About quality, which exactly are the topics that will be evaluated?
These could definitely be clarified based on the feedback I'm getting, and I will do just that. I know generalized words aren't exactly the best indicator for what we're looking for, so I rewrote the section to be more clear:
Quality - This term is general and touches on a lot of aspects, as an animation's quality is not solely determined by the technical animation skills of the animator. Creating a good animated film involves a lot more than just technical animation skill, you also need to think about things like direction, cinematography, and writing. That is why I've decided to split Quality into a few more explicit terms:
Animation - Demonstration of technical animation skill. Things such as timing, rhythm, arcs, squash, stretch, etc. will all be taken into account.
Art - Artistic ability. Includes aspects such as scene composition, use of color, perspective, lighting, attention to detail, etc.
Direction - Your ability to direct an animation, taking in to account things like intent, story telling, emotion, use of music, use of sound effects, etc.
Humor - Humor is subjective. Instead of judging based on whether or not something made us laugh, we will instead look at the effort put in to making something funny regardless of sense of humor.
Length - We require a minimum of 90 seconds, but it doesn't have to be exactly 90 seconds. A longer animation is better as long as the quality doesn't suffer because of it.
Originality - We're looking for entrants to try new things! The more you set yourself apart the better.
Hopefully this is a little more clear.
Will the judges evaluate the entries individually or as a group?
Individually, so that no one person can influence a group decision. Judge evaluations will be combined in the end to get the final score.
Will they assign a number of points to the entries given their criteria?
Yes. The criteria themselves have points which are added up.
This may change in future competitions.
How is each category weighted, is there a percentage of the final score each has?
I don't think I should be divulging this information. Not that I don't want to, but I am unsure if I should as this might cause problems like people to attempt to game the system, skewing it unfairly for those that would rather "meta game". I will say we have attempted to divide the weighting up in such a way that no one category will guarantee a placement, so if you're not a comedic person but a good animator/director, as long as you still make the attempt you have a chance. I will have to get back to you on this when I know how specific I can be.
How influential are the "extra" categories, how do they fit in the judging process (10/10 for this animation. 8/10 for this one plus 5 extra points for WIP thread)?.
Keeping in mind what I said above, the extra criteria are not as influential as the primary criteria, but they are influential enough that someone who doesn't do them might actually lose out to someone who's submission is slightly worse according to the primary criteria. I am well aware of the opinions that some of the people who are entering have, so despite being fairly simple to do, I don't really care if anyone does or doesn't do them. That's why it's not a requirement, but a risk you can take if you're opposed to it for whatever reason.
Who are the judges, or is it a single person?
Are the judges any users on here because I don't think alot of people like me.
For sure myself and CJ will be judging, for obvious reasons. I am also trying to arrange for an additional 2 or 3 judges that are knowledgeable in the subjects above and can give a completely unbiased opinion in order to balance out the roster. I have reached out to a few friends that work in the animation industry that have expressed interest in helping, but it's hard to tell for sure since judging happens in September and they might not be free then. When we get closer to that day I will make sure to announce for sure who is judging.
Not trying to be pesky, this info might be useful for entrants, also just curious.
Not at all, feel free to ask away!
Does the entries have to be in 2D Flash animation? Is 3D acceptable?
3D is perfectly acceptable. The format does not have to be Flash.
