Good luck to new teams.

[Mazin]

It's a shame they don't—correct me if I'm wrong—have a Rookie award for teams just starting animation.

I really really don't mean to brag, but I do feel kinda bad when I see these newbie animations that can't compare to what an experienced animator produces. Anybody can spot them: harsh lighting, flat materials, movement that wasn't keyframed quite right.

I know they've worked hard to learn Max, and 3D animation is challenging no matter what software. But, there's always people that have much more experience with Max and/or animation in general.

It's hard, really, and there's no way anybody can learn enough to make a award-worthy animation in the short time between kickoff and the deadline. That's why they had the Rookie award to begin with, and I'm wondering why they took it out. They seem to have taken a lot of stuff out this year, although I'm glad that regionals is being put back in.

But my message is this:
Good luck to everybody, especially new teams.


Personally, the first version of Max I used was 3ds max three, back when it was still under the Kinetix name. I distinctly remember the first animation I made at a local community college workshop. It was my name spinning 360 degrees. 100 frames, two keys, fit on a floppy. I thought it was pretty cool. I still think it's pretty cool.