but no much action (no disrespect intended to anyone). This forum allows for those with Projects in mind to create a topic and run with it.

 

However, one thing that is lacking is a 'Roster' of 'talent' outlining who would consider participating, when they might be willing to participate and what they can contribute (leave it to the project owner to decide the talents level of ability). Not sure how this could be set up/managed in this forum though.

 

OK, so if you have a project in mind, create a new topic. Call it "Kickstarter - Your Project name" and outline your project. When your project is ready and has the required participants then you can kick off into a new topic (your Project name) and the kickstarter topic can be archived. This way be have visibility on projects that are brewing and projects that are underway.

 

Cheers

[zandoriastudios]

I think that would just be confusing since "Kickstarter " is the crowd funding site....

[itsjustme]

OK, so if you have a project in mind, create a new topic. Call it "Kickstarter - Your Project name" and outline your project. When your project is ready and has the required participants then you can kick off into a new topic (your Project name) and the kickstarter topic can be archived. This way be have visibility on projects that are brewing and projects that are underway.

 

That would change it from teaching/learning projects into something else. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what everyone is after with this. I thought it would be small projects made by small groups as a way to fill the gaps in their knowledge so that they can better produce their own projects.

[Rodney]

However, one thing that is lacking is a 'Roster' of 'talent' outlining who would consider participating, when they might be willing to participate and what they can contribute (leave it to the project owner to decide the talents level of ability). Not sure how this could be set up/managed in this forum though.

 

If there is interest...

 

We do have a Work For Hire forum than is rather underutilized.

One possibility would be to tweak/expand that area to always index A:M's creative talent and provide their Work For Hire status.

 

Basic concept

Anyone interested in working for or with others (free/paid/whatever) would post one topic (that'd be their business card).

They would be responsible for editing that post to let others know they current status.

Where feasible the listing would be automated.

Default order of the listing would be posted order (but this could be customized via options on the forum's bottom right).

 

Options might be:

 

Available for Community Project: NO/YES

Avialable for Paid Jobs: NO/YES

 

Skill Set/Interest

Modeling: NO/YES

Animation: NO/YES

Rigging: NO/YES

etc.

 

The default (if any) would be 'NO' to prevent inadvertent contacts and offers.

 

Note that these areas would probably be better served by customizing and then maintaining forum profiles and the Work For Hire forum could simply link to that.

 

To see a list of those who are available you'd just have to click on a link that would list all of the bio-topics.

 

That's a shot across the bow... for now I won't speculate farther.

[Dpendleton77]

OK, so if you have a project in mind, create a new topic. Call it "Kickstarter - Your Project name" and outline your project. When your project is ready and has the required participants then you can kick off into a new topic (your Project name) and the kickstarter topic can be archived. This way be have visibility on projects that are brewing and projects that are underway.

 

That would change it from teaching/learning projects into something else. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what everyone is after with this. I thought it would be small projects made by small groups as a way to fill the gaps in their knowledge so that they can better produce their own projects.

I know I am new to the program but I am willing to learn and take directions.

[Vertexspline]

I think that the idea of small groups working on a smallish project with the intention of growing expertise makes the most sense to me if a larger group project was going to be tried down the road. This does many things. It makes people learn to work as a group and it helps people learn way faster and better than struggling more on their own. It also creates people who are going to be more dependable if a larger longer project got started as they will have already gotten some experience what it is like working on a project. (Yes , some of the shine would have worn off by then).

[ChuckGram]

Perhaps something along the lines of Robot Chicken? A project like that would appeal to many of our interests, give us a chance to show off a multitude of models, voice talents and animation skills. It would also pacify the ADD in all of us for a while

[Dpendleton77]

Perhaps something along the lines of Robot Chicken? A project like that would appeal to many of our interests, give us a chance to show off a multitude of models, voice talents and animation skills. It would also pacify the ADD in all of us for a while

Why are the postings in this so scarce? I thought this post would get people buzzing with ideas.

[zandoriastudios]

because we "talk" about this over and over and over....

[ChuckGram]

Perhaps something along the lines of Robot Chicken? A project like that would appeal to many of our interests, give us a chance to show off a multitude of models, voice talents and animation skills. It would also pacify the ADD in all of us for a while

Why are the postings in this so scarce? I thought this post would get people buzzing with ideas.

Dude, the ADD keeps distracting us. I'll try and focus but no guarantees.

[Vertexspline]

ADD ---darn, I am much better with multiplication.

[Dpendleton77]

because we "talk" about this over and over and over....

I never knew. This plus ADD is a bad combo.

[Rodney]

because we "talk" about this over and over and over....

I never knew. This plus ADD is a bad combo.

 

I believe this is one of the reasons the Special Topics were initiated.. Of course, another is to showcase cool stuff.

In this way workable ideas quickly spin up into production.

In almost every case the initiator of an idea is its greatest champion.

[fae_alba]

OK, I've got to chime in here...imagine my surprise to see myself thrown under the bus, or better yet buried in the back yard in this discussion! In talking about community projects in general, and Rear Window in particular, allow my to explain/defend myself on how that all went down. The genesis of Rear Window was a discussion very much like this one: Let's do a community project whoopee. Then when it came down to someone to manage it .... silence. A lot of people want to talk about this, it's a great idea, but when it comes down to someone volunteering to devote their time to run it, no one steps up. For RW, I was naive enough to think I could squeeze it into my schedule. Big mistake on my part, but I wanted to see the project done. The deadline slipped for a very good reason; only three groups actually made a short... not much of a community project really. So a second call for shorts went out, again silence. Then my own schedule got crazy and I had to hand it off to another very capable person. Very simply put, reality sucks. Time is money for every one on this forum, large community projects are time consuming, and therefore expensive, even when we are all volunteering. The three shorts that were done for RW are fantastic, but in my humble opinion, not nearly enough to make the overall project a success.

 

That being said, griping about how RW may perhaps failed is sort of silly. You want a successful community project then great! But don't bitch over the failures of past projects, learn from them! Talk to the people who were involved, find out what worked and what didn't. Don't complain about it. And after you are fully informed, if you still want a community project, step up, and volunteer your time to manage it.

 

I'm officially off my soapbox now.

[Vertexspline]

Paul , most of the folks in this conversation I do not think are blaming anyone for anything. For a community mostly made up of hobbyist who have real jobs and real responsibilities --this rl thing will and does sometimes make doing anything creative difficult . The fact that some folks start something and cannot complete and others take over -----is just the way it is. It is actually expected not a surprise for anyone who has been around the block just once.

 

I think you are right in saying learn from mistakes, and guess what --even then there will be more anyhow. Its just the way things go.

 

And as far as community projects ---its not just so simple to have anyone stand up and say lets do this because I can volunteer my time etc. ---It kind of takes a village maybe a whole town to make a project. Smiles.

 

And community project ---in itself is a misnomer. Its not like the community is one. It's a splintered mix of talents , ideas , and availabilities. At best you can have a group project --for those who can in all that "can" means.

 

But--- in the end it almost always will take a driving force of at least a few especially talented folks to make anything significant happen as indeed reality sucks.

[Dpendleton77]

Well said Rich.

[fae_alba]

Well said Rich.

 

Rich, you captured the spirit of my rant...well said

[Rodney]

We do want to maintain a community that isn't afraid to try new ideas.

Paul is an excellent example of someone who might have bitten off a bit more than he could chew at the time but he's still here with us in the forum and in time I have no doubt he'll give a different project another try.

 

My greater concern is for those who might bite off more than they can chew (that's everyone at one time or another) and then for any number of reasons fade into the shadows. Sometimes this is because they feel they've let others in the community down... sometimes they feel it was the community that let them down... etc. etc. We would like to avoid this in community projects.

 

An important aspect of any community project is learning from the experience and we can't learn unless we share our experiences, both the good and the bad. Just be considerate of the other people who (like you) gave their best for the project when delivering the bad.

[Roger]

I have a hard time with managing my own project, I think I would be useless on a community project (at least until I'm done with mine).

I do think that another feature film is not necessarily the way to go, as others have mentioned a short is probably better.

Maybe with a maximum length of 20 minutes? It just seems like a short is more doable.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

[kwhitaker]

(Artists are sensitive creatures.

There seems to be two primary approaches to working with them:

 

1) Handle with care.

2) Bash them atop the head.

 

In this I'm finding that the use of both is appropriate but as in animation itself, timing is everything.

A little inbetweening also helps.)

 

 

I love this statement hahah, I do believe after 47 year of being married to a artist my darling husband agrees with your words of wisdom.

[Dpendleton77]

This thread should be ten pages long. Come on folks.

[zandoriastudios]

Write a short skit, set in Oz, use the TWO assets...

[Dpendleton77]

I am trying to spread the word of A:M on my facebook page. Hopefully some fresh eyes and minds will embrace the product.

[Vertexspline]

Its a start ---anyplace anyway one can spread the word is a good thing for sure for all. (Teeshirts)

[Dpendleton77]

Its a start ---anyplace anyway one can spread the word is a good thing for sure for all. (Teeshirts)

I would wear a teeshirt for sure.

[zandoriastudios]

Is there enough work to put together an A:M showreel like this 2013 one for Blender?

[Tore]

Is there enough work to put together an A:M showreel

 

Excellent idea!

[fae_alba]

Just as an FYI, Rear Window is not dead. I am working on putting the submissions together now. So this particular community project will see a successful end in just a little bit more time.

[Rodney]

Is there enough work to put together an A:M showreel like this 2013 one for Blender?

 

My initial thought was 'no' but then I began to consider what work has been done in 2013 and believe there is plenty to show.

The difficulty would be collecting it all and clearing any rights that would otherwise prevent showing.

 

There is also some work that has been done that may or may not have been done with A:M... or was created with a variety of software, including A:M.

Soulcage Department has a few recent examples that I'm fairly sure were initially worked in A:M but were then modified and rendered in other software.

 

There is also the work that has been completed but generally not publshed/showcased here in the forum.

 

I suppose I'm saying, "I don't know" here but I've seen a lot of animation over the past year created with A:M.

A few were created in previous years but released (or discovered) in 2013.

I've converted more than a few snippets from them into gif animation for use in the forum banner.

 

If you include some of the still imagery posted in 2013 that could be animated ala Ken Burns methodology then I'd say... "Sure Thing! We have more than enough for a showreel."

 

 

Edit: It's a bit of a stretch to suggest it is 2013 vintage but... after completing it's festival circuit 'Scarecrow of Oz' was released to the public via youtube in March of this year too.

[Rodney]

We could also render some nice turnarounds or animation custom made for the showreel.

We still have over three months in 2013 to go.

 

Example of a few of Sebastian's characters that deserve to be animated: Linkage

[Xtaz]

I would love to see zeco's house in...

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?act=a...st&id=63158

maybe in some weeks I have more to show

[Fuchur]

I would love to see zeco's house in...

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?act=a...st&id=63158

maybe in some weeks I have more to show

 

Good god that is mavelous!

How did you do the fire?

 

See you

*Fuchur*