exactly

most of you are somehow eager to create softimage reel for autodesk... ohh xsi can do this, xsi can do that.. cool, now we know si can create orcs and LOTR rip off etc...

like i said before, you got to ask yourselves what are u trying to do, create autodesk softimage reel or some rip off or something creative.

IMHO some scenery porn can be much more powerful then any LOTR rip of

the way i see it now, you have 3 options:

1. LOTR rip off: ORCs idea, where big number of giant semi-natural creatures are marching, and they all have fu*ked up faces and all that, so the viewer says, ooo... they can make LOTR is SI... cool
my thought: this type is condemned to abortion(not enough resources as first reason)

2. Pixar rip off: Create few "Toys", fishes, or walk & talk computers, that lost their friend somewhere somehow for some reason, and all they go to adventure to save | retrieve it... Originality: below zero;
my thought: I'm little tired of pixar-type happy stories, they are for children, and it looks like adults are having just too much hard time seeing a difference.

3. Creative (NARRATIVE) piece of art. Something where the plot is behind all the progression of moods that the short movie creates to the viewer and where, viewer doesn't see difference between anything; it's plain beauty, and once plot reveals the impact is big. Like opentarget said, even in narrative, slow paced, piece you can show all the beauties of SI and more...
my thought: true(art?) originality is respected and appreciated for a long time, and maybe even more and on wider scale.

My personal choice is third (narrative as mentioned earlier in a thread). And have good luck creating first or second if u decide, but third one gives YOUR WORK A DEPTH (the thing that counts the most).

Well, I don't want to over-involve myself, but there is one thing you all should realize: the perfect plan is worth nothing if you can't get it finished! "Orcs" or "no Orcs", defying the seemingly unwritten law that community projects like this must surely fail, must be an important consideration. So, again "Orcs" or no "Orcs", let us by all means set out to create a FINISHED product and set our intermediate goals accordingly...

lol. Ok. When I said the orcs thing was a good idea it was from a purely practical point of view. I've worked on several videogame mods (and work on one still) so I know that motivation and commitment to a project that is unpaid and a challenge to complete is difficult to maintain and can be sporadic. People come and go randomly (one day they are the biggest contributor, the next day they are leaving due to personal commitments) and many things end up being completed by other members. The Orcs idea stood out to me as something that could fit well with this situation (eg: flexible in terms of production) but it wasn't personally the approach I wanted to take!

Personally, I was hoping for something more along the lines of "9" or "rustboy" (gritty, dark and perilous) or "pigeon impossible" (stylised and bright). A story driven production. Very short with a twist, punchline or epiphany at the end. But remember that the more stylised - further from real - the characters are, the less problematic they will be to create and animate.

Anyways, thanks for the nomination, Hirazi. I accept.

Okay, since both "opentarget" & "redmotion" have accepted their new nominations as leaders of the CAP (CAPtains, so to speak) and nobody has of yet challenged these nominations, let's make it official & await their first turn... I merely started the "Orcs - no Orcs" poll to get things started!!!

As for an eventual story-based approach: it might be an idea to actually structure the piece in the style of game cinematics, as they are naturally much more open-ended that regular shorts... My idea would be then to even present it as such - a game cinematic for a game that doesn't exist...

Hi

first up, Orcs was just a 'suggestion', so dont feel like its a 'set in stone' option, its all "your" project, so do feel free to add you own idea's, or modify it to suit you.

Cheers
Terry

To put an end to this (once and for all?): I coined the phrases '"Orcs" versus "Story"' and '"Orcs" or no "Orcs"' merely as such, as phrases that is. Personally I dislike the idea of a piece centered around Orcs, but I do like the "Orcs"-option (as in "technical" rather than "narrative")...
So, sorry for the confusion!

Hi everyone. I'm new around this forum. And sorry if this is the wrong place to post, but I would be interested in participating. I don't have any formal experience, but I think I can manage to put together character rigs if they are needed. I'm currently working on one that I hope to be able to share with the community in the next few days.

I also know a bit of SI scripting (being a programmer by trade helps), a bit of ICE, and can do half a decent job at modeling.

Good luck everyone

glad your interested, stay tuned to the forum we are cooking up some plans in the background.

@ redmotion and hirazi
the pm is down at the moment so we cant keep the planning flowing. if its not back up tonight ill post my mail address.

For testing purposes I've sent you a PM... Please respond, if and when you get it!!!

edit: issue seems to have been resolved... Move along...