hi guys
wonder if any animation enthusiasts, (both beginners and advanced level practitioners) would be interested in an animation challenge.

there is NO direct monetary reward, but i am sure the trade of knowledge (which we would encourage) during the process,
and the possible attention/potential business that the process would draw/generate exceeds any immediate cash reward in importance.

if there are any takers, the process i would propose is as follows

we start with animating simple actions and gradually build-up on the complexity of the actions

since the emphasis is on animation skills, a pre-made model can be uploaded for the challenge(optional)
the artist rigs the character in a preferred software
the artist animates the character according to a simple storyline or action (agreed upon by the participants)
the artist posts the final rendered clip (again, emphasis is on animation, not render quality. playblasts are acceptable)

the artist(s) post WIP and share information/answer questions on their unique animation techniques
the use of motion capture data is discouraged

these are just my suggestions, i am open to alternative suggestions as to how the challenge can be made to be more beneficial to the general animation community.
so, comments are very welcome!

thanks for reading.

responses people . . .

Nice idea. I'am in.

i think we should start with small actions involving one character then work up to dialogue/acting animation involving multiple characters.

@zpixel
welcome aboard mate!
good suggestion.

Lets know everyone whos interested, then we can decide on what we are animating and the finer details.

so thats two,so far.
Please more responses people. . .

Thanks.

I hope this animation challenge is for real sha.

Well, how about starting with character modelling.

@obinna
thanx 4 ur response.
Of course its 4 real. Why wouldnt it be?
We arent making lofty promises.

Well,u could start a modelling thread too,(we've had a few of those).this one is aimed at animators(we havent had one of that yet)-or wot do we think?

@okx id like to say any form of mocap data or preset or prefabricated animation should be banned. it totally defeats the point of having an animation challenge. if we are to gain anything from this its the only way to go. so yeah im in.

@ xothermik
welcome aboard!
good point u raised, i totally share the view.
so its safe to say-
NO MOCAP DATA !
NO PRESET ANIMATIONS !

thats also why i want the participants to be the ones to collectively decide on what we are animating- to minimize 'cheating'. (altho why one would want to shortchange oneself beats me)
besides, this is meant to be a learning experience NOT a competition for the best animation.

so thats three, so far.
more participants, please. . .

OKX:

besides, this is meant to be a learning experience NOT a competition for the best animation.

exactly why i joined. i just need more practise.

Naija's own 11Seconds club. Nice one.

@ZPixel
How far? Did you accept that offer?

hi guys
do we roll with just the three of us, or do we wait for more people?

so far its:

ZPIXEL
XOTHERMIK
OKX

thanx

i think we should wait till at least friday .if no one joins, we could at use the week end to kickoff. while we wait we should decide what to animate. hows that

Hey, you guys ain't leaving me behind, are u? definitely am on board let dig it on some real practicals

, i like the following idea,

* Model should be uploaded for use (low poly count pls)
* animators should rig the character with their specs
* there should be a storyline to follow

i noticed that there are pretty good 3d modeling and design artist here in nigeria but not so much lovers of character animation cuss of it complex process, well i hope it helps others to grow.

and i also think animators after completion of the characters rigs should try to analysis the rig structure and components to the house for learning purpose. e.g. someone might rig only with IK or stretchy functions and the other with FK-IK switch, then we could learn that FK-IK switch is more efficient in animating, what's ya' opinion?

anyway, i can't wait to starting rigging am off work for 2 weeks.

dLecturer

@ 9tlecturer
great to have u onboard!

yeah. artists are encouraged to post WIP, and explain their processes/technique as simplistically as possible.

@ xothermik
ok. friday it is!
i suggest we start work on modeling a low poly character in the interim, or do we just pull one from our individual stockpiles?
i propose we start off with a biped animation.

we can also start coming up with suggestions on a simple storyline that we can break down into simple takes.

ideas. . . ?


@ everyone else
this could be the beginning of a very enlightening, hands-on, learning session.
it is structured to help all-level animators and the best way to benefit is really by participating.

@OKX
I feel that alot of issues still needs to be trashed out.

1) Creating a character from scratch, rigging and paintweighting to make it worthy of credible animation will just eat up time that will be spent
animating. This is suppose to be an animation challenge.

2) If lip Sync is to be added, this complicates matter.

3) I think using a common rigged character will be wise as this will make evaluation of each animation better without being influenced by the choice
of character used.
4) But with or without the above suggestions, I am in.

@OKX

I suppose you already have a model we could work with, anyway can we get the sketch for modeling, i know you to be good in 2d sketches.

for the storyline, let's start with some walk cycle with poses, style and attitude, a character walking down the street in a good mood, believability and realism in timing.

how about that?

@aphek

i support your third point and i think we shouldn't go with lip sync for now as it will definitely take a lot of time.

but my fear about ready-made rigged character is that sometimes you don't get the full information/custom attributes of the rig structure but anyway i can go with my rig or any rig.

my opinion is that animators should rig their character, if it's low poly character it shouldn't take longer than 1 day to rig.

what ya think?

I like the idea but i dont ve any idea on how use it although some softwares for 3D such as Maya, blender, 3d max etc. I wish one of you guys will guide or link me to site that guide me from the scratch. One more thing for the Nigeria to thrive in 3D animation, there is need for individuals to come together and form a group. It is not something 1,2,3 4,5,6 or even 10 or more than that can do on their own if especially if they wish to lure corporate bodies, investors etc. Partnership and cooperative are very important. What do you think  

@ aphek
good points.

personally, i think we should rig the characters ourselves -both to eliminate possible cross-platform issues, and cos, most probably if u were given a character to animate, chances are, u would have to build the rig yourself (at least in Nigeria, i don't think we have a very specialized production pipeline yet)

besides, i think animating is more intuitive when its your own rig you are working with.
we could post a pre-rigged model though, as an alternative for those who don't want to bother with rigging.

i agree that lip synching or other detailed character animation is for a bit later (we will tackle it tho, down the road, if the series proves sustainable)

@ 9tlecturer
if we are decided, motionbuilder2009 has a generic rigged humanoid model (infact, it has quite a few) that we could utilize.
unless we are definitely going for something original, (subject to our final decision)

i just dont want a lot of debate over character choice, art style etc.
opinions please . . .

the headcount so far

ZPIXEL
XOTHERMIK
APHEK
9TLECTURER
OKX

thats 5 so far

on character choice/animation style- i think this will be a richer experience if we express ourselves freely, by each animating different characters to the agreed upon storyboard. that way, we may get a larger gamut of animation styles, from realistic to comic/ exaggerated.
just a thot, wot do we think?


GUIDELINES so far

NO MOCAP data
NO PRESET animation
artists should POST Work(s)InProgress
artists should SHARE knowledge/info on their workflow

this first session is experimental. let us not waste too much time on preliminaries- we can work out the kinks as they appear.

@agreed OKX

Let's finalize and proceed to work, bringing from what you said,

OKX:


on character choice/animation style- i think this will be a richer experience if we express ourselves freely, by each animating different characters to the agreed upon storyboard. that way, we may get a larger gamut of animation styles, from realistic to comic/ exaggerated.
just a thot, wot do we think?

let's express ourselves so that the intuition & comfortability could be there and let's feel free to use our own model, rig and whatever, all we do like to see is your character's swagger,

i like that , animators's spotlight' Season 1.

folks watch out as we will be getting to Season 20.

when are we kicking off,

@aphek
Not exactly,  send me your email address coolzpixel@gmail.com

I personally think we shouldn't involve rigging, since its an animation challenge i dont see any reason we should rig. Besides, there are very wonderful rigs online that we can download for this purpose. If you feel like rigging yourself fine. But i dont think time should be allocated for that during the challenge.

For those interested, check out this sites for fun rigs.
http://www.animationbuffet..com/
http://www.11secondclub.com/resources/
http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/downloads/character-rigs/c/

mr. OKX, please come up with something. NOTIME.

okay guys
i think the general sentiment is :

we should feel free to download/build our rigged characters- no project time is allotted for this.
the animation style, whether 'realistic' or 'cartoony' is up to individual artists- as long as it follows the storyline.
the storyline is subject to artists interpretation (ie- we create our own storyboards from the storyline)

on the duration for the animation, i think the storyline will determine that, but i think it should be under 20 secs.
i like 9tLecturers beginning:

our character is walking down a street (the artist will portray personality through gait, posture, gestures etc)
he gets to an intersection
he looks both ways
he crosses the street
as he walks down the street he is distracted by something to his right or left
he walks on while looking in that direction
he walks into a street pole
he falls
we leave him sitting on the floor dazed

this is subject to review/modification and additional input
comments please . . . (non-animators inputs are equally welcome)

we intend to wrap up this stage before saturday
animation work proper commences from monday.
is that acceptable, people?

@OKX
Nice idea. i have no addition or subtraction.

Hi guys


Been like forever,

I like wats happening here and thanx OKX for informing me. Well as long as this is gonna be learning and development and fun, im in.
I think since modelling is out the window (thank God) and its just strictly animation, im gonna enjoy this.

@zpixel
Thanx for the links bro, im definitely downloading a model. Not too sure about rigging yet but we'll see.

@OKX
Let me say this---lets keep the debating to a minimum. Its about the animation and it shud b just about the animation. Cracking my fingers for Monday already.

@ resichild
our very own 'prodigal son'.
great to have u aboard!

thats six, so far.
i was gunning for double digits, but we will roll with whoever we have onboard, by monday.

@ xothermik, aphek,9tLecturer
ur critique/approval of the storyline and proceedings so far will be appreciated.

thanks

@ all
still a couple more slots open!

storyline works for me just fine.

I am in guys

Hello Guys,
Nice concept for the animation challenge. As a 3d newbie, I sure love a good challenge so I'm in! It would be nice to whoop Xothermik's and Zpixel's butts for once _{*I wish*}.

But just one question: Since we're allowed to download ready-made rigs and models for animation, am I allowed to use POSER models too? If it's ok, then count me in, and let the challenge begin!

Oh, speaking of which, how to we present the finished animation for submission? YouTube? Let's clarify all the necessary details. Cheers

@ emekan
good to have u, man!

@ kemjisuper
welcome aboard dude!
sure u can use any models, BUT u CANNOT use any PREDEFINED MOTION DATA of any sort.
we create all the animations from scratch.

Kemjisuper:

It would be nice to whoop Xothermik's and Zpixel's butts for once _{*I wish*}.

i guess u were kidding. this is a personal challenge NOT a contest.
i wish to emphasize that fact, just in case it is keeping some other people from joining the challenge.

we are facing a challenging 3d animation to better our skills.

on the format for the finished animation, anything goes, as long as it is easily accessible.
yeah, we could post on youtube, i will also open a project email address for alternate uploading of WIP, clips or anything else.

so, thats eight so far:
ZPIXEL
XOTHERMIK
APHEK
9TLECTURER
RESICHILD
EMEKAN
KEMJISUPER
OKX

good going guys!

@OKX

am gud with the storyline, quite simple, neat and direct, nothing much to it.

already downloaded 2 characters for use, thanks to zpixel.

alright, am ready to go but let me see,

concept? checked!
system? checked!
storyline? checked!
character? checked!

and, hmmm.
9tLecturer? , well am in already

(kiddin)

nothing do us guys, let's get on to what we like to do best

@ 9tLecturer
lol
super! ur rearing to go- thats the spirit!

i opened an email addy for the series:
animationteam1@yahoo.com

please post ur individual email addys so i can send u guys the password.

one day to go. . .

OKX:

i guess u were kidding. this is a personal challenge NOT a contest.
i wish to emphasize that fact, just in case it is keeping some other people from joining the challenge.

@OKX - Yes of course, I WAS kidding! This is supposed to be a fun challenge, as well as educating, so I don't see why a little humour should be scrutinized so seriously.

I wanted to ask in addition, is there any need for sound effects or background music? Still trying to clarify the details we may have missed out! Cheers