Autodesk Posted this Year's Rules

[Kevin Thorp]

Theme: Design an Invention for Your Community

Length: 30 seconds

Deadline: Friday, Feb. 15, 5:00 pm Pacific time

Details on FIRSTbase:
http://firstbasefrc.autodesk.com/?nd=first_competition_visualization

[MadeAtMidnight]

Are there going to be regional competitions this year? I didn't see anything mentioned.

[Kevin Thorp]

I didn't see anything either. That's disappointing; so is the elimination of the Honorable Mention & Rookie Awards.

Last year there was no mention of regional awards, but later Autodesk changed their minds put them back in.

[xrabohrok]

Did anyone see anything for or against photoshop for texture maps?

[Kevin Thorp]

I'm sure PhotoShop is fine for maps. We've used Paint Shop Pro (poor man's PhotoShop) for the past few years.

[Koko Ed]

I didn't see anything either. That's disappointing; so is the elimination of the Honorable Mention & Rookie Awards.

Last year there was no mention of regional awards, but later Autodesk changed their minds put them back in.

Looks like it may be time for another petition. I sure hope not.

[3DMentorTeam388]

Was it just me or is Autodesk requiring all work to be done in 3Ds Max, including post-production? Could you export several scenes and assemble them in other video editing software, i.e. Final Cut or Premiere? We didn't compete last year so we are a little behind on rule changes

[Setsanto]

They want everything to be done using a 3ds Max product (with the exception of Maya), but photoshop and final cut are used by nearly everyone. This year they are trying to get Combustion up (photoshop for animations basically), but theyre having some trouble.

~Setsanto

[3DMentorTeam388]

So if Final Cut was used, would that be grounds for disqualification? I can see that Autodesk is trying to level the playing field, what are your opinions?

Lee

[Sergio]

I barely use final cut, but seriously, how would they be able to tell? If everything is compressed into one .mov file, how can you tell? you know?

So if Final Cut was used, would that be grounds for disqualification? I can see that Autodesk is trying to level the playing field, what are your opinions?

Lee

[budly99]

Isn't the whole concept at FIRST that we all follow the rules....you are on your own to police yourself. You should use 3Dmax if it is a requirement.

Perhaps that is what Dean was trying to say at kickoff.....too much emphesis on "winning" instead of competing for the enjoyment.

[richalex2010]

I understood it to mean that, if Autodesk doesn't upload Combustion by a reasonable date, you can use any software (After Effects, Premiere, Final Cut, etc.) for post-work. There is nothing directly saying that the other software *isn't* allowed, though nothing implicitly specifying that other software *is* allowed.

[Setsanto]

I think it would be unfair of Autodesk to not allow any post-production programs. If they can upload Combustion in time, sure great, were all set. But otherwise, voiceovers and stuff would be impossible and we somehow need to convert the .avi/.wmv files to .mov. Photoshop and video editing programs have been used since the beggining by teams by what I've seen, and its almost impossible to live up to their format requirements without them

[3DMentorTeam388]

I can see Autodesk requiring just their products, after all they are a sponsor, but in looking at some of last years animations 3Ds Max was not the only software used for animation. I even think some was done using just Aftereffects. I personally would like to be able to use other products for modeling then import into 3Ds Max for final animation/rendering. Then use Final Cut for final scene assembly and audio post work, but thats just my opinion and work-flow.

Lee

[lilwupster]

You can easily use the Video Post feature in max to do everything through max so you don't break any post-processing program rules. This is what our team has done in the years prior.

[rfolea]

Are there going to be regional competitions this year? I didn't see anything mentioned.
There are Regional Competitions - see the Autodesk section of the AWRDS manual ...

Regionals ar PEER judged, Championships are not.

[legomaster3945]

i have allways wondered about the final cut legality too because i used vegas last year and i cannot see anyware in the rules that we cannot use it
it doesnt specifically say we can but it doesnt say we cant either
the video post works good without the need to use other stuff
but all your scenes have to be in the same file to use which is why we didnt do it last year (partly because we didnt know how and partly becasue we had like 5 diffent files)

[MadeAtMidnight]

There are Regional Competitions - see the Autodesk section of the AWRDS manual ...

Regionals ar PEER judged, Championships are not.

Great! Thanks!

[stevek]

Other software has never really been limited. With the exception of using 3DS Max. (By the way Maya is an Autodesk Product not a 3DS Max Product, 3DS MAX is only one piece of software not a product line) The mention of exporting the final movie from MAX appears to me to be their control for the CODEC. Different software may produce a file that is not fully compatible (even with similar settings) With the hundreds of entries they want to eliminate potential issues that effect their ability to deliver your animation to your regional (and will slow down the entire process for them). So if you export someplace else, you take a chance--- But you can finish your submission anywhere you want and then render the submission in MAX by adding it as an animated Background to an empty scene (then rerender the proper settings). This will ensure you give them what they ask for.

Whether or not they come out with Combustion, you should be able to edit and add audio how ever you need to (AVID, FCP, Premiere, etc). The main reason for limiting to MAX for the 3D is becuase they are giving it to us, they are sponsoring the competition, and as they stated its a level playing field. Maya for instance is much beter for highend animations (Character motion and such) and the render has different strengths, so the limit to MAX makes it all even (not based on a "richer" or longer established team being able to affort more expensive software)

Anyway... Have at it. Prep image maps, add audio, and render render render!!!

[Corporat]

There are Regional Competitions - see the Autodesk section of the AWRDS manual ...

Regionals ar PEER judged, Championships are not.
You're right with the regional award (thank heaven for that), but only half right with the peer judging of the national. Official judges choose five national AVA nominees, and all students registered on the FIRSTBase site have the ability to vote for their favorite of the five. Majority vote wins the award.