2002 Animation Software

[dlavery]

Originally posted by Dan Hill
I'm on the same team as Zeinin, and we are planning to use as many different programs as we can to produce the best animation.
....
I checked the manual and I noticed that it does not say that any other software is not allowed, so they cannot restrict us from using other software.

I do agree with Zeinin on many points:
- the contest is not as open as most of the animators would like to have it. They should not have to make us make the animation have an "appealing aspect to first." We would not be spending as much time as we do if we did not care for first and the animation, and I think that the workers at First should see this.
- the purpose of the animations is not to necessarily to win any awards, it should be so that we can show our friends and family the animation and have say them say "Wow. You guys should be professionals", not "Wow. You guys sure do like to ...animate." Granted, if we do any awards, it would be nice.
-this should be experience with an actual animation software. If you look at any serious animation firm, they will never think about using 3ds max for anything that the general public might see, although they might use it to simulate movements for tests.
-without editing softwares like photoshop and premiere, do not even look toward showing the animation to anyone, because, chances are, it is not going to be pretty. We all suggest rendering the output to single frames and then compiling, editing, and compressing them later.

First off, the rules do indeed state that you have to use Autodesk software, and only Autodesk software, for the animation submissions. This is stated in the Awards section of the rules, Page 12, section C4.1.3. This was further clarified by FIRST on the FRCTECH2002 board in Post 576 on Jan 28.

Maybe the contest is not as open as the animators would like. Well, it is not as open as the software guys would like either. Or the electrical engineers would like. Or the structural engineers, the tacticians, drive system team, or anyone else. But they all find a way to get through the process while staying within both the spirit and letter of the rules.

If I apply the logic utilized in the quoted post to the rest of the FIRST competition, it goes something like this:

- We don't like the way the rules for the competition are stated, so we are going to ignore them.

- It should be obvious to everyone that just because we are building a robot for the FIRST competition that we must love FIRST and robots. We have no responsibility for adequately demonstrating that fact to FIRST or anyone else. It is FIRST’s responsibility to recognize that about us and the other 700+ teams in this year’s competition.

- We are going to use any materials, supplies and parts that we want, whether they are legal in the competition or not

- Most audiences are too stupid to understand that we are working with intentionally limited time, tools, and capabilities, and are therefore incapable of appreciating the work that we have done. So to make it absolutely clear to them that we can do great stuff, we will use prohibited technologies to make it look pretty enough to gain appreciation from even the dumbest viewers.

- We are out to build the biggest, baddest, “best” robot we possibly can build, and we don’t care if it fits within the constraints of the competition or not.

- The fact that other teams work within the rules is irrelevant. The fact that our behavior will likely impact their ability to receive any well-deserved awards is irrelevant.

This is where you end up if you follow that logic to its conclusion. Is this what you really intend? Is this how the rest of your team behaves? And is that what you told your sponsors they should expect from you (you know, the guys paying your bills)?

Originally posted by Zeinin
here is the software that 449 is gonna use for our photoreal animation this year:

1. lightwave version 7
2. Rhino 3d
3. inventor... only if it impresses us enough....
4. PHOTOCHOP
5. Primere


Originally posted by Dan Hill
Everyone who has put down my team for not using programs that we do not think will save us time, should take a look at the true purpose of the animation, not the fact that there is an award that can be won.
…
You all know the point I'm trying to make so I will end it with one more comment. I do not know if my team will be going to nationals, but I hope that when I see the shown animations, I can say "Now that is some quality" not "Wow. They won an award."

Since you have clearly indicated that you do not intend to abide by the rules of this competition, and that you are not interested in winning any of the awards, just in making the best animation that you can, I just have one question for you: if you do happen to win an award, will you admit in front of the entire audience that you did not perform within the rules, that you did not earn the award, and will you return it?

Let me respectfully suggest that you might want to consider taking another approach. If you really want to make the coolest, highest quality, most professional animation that you possibly can, go for it. Use Lightware, Maya, SoftImage, Renderman, Bryce, and any other tools you want. Utilize a professional compositing system. Heck, even subcontract out to PIXAR to have some of your rendering done! When you are done, show it to the world. Let your family and friends be suitably impressed by your work. Put it together with some of your other animations, build a demo reel, and use it to get hired by an animation house. Enter it into any of a number of computer animation (or just regular animation) contest – Newtek, SIGGRAPH, or even the Sundance Film Festival.

Just don’t enter it as part of the FIRST animation competition.

The FIRST competition (both the robot and animation aspects) is about a lot of things: building robots, learning new skills and technologies, being inspired, working in teams, creating an animation, solving problems, turning theory into application, competing, overcoming challenges, getting first-hand exposure to real-world engineering, building people, and many others. But perhaps most importantly, it is about the qualities associated with the Chairman’s Award (including inspiration, recognition, values, responsibility, and ethics of professional behavior). It is no mistake that the Chairman’s Award is the most significant award that a FIRST team can win.

Those behaviors should not be the domain of just the “Chairman’s Award group” of every team – it should be infused throughout the entire team (including the animation team). The animation competition is NOT about just making a pretty animation. It is about learning to be a professional, and working with the responsibility and integrity that being a professional requires. And in some cases, behaving as a professional means that you have to make a choice between playing within the rules of the game, or finding another game.

I would really suggest that you guys take a deep breath, sit back for a minute, and think about what you are doing and why.

- dave