I was thinking about how little time FIRST actually spends showing the aminimations. Sometimes they take even more time to make than the robots. It is pretty sad that only the winners get shown when so many other teams put such hard work into thier own animations. It would be nice if the other animations were shown on the big screens in the morning or something, while people are getting set up, or at lunch time.
Becky
*Originally posted by SharkBite *
**I was thinking about how little time FIRST actually spends showing the aminimations. Sometimes they take even more time to make than the robots. It is pretty sad that only the winners get shown when so many other teams put such hard work into thier own animations. It would be nice if the other animations were shown on the big screens in the morning or something, while people are getting set up, or at lunch time.Becky **
At least for the past 2 years, FIRST has set up an “animation preview” on Thursday and/or Friday nights at Nationals near the end of the day’s events, showcasing many of the submitted animations, and getting a “buzz” started as to who the winners might be…
Instead of blaring out bad techno music before competition at the regionals they could run a loop of all the animations that were submitted by the teams at said regional. Give us at least a little credit, since we usually do put in more hours than go in for the robot.
In the past at Nationals, they’ve showed the animations w/o sound in the pits before and after the competitions. I’ve seen them show some animations at regionals, but those have been for the previous year since the animations have a later due date then the robots.
hmm
yeah
i mentioned it eariler, that there should be reigonal awards for animations.
now on to something that will prolly bruise some egos:
alot of the animations are just… bad
i watched all of last years entrys with my team on friday, and i gotta say, some of them just burned my retinas. now i have to admit, my first animation sucked hardcore. no two ways about it. our second animation was… better. but it didnt make much sence. this years animation will be perfect. absolutely perfect.
so everyone, do a good job this year! i hope i dont see people useing the default MAX textures. i hope i see better lighting. i hope i see motion blur, and DoF, and good IK… individually, these are not hard to do, but you have to be aware of all aspects of the animation at once
you need a PLAN before all. you need to know exactly what you are doing at all times
you need good models.
you need better textures and surfaces
you need GOOD LIGHTING. that is the #2 problem with the bad animations last year.
you need GOOD MOTION. that is the #1 problem with most animations.
render your animation out to a low res file just to check the motion. that is key. 
i know they show animations sometimes, but im saying they should show them more, even if they are not good
the key is to have them up somewhere where watching them is optional, so at least the animators can experience seeing thier own creation on a big screen
and it should be at a time where people are there anyway, not before or after competition times because lots of people who might otherwise be inspired by them wont stick around
yeah
well we got them to show our animation on the big screen at richmond, cause were were cool like that, 
and at nats, they do have the ted boardman lectures… he is a BEAST. althogh i generaly am down on 3dsmax cause of render quality, that man can do WONDERS.
sadly, the animations this year are prolly gonnna be hella lame, cause of that new rule they added about havieng to have that "statement about what first means to you " or whatever. i dont think im alone in this one, but i reaaaaly dont like those standard sappy animations with the robot doing the match, and then doing something cute at the end. its just lame lame lame. :o
but i do agree with you sharky, they do need more exsposure.
AUTODESK always shows the animatios at the Nationals
And they do show ALL the animatiosn that were submitted in ascending order of team numbers. and it is also optional. They were showing them in the big screen in the main stage in the Nationals last year and it was during competitions and they had
a workshop one night with Ted Boardman after hours and everyone who was interested showed up.
"sadly, the animations this year are prolly gonnna be hella lame, cause of that new rule they added about havieng to have that "statement about what first means to you " or whatever. i dont think im alone in this one, but i reaaaaly dont like those standard sappy animations with the robot doing the match, and then doing something cute at the end. its just lame lame lame.
but i do agree with you sharky, they do need more exsposure"
speaking of lame ideas, ive got an awesome one that ties it in but my team isnt big on animation and we dont have anyone will to dedicate any real time to it (dont be afraid its not THAT hard)
we have to use a simple idea cause its all we can do but i would like to see my idea used nevertheless even if it is by another team
if you want it just email me
Becky
thanks, but we already have ours planned:D
are you part of the animation team? would it be that hard to get some people together with you to make one?
if you need any technical help, just AIM me (Zeinin) or email or whatever. i really wanna see some more good animations.
*Originally posted by SharkBite *
**"…speaking of lame ideas, ive got an awesome one that ties it in but my team isnt big on animation and we dont have anyone will to dedicate any real time to it (dont be afraid its not THAT hard)
we have to use a simple idea cause its all we can do but i would like to see my idea used nevertheless even if it is by another team
if you want it just email meBecky **
First, are you goign to work on the animation that your team will be submitting this year?
Second, i dont knnow how your team went about the brainstorming session but i would think that all teams would get together share ideas for what Autodesk is askign this year and vote on the best one they like that would show the message of what FIRST means to them.
third, your are subestimating the capacity and ability of you animators I think thats not right and is not in the best interest of teamwork.
anyway Im curious what does your idea shows about what FIRST means to you?
Last year at the Silicon Valley Regional they had an animation competition. It was cool because they took one representative from every team and showed them the animations, then they got to grade each animation.
The only times I have ever seen the animations were at the sv regional and one morning before the opening ceremonies at nationals.
It’s really hard working on the robot until midnight, then coming home and working on the animation another hour or so. The two of us on the animation team last year must have put around 300 hours each into the animation. Even more than that if you consider the time we spent learning the program (last year was our first year).
*Originally posted by Becky *
**"sadly, the animations this year are probably gonna be hella lame, cause of that new rule they added about having to have that "statement about what first means to you " or whatever. i don’t think I’m alone in this one, but I really don’t like those standard sappy animations with the robot doing the match, and then doing something cute at the end. its just lame lame lame.but i do agree with you sharky, they do need more exposure"
speaking of lame ideas, ive got an awesome one that ties it in but my team isn’t big on animation and we don’t have anyone will to dedicate any real time to it (dont be afraid its not THAT hard)
we have to use a simple idea cause its all we can do but i would like to see my idea used nevertheless even if it is by another team
if you want it just email meBecky **
Becky, Becky, Becky
Let me first start that we have 4 dedicated engineers and about 6 or 7 students will to work on it most of the time. Yes the storyboard is a compromise, but nobody is going to be satisfied, that’s why it is called a compromise. Anyways I do think that Becky’s idea is awesome and extremely original, but as one person pointed out that it needed perfect audio and video syncing, which were are not capable at this point.
And for animation exposure, I think that animators are ones most exposed in a FIRST setting anyway, under the robotic competition. We had a lecture by Ted in Nationals, we get to see our animations on the big screen. And Autodesk, FIRST founders last year, are now supply a huge amount of software to us. When you see the other aspects in terms of awards (chairman’s, website, &woodie flowers award) animation is on the top.
Well, maybe animation needs more exposure, more than just a video tape that we didn’t watch until we began the game (and spent a while on it as well. What did you like/not like about number 1, 2, 3…) Anyway, ramblings aside, I think that the Chairman’s Award is defintely not underexposed. If you read the “Education Week” article (one that yours truly was on the front cover, woohoo!), there was an entire section of the article on the award and it’s recipient, Homer (not bashing on you Homer, please don’t hit me). It’s a very prestigious award and should be recognized, but don’t say it is underexposed.
*Originally posted by Kyle Fenton *
**Becky, Becky, Becky
Let me first start that we have 4 dedicated engineers and about 6 or 7 students will to work on it most of the time. Yes the storyboard is a compromise, but nobody is going to be satisfied, that’s why it is called a compromise. Anyways I do think that Becky’s idea is awesome and extremely original, but as one person pointed out that it needed perfect audio and video syncing, which were are not capable at this point.
And for animation exposure, I think that animators are ones most exposed in a FIRST setting anyway, under the robotic competition. We had a lecture by Ted in Nationals, we get to see our animations on the big screen. And Autodesk, FIRST founders last year, are now supply a huge amount of software to us. When you see the other aspects in terms of awards (chairman’s, website, &woodie flowers award) animation is on the top. **
ehhhhh
okay
like audio video sync is easy. get premire or final cut pro. if thats not a monetary option you can get the mindshare edition. anyway, i think that the animation should be kinda hidden from the rest of the team. it keeps people who dont know jack away from you so you dont have to tell them that all of thier ideas are not technicly feasable or hear them talk about how they would do it better. i like it how it is in our team, the animation team is not only secretive, but powerful, w00t! 
The problem with our team is more of awareness rather than power. When people ask me what I do on the team and I say “I drive and do the animation” I get a wonderful assortment of blank looks. Especially when it looks like I’m not doing anything in the corner on my workstation.
i am not saying the animation does not get any exposure at all, i am perfectly aware that they show it, but its only at certain hours, and you have to know its there
i think they should show it somewhere where people are walking by anyway and maybe even more often because i think most people (besides animators) dont even know its part of first
and i know our animation team works hard, and whatever your decision is im not bitter about it
i am just saying it is a little bit unfair to keep bringing up that point that our team is unable to do something when i made it perfectly clear that i knew how and was willing to take care of it
i mean its all good, you guys seemed like you didnt need help to begin with
and just one more thing, sometimes by compromising you lose every element from everything else that made it good
if you tried to mix red riding hood with jack and the bean stalk and beauty and the beast, the result would not be as good
look, nobody goes to the nightime animation showings except animators most of the time, all the kids who could potentially be inspired by it are usually of at the parks
all im saying is that it needs to be shown somewhere where people dont have to go out of thier way to see it
No no no no. In the Nationals, they played the animations during the day I think it was around noon or right after lunch a lot of teams were around. At nightime they held the Ted Boardman hands on 3dmax. That was right after the last match or a little after. and it was mostly animators since it was a workshop.
thats what im saying, its mostly other animators who see it