New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

Have you all seen the rules? Your team contact should have received an email from FIRST.

Notable changes this year:

• New deadline: Paperwork by Feb. 6, animation and storyboard by Feb. 13 :ahh:
• Must be in QuickTime format. No DiVX, Cinepak or any other codecs.
• You have 2 chances of going to final judging: winning a regional AVA or being selected by the Autodesk judges
• 3 National Awards: Championship, Honorable Mention (new) and Rising Star (Rookie)
• New theme: "Ideas Realized – the process of visualizing what you want to achieve from being part of FIRST."

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

Just a clarification on the video compression: the file format must be QuickTime (.mov), and the codec used must be DV-NTSC.

There is also a plethora of strict new regulations about frame rate, resolution, placement of text, audio levels, etc. so make sure you read the rules posted on Streamline before you start animating.

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

so i guess this would mean there is no size limit on the animation unlike last year where it was set to about under 300mbs if i remember correctly. If we use that compression i think it would give out a larger size than other compressions like divx or the cinepac mention before. I havent read all the rules yet it would be nice if someone posts it here :)

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

Size limit is 250 Mb.

I'd post the rules but they include login information to Autodesk's Streamline site, and I dont know if they want that in a public forum.

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

The rules can be found in the attached doc.

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

I <3 the animation guys who changed what animators must animate. Now the only problem is tracking them down and awarding them with a cookie as I promised earlier in another thread, which I can't seem to find. Ah well, now we need to complete the animation this year. :eek:

That deadline really scares me.

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

hmm i read the file and as i though before there is no size limit to next years competition unless first posts it la8er. The codec we are used last year allowed us to compress our animation from about 1 gig to about 150 mbs -cinepac so dv would be larger file . anyway thanks for the info

-team1635 animator ;)

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

well that info is already in the usfirst website so its already public.

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

not exactly...only those who have streamline can access it.

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

Whew, for a minute i thought they changed the content requirements. Theme changed, but that's easy to work with. This is my first year leading the animation team, so none of the format changes affect me. Before this my superiors did all that.

BTW, since windows movie maker doesn't support quicktime i don't think, is there a free video program so i can add the slate and black parts, as well as the voiceover?

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

AVID Free DV should be able to do that

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

Our video editing software doesn't do Quicktime either. I started a new thread about video editing:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...613#post426613

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

Just a quick tip for those who haven't used "safe frames" before.

In 3ds max, the settings you use in the Render Scene dialog will determine the aspect ratio of the frame when it is rendered.
The viewport can show this as a box known as the "live area" by right clicking on the viewport name and selecting "show safe frame".

By default, the live area is the largest box, then action safe frame/box at 10%, then the smallest is title safe at 20% from the edge of the live area.

This year's award guidelines say everything should be within a 15% boundary from the edge of the live area (which you should set to NTSC DV or 720x480 in the Render Scene dialog).
So you could go to the Customize menu, Viewport configuration, and select only Title Safe for example and set it to be 15.

If so, then in your viewport you will see the live area and another box inside of it at 15% from the edge.

-Bruce
Animation mentor, team 111

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

Back when I started out in 2002 we had amost nine weeks to do the animation. Now it's down to five.
Autodesk is killing me! :mad:

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

Paperwork will be a cinch but only five weeks to animate... :eek: Last year, my team spent at least a week or two just brainstorming ideas for the animation. Looks like we really have to step it up this year. (Ahh, the sleepless nights await!)

I wonder why AutoDesk implemented the new method of getting to the National round...

What I want to achieve from being a part of FIRST: Dine on fine American food with teammates and playing around hotel lobbies at the Regionals.
Seriously.

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

Man only 5 weeks! I was still doing tutorial book when i turned in our teams animation last year. I worked really hard at it even though I didn't know what I was doing half the time. Looked like crap but hey least i did it. This year I know a lot more about the software, but still only hit the very tip of the iceberg of what 3ds max can do. Wish I could get professional help from someone who really knows the software. I am going to be rushed to get everything done this year since I am by myself again. Also, was a frosh last year so less homework than this year so everything is going to be cramped. Our team only has like 6 dedicated kids this year. Anyways, I had one question about the theme. It pretty much means what I, or the team, is going to get out of robotics?

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

Yeah - we've been having some discussions about the new theme:

"Ideas Realized – the process of visualizing what you want to achieve from being part of FIRST."

I suppose you can look at it short term (what want to achieve this season) or long term (what you achieve in your future careers).

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

I first thought the idea meant ideas you think of becoming a reality. Like the team imagines what the robot looks like and then builds it from taht idea. First idea for animation was now to future looks. Like I modeled my room just to learn more stuff about 3ds max and I am thinking of doing something to take it from now to the future. One of the team member's dad is a professional cartoon artist and he is going to help me storyboard and might get professional animators to help *crosses his fingers.

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

How strict are the judges likely to be with the theme? Our animation team already has a concept, a storyboard, and a bit of actual animation done, but it's more along the lines of "an idea being realized" rather than "the process of visualizing what you want to achieve from being part of FIRST." :confused:

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

that is what we have too, i am thinking of just leaving it. To me it is still realizing an idea. and the vizualizing, in my opinion would be seeing how that is realized which is what an idea is being realized. Hope that isn't confusing.

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

Okay, good. Thanks. :)

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

WHAT!
"the process of visualizing what you want to achieve from being part of FIRST!"!!!
That was not in the rule book we got.
here i am 2 days before the animation needs to be submitted and i JUST found out that was what it might mean.

*Crosses HIS fingers*
OH PLAESE don't let the judges be picky
I'm going with the ideas becoming reality bit
I've got a anima of a robot trying to get to the Hardware store.
I just hope it flies.

Re: New Rules (Questioned) for the 2006 AVA
 

[quote=Pat Fairbank]Just a clarification on the video compression: the file format must be QuickTime (.mov), and the codec used must be DV-NTSC.

That's not the way I read it. While I don't know Pat's qualifications (so he might just have the power to say, "Sorry, I don't think so"), I thought the DV-NTSC refered to the "Pixel-Aspect Ratio." Seeing it this way means that the next two lines of the codec regulations are not merely redundant, but simply narrow the field of codecs allowed while allowing each team to compress as they see fits their animation best. Seeing as there are other regulations that are independent of the codec (frame size, frame rate) I figured this wasn't a bad assumption, especially when exporting with the DV-NTSC format resulted (even after 6 hours of tweaking) in a file the five times larger than when using the H.264 codec with much, much worse image quality. Will this still get disqualified? (H.264 is neither cinepak nor a non-standard codec and we set pixel-aspect ratio to DV-NTSC with fps at 29.97 and frame size a 720x480).

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

I'll quote a post DLavery made not long ago:

Re: New Rules for the 2006 AVA
 

My point was, does anyone know (for sure) what Autodesk actually thinks. I understand that a lot of experienced people are saying that we shouldn't risk it, but there's also been an official e-mail posted that states that cinepak is acceptable, which is directly against the written rules, showing that even autodesk doesn't seem to have a straight response (the same e-mail spurred an argument over whether Quicktime was a codec). Essentially, no one seems to actually know the truth, some just have experience seeing past truths played out. I probably should have just sent a e-mail to autodesk in the first place instead of posting here then sending it the e-mail.