[stevek]

Personally I thought the "Crouching Tiger" Animation was one of the best last year- I didnt agree with those results either. I've been on lots of competition teams in my past, I follow the rules as best I can to the letter of the law and I always take myself out of the mix when considering who should win. This way I can be as unbias as possible. I was upset that the above mentioned animation didnt win let alone get an honorable mention next to the ones that did win and get HM's. If you want to know why- take the next 6-months and try to do it yourself.

It pisses me off when the Judges who SHOULD know the rules, dont follow them. (and dont tell me that they are volunteers- because so am I) Because there are plenty of teams that do follow the rules and there are plenty of them that I felt were better picks. If you are looking for surprise and differences- do so within the rules. "30 Sec of Animation using 3DS Max" means 30Sec of animation using 3DS MAX. They dont say, if you happen to do animation for somepart of your 30sec spot- why dont you try this free $3500 software program that we throw in the kit for you. I am a professional animator and graphic designer. I know what it means to "combine" live and CG in a scene. Cutting from one to another is not combining. If You were watch Starwars Ep.II and you see a closeup shot of Anakin Skywalker that cuts to the other side of the universe to show Yoda, do you think- wow that's a great combination of Live Action and CG? I dont think so. But when JaJa and OB1 interact and react in the same scene you think- wow that was awesome. Or in Ep-I the pod races were all done with a combination of CG, Live, and I think Miniatures as well. Thats Combining CG and Live.

All they had to do for this animation (ant the Pong one last year)is place the video in a CG environment and everything would be OK.

I've done promo's for CMT channel that involved a huge CG projection Screen that played live video while CG lights and text and smoke all were layered on top. Ive alos made TV and Computer screens within a CG environment that played video in it. This is "Combining" Ive also done training videos where the store backgrounds were all CG or a city scape that contained the actors. Then there was a Stephen King Commercial that had a CG Skeleton and CG cemetary and the stormy sky and Foreground mail boxes (that recieve the latest SK book through the mail) were all Live footage.

Thats all I'm gunna say on the subject. If you disagree with me- Read the rules first so you can tell me where I'm wrong, then send me a private message because I'm not comming back here. All it does is make the winners feel bad or get them pissed at us and neither one is good or necessary. Just move on and get ready for next year. I am by no means implying that they should reconsider their selection and take back any trophy. This is just not a good path to go down.