Fewer Animations?

[cbale2000]

I think the reasoning generally stems from a lack of knowledgeable people. If you think about it, most teams have mentors that are familiar with certain aspects of the team, whether it be CAD, Machining, business or what ever. However, I do not know of a team (though I'm sure there are at least a few) that have mentors that work with 3DsMax in their jobs.

Our animation team (2 years ago when we actually still had one) consisted of 3 people who had no idea what they were doing, even after managing a few simple clips, no one really knew how we were going to come up with an animation idea and then create it, on top of that no one could find the rules for the animation stuff and later found out that we had passed the deadline anyways.


Personally, I think they would get more entries for the animation if they allowed the use of other software as well (at a teams own expense of course), in my experience I've found 3DsMax is NOT very user friendly when compared with other options out there.


In the general scheme of things, I think when teams prioritize, they look at animations as a secondary objective, and if they're not even sure if they're going to be able to finish one, why even try? Not the best attitude but unless you have a team with like 50 people, it's the reality of the competition.

[/rant]

[boehmz]

Where are you guys seeing this? Are the animations grouped by regional already like they were yesterday? I'd like to see what kind of competition there will be at the regionals our team is going to.

[MadeAtMidnight]

the link was posted under "2009: Post a Link to Your Animation" --

http://firstbasefrc.autodesk.com/?&n...viewer&base=26

but it is now up to 101 from 82, so \i think they are still working on them.

[nnfuller]

I think it might have to do with the fact that this year's season was so off center that it might have thrown some teams off.

[Koko Ed]

When resources get tight and there just aren't as many kids to go around animation is always the first to go.

[Mazin]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

When resources get tight and there just aren't as many kids to go around animation is always the first to go.

Yes, especially given a theme that found teams hard-pressed to come up with anything worth animating.

"Do you have any good ideas?"
"Um, not really."
"Meh, let's just not do an animation this year."
"Yeah, good idea."

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Mazin

Yes, especially given a theme that found teams hard-pressed to come up with anything worth animating.

"Do you have any good ideas?"
"Um, not really."
"Meh, let's just not do an animation this year."
"Yeah, good idea."

I still say animation is the illegitimate child of the FIRST family locked away in the attic and never spoken about.

[MadeAtMidnight]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

I still say animation is the illegitimate child of the FIRST family locked away in the attic and never spoken about.

lol, I'm trying to figure out a way to change that. When I see how much it influenced Pete (BuddyB309), I realize that this has so much to offer students. Maybe if they were due at different times? I know that most of the kids that learned the program over the summer and fall, worked mostly on the robot. If they hadn't had to choose between the two, they would have helped with the animation also.

[NorviewsVeteran]

I keep telling people who whine about the animation not getting done, "its the FIRST ROBOTICS competition, not the FIRST ANIMATION contest. Now get back in the shop and cut that piece I told you to."

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by NorviewsVeteran

I keep telling people who whine about the animation not getting done, "its the FIRST ROBOTICS competition, not the FIRST ANIMATION contest. Now get back in the shop and cut that piece I told you to."

I personally think the animation competition needs major league retooling to make it actually legitimate and useful instead of the sideshow afterthought that it is.
It should be made into a video design competition that features animation to create 2 minute team previews that can be shown during the eventual downtime that occur at the events due to the field breaking down.

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

I personally think the animation competition needs major league retooling to make it actually legitimate and useful instead of the sideshow afterthought that it is.
It should be made into a video design competition that features animation to create 2 minute team previews that can be shown during the eventual downtime that occur at the events due to the field breaking down.

Not a bad idea actually, that way anyone who can figure out a camera and Windows Movie Maker would at least be able to submit something, maybe setup a point system for it where you get more points for having an animation in it, but it wouldn't require you to have one in order to submit one.

[BuddyB309]

Originally Posted by NorviewsVeteran

I keep telling people who whine about the animation not getting done, "its the FIRST ROBOTICS competition, not the FIRST ANIMATION contest. Now get back in the shop and cut that piece I told you to."

WHOA!!! that hurts. You might as well stabbed me in the chest with a monkey wrench. When I joined robotics, I thought I was going to be a mechanical engineer. FIRST taught me I HATE engineering, but then I found animation. And fell deeply in love with it. I now think of nothing other than animation and loving every bit of it. Which is far better than me being in my sophomore year of college just now finding out I hate engineering and not know what to do.

It hurts when people say that to teammates. Some of my teamates wanted me off the team because I wasn't helping with the robot when I did animation for the first year. Animation is HARD. Let die hard animation lovers be. Don't force them to do something they don't like.

[cbale2000]

True, however, if you don't have a finished robot to compete with then an animation isn't really going to do you much good will it? Granted if you have enough people on the team to get the robot done, so be it, but it is a reality for some teams that there are sometimes just not enough people to have some off working on side projects like animation and such.

[Chris27]

Originally Posted by cbale2000

True, however, if you don't have a finished robot to compete with then an animation isn't really going to do you much good will it? Granted if you have enough people on the team to get the robot done, so be it, but it is a reality for some teams that there are sometimes just not enough people to have some off working on side projects like animation and such.

However in 2007, our animation did allow our team to be a part of the Championship even though our robot could not.

FIRST is about exposing young high school students to Science and Technology. By participating in the FIRST program under the guidance of mentors, students are exposed to options of what they want to do later in life that they may otherwise not know about until the middle of college. There is much more than just engineering (even though that's what FIRST focuses on).

The robot is just a vehicle for this experience. It doesn't have to be particularly successful for students to have the "FIRST" experience. The kitbot, which provides a good deal of functionality, can be put together in a matter of hours. Teams are missing out if they only focus on just having a complete robot on ship day and neglect other aspects of FIRST.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by cbale2000

True, however, if you don't have a finished robot to compete with then an animation isn't really going to do you much good will it? Granted if you have enough people on the team to get the robot done, so be it, but it is a reality for some teams that there are sometimes just not enough people to have some off working on side projects like animation and such.

Well, then I suppose 397 shouldnt be doing an animation, we had more students want to do animation than wanted to build a robot. We still completed a robot.

By the way, who says you have to submit the animation you do? Or even follow FIRST's rules? Heresy I know, but Id rather have the students make something they want and have fun doing it than to have them not enjoy it. This is part of the reason 397 didnt actually submit our animation this year.

Also, if people are making fun of the animation team there needs to be a chat with the team, students should be allowed to follow their passions (within some limits) without fear of being mocked. I remember in my junior year I was doing an animation and one of the mentors told me that no one cared about the animation. I still recall that as one of the most offensive things ever said to me in FIRST. So animators, if you are being mocked by others on your team dont sit back and take it, respond with some snide remark about how all they do is hit stuff with a hammer, you are an artist! *



*Ok seriously, dont be a jerk back, that was a joke. Do let them know that you are doing what you feel is important. Don't ever let anyone else crush your dreams.