@cg
good thots.
its time to be decisive though and nail the final structure.

as i outlined in the broad categories above, each section has the potential to be a standalone challenge. So we need to CLEARLY and SPECIFICALLY state which we r doing, or if all of them (as in full production)

we could break the challenge into two parts, the first being modeling and texturing, and the second being rigging and animating and rendering.
the prize could be split among both sections, that way, pure modelers still have a stake as well as animators.
indeed, different artists may win both sections.
wot think the house?

on the issue of theme, I think a common storyline and characters should be employed to aid uniformity in judging.

all participants model to an agreed upon character concept art.
we may allow the making of the image planes to be up to individual artists, as part of the challenge.

artists post screenshots of their WorksInProgress (wip) as proof.
the final renders AND a 360° turntable view of the finished model concludes the submission for the modeling portion of the contest.

again, wot think y'all?

the winning model can then be circulated among artists interested in the next phase of the contest, for the rigging and animation challenge.

I suggest the same model being circulated to the animators, for uniformity and simplicity in assessing purely the animation. It remains the copyrighted property of the owner.

the animation is done to an agreed upon plot, but the story direction is subject to the artists interpretation.
the judgment will be based on directing choices, cinematography and of course quality of the animation.

these are suggestions. Wot say we?
we need to FIRMLY state our individual views so we can draw an average opinion and end d planning stage.

@reid
all this 'seeing me, seeing u'....is it an eye-test? lol.
share ur thots bro.

@kazuna
true, teaming involves challenges but not insurmountable ones.
a phone call and file transfers remove the need for physical meetings.
I believe we have all worked outstation at some stage or the other.

However, having said that, I do favor the individual challenge, especially if we break the competition into phases, so I am with u on that.
wot think the rest of us?

@prof
lol, agreeing wit everyone is hardly an opinion, especially from a whole Prof....wink*

responses ppl.

@cg
lol, we roll with what the majority decides or find middle ground.
we cant please everyone.

please, for clarity and simplicity sake, outline ur thots following the format suggested above.

when we have settled that, we can handle issues like story, duration and concept art next.

thanks

Morn guys.

The broad steps involved in the production are:

IDEA CONCEPTUALISATION- story creation and scripting
CHARACTER CONCEPT ART- 2d character and props design/illustration
STORYBOARDING- 2d frame-by-frame illustration of the scripted story
MODELING- creating the character and props in 3d space
TEXTURING- applying custom materials to get the desired look
RIGGING- creating armatures to enable character animation
ANIMATING- moving the characters as determined by the script
LIGHTING/SCENE ASSEMBLY- setting up the scene for final output
RENDERING- capturing the 3d scene in high quality graphic viewable format
POST PRODUCTION- editing and adding sound and any other effects to create final product

Any single one, or combination, or indeed all of the above can form the basis for the challenge depending on what we vote to go for.

so, back to u guys.
Please state clearly ur views on the following...

Do u want a team or an individual challenge?
What sort of challenge r u interested in, modeling, animating, full production etc?
Do we continue trying to raise prize money or roll with what we currently have-40k?

Lets see where we stand on these, then we can take the next step.

Thanks for ur interest, people.

Hi all.
Great spirit here!

My other ID got banned for a post, dunno y.

Anyway, I suppose all interested artists have been following or have read thru d posts so far.

We are up 40k in prize money so far, I suggest we gun for more...but I wouldn't want us to lose steam, or the zeal of the currently interested artists.

Like Prof said, we are in the planning stage.
We wanna do it right, so all suggestions are still welcome at this stage.

I propose we use between now and the weekend to iron out all the details, so we can roll anytime from next week.

Ideas please, people.....

@Roy
where u at man?

hi
had typed an elaborate response but nairaland's spam-bot deleted it n banned my acct.
guess am still taking a risk responding again.

u need 2 provide more info about Smid Animation.

Who is Smid?
Where r u based?
What benefits do u offer?
Are u a new studio?

Animation is a broad field.
What type of animators do u seek? Those into Character Animation? Motion Graphics? Any and all categories?
What style? Realistic? Cartoony? Both?

if ure talking character design, that implies u seek 2d artists as well-
is that correct?, or do u seek only 3d artists with 2d skills?

detail your advert some more, and i bet u will get responses from serious artists not just desperate ones.

personally, i have learnt from experience that the best way to recruit talent is to host a Challenge or Competition.

imagine a 'Smid Animation Challenge' outlining a simple task (in line with the type of output your studio intends 2 give)
provide an incentive to participate, and u got yourself a live (plagiarism-free) interactive recruitment exercise.

unless you're an avid and knowledgeable web surfer,
u could be fooled by people cooking up an impressive demo reel by lifting clips online.
i speak from experience.

the art is still in infancy stage in nigeria n i doubt if u will get many professional demo reels to base your recruitment on.
by the time u discover the artists limitations it may be late and would have prolly cost u money.

again, if i post a clip from my reel, it will prolly be the result of collaborative effort from several people- designers, modelers, texturers, animators, post producers etc.
will u take us all on? or will it be a trans-studio contract? complicated huh?

simplify it.
post a specific task n ask for people who can do the specific task, that way u build n control your workforce yourself.

i don't presume to lecture u, but i think hosting a task specific Challenge, and giving more pertinent information about Smid is the way to go.
i know about 4 really good animators on this forum n i bet none of them have responded to your call yet.

interest the pros by being professional yourself.

Good luck.