Quote:
Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery
I disagree with the whole "let's wait and see" mentality. Let's make it known, now, in a polite and professional fashion that the AVA was an important part of FIRST for many people. Maybe it's still around in some form, who knows? But if we let FIRST know it's value NOW, it will help encourage FIRST and Autodesk to continue to keep the award around in their plans and hopefully help it be a part of the upcoming Awards section of the manual.
If it still exists, they may roll their eyes at us and continue. If it doesn't, they'll take notice with time still left to change it.
I was a member of a team where the animation took a very prominant role. It was one of the largest, if not the largest, group of students working on an individual sub-team/project year after year. It was a source of team pride, a powerful promotional tool, and an additional avenue of learning about aspects not directly related to engineering/the robot (such as storyboards, film composition, computer networking, etc.) that wouldn't have been opened if not for the format of the competition. If it changes, even if 3ds max is still incorporated, it may lose a great deal of the other ANIMATION related qualities. Maybe those aren't important to some of you, but to many in FIRST, they are critical. There's a difference between learning to make a 3d model and learning to make a 30-second short film.
|
Sean, I agree that AVA is a very important part of FIRST. It does attract a group we might not otherwise inspire and it does show students there are different opportunities. I will never say that it is not important or should be eliminated. Nor will I ever tell a student that they should stop working on an animation (even if there is no award) because we need them to build something. It sucks to hear a mentor say that what you are working hard on is something "no one really cares about". I imagine it would suck much harder to hear FIRST come out and say that but I highly doubt that is what they are going to do.
I say we should let FIRST explain their change before we fly off the handle. Expressing a concern about this topic is great, it shows enthusiasm and passion, neither of which are a bad thing when expressed respectfully. Making posts in all caps with a half dozen exclamation points after each sentence is flying off the handle. It does not show passion or enthusiasm it shows ignorance and immaturity. Now, are the concerns voiced valid? I worry they are. This does not mean that we should assume that FIRST is removing our beloved competition. FIRST has usually been pretty good about improvements (they try to be at least). I trust FIRST because they do have a good cause and some brilliant people helping them towards that cause. I am not saying don't express concern, nor am I saying not to question the great and mighty FIRST. Just relax a bit, we know very little about this right now and for all we know it could be a really awesome change.