Anim8or Community
General Category => General Anim8or Forum => Topic started by: Project Test Chamber on February 07, 2010, 05:49:01 pm
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I think its about time that this forum just had a place where you can share some outside interests. We just need a Off topic section or general chat thread or sumthing along the lines of this. I think it will help the community get to know each other more as well as encouraging users to come to the forum more to just chill. ;D Anyone else agree?
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Yes! that will be very nice.
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Added a poll
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Hmmm, one no. Whats the harm of adding a off topic section?
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I don't think it's a good idea, off-topic sections would make this forum become a social forum instead of what it was made to be, about anim8or, and adding an off-topic would only attract more spambots, and I don't think steve wants to waste bandwidth on it either, but thats up to him.
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I don't think it's a good idea, off-topic sections would make this forum become a social forum instead of what it was made to be, about anim8or, and adding an off-topic would only attract more spambots, and I don't think steve wants to waste bandwidth on it either, but thats up to him.
I supose you are right, but still an off-topic thread could also be a good thing
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This has been brought up in the past. Obviously it wasn't approved since we haven't installed a off-topic board since then. Indeed, concerns regarding bandwidth, spam, and generally more moderating work for both admin and moderators were reasons for disapproving this kind of request. Not to mention it'll clog the search results with unrelated matters when people try finding help on their own. Personally as a moderator, I have no interest in trying to settle personal matters between users, which is what will inevitably happen when different mindsets mingle with each other.
While it's encouraged to have as fun a time as possible in this community, this is one that revolves around Anim8or. If you want to chat with people, that's what Facebook, MySpace, Chat Rooms, and large community forums for general topics are for. Places like cg-nation.com or animanon.com probably have areas that allow you to shoot the breeze with others, among other related communities.
With that said, please keep your posts on-topic. If you find a post deleted without notice, it's probably not because of a bug in the system. There's a sticky in each board for a reason! Heck, it's the first thing mentioned.
I won't lock this topic, simply out of interest to see what your opinions are, but don't expect anything to be done about an off-topic board/thread/whatever.
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Though I understand your views PTC and TRZ, I'm with Raxx on this one. Let's keep it about Anim8or. As mentioned there are plenty of other places where more general conversations are acceptable, re 3D or any other subject. Just my opinion.
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PTC and TRZ why not add a chill out forum to your own site and invite everyone over who would like to join ?
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I just feel the forum is slow and rigid, i just thought it would be a good way of making people feel more comfortable to post stuff and to encourage people to keep returning instead of signing up and never coming back.
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Yea, it will help me alot if we had an off topic forum. Because I am able to ask for other helpful programs that have nothing to do with anim8or. All other forums have off topic threads. It won't clog the search if you have choices on which thread you want to search in. It won't attract spambots. They would come even though we don't even have a off topic.
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Indeed, the activity has died down since the old days, which is why I encourage you guys to come up with good ideas on how to pick up the spirit around here (aside from having an off topic board). I'll be introducing something in the near future, but it's really up to the current members to keep things going. Once Steve has more time for us and releases new features in Anim8or, we'll have more opportunities to do new things.
In the meantime, doing what you're doing now is already helping out. Keep posting your work, improving, and helping others learn and improve. Have a go at the Anim8or Challenges and other competitions we have. Make some tutorials, scripts, or supplemental programs. Start and finish projects while keeping us updated. Etcetera.
As for the current topic at hand, TheRetroZombie, I'll tell you a few things...most new users won't filter their search results on their first try. Generally we want every board to hold the answers to a user's questions by keeping matters pertaining to Anim8or.
As for asking for programs that have nothing to do with Anim8or, you've got the internet at your disposal. You don't have to ask people, just ask Google. That's what it's there for, along with the hundreds and hundreds of web pages that list and categorize useful free or commercial software for different people's needs.
You sound as if you know for sure an off topic board won't attract spambots. While I certainly don't know the criteria a spammer would use to determine whether they should launch a spambot on a forum or not, here's something to think about: an off-topic board is a nest of spam by regular users and spammers alike.
Anything off topic can be considered as spam simply because it's determined as excess that isn't being controlled. If we had an off topic board, a spambot can more easily start its work without us catching it. The software spammers use is becoming more and more sophisticated; it might seem like a regular person posted something relevant to a post, but it's actually just a bot that picked key words out of the previous posts and spliced together something coherent on topic, if not about the matter at hand. An off-topic board just makes it easier for them to do their work. We actually have about a 1:1 ratio of spammers to users registering every day now, and who knows how many spambots that failed. I pointed this out to Steve so he's working on some anti-spam measures, but it doesn't mean we can just sit back and let the ones that slip through have an easier time.
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yeah i reckon i might knock up a few tutorials over the next few weeks. Some new stuff for the beginner Anim8or's. Like you said its up to us to keep the forum going and adding lots of content and help. :)
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and I shall make tutorials as well. I love making them :)
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That will be great if you make a few tutorials. If ever you want, I can host any non-youtube tutorials on my an8.the-meadow.net webspace to make sure it doesn't disappear within the next few years.
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sounds good guys :D
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Out of curiousity, what is the tutorial submission process on this site? Are we to post them as forum topics, submit them to Steve/mods for approval, host them on another site, or...? Any formatting requirements?
I don't have any ready to go, but I've toyed with the idea of writing one once I find that secret cache of free time that is ever-elusive.
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There isn't really a process to it. For starters I would create a tutorial database in the forum that's similar to the ASL Scripts Database topic, and build up a categorized list of tutorials. Like with the scripts, as many tutorials as possible would be hosted on my server. Then eventually if Steve ever gives me the time of day, I'll submit an html version of the database for him to put on the main tutorials page, and we'll see what happens from there (some day he might put up the scripts database web page he requested from me...).
The most important part is that the tutorials will be listed and categorized in this forum at least, and updated constantly as you guys make new ones.
So if you make a html-based tutorial, video tutorial, etc., and would like it hosted, just email it to me and I'll put it up. This will save me the time of having to grab it and host it later on anyways. The reason why it's important for it to be hosted on a dedicated webhost is because of the yahoo! geocities example. There were a lot of tutorials hosted by geocities, but then geocities was terminated. So where'd those tutorials go, eh?
If you don't want to deal with html or whatever but still want to make a traditional tutorial, you can also make it as a topic in the general anim8or board using the forum's markup to format the tutorial how you'd like. Just email me the images beforehand so I can host them, or upload them to imageshack so I can come in later and replace the images with ones hosted on my server.
Format them however you like. The more thought you put into the design of the tutorial, the better it'll be understood by the users who look at them.
If I ever find that secret cache of free time, I might make a few tutorials as well :P Probably a detailed uvmapping one since I have yet to see a really good one that teaches the best way to do it...
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As for hosting them on the main site, I have two tutorials on the main site (which have broken links since the changes of CG-nation, Raxx I may want you to host those tutorials for me. I'll just have to get you the images and html.)
To get them up I simply emailed Steve, and when he had the time he messaged me back. Of course he wont accept the tutorials unless they're high enough quality, but you get the idea. If you're looking for front page you go through Steve, though I would suggest getting them to Raxx, as the main Anim8or page has nowhere near the amount of Anim8or tutorials there really are.
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Thanks guys, I'm sure I can work within that. I'll second the notion of a tutorial database.
I'd also be keen to see the forum break into random high-level discussions; e.g. "The human shoulder, how do you make yours?" Since there are so many ways to do things I'm sure we'd all add to our bag of tricks by hearing other people's approaches to common problems. Maybe a monthly debate topic? Again, we'll have to see what I can find the time to instigate.
ps sorry for hijacking the thread