The 2016 Dave Lavery Animation Award for Excellence in Animation Sponsored by AutomationDirect.com

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Official Rules
Version 1.0

 

This award celebrates the art of animation and is named after one of the original FIRST mentors and creator of the official FRC Game animations for more than a decade via his “Havabanana” productions. (see FIRST Game animation history)

The award is offered to help encourage students to cultivate skills in design and creation of animation including, but not limited to, storytelling, creativity, use of computer software, and an understanding of different techniques and forms of animation. This award is open to all FRC teams.

 

1.0 The Challenge

“IMPACT” – you can interpret that however you want. The impact robotics has had on your team members, The impact the program has had on the community, the impact the robot has when it hits the wall – completely up to you. What you choose for a story is not nearly as important as the skill and expertise you use to convey the story.

 

2.0 Judging

Judging is purely subjective. We are looking for excellence in animation skills and in the use of animation to tell a story. The Judges will be a diverse panel of Technical Marketing, Visual Effects and Animation experts from around the world. We will be specifically looking for:

  1. Mastery of Animation
    1. Quality of Animation
    2. Complexity and Presentation of Images
    3. Expertise in Medium
  2. Ingenuity
    1. Originality of ideas
    2. Effectiveness and efficiency in execution
    3. Use of original 3D models and modeling technique
  3. Clarity
    1. Comprehensibility and organization of ideas within the animation
    2. Pacing
  4. Artistry
    1. Aesthetic Appeal
    2. Implementation of Artistic Elements
    3. Use of Medium

 

3.0 Awards

A total of $2000 in store credits at AutomationDirect.com (featuring over 15,000 automation items, including robotics parts, tools, safety gear, and more!):

  1. Technical Award: $1000 store credit for use at AutomationDirect.com
  2. Creative Award: $500 store credit for use at AutomationDirect.com
  3. Judges Award: $250 store credit for use at AutomationDirect.com
  4. Honorable Mentions (5): $50 store credit for use at AutomationDirect.com

 

4.0 Submission Requirements

The following requirements must be met for an animation to be submitted to the judges and displayed for other teams to watch.

  1. An animation may be submitted by any registered FRC team. One team may submit more than one animation.
  2. The submitted animation must be no more than 60 seconds.
    1. It must be relevant to the Challenge presented (see Section 2.0).
    2. 60 seconds is only an upper limit. Teams may submit an animation of any length up to that limit, and the duration will have no impact on how the animation is scored.
  3. Animations must be submitted as QuickTime files, with:
    1. Animations must use the MPEG-4 or H.264 codec.
    2. The animation must have a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels (720p).
    3. The animation must be recorded at 30 frames per second.
    4. The submitted file must have a name in “teamxxx” format (e.g. “Team0116.mov”).
  4. Title Screen
    1. The animation must begin with a title screen displayed for a 2-second duration followed by a one-second black slate, leading into the primary work.
    2. The title screen display will not be included in the total duration limit.
    3. The title screen must include your team number, team name, school/organization, title of the animation, and animation duration.
  5. Credits
    1. Credits should follow a one-second black slate at the end of the animation.
    2. Credits are not included in the total duration limitation of the animation.
    3. Make sure to include team members, mentors, software used, list of public domain sources, and licensed sources in credits.

5.0 Submission Process

  1. Send your video to AnimationAwardSubmission@AutomationDirect.com via a file transfer website. We like WeTransfer.com – up to 2 GB for free and you get a confirmation when we receive/download the video! YouSendIt also works well.
  2. Fill out the submission form.

Videos will be published for public viewing approximately one week of the submission deadline. Keep an eye on Chief Delphi for the announcement.

6.0 Deadline

All submissions must be completed by 11:59pm EST on Sunday, April 3rd 2016. Any entries after this deadline will not be judged. Winners will be announced by April 25, 2016.

7.0 Contact Us

If there are any questions, please feel free to contact us at
AnimationAwardSubmission@AutomationDirect.com.