Animation competition: Jump'n'run (July 6 - July 17) - WINNER ANNOUNCED

[Gilbert]

Well, many freewares can do animations, like teh GIMP for example. I don't know if there're free ones that are easy to use though (to be honest, it isn't easy at all animating with teh GIMP).
Personally I use EDGE for animated GIFs, but as it is in Japanese, probably few people will get use to it.

[Questionable]

I think a two week time period wouldn't get more entries but that it would make more sense. 14 days is a good time length and ensures that people like me, with one day off and a few nights to themselves would at least have more opportunities to finish one.

Though 3 days isn't much it can make a difference.

Also I have noticed a trend: people are coming up with more and more creative competition concepts but in doing so they are limiting the products more and more. Luckily Matti was very vague on the concept and the entries took full creative advantage but a lot of these comps weigh me down and slow me down by forcing me to adhere to there guidelines and themes.

[Maverick]

I think the biggest problem with the competition is that it evolved from an animation competition into a cutscene comp which would require a lot more time. My suggestion would be to divorce the 2 concepts and start a monthly cutscene comp that would leave more room for artistic freedom and interpretation etc.
If we look at the history of the animation comp it has always been about taking a single sprite and animating it towards some theme. The background etc had no influence on the outcome and it was focussed around getting people involved in animation. Jumping from that to doing a whole cutscene has put this beyond the abilities of a lot of potential would be participants. Having said that the animation comp was never very popular but in its current format it would appeal to an even smaller audience.

As mentioned before I vote for splitting this up into:
1)   Single sprite animation 11 days
2)   Cutscene animation 30 days


Just a suggestion.

[derboo]

Hmm, statistics won't support any of our improvement theories:

July 6 - July 17 (11 days open) Jump'n'run: sprite + bg, 2 entries
June 8 - June 27 (19 days open) Behind the Mask: sprite only, 2 entries
May 22 - June 3 (12 days open) Re-Animation: sprite + bg, 1 entry
May 8 - 21 (13 days open) Beam Me Up Scotty: sprite + bg, 6 entries
April 20 - May 1 (11 days open) Fight! Fight! Fight!: sprite only, 5 entries
April 6 - 17 April (11 days open) Kill the Bunny: sprite only, 6 entries

... and before that there was something like a 2 month hiatus with an open competition (sprite only) having no more than a single entry.

Maybe it really is the summer... or some themes are just more suitable than others.

[Evil]

It's part theme, part host, part contestants and part time.

If it's a superb theme, more people give it a go. If the host is really helpful, usually more people post their attempts. If someone does an awesome or inspiring work, people are more (or less) likely to try too. And amount of work vs. amount of time users have to work (IE: scheduling conflicts, holidays, etc.)

Animating is hard stuff. It's often overlooked.

[Ryan Timothy B]

What happened to the animation contests?  I would love to see that back up and running.

[Questionable]

^^^^

[Ghost]

Can anyone start a new animation comp? If so, I have a fun little idea...  :

[Questionable]

I say that you should go for it ghost.  Worst case scenario: Somebody gets a little bit upset.

[Matti]

Okay, Ghost, go on and start a new one. I wanna see the fun little idea (and participate).

I just asked abstauber to start a new one, but he has little time and I'm sure he will soon win another animation cempetition, so its up to you.

[Ghost]

Sweet, will do! Hopefully a worthy one!