VCU Regional Problems Basically Fixed

[SteveC116]

If any of you recall, many of us had complaints last year about the quality of the animation competion at VCU. Well this year I have no such complaints. Instead of being in the noisy pits, the animation judging was held in a seperate room which was quiet and out of the way. The TV which was used to show the animations was larger than last year, and instead of being VHS, the animations were all on DVD.

The DVD was organized into regionals, so there wasn't any confusion of which animation to judge, unlike last year.

Honestly I am impressed that Autodesk fixed these problems which we were so upset about last year. The animations were also shown, big screen, to the audience at least three times during Thursday and Friday. Animation is starting to get the respect it deserves.

[kcy88]

yea, its cool how they "escort" you to a room just to watch the animations..
dont u feel special? cause i do

[JabzX]

I agree 100%.

Makes me so.. ...happy.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by JabzX

I agree 100%.

Makes me so.. ...happy.

Glad to hear it. I guess FIRST finally is taking the animation competition seriously.

[JamesWu]

I did feel like I special about the way we were escorted into another room. However, at the Pacific Northwest Regionals the tv wasn't so big. At most it was 20 inches wide. Still the animations looked great and I was glad I participated.

[JabzX]

Originally Posted by JamesWu

Still the animations looked great

Oh yea! I forgot, the animations better than usual. The quality went up, but I guess I can attribute that to the more demanding process for entry.

[SteveC116]

Originally Posted by JamesWu

At most it was 20 inches wide.

Well thats about the size here too, it was a TV with a DVD player built in. But even at 20 inches, it beat the 12 inch or so TV from last year.

[Ryan Dognaux]

That's awesome! I remember the horrors of VCU's animation judging last year, even though we didn't enter it there I did witness it... ::shudders:: It's not something I want to remember, but obviously Autodesk did and they got it fixed!

[Joe Matt]

I just want to congradulate 116, the winners of VCU!

[Terminator6]

116 did a great job on their animation i must say...but i think that this system is not what i thought we would have from last years complaints...i think that the reform of the judging makes things better...but still left me a bit uneasy...

not that i dont trust you all...but student judging is easy to fix...easy for a team with a grudge to make sure an animation gets rejected...the double standard with animation and robotics is still visible...nobody would allow robot awards to be judged by other robot members...these awards are considered by knowledgeable judges that excell in the robotics field....why shouldnt animation get the same treatment....

i wouldnt really think so much on the subject...but for the fact that just tonight my dad said to me..."why dont you join the engineering [robotics] team...they get more credit than you do...you should have some fun"...as tempting as the offer seemed...i stick with the animation side because i believe that animation should be paid the same amount of attention as robot...and one day itll happen...probably not in my one year of high school left...but eventually

maybe i have an unrealistic hope that one day FIRST will finally sit down and give us real judges and awards beyond the simple winner...i am happy for the progress made...but i think more is nessicary