i need help. Im trying to get a team together to create a animation for the competion. The propblem is that i dont know what to do for any of the steps that it takes. I have a vision of what the final product will look like but i need a way to communicate exactaly what i want to my teamates. This is also our first year going for this award. can anyone help me?
First off, to communicate what you want to make, you need to make a storyboard. This can be a detailed or as basic as you want or need to communicate the idea. Development sketches and dicussions will help refine your idea. You also need to learn how to do such things. Usually, the animation compition is done on 3D Studio Max, which I think comes when you register, but I’m not for sure. If you don’t already have it installed/have it at all, I suggest getting Gmax, which is a free, scaled down version. This will let you learn how to model, animate, render and work with the software. I recomend Gmax because it is the most similer to 3D Max. You also need to intrest people in learning the software and to help you out with the competition. Hope this helps, Good luck!
I think the storyboard is required for the competition animation. Might be a good idea to keep it around. 
I believe that you get a general guideline for topic at Kickoff, but I don’t think there is any problem with learning the software or trying out ideas. Maybe give yourself six weeks to do an animation for last year’s animation?
That, and a story board is a good idea to communicate an idea, even if it is not for the actual competition
This is true. I’m taking Computer Graphics courses at Purdue, and one of my foundation classes is a sketching class. Storyboards will be a huge part of it later on.
Try starting your animation team with a few other members. Don’t overcrowd it because you really don’t need a lot of members to create an animation. Three is a good number. Make sure these guys are as dedicated as you are and that they won’t cop out 3 weeks in.
Other than that, tell a story that is educational yet imaginative. Make it unique and make it stand out because those are the animations that win awards and that people remember.
If you don’t know the program yet, the tutorials that come with it are very very usefull for self-teaching. I’ll get back to you on a list of the ones I think are the most usefull to kick-start a team, but start from the top and do the modeling tutorials, because modeling will probably be the biggest challenge you have to face in your first year.
Hey. If you need some help with 3DsMax, my friend Nate and I are the lead animators for Team 103, and we’d be more than happy to help you guys out. Drop me an email ([email protected]) or private message me and we can help you guys out. For starters, I would do the tutorials that came with 3DsMax in the book. They give you the basics and really create a foundation for the rest of your journey in the program. From there, just look up online tutorials and do fun things in 3DsMax that keep you interested. The program can be mindless and boring sometimes (and basically drive you INSANE, as it has with me), but when you have a beautiful finished product, it’s very satisfying. Check out our 2005 and past animations at www.cybersonics.org, and don’t hesitate to contact me with anything. Good luck!