2011 Animation Contest

[Kevin Thorp]

"Team Spork" - What a great name!

I know you asked for 2, but here are the top 3 rookie mistakes, in my opinion:

1. Not using the available free help & training resources (this site, other 3ds Max forums, YouTube tutorials and http://students.autodesk.com).

2. Not reading the rules thoroughly. There are very specific requirements for file type, video length, titling, copyrighted music, etc. It's heartbreaking to hear about a rookie team that put hundreds of hours into their animation only to have it disqualified because they misunderstood a rule.

3. Trying to model & animate humans. This is very difficult and without a lot of experience they end up looking & walking like zombies.

[TShsg]

Thanks so far. We've been working on the rendering capability, knowing that is an issue. I'd like to start that process a week ahead of the deadline because we have never done this before. By all means, don't limit yourself to only two suggestions if you have more! Is anyone else using Maya besides us? Most animation teams seem to have two to seven students on them. How many hours, approximately, does it take your teams to do these animations (an estimated range)?

[Evilyn]

I honestly don't mean to brag at all, but I've been working with 3ds max for 2 years and won the Florida regional last year. I worked alone because there wasn't anyone else who wanted to do it. I just want to affirm that it's do-able but it takes a lot of "Oooo what does this do!?!" kinda thinking. Don't be afraid to explore, even during build season. You'll probably find yourself making things once, and starting over several times. Don't get discouraged.

[scaryone]

1. Read read read all the requirements
2. Understand the deadline for submission. This is a 2 part award (either/or/and) and the submission deadlines are not the same day
3. Give yourself a day for uploading the file for submission. Took us hours to do last year.
4. Build a render farm and get very familiar with it

[scaryone]

We are using Maya on Macs for artwork and are building a Maya/Mental Ray Server Farm on Windows.

[Sunshine]

hmmmmm...

I keep going to FIRSTbase for the award announcement. Now the web page can not even be accessed. Maybe this is good sign and they are updating the site as we speak.

[Kevin Thorp]

Well, at least they changed the message when you go to the Awards tab of http://students.autodesk.com/?nd=first_home

Now (1:00pm eastern time) I see "COMING SOON - Information on the 2011 Award!"

[Sunshine]

FIRSTbase is now open for award info and for getting the Kit of Part Files

http://students.autodesk.com/?nd=first_home



Q: When is the entry deadline for the 3D Animation Award?
A: Submit your animation Entry meeting all requirements by the deadline on Tuesday February 15, 2011,
5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time

Q: When is the entry deadline for the 3D Design Award?
A: All entries must be submitted with all associated files through the Autodesk Education Community
site www.autodesk.com/first not later than Thursday, March 3, 2011, 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

[TomT_1517]

Originally Posted by Kevin342

"Team Spork" - What a great name!

I know you asked for 2, but here are the top 3 rookie mistakes, in my opinion:

1. Not using the available free help & training resources (this site, other 3ds Max forums, YouTube tutorials and http://students.autodesk.com).

2. Not reading the rules thoroughly. There are very specific requirements for file type, video length, titling, copyrighted music, etc. It's heartbreaking to hear about a rookie team that put hundreds of hours into their animation only to have it disqualified because they misunderstood a rule.

3. Trying to model & animate humans. This is very difficult and without a lot of experience they end up looking & walking like zombies.

Works for us, our human was supposed to be a zombie http://bbrobotics.org/mul_video.aspx