F.A.N.A.T.I.C. - FIRST Animator’s Network for Appreciation of Technology In Communication
So, here it is; an off-season animation competition. Students will create animations between 30sec and 2min that follow a specific theme (TBA). There will be many awards given, rather than just the grand prize. All it takes is a few animators, some copies of 3ds Max, a few computers, and a website to host your final animation.
Interested? Send an e-mail to FANATIC_67@HOTmail.com
[reason for FANATIC rant]
In most cases, animators in FIRST are under-appreciated. The fact is, Computer animation is not only a great hobby, but crucial to the understanding of technology. When NASA creates a new mars rover, it makes a cg animation that explains the robot’s capabilities to the public. When GM needs to show a concept design for their latest vehicle, they’ll create an animation. When the History Channel wants to show the sinking of a World War II battleship when there was no camera to record the event, they’ll make an animation.
Besides the obvious importance of animation, it also is a fun hobby. Many FIRST members don’t get a chance to animate, or don’t get a chance to work on the robot, because of the conflicting schedule. Many students never get an opportunity to use 3ds max because they must devote their time to the robot. Many animators never get to build the robot. Some people may see this as a reason to eliminate the animation portion of FIRST, but I disagree.
The animation competition gets more students involved in FIRST. When I joined my team, I had no interest in engineering. After two years, I plan on going into the field. If it hadn’t been for the animation competition, I wouldn’t have joined FIRST.
So, in essence, the animation competition can be used to get more students involved in FIRST. But, then how will they work on the robot? What’s the point of drawing these students to FIRST if they can’t get the full experience? Well, now we have FANATIC. Now you can do both. Now, we can gather animators in the fall and convince them to join FIRST in the winter. We get more people interested in FIRST, we get more people working on the robot, and allow more people the privilege of working with 3ds Max. That’s FANATIC.
[end rant]
So, if you’re interested (even if you normally don’t do the animation), register! The competition is not scheduled to start until November, but we may have a judging pilot this summer. Plus, the sooner you register, the greater the influence you could have on how the competition is run.
Post any questions or comments you may have.
