Topic: Announcing the Robinomicon/XenoCorp Symposium and Modelling Contests

[FoaS_XC]

Upcoming Dates
January 10th 2k10: Symposia
January 17th 2k10: Speed Modeling Contest

Current Winners
We haven't had a contest yet, so just wait.

Overview

Now that the holidays are over and my addiction to D&D online wanes to something a bit more reasonable, I would like to take a moment to announce an idea I've been having for a few months now. A conversation I had with Frey has solidified my decision to actually go through with it. From here on in, I will be hosting two events that will, hopefully, increase community togetherness.

There exists, right now, a disparity, a rift between skill levels at present. Without, I hope, sounding egotistical, haughty, or arrogant, I would like to level the playing field. I have often been asked to make more video tutorials explaining how I go about making my models. I have thought it over, and decided to go about a different route.

I am proud to announce that starting January 10th, I will be hosting seminars, or classroom lectures, in which people can "sit" in on and watch me go about making stuff, complete with voice commentary, live. People are encouraged to ask questions, either with IM chat, or if you have a head set, by audio. I am also encouraging people to make suggestions to improve my own workflow. These seminars will be every other sunday, as I said, starting January 10th. At present, I can fit 20 people into the room, so its first-come first-serve, however, if this takes off, I may end up signing up for the premium service and I will be able to have more.

Every other sunday, starting on the 17th, I will also be hosting a Speed Modelling contest. Anyone is welcome to step in and model with us for a couple of hours. I, along with a panel of two other people, will rate the models, and announce the top three. I hope to foster a friendly competition for those among the community who are well skilled, and something to strive for amongst others.

Details
Okay, so how are we doing this?

Symposium
Starting January 10th, at 6pm EST all one has to do is go to DimDim.com (you don't even need to sign up) and click "Join Meeting". A little popup box will show up asking what room and your name. Type in "Robinomicon" at the meeting room. For Your Name use your Dynaverse name, please. Bring a headset if you have one. At the beginning I'll explain what we'll be running through, I'll walk through it for an hour or two, and open it up to a freestyle Q&A. See later down the post on what we will be covering for the first few sessions.
The programs you will be seeing me use will be 3ds Max 9, Photoshop CS3, and 3ds Max 4 (for conversion only). Plugins will be used for these programs, but I will try to keep people in the loop during the symposiums as to what plugins I'm using and why.
Symposia will be happening every other week.

Speed Modelling Contest
Since symposia will be every other sunday, the sundays between them will be for Speed Modelling contests. The premise is simple. Come onto teamspeak at 6pm EST on alternating sundays, and I will be waiting. I will announce a theme and people have three hours to model out their concept on the theme. An example theme might be "TNG-era Klingon Shuttlecraft". Once the three hours have elapsed, I will give a 30 minute grace period for people to convert to MOD format. I will then open up an FTP directory on my domain that you will be able to upload your model to. You can also upload a text file with a paragraph long summary of your design. it can state what you were thinking when you made it, etc.

A panel consisting of myself and two other people (who will not participate in the contest) will talk amongst ourselves in a private channel and rate the different models. Models will be rated on a 1-5 scale in two categories: Design and Execution, they will be added together for the final score.
Design basically represents "how well did the builder think this out?", "Does it fit in with established design?", "If it doesn't fit in with established design lineage, how well does the deviation work?", "is the design original?" Execution is purely mechanical "for the amount of detail the builder put in, is the polycount reasonable?", "are there wasted polygons?", "do the different parts work well together?", "Is it aesthetically pleasing?". If you wish to volunteer to be a judge, PM me or grab me on teamspeak as we are going. I would like to rotate in and out judges from session to session, so volunteers are always welcome.
Obviously this encourages brand new and original designs, not canon ships. Kitbashes are acceptable if you acknowledge all those involved and they have an open policy (or if they are present and you ask them), but the nature of kitbashes would probably mean that you will not score as high as if modelled from scratch (kitbashes are hard to make look good). For those just starting out, I still encourage you to participate. You will likely end up being challenged, which is always good.
The models with the three highest scores will be the Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners, and renders of their models will be posted in this thread (above). Plus, they get bragging rights, for at least two weeks .

Topics to be covered
For the first few symposia (that is as long as it takes to cover it all) we will model, unwrap, texture, and convert the Antares-class TOS frigate.

What will you need
For the symposia you will not explicitly need anything, but I recommend you have 3ds Max 9 and Photoshop cs3. have something with which you can take notes, if that's your thing. Go to DimDim.com and click "Join Meeting". Type in "Robinomicon" for the room name and your Dynaverse handle for your name (just so we all know who you are).
For the modelling contest, you will need Teamspeak and an FTP client. for Teamspeak you will need to connect to the dynaverse teamspeak server (check the root page of dynaverse.net, go to chat, and teamspeak, the connection information will be there). There will be a channel for this stuff (it isn't created yet, but it will be there soon, and I'll post what it is here). The FTP client will be uploading a model you make to my FTP server. I recommend FileZilla, which is what I use. Contact information will be available during the contest, so don't worry about that quite yet. Just have an FTP client ready for when you upload stuff. When you upload a file to the server, name the file "<Forum Handle> - <Ship Name>.MOD" for consistency.

[FoaS_XC]

Mod, please sticky.

[Tus-XC]

sounds good

[GotAFarmYet?]

This will be interesting
Unfortuantly I will not be able to make them for awhile in January, scheduling. If you are going to do them you should also record them though as they can then be uploaded as youtube files or just zip up for ppl to go over to help them later as their memory fades.

Either way it goes I still think you will have skill differences, but at least they will start to understand the tools available. Knowing how to use a tool makes your life easier, at least you will know what it is used for or at least a way to use it.
There are usually a few ways to do anything, but knowing a few basics and how to apply them never hurts. I have tried to explain texturing to ppl but well you can teach them a basic approach, the eye for details or how to make the details work for you can not be shown.

[Terradyhne]

Foas your idea is good but the form of how you are doing this is not reaching that much people, i think
I have no teamspeak or such online game voicechat stupidity as a don't play online and i don't own Max9 plus Photoshop CS3 and for the speed modelling contest i even can't contribute something as i'm not a speed modeller as you all know 

[Centurus]

Tutuorials would be better.  Your idea, while it is good, doesn't level the playing field, as it only benefits those that can attend such sessions, and chances are, half the people interested might be able to attend.  Like me for instance, I don't have access to the computer everyday, except for only a few minutes to check e-mail and new posts, so live sessions can't help me, since I won't be able to attend.  And others sounds like they're roughly in the same boat as I am.

There's still going to be a very noticeable disparty, and might even discourage some people from even trying to further their skills.

If you're still going to go through with this, then GAFY's idea of saving the recordings and making them available for people to view later on would be best.  That would help to level the playing field much better, and others that come into the community after these live sessions would also benefit.  Hell, I still have your saucer tutorial, and while I make saucers these days using a spline outline, I used your saucer technique to make Excel-like hulls.  Granted, not the most efficient way to make such hulls, but they work well enough for me.

[FoaS_XC]

I will be recording sessions, but making them available might be a bit harder.

"this only benefits those who attend" well yeah, I can't exactly help those who don't show up. "There's still going to be a very noticeable disparty, and might even discourage some people from even trying to further their skills." Then they are welcome to stay home >.<.

I don't want to baby people and their particularities. I use 3ds Max, I don't use Lightwave, I don't use Milkshape, I don't know how to use lightwave - so I'm not going to teach lightwave. It would make no sense. Here's what I've got. You can come if you'd like.

[Centurus]

I will be recording sessions, but making them available might be a bit harder.

"this only benefits those who attend" well yeah, I can't exactly help those who don't show up. "There's still going to be a very noticeable disparty, and might even discourage some people from even trying to further their skills." Then they are welcome to stay home >.<.

You just defeated your own purpose then, and are contributing to the disparty you yourself said you wanted to eliminate.

[FoaS_XC]

I will be recording sessions, but making them available might be a bit harder.

"this only benefits those who attend" well yeah, I can't exactly help those who don't show up. "There's still going to be a very noticeable disparty, and might even discourage some people from even trying to further their skills." Then they are welcome to stay home >.<.

You just defeated your own purpose then, and are contributing to the disparty you yourself said you wanted to eliminate.

I am surprised at you, for being so discouraging. I am having trouble locating a place where I can upload broadcasts for access without overloading my domain's monthly bandwidth limit. I noted your concern and I'm trying to address it. If I do this right, not only will there be a more personable environment for discussion of things, but you will also be able to grab the video. I really like the idea of people actually talking - not just watching a video or reading text. Real time actual conversations. It does wonders to a community.

I intend to do this. People who wish to sit in are welcome, people who don't are welcome to just watch the videos. It is entirely up to you. It should be fun, though, and I encourage everyone to at least stop by.

[FoaS_XC]

Foas your idea is good but the form of how you are doing this is not reaching that much people, i think
I have no teamspeak or such online game voicechat stupidity as a don't play online and i don't own Max9 plus Photoshop CS3 and for the speed modelling contest i even can't contribute something as i'm not a speed modeller as you all know 

Sorry, Terra, I hadn't seen your post until now.

You don't have to have a headset. Even if you don't have a mic you can participate. The speed modelling is to sharpen skills and learn quickly "trial-by-fire" and get together a bit of a more friendly competitive edge among things (within reason, of course). The idea of the speed modelling is not to make masterpieces, but to think quickly.
Besides, they are only models - no textures or anything else, just geometry. I've been participating in speed modelling contests on dA for some time (though they have pretty much died down since the one who hosted them has left) and I am by no means fast. Despite that I have a lot of fun.

[Tus-XC]

There's still going to be a very noticeable disparty, and might even discourage some people from even trying to further their skills.

The only way to decrease disparity is to increase the information available.  On top of that, interactive information only betters the rate of learning.  And honestly, those who are discouraged 'from trying to further their skills' by more information in more formats (aka more access) simply put never intended to further their skill set and are simply making excuses.  Simply because someone does something better than you is not an excuse to give up and not try.  I have little respect for people like that.

[Centurus]

There's still going to be a very noticeable disparty, and might even discourage some people from even trying to further their skills.

The only way to decrease disparity is to increase the information available.  On top of that, interactive information only betters the rate of learning.  And honestly, those who are discouraged 'from trying to further their skills' by more information in more formats (aka more access) simply put never intended to further their skill set and are simply making excuses.  Simply because someone does something better than you is not an excuse to give up and not try.  I have little respect for people like that.

I'm trying to say that there are going to be those that won't be able to make it to those live sessions, mainly due to family or job responsibilities.  If those people can't make it, you have little respect for them?

[Centurus]

I will be recording sessions, but making them available might be a bit harder.

"this only benefits those who attend" well yeah, I can't exactly help those who don't show up. "There's still going to be a very noticeable disparty, and might even discourage some people from even trying to further their skills." Then they are welcome to stay home >.<.

You just defeated your own purpose then, and are contributing to the disparty you yourself said you wanted to eliminate.

I am surprised at you, for being so discouraging. I am having trouble locating a place where I can upload broadcasts for access without overloading my domain's monthly bandwidth limit. I noted your concern and I'm trying to address it. If I do this right, not only will there be a more personable environment for discussion of things, but you will also be able to grab the video. I really like the idea of people actually talking - not just watching a video or reading text. Real time actual conversations. It does wonders to a community.

I intend to do this. People who wish to sit in are welcome, people who don't are welcome to just watch the videos. It is entirely up to you. It should be fun, though, and I encourage everyone to at least stop by.

And I'm surprised you didn't see my concern from the beginning.  You can still hold your live sessions, no one's stopping you, but if you choose not to make those sessions available for later reference for those who weren't able to attend the live meetings, you're still supporting the gap in talent skills.  If you do make those sessions available for download, I'm sure D.net would be more than willing to host them for anyone who wishes to, you succeed in your goals of closing that talent gap.  Some people will benefit sooner than others because they would have had the chance of attending the live sessions, and those that can't attend aren't put off or discouraged, and can benefit later on.

Also, I said those that come around long after your live sessions can still benefit from them, by having the recordings to learn from.  And also, and this just occured to me, there would be others around hopefully by the time to answer questions those future people may have, so that you won't find yourself drowning in a vast amount of PMs asking for clarification.

This whole month I have to spend looking for a job and getting some transcripts from my college in order, so I can try and get a job.  In addition, I've also got to register for classes for the spring as well, and those classes I already know are gonna cut what time I have.  I've been waiting years to learn to model, but I also have my priorities.  If I miss out, I don't want it to be considered that I wasn't interested.  Where does that leave me and others who have similar situations?

At the very least, as you said, there will be videos, which is a good thing for people like me, who have very little time available.  In your first original post, you never mentioned anything about making the sessions available for download later on, so I was concerned.

[Tus-XC]

There's still going to be a very noticeable disparty, and might even discourage some people from even trying to further their skills.

The only way to decrease disparity is to increase the information available.  On top of that, interactive information only betters the rate of learning.  And honestly, those who are discouraged 'from trying to further their skills' by more information in more formats (aka more access) simply put never intended to further their skill set and are simply making excuses.  Simply because someone does something better than you is not an excuse to give up and not try.  I have little respect for people like that.

I'm trying to say that there are going to be those that won't be able to make it to those live sessions, mainly due to family or job responsibilities.  If those people can't make it, you have little respect for them?

If they give up even though said information is given in multiple formats (and not just interactive) then yes, i have very little respect for them.  I think foas said early that he was recording theses sessions so i see very little wiggle room in the department of excuses.  If someone truely wants to learn they will take advantage of any information made available, and not just the one form of access they want.  To quote my professors, we are students for life, which means we continue to learn through any means available.  Anything less is laziness and I simply will not give any weight to any complaints when people are going out of their way and taking their time to help them, and on top of that provide multiple resources in that effort.

[Starforce2]

I will be recording sessions, but making them available might be a bit harder.

"this only benefits those who attend" well yeah, I can't exactly help those who don't show up. "There's still going to be a very noticeable disparty, and might even discourage some people from even trying to further their skills." Then they are welcome to stay home >.<.

You just defeated your own purpose then, and are contributing to the disparty you yourself said you wanted to eliminate.

I am surprised at you, for being so discouraging. I am having trouble locating a place where I can upload broadcasts for access without overloading my domain's monthly bandwidth limit. I noted your concern and I'm trying to address it. If I do this right, not only will there be a more personable environment for discussion of things, but you will also be able to grab the video. I really like the idea of people actually talking - not just watching a video or reading text. Real time actual conversations. It does wonders to a community.

I intend to do this. People who wish to sit in are welcome, people who don't are welcome to just watch the videos. It is entirely up to you. It should be fun, though, and I encourage everyone to at least stop by.

How about using sfc3 files..eliminates your bandwidth issue. As for disparity..I have max 3.1. I could show up..this would, ofcourse, make everyone else look like modeling genius.

[Centurus]

There's still going to be a very noticeable disparty, and might even discourage some people from even trying to further their skills.

The only way to decrease disparity is to increase the information available.  On top of that, interactive information only betters the rate of learning.  And honestly, those who are discouraged 'from trying to further their skills' by more information in more formats (aka more access) simply put never intended to further their skill set and are simply making excuses.  Simply because someone does something better than you is not an excuse to give up and not try.  I have little respect for people like that.

I'm trying to say that there are going to be those that won't be able to make it to those live sessions, mainly due to family or job responsibilities.  If those people can't make it, you have little respect for them?

If they give up even though said information is given in multiple formats (and not just interactive) then yes, i have very little respect for them.  I think foas said early that he was recording theses sessions so i see very little wiggle room in the department of excuses.  If someone truely wants to learn they will take advantage of any information made available, and not just the one form of access they want.  To quote my professors, we are students for life, which means we continue to learn through any means available.  Anything less is laziness and I simply will not give any weight to any complaints when people are going out of their way and taking their time to help them, and on top of that provide multiple resources in that effort.

In his first post there wasn't a mention of the sessions being recorded.  Later on he said he would.

[Centurus]

I will be recording sessions, but making them available might be a bit harder.

"this only benefits those who attend" well yeah, I can't exactly help those who don't show up. "There's still going to be a very noticeable disparty, and might even discourage some people from even trying to further their skills." Then they are welcome to stay home >.<.

You just defeated your own purpose then, and are contributing to the disparty you yourself said you wanted to eliminate.

I am surprised at you, for being so discouraging. I am having trouble locating a place where I can upload broadcasts for access without overloading my domain's monthly bandwidth limit. I noted your concern and I'm trying to address it. If I do this right, not only will there be a more personable environment for discussion of things, but you will also be able to grab the video. I really like the idea of people actually talking - not just watching a video or reading text. Real time actual conversations. It does wonders to a community.

I intend to do this. People who wish to sit in are welcome, people who don't are welcome to just watch the videos. It is entirely up to you. It should be fun, though, and I encourage everyone to at least stop by.

How about using sfc3 files..eliminates your bandwidth issue. As for disparity..I have max 3.1. I could show up..this would, ofcourse, make everyone else look like modeling genius.

SFC3Files hasn't been reliable as of late for some reason.  Uploading files is becoming a chore and the site is wonky at best. 

[Starforce2]

really? How about that dropbox thing I used? 2 gb of space, I dunno what bandwidth limits you have and I could always us BCfiles, so far as I know there've been no issues other than extra long pending file times during the recent christmas releases.

[Centurus]

really? How about that dropbox thing I used? 2 gb of space, I dunno what bandwidth limits you have and I could always us BCfiles, so far as I know there've been no issues other than extra long pending file times during the recent christmas releases.

I think it's an issue with Filefront itself.  I've tried uploading pics to a couple sites for PORD, and I keep getting errors of being unable to upload to the database, and when trying to access files for download, they'll sometimes go to filefront's main page repeatedly, and then when you try it again another day, it takes you to the download page for that file, but it happens randomly.  One of the last files uploaded I think had some issues getting uploaded. 

[FoaS_XC]

After the first session I will have to see how big the file is. After that, I'll know what to do.