Talk:Event E2/Proposal Synful

Expected participation was mostly about getting a sense of how many people you actually expect to participate, rather than your target audience. How many players do you think would be able to enter a contest of this nature? --Jacquilynne / Jasandrea 12:44, 17 January 2006 (PST)

'''Considering the editors used are really easy, I would figure probably around 50 give or take. It will also help encourage those who normally can't draw on their own to do something creative thereby sparking the numbers up to higher than that.'''

Hi Syn! Love the event. I'm curious as to the minimum and maximum time limit per stop animation entry. :) --Hedgehog2005 15:30, 17 January 2006 (PST)

'''I didn't want to put a hard limitation on this because the time itself will be a limiting factor. It takes nearly 20 frames minimum to make a smooth and fluid movement. Plus they have to host the file which could get quite large because of all the frames. I figured if they could make it in the time allowed and host it, it should be ok. Of course I am open to suggestions from the mentors OMs and anybody else. A smooth flowing movie should take at least 60 seconds play time to get the story across.'''

Hosting
You might do better to set up a gmail account to recieve entries... otherwise you'll discourage a lot of people who might not be able to wrangle hosting. Just a thought :) --Teeg 17:05, 22 January 2006 (PST)


 * Setting up a gmail acct wouldn't be a bad idea... but finding hosting isn't that hard. Remember the number of people that found hosting for the Avatar Art contest?  I think you would just have to give some tips on how to do it in your final forum post.  You can deal with the handful of people with issues in private.  Also.... so people don't get scared or feel this is above them, you might wanna create a little example. It would also be a cute way to introduce your event.  I would bet people come up with some cute animations. --Peanutswench 18:22, 24 January 2006 (PST)

These are excellent ideas and I will work on both of these. I will include some freesites that allow hosting and I will make a cute little spin of my own, although I had listed an example, I'll show them even I can make one. :)I can't see using a gmail account as a hosting solution. I would only be able to receive like 4 of them and seeing the entries is more than half the fun. But like I said, I will definitely give some links to some free hosting sites they can use.


 * Gif movie gear has a 30 day free trial which would be long enough for your event. http://www.download.com/3000-2186-10004382.html I used it for my Dec Doodle avatar and I'd never done this sort of thing before! There's a good tutorial too.

There are probably lots more --Jerze 15:52, 6 February 2006 (PST)

Mentor Questions
When would it be an appropriate time to ask Artemis if my event would qualify for a familiar? I'd rather know early on so I can arrange for prizes on Sage and Viridian ASAP.

Artemis is going through these proposals too, I believe, so she will probably be able to answer when she reaches yours. In terms of other prizes, it would be good if there were runner-up prizes on all oceans in any case. If it turns out as a familiar event, having trinkets for honourable mentions is fairly usual. I'm slightly undecided about whether this should be a familiar event or not. What I like about it is that it's simple but it's something brand new - we've seen a couple of examples of it, but no contest before has made people go out and try this skill, and I always enjoy seeing that! Hey, I wonder if I'm allowed to enter... ;) On the other side, it's a fairly limited deadline (inevitably, because of the format) and a very time-consuming project, which could lead to peeople being frustrated with the timescale. In terms of entries, you'll probably get more people if there's a familiar, but you might also get more griping because of the limited time, and that could affect the judging of the event as part of E2! --Crystal 03:51, 14 February 2006 (PST)

Thanks, Crystal for answering this. I think three weeks is enough time to enter a contest. I'm a forum event so I get that extra week. Sorry, Artemis for jumping the gun on sending you a PM, eeps! I didn't see your post before I sent you the PM. The most time consuming this contest will be is setting up your scenes. Putting them together is nearly automatic. If, and I will instruct this, they keep it like cartoon animation and make more frames of smaller moves, then it will flow easier. This isn't an event you can wait for the last minute to decide to enter and thats what I like about it. So it would be awesome to get the event posted on the notice boards that first week so folks can start prepping(deciding what they will do and making their scenes). And yes, Crystal, you are more than welcome to enter! In fact, it says explicitly on the original forum post that mentors may be entering so I would love it if you did!

OM Prize Assistance Request
Since this is a forum event, I'd love to be able to offer prizes on all the oceans, but I have no PoE of my own on the green ones, so I am asking for prize assistance.

My first choice would be a lime octopus familiar. This event will take some work and I always feel the more involved an event is, the better the prize should be.

Trinkets or other unique prizes for other places. I'd like to award prizes to top three spots but I'd like the top 5 spots to win a ribbon.

I have about 100k on both Midnight and Cobalt I can use for the event, but I don't want to leave the green oceans out of this event. If there is someway we can work something out to ensure all oceans can participate, that would be totally awesome. If not, I'm not above asking others on those oceans for assistance in prize donations.

--Artemis 19:05, 15 February 2006 (PST)
 * Still working on the familiar question, getting a second and third opinion from some other OM's, so my apologies on the slow response time!
 * Timing/length: because of the limited time they have to produce these, are you taking this into consideration for the required time or extent which you'll be judging them? I'm interested in exactly what critera you'll be using to judge?
 * Prizes: I can certainly help with getting prizes to all oceans, forum events shouldn't be limited by ocean.

Winning entries will be entries that tell a story, are smooth in transitions and have a creative uniqueness to them. To me, what this means is quality of the animation, can we follow a story with it? What is it they are trying to portray? Do they actually pull this off or close to it? Creative Uniqueness to me means, have we seen this before? Is this a new idea? Is it fantasy(which is absolutely ok) as long as it has to do with puzzle pirates. Either in game now, or adventure type, as long as we know its associated with puzzle pirates. Humor. I feel there has been too much seriousness around the oceans lately so its time to lighten up and have fun. There are 4 categories of evaluation so each would represent up to 25% of the score. 1-5 scale will help determine what percentage of each category they get. As for judging time, it all depends on whether I am dependant on OMs to judge for me, or if I can have my own team of judges. Having my own team of judges would certainly make the judging time less than if I am dependant on the OMs for judging because they are so busy. I can post the deadline for like noon pst on the 17th and have all judged by the 19th. Yes, I live for puzzle pirates! That would give three full weeks to post their entries. But if I need to have OMs judge it, I would have to end it probably on the 15th, giving 2.5 weeks. I intend to be very specific with how to make a stop motion animation so they hopefully understand. I am also very attentive to the forum post to answer any and all questions if they do not understand. I hope that answers your questions. :)

Hiya Synful! Not a mentor or an official word on anything (official or not!), just a couple of technical questions... How are you planning on distinguishing between entries that use true stop motion animation techniques vs. those that use an animation programs such as Macromedia's Flash to do a lot of the detail work? I know that you're considering transitions to be important - tweening can be used to create smooth transititions with very little effort. Also - the program that you're suggesting for Mac users is a demo version of $50 software, not shareware. Since demos are often limited, you may want to make sure that someone tests it out to see if there are any limits on how many days or uses of the software, so that people know up front and can plan their work accordingly. Any imposed limits on file size, number of frames, etc. would also be useful information to provide. It's also worth checking out to see if there are any features that are not included with the demo...for example, it's critical that people be able to save their work! :)

--Tamsin 08:06, 17 February 2006 (PST)

Very good questions, Tamsin. I have found a link for Mac that says its a free license and FREEWARE specifically for Mac. http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/AnimAide.shtml I have no way to test this out for Mac because I am a windows user. I will only allow mpegs, avi and quicktime as extentions for this project. I do not know if that will stop Flash(swf) or other software but the medium is wide open. If they want to make pictures in flash or other programs and then export them to the animator, well more power to them. I can usually tell stop motion animation because no matter how many frames you use, its still going to be evident its stop motion. There will be no limits to file size, number of frames, etc besides finding a place to host it on. I will be giving two sites that allow more space for free, but I cannot guarantee they will be successful at them. The only limit is timespan of the animation to make sure they tell a story in it. Hope this answered some of your questions.
 * Aye - thanks. The imposed limits on things like file size, frames, etc. was meant in terms of the demo software (since there are often limits somewhere in the application) - not the contest rules, but since you've found a free alternative that'll let the Mac folks participate, it's no longer relevant!  :)  I think you still run the risk of picking up entries that aren't true stop-motion, or are some combination of stop-motion and computer tweening, but the only way to find out is to wait and see.  Since it's mostly amateur and Pro-Am folks competing, it may very well be detectable, but I bet the folks at Aardman and Bitter Films would beg to differ with you over stop-motion always being evident.  ;)  Sounds like great fun - I don't know that I'll have the time to put together an entry, but I'm really looking forward to seeing what folks come up with! --Tamsin 11:56, 18 February 2006 (PST)

With regards to the familiar. First of all, I don't think there's going to be enough time for contestants to make a really good effort unless they have gobs of free time. I also don't think you're going to get many entries if it's -not- a familiar, event, though. For judging, I like that you're not necessarily judging technical quality as much as just their ability to get the message across. Due to the limited time and varied talents of the entries it's important that the content is judged before the technical merit. You mention humor, which category of judging is that included in? For now, I'll give a tenative yes on the familiar. --Artemis 06:39, 18 February 2006 (PST) I agree with you Artemis, you are correct in the time span. How bout if we do 30% story, 30% for creative uniqueness, 30% for humor and 10% for technical? Or if you have other suggestions on the scoring breakdown, I'd be happy to hear them. I'm going to go ahead and start writing up the forum post assuming the familiar, but that could be changed if need be -hope it doesn't need to be ;)

Last Minute Questions
Do we wait for the 24th to post our events? I've noticed a couple who have already posted. Also, is it ok to announce that its an E2 event on the event post and to encourage feedback?

Since there are already a couple up and if you feel that you are set the plans for the event I see no reason why you couldn't post it. --Hawkings 12:10Pm 21 February 2006 (PST)

You currently have a "tentative yes" for the familiar, and were going to draft an events post on that basis. So probably the next step is posting your draft events post for final confirmation, rather than posting direct to the Events forum. (my opinion, others' mileage may vary. *grins*) --Crystal 14:56, 21 February 2006 (PST)

Forum Post Draft for Approval
Naturally, its not going to look the same here as it will there, but this is the jist of it.

[All Oceans]Avast!Animation-Win a familiar!

Here is your chance to try something new and win a lime octopus! What is it, you ask? Avast! Animation! Also known as stop-motion animation. Its so easy to do, even I can do it!

Your task in this event is to make a short, stop-motion animation that tells a story, is creative, is humorous, and flows well from transition to transition. Your animation should be about PUzzle Pirates either the game now, the past, or what you'd like it to be in the future. As long as the judges can tell that its based on Puzzle Pirates you're good to go.

It works by shooting a single frame, stopping the camera to move the object a little bit, and then shooting another frame. When the film runs continuously at 24 frames per second, the illusion of fluid motion is created and the objects appear to move by themselves.

Here is a wonderful example of stop-motion animation. http://forums.puzzlepirates.com/community/mvnforum/viewthread?thread=23658

To help you along the way, here are some tools you will need.

Any medium you choose, legos, toys, clay, popsicle figures, cardboard figures, you name it.

Web-cam, video cam, digital cam, scanner if you cannot upload directly. You can also use a regular camera and have the photos loaded onto a disk at time of development.

Stop-motion software. Some webcams(like Logitech) offers free software with their product to do stop-motion. This is how I was introduced to stop-motion animation. But, here are a couple of free programs you can use.

Windows-http://www.giantscreamingrobotmonkeys.com/monkeyjam/download.html

Mac-http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/AnimAide.shtml

You will also need to host your animation somewhere so here are a couple of links that allow larger space.

http://www.putfile.com/ Allows 25megs each file supporting Video files.

http://www.100megsfree.com/ Although I am not positive, I am fairly certain they support the file extentions you will need to upload.

Others tools you will need: your imagination!

How to Enter: After making your stop-motion animation, upload it to a website. If you don't have your own, see above links. Post the link to your entry in this thread along with your pirate name and ocean of play. I strongly suggest compressing your file to mpeg or quicktime as they still hold the quality of the file and use less space. Entries must be posted no later than noon pst(gametime) on Friday, March 17th. Be careful not to edit your entry after this time, I can find out when your last edit was on a webpage.

What the judges will be looking for in a winning entry: Story-does your stop-motion tell a story? How well do you succeed in telling your story?

Humor-tickle our funny bones! The oceans have been far too serious lately.

Creative Uniqueness-How original is your idea? Is it the same-o same-o or is it fresh?

Transitions-How fluid are your transitions? Do your transitions jump too fast or are they smoother?

Prizes:

First place- a lime octopus on the ocean of your choice! Second place- a sleeping pig or tortoise Third place- Shell trinket of your choice.

Top 5 places will be awarded a ribbon.

Other questions you may have: Q: Is there a time limit on entries? A: Entries should be able to tell a story no matter how long or short your entry is. You are limited by your imagination, time, and webspace to host your entry on. Q: How do I use the program for stop-motion animation? A: Each one varies so you will need to read the help documentation that comes with the program. Q: Am I limited to whats in the game now? A: No, as long as we know its about Puzzle Pirates, you can do what you wish. Fact or fantasy, its up to you. Q: May I enter more than once? A: I won't stop you from entering more than once, but remember, quality over quantity. Its a lot of work involved in a small amount of time so I would prefer you work on one entry and make it the best! Q: Can I receive my prize if I am awarded one on any ocean? A: Yes, as long as you post in your entry thread the ocean you want to receive your prize on. If you have any other questions not answered here, please post in this thread.

This is an E2 event and feedback is encouraged by all entrants. Deadline for feedback is at 11:59 pm, March 22nd.

Well, what are you waiting for? Get started!

Looks good, I can't see anything major you're missing... Also, add Apollo to your list of judges, he's volunteered to help out with those proceedings! You'll still be running the show, he'll just be an extra judge/observer. Since you're doing a forum event we can worry about prizes after it's been judged and we know what oceans everyone wants things on.
 * --Artemis 16:20, 21 February 2006 (PST)

Final Prize and Support Information
As of right now, this is the list of prizes and support I have listed for the OM's to provide for you, if anything is not correct or complete you need to get in touch with me as soon as possible, I will not around the whole weekend! Please give the OM's plenty of time to respond to any requests and speak to them in advance if at all possible, for some of you that will be more important than others. I've given a copy of the standard OM schedule to Jacquilynne as well if I'm not available.


 * Prizes: Familiar
 * Support: Apollo is helping as a judge.

--Artemis 10:01, 3 March 2006 (PST)

Jasandrea, perhaps it would be best for me for you to give my feather to an OM who can see when I log on since I play Cobalt and you don't.