(Note: I'm writing this as an impromptu rant, but I'll try to watch how I word things in hopes to avoid angry responses.)
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Collabs. They're an inviting haven to beginners and experts alike, providing an interesting challenge without the cumbersome task of doing an entire project solo. Collab threads populate the forums like dandelions, sometimes spawning entire off-site forums in some cases. Collabs introduce you to new music, new users with potential, seasoned animators you can now claim as contacts, and new ideas for future projects.
In other words, collabs can be a good thing. ...However, my question is this: How can you tell when a collab is truly good, and when a collab is just a decorated turd?
Now, there are all sorts of steaming piles out there with good scores, so don't assume I'm picking on "your collab" or "your favorite collab". Hell, you can even point your finger at me and say "You've done it as well!"...
Yes, I have participated in a collab that was in dire need of cohesion and talent, but I am proud about the work I've done, and I have full faith in my drawing skills. Any high score made on a collab I've participated in and any good compliments I receive is not because of me brown-nosing the crowds or by intimidation, but because I worked hard to make a piece I felt was worth watching.
But what do you say to the people who clearly do a half-assed job, or even trickier, the people who work hard and intend well but have horrible drawing/animating skills?
My usual tactic is to just say nothing at all, since I can't think of anything nice to say... but that seething disgust quietly festers as the weak links continue to brag about their high scores.
The worst that I've seen so far is where 70% or more of the collab participants have done a part ranging in quality from okay to downright blammable, but the remaining 30% or less of the participants have enough weight in their animations to carry the collab into not just passing scores, but into the high scores. If that weren't bad enough, they build up a wall of empty compliments so that ANYONE with a differing opinion or constructive criticism will be targeted as useless or abusive.
If that isn't cheating the system, I don't know what is.
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mechanixnut
Wow lots of reading. And lots more to come.
I think collabs are just for having fun and meeting new people. You can also learn a thing or two from them. I know I have. It is also a good way to improve your skills at animating, and you get positive feedback from others and you can help people with their animation skills with your feedback. I know you can just do that in the portal, but during the making process I think it is much more useful for the feedback.
I agree with you on the collabs that have very poor animations and few good ones, but it also shows that just about anyone can work together. It is just like that last one that I had worked on (The Easter Collab), most of the animations were shit but we still managed to get a good score because of the few good animations we had in it and the really good joke we had at the end.
The best way to give people feedback is just to tell them straight up what they need to do to make they're stuff better. I know I have had to do that many times in the last couple days. It is just a good feeling when you help someone become a better artist, and also seeing the potential for those that could be a really good artist if they just keep practicing and challenging themselves to do better.
I have also seen some collabs that have just fallen apart after they were started and it is really sad when the collab was a brilliant idea and most people that madea post thought it was the stupidest idea ever. I tried to start a collab a couple days ago and one post that was made by a mod made everyone that looked at it want to not join, so I was a little saddened that one persons saying can cause a complete failure.
The thing that is the worst that I have seen about collabs that have been made are the ones that people only let those that have a BA of 3.0 to join. That I think is unfair expecially to those that do have talent but just not the score to back it up and for those that have a really good idea for the collab that could have potentially made it get a great score or even the front page.
Back to your question. I find that some collabs are just used for some really lazy artist that can't make a good video by themselves and have to mooch off of others so that they can get a good score. There is also collabs I have seens where the host of it was a really good artist on their own and just want to do a project to help out those that can't do their own video and help improve their score and talent as an artist. This also helps build up their confidence to make their own animations without fear of it getting blammed out of the flash portal in the first day of it being submitted.
Anyways there is something to think about.
Peace out
Mechanixnut