Let's all get together and make an anime!

[Shoprocks]

Hi everyone--

Stupidly, I'll be without internet for basically the rest of the day and I don't have time to thoroughly read all your posts and make a response in time (I'll come back when I can). However your ideas seem great so far. If you have any tutorials or character designs then feel free to get started

On the character design thread, I was getting at assigning animations to certain people, be it the person who designed the character or someone else. I also agree we have to make a standard format and probably have one person in charge of putting it all together in a cohesive way (I'd be willing to do this, but I think we have a few takers for editing too).

Also: deadlines: I am all for them. Once we get character designs in, things'll speed up. We'll work them together in a semi-unified script and then get started. I'll talk personally with animators and see how quickly they'll be able to do things. I want to strike a reasonable balance so that artists have time to do their work at a high quality and still have a life and enjoy what they're doing. However if you work 6,000 hours a week or you're super-slow to draw, we might have to let you go, because we do want to see this to completion before we all die of old age.

Once I have the glorious Internet again I'll combine your suggestions into an official list of rules and regulations, as well as set a date for the character submissions. As for the project overall, I can't see it taking more than a few months. I'll start nice, but watch out because I've got an iron fist ready too ;D I'm here to stay, but I can see that I won't be able to do it without all of you.

[UrbanMysticDee]

I ain't complaining or nothing (I'm quite content, really, except for continuing computer issues), but why does it seem like a load of people have actually decided to do work and get organised AFTER I'm gone? Where were they a month ago?

[Interterrestrial]

I ain't complaining or nothing (I'm quite content, really, except for continuing computer issues), but why does it seem like a load of people have actually decided to do work and get organised AFTER I'm gone? Where were they a month ago?

Dee, let's focus on what we can do now. I have no idea what was going on before I came. All I'm interested in is an online collaboration, and I'm sure everyone else here is as well. So, if you want to help out and you can make regular contributions, I'm not opposed to you coming back. We have so much freedom here, because we're not working on someone's dime or having to answer to some higher ups. Do you know how many projects Disney will drop just because "Oh, we don't have the budget" or "I don't think this will sell"? We don't have to be afraid of that sort of thing! So, let's not let drama get in the way of progress, because we've got a lot of motivated people here, and I'm confident we can do this.

[UrbanMysticDee]

I ain't complaining or nothing (I'm quite content, really, except for continuing computer issues), but why does it seem like a load of people have actually decided to do work and get organised AFTER I'm gone? Where were they a month ago?

Dee, let's focus on what we can do now. I have no idea what was going on before I came. All I'm interested in is an online collaboration, and I'm sure everyone else here is as well. So, if you want to help out and you can make regular contributions, I'm not opposed to you coming back. We have so much freedom here, because we're not working on someone's dime or having to answer to some higher ups. Do you know how many projects Disney will drop just because "Oh, we don't have the budget" or "I don't think this will sell"? We don't have to be afraid of that sort of thing! So, let's not let drama get in the way of progress, because we've got a lot of motivated people here, and I'm confident we can do this.

I don't know who "we" is, because "we" usually includes the person speaking and the person being spoken to and there is no real connection there, but I AM focusing on what I can do now. I am asking a legitimate question out of pure curiosity. When I was here there was no talk of deadlines, there was no talk of responsibilities or leadership or assigning tasks to different people. "Animators" was a word I think was made up because I never enountered any of them. There was no character designing. What happend? What changed to turn this from running into the ground to actually moving forward?

[Interterrestrial]

I ain't complaining or nothing (I'm quite content, really, except for continuing computer issues), but why does it seem like a load of people have actually decided to do work and get organised AFTER I'm gone? Where were they a month ago?

Dee, let's focus on what we can do now. I have no idea what was going on before I came. All I'm interested in is an online collaboration, and I'm sure everyone else here is as well. So, if you want to help out and you can make regular contributions, I'm not opposed to you coming back. We have so much freedom here, because we're not working on someone's dime or having to answer to some higher ups. Do you know how many projects Disney will drop just because "Oh, we don't have the budget" or "I don't think this will sell"? We don't have to be afraid of that sort of thing! So, let's not let drama get in the way of progress, because we've got a lot of motivated people here, and I'm confident we can do this.

I don't know who "we" is, because "we" usually includes the person speaking and the person being spoken to and there is no real connection there, but I AM focusing on what I can do now. I am asking a legitimate question out of pure curiosity. When I was here there was no talk of deadlines, there was no talk of responsibilities or leadership or assigning tasks to different people. "Animators" was a word I think was made up because I never enountered any of them. There was no character designing. What happend? What changed to turn this from running into the ground to actually moving forward?

Dee, why didn't you take things into your own hands? If you didn't like how things were handled, why didn't you start your own project where you could assign roles to different people? You have all the devices to start your own group, so if you have anyone to blame for anything, it's you. That's how it works in the real world: if you have a group project and your partner is a lazy ass, you take up their end of the job and deliver on time, otherwise it's your fault the job wasn't done. Either way, I don't see why you're sticking around if you have no intention of contributing to the project. Do what you want to with your time, but my suggestion is move on and learn from your mistakes.

[UrbanMysticDee]

Who are you now the TV shrink on Oprah? I'm asking other people here what prompted the change for the better. If you saw someone you knew turn their life around and get on their feet wouldn't you be the least little bit curious as to how they did it? That's me. I'm curious. In the real world curiosity prompts innovation.

[Troll]

To everyone,

Ignore the guy above or you'll get caught into a long string of whining and arguments.
Just continue the planning and discussion on the project.

---

For the project, I would suggest to work on a small resolution like a 480p or a bit bigger 720p dimension. Something of an average dimension for videos in YouTube. Above anything else, characters are required. With enough characters, the script will follow.

[Interterrestrial]

To everyone,

Ignore the guy above or you'll get caught into a long string of whining and arguments.
Just continue the planning and discussion on the project.

---

For the project, I would suggest to work on a small resolution like a 480p or a bit bigger 720p dimension. Something of an average dimension for videos in YouTube. Above anything else, characters are required. With enough characters, the script will follow.

Sounds great. How are we going to get the files to each other?

[Shoprocks]

Sounds great. How are we going to get the files to each other?

I guess we need something that...
*lets us transfer images, video, .fla/.swf (all that Flash stuff), documents, etc to the entire group
*has forums and chat
*free
*member limit isn't too low
*not a huge pain in the ass like webs.com

I'll wait a second before suggesting anything. I've already created two web sites that didn't do what we needed.

[Interterrestrial]

Sounds great. How are we going to get the files to each other?

I guess we need something that...
*lets us transfer images, video, .fla/.swf (all that Flash stuff), documents, etc to the entire group
*has forums and chat
*free
*member limit isn't too low
*not a huge pain in the ass like webs.com

I'll wait a second before suggesting anything. I've already created two web sites that didn't do what we needed.

As far as file transferring, the only free thing I know of for large files is Dropbox. If we make an account and share the username/password then it allows up to 2 GB storage (you can store any files you want, so image files and .fla would work). It's pretty much like a USB drive on the internet, so there is no chatting. You need to allow it to sync to your computer every time there's a new addition and it's not 100% reliable, and also you need to make sure you download a copy or it will take it off the main area. That's the solution I've used in the past, and while it gets the job done, I'd be incredibly excited if someone presented a better solution (preferably something a little more secure, too, so that some disgruntled member can't log on and sabotage the project.)
I just remembered we should decide on a standard frame rate, too.

[Shoprocks]

As far as file transferring, the only free thing I know of for large files is Dropbox. If we make an account and share the username/password then it allows up to 2 GB storage (you can store any files you want, so image files and .fla would work). It's pretty much like a USB drive on the internet, so there is no chatting. You need to allow it to sync to your computer every time there's a new addition and it's not 100% reliable, and also you need to make sure you download a copy or it will take it off the main area. That's the solution I've used in the past, and while it gets the job done, I'd be incredibly excited if someone presented a better solution (preferably something a little more secure, too, so that some disgruntled member can't log on and sabotage the project.)
I just remembered we should decide on a standard frame rate, too.

I'm a beginner (an eager one, but a beginner) to animation myself. Frame rate suggestions? (Something fluid enough, but possible to actually do.)

I looked a little into collaboration software, the stuff businesses use. There must be some decent free ones. I'll find one that fits like a glass slipper before I make you guys create a billionth account for something, though.

Also, I think we should create a full-color storyboard with a decent amount of detail so we make sure the whole movie isn't green, or it's 20 girls and two guys, or two thirds of it are in the woods and suddenly we're in a castle.
^^So, our software/website/etc has to be able to support that. Or one person just compiles all the storyboard panels. That stage, where we combine ideas and change them to fit, will take a loooot of reworking, methinks. That's where my decision-making power really kicks in...kekeke...I think a chatroom or Skype would be super-helpful when we get to that point, so we can get a lot of input at once but also have someone guide it and say "nope, enough arguing, we're doing this" so we can get more done.

i feel like such a lazy leader right now. but i'm sleeeeepy =o= For your reference, my planned course of action is:
-Sleep, then carry out my non-anime responsibilities tomorrow
-Look for a website/etc that will really fit our needs for collaboration
-Make a big (ever-expanding) reference sheet that will specify dimensions, frame rate, other techniques for animation to keep things consistent
-Finish and color my first character because I got lazy
-Create some other characters and the scenes in which they appear
-And, make a note of those of you who are helping guide this process because you're totally being credited for this. Behind every great leader is...a bunch of people who ACTUALLY know what they're doing.

Yep.

[suneda]

I know a site which lets you send files up to 2 GB to another persons e-mail. For that you don't need to sign up. It's called https://www.wetransfer.com/. I don't know if this might be handy, but it's there.

[Troll]

Frame rate suggestions? (Something fluid enough, but possible to actually do.)

Japanese animation runs at 24 fps (to 30) while American animation can span up to 40 fps at highest. You can just stick with 24 fps. Main subjects can animate from 8-12fps.

[Owlgravy]

Would it be too late for a newcomer to appear?

I don't have that large a skill set though, so I could probably only do writing, voice acting, and maybe a bit of music (Maybe crack out the Theremin, for some ambience?).
Any art I've done has mostly editing, which I guess could apply to Promo artistry

I guess we need something that...
*lets us transfer images, video, .fla/.swf (all that Flash stuff), documents, etc to the entire group
*has forums and chat
*free
*member limit isn't too low
*not a huge pain in the ass like webs.com

You can do most of (pretty much all) that in skype, then use that for small files, and then something like mediafire for larger ones . That's what I do for my podcast.


Edit: Okay, I've now finished reading up on the thread. It appears that I, as a non-animator, wouldn't be exactly of use for Fightatholon style thing you currently have planned. But, if there IS something I could help with, just let me know.

Also, you could set up some sort of active torrent that seeds the files in between all those who need it. Just an idea.

[Interterrestrial]

Would it be too late for a newcomer to appear?

I don't have that large a skill set though, so I could probably only do writing, voice acting, and maybe a bit of music (Maybe crack out the Theremin, for some ambience?).
Any art I've done has mostly editing, which I guess could apply to Promo artistry

I guess we need something that...
*lets us transfer images, video, .fla/.swf (all that Flash stuff), documents, etc to the entire group
*has forums and chat
*free
*member limit isn't too low
*not a huge pain in the ass like webs.com

You can do most of (pretty much all) that in skype, then use that for small files, and then something like mediafire for larger ones . That's what I do for my podcast.


Edit: Okay, I've now finished reading up on the thread. It appears that I, as a non-animator, wouldn't be exactly of use for Fightatholon style thing you currently have planned. But, if there IS something I could help with, just let me know.

Also, you could set up some sort of active torrent that seeds the files in between all those who need it. Just an idea.

I hope you stick around all the same! We still need some ideas for the opening sequence and maybe a general idea of what will be happening.