Intels Mass animation - collaborative project

[GravidEngine]

I'm definitely curious to see how it will be handled. I can't even imagine...

Well I hope it turns out well... not that I think it necessarily will.

But it should be good for aspiring animators at least.

[BigPixolin]

Sweet a new clever way into tricking naive people into doing free work.

[dickma]

Oh, I think it is a promotion stradegy of the BIG BRANDS (Intel, Autodesk) more than a PURE Collaboration project.

I agreed with BigPixolin

[mattmos]

Obviously marketing is a big part of it. But do we have to write it off as big evil corporations taking advantage of helpless animators?

Playing devil's advocate: I don't see professional animators/artists being motivated enough by the project to do work for free. It seems to be aimed at those wishing to add experience to their cv or shots to their reel. A lot of people work on personal projects or enter competitions to create stuff for their reel, this way you would have the chance of a cinema release as well as getting direction on your work which might help you improve. I guess the project would generate quite a bit of exposure for those involved, as long as it didn't fail miserably as a film.

What does worry me about the project is the director/writer comes from an executive background. While he obviously is vastly experienced in running animation companies, has he got the chops for direction? Especially when given the additional barrier of offsite workers. Time will tell I guess.

[hakanpersson]

Sweet a new clever way into tricking naive people into doing free work.

if it leads an animator into creating something amazing that they otherwise wouldnt been able to create by themselves its not that bad. Though I sincerely doubt it will lead to any good in the end.

Anyway, just some late evening rant from someone who cant even animate a walkcycle:D

[BigPixolin]

I completly understand why some people would find this attractive.
Everyone here has been in this position before.
You have to know where you came from to know where your going.

But I just have one question.
Can we get doctors, lawyers, or plumbers to do the same thing?

There is no place on earth a skyscraper is being built with plumbers competing to see who "plumbs" the best floor.

[SheepFactory]

I completly understand why some people would find this attractive.
Everyone here has been in this position before.
You have to know where you came from to know where your going.

But I just have one question.
Can we get doctors, lawyers, or plumbers to do the same thing?

There is no place on earth a skyscraper is being built with plumbers competing to see who "plumbs" the best floor.


Exactly. It amazes me how willing artists are to get screwed over.

[ManuelM]

There is no place on earth a skyscraper is being built with plumbers competing to see who "plumbs" the best floor.

But lets say there's a million plumber-apprentices but only a few hundred jobs for plumbers worldwide... building that skyscraper might at least be a chance for all those apprentices to improve their skills and get noticed...

[SheepFactory]

But lets say there's a million plumber-apprentices but only a few hundred jobs for plumbers worldwide... building that skyscraper might at least be a chance for all those apprentices to improve their skills and get noticed...


Exhibit A...

[ManuelM]

:blush:.................

[tuna]

What does worry me about the project is the director/writer comes from an executive background. While he obviously is vastly experienced in running animation companies, has he got the chops for direction? Especially when given the additional barrier of offsite workers. Time will tell I guess.



Yeah this is going to be something that shows its light. Another problem will be the fact that the quality and style is going to be extremely hard to keep consistent across the many people who want to contribute, especially if your prediction of a lack of professional level animators is true. Supervising a wide range of varying talent is going to be a problem at this level, and it'll really show. Also considering its inherent ease to join, it'll be just as easy to quit, especially with the detachment that the anonymity across the internet affords, leaving commitment iffy at best and deadlines be damned. These are extra overheads for the director to manage, like you say on top of a lack of experience with the whole direction part.

Also it sounds like Autodesk* will be sponsoring the event with PLE software. What exactly is the benefit of this again?

[mattmos]

Can we get doctors, lawyers, or plumbers to do the same thing?


For all of these professions, once they pass certain exams or achieve certificates, they are classed as competent and employable. Animators/artists don't enjoy the same luxury, you are judged on the work in your portfolio or your previous work experience, not your qualifications. I think that may be why a direct comparison between these professions is difficult. But actually don't doctors have to spend part of their education in work placements? And lawyers do take pro bono work now and again, if they think it will give them good publicity. And I'm pretty sure some plumbers would take apprenticeships to help them get a foothold in their industry.

So from my point of view, they do kind of do the same thing already.


commitment iffy at best and deadlines be damned


I have to agree with everything said by tuna, if you don't pay people to work then you lose any kind of contractual agreements or commitment to the project.

I'm interested in the project to see what kind of result can be achieved and how its organised, whether they will be able to knock out anything of real quality is debatable.

[ThomasMahler]

It'd be interesting to see their approach of organizing something like this, cause with the tools and frameworks we currently have, I don't think a huge project like this would be really doable. Especially not if the director isn't someone with a huge chunk of experience in his back. Film is a very fragile medium as is, so if you don't pay people and it's based on every single individuals will whether or not the project will be successful, the chances that this'll actually end positively are very, very slim, even if you're Intel, Microsoft, or whoever.

[My Fault]

The one thing that gives me a bit more confidence is seeing ReelFX's name on that list. They have years and years of experience with remote workers, so if anyone can help corral everyone and keep them focused, it's them.

[macouno]

I did a small animation project last year with the help of a bunch of volunteers who submitted animated versions of a character. It can really be a lot of fun for people to take part in something larger than they normally would... especially if they are not full time professional artists.

Of course the quality of the animations will vary greatly, have a look at the vid, and see if you can spot the characters animated by a. mocap data, b. pro animators, c. amateurs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOlwuAvmnrY

What is really interesesting to me though is to see how it's dealt with technically. For my little project I just had people submit/upload a file that had a single animated character in it, then patched those together by hand... For larger projects that would be impractical. So what do you do? Use a versioning system? Web databases? It can get real complicated real quick.

[BigPixolin]

For all of these professions, once they pass certain exams or achieve certificates, they are classed as competent and employable. Animators/artists don't enjoy the same luxury, you are judged on the work in your portfolio or your previous work experience, not your qualifications. I think that may be why a direct comparison between these professions is difficult. But actually don't doctors have to spend part of their education in work placements? And lawyers do take pro bono work now and again, if they think it will give them good publicity. And I'm pretty sure some plumbers would take apprenticeships to help them get a foothold in their industry.

So from my point of view, they do kind of do the same thing already.


Very true with emphasise on "kinda".

A plumber apprentince or two will join a crew of already paid plumbers.
Not a whole crew of apprentinces doing all the work for free.
A doctor would do a placement at a hospital filled with paid employees, again the whole hospital is not working for free as with this project and every contest on the web including here.

This is more like if I was on trial for murder and I held a contest with thousands of lawyers taking my case pro bono to see who is the best lawyer.
That would never happen becuase they are not as stupid or niave.

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