Do the opening and end credits count as the 15-30 seconds allowed for the safety animation?
It would appear that way. Opening and closing credits do not appear to be required according to the only document I could find. Therefore they will count against your time. In cases where the rules are unclear it is best to either contact those who made the rules or err on the side of caution.
The credits do not count for the animation. Look at Winnovations latest Animation. They’re credits were like a total of a minute. The whole video is like 1 minute and 30 seconds. And I know in all of our animations, the credits don’t count.
look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LsAFVN401o
I stand corrected.
You shouldn’t use someone else’s animation as a basis for the rules. This can save you a lot of heartache and time if you find out you have broke the rules or criteria.
You should always look them up or ask an expert. The AutoDesk FIRSTbase site has the rules here http://firstbasefrc.autodesk.com/?nd=first_competition_visualization and they state " Credits may follow that still frame, but will not be included as part of the timing, judging or scoring process, nor will they be included in the compilation reels distributed by Autodesk, Inc. "
Well, Thank you for clarifying that. Next time, I will look at the official rules.
I think you may be confusing the safety video with the visualization video. They are 2 different things and don’t necessarily follow the same rules. I don’t know the answer for the safety video.
Here is the link for the safety animation http://www.usfirst.org/community/frc/content.aspx?id=10938
No talk about the credits.
So basically, no the opening and end credits dont count for the animation time limit. ok thanks that really cleared things up for me.
I’d say exploit that loop hole. Its what I did. And it was a whole lot of fun 
(that is, if you count sitting at your computer for 3 months fun.)
But in all seriousness, you really shouldn’t worry about credits. Its better to have a wonderful piece of animation and no credits than a blah animation with ok credits.
And please remember. What your doing is ANIMATION. Have fun and please don’t shoot for realistic. Have fun and make it cartoony. If you try to make it look real as you can you might as well grab a camera and film stuff.
That’s exactly what we have been doing for the past few years, and i think we have to get off that habit. Our safety animation this year will hopefully be much better than last year.
This is the response I got back from FIRST:
"The credits are not included in the 15-30 second limit for the animation. However, the credits should be no longer than the video itself (ex: if your video is 15 seconds long, your credits should be no longer than 15 seconds).
Please let us know if you have any further questions.
Thank you,
FRC Team Support"
there you go straight from the source! thanks alot
ha ha! did I start that?
When i looked no since i’m into it also so i think your good