Elevator Pitch

If you like BIG ROBOTS 🤖 please watch this "elevator pitch" video for a basic overview of the project! Sorry, I know 15 minutes makes this the longest elevator ride in history...1.75X speed is your friend.

Project Overview

Collab 2022 is a return to a modeling-centric team project. Here's the main points:

• A spiritual successor to the backhoe of 2020
• We will be building a detailed MECH piece by piece, as accurately as possible to its realworld counterpart. However since huge mechs aren't real, the realworld counterpart is a plastic model kit.
• In addition to the robot we will be building a HANGAR environment
• To facilitate a more realistic assembly animation we will need to design, model, rig, and animate machines to promote the illusion of our mech being assembled.
• Also for the sake of a more compelling assembly animation, we will need to design and create an "endoskeleton" for the mech: the internal bits to complete the illusion.

Timeline

August 1 - September 30

The Collab period will span 2 months in the summer (9 weeks) and will be divided into 3 stages:

1. Pre-Production (Aug 1 - 14) -- The first 2 weeks will primarily be me and the Team Leads working out details, plans, and protocols for the project. I suspect we may stream some/all of these meetings or any Contributors that want to be in the loop.
   
   Also this is kind of an optional period for Contributors to be a fly-on-the wall of preproduction. Meaning we will likely livestream all or most of our meetings which they can watch. Or they can wait until Aug 15 when production starts.
   
   
2. Production (Aug 15- Sep 18) -- These 5 weeks in the middle will be all-hands-on-deck! Everyone will be working together to create everything pertaining to the project.
   
   Weekly livestreams, weekly homework submissions, weekly grading + feedback.
   
   
3. Post-Production (Sep 19 - 30) -- The last 2 weeks will be like the first, primarily me working with team leads to finalize loose ends of the production.
   
   Contributors will be welcome to stay involved if they want! With collabs there's always a laundry list of left over tasks needed to finish these projects

Applying to Join

This year we’re implementing an application process instead of open registration like in 2021. My goal is to develop a committed and more refined team.

The main reason for limiting the team’s size is that last year I was way over my head trying to give direct feedback each week to 100+ people. In fact I considered calling off the whole thing during week 2 but Wes talked me off the ledge and Lampel joined as co-director.

In addition to facilitating a realistic instructor capacity, this application is also designed to promote commitment over curiosity. Last year started with 133 registrations which dwindled to 80 actually submitting completed work. Going forward we want to see less falloff and more commitment to the end of these projects.

**Of course we know real life takes priority. Emergency or anything else taking a team member’s availability is completely understandable. We just ask that availability is considered prior to applying with lack of availability communicated rather than simply disappearing.

So my goal is a team of 30 artists that includes all skill levels. There will be a certain number of spots available for beginners, intermediates, and advanced Blender artists. For now lets say 10 of each but those numbers are subject to change.

If you’re interested in applying, please FILL OUT THIS FORM or click the big button below!

Application Deadline: JUNE 30th

Core Team & Shell Team

Obviously with an application process there will be applicants awarded participation and applicants denied participation. As interest in Collabs continues to grow each year, it would be a bummer if we get 100 or even 200 applications only to accept 30. We’ve already received 33 applications and it’s only day 2 of accepting them.

So we’ve been brainstorming an alternative that would allow more people to participate outside of the 30.

Let’s call the 30, Core Team. Core Team represents the usual kind of collab participation from previous projects:

• Completed, approved contribution(s) featured in the final project/animation
• Credit
• **Direct grading + feedback each week**
• Access to livestreams
• General communication via discord & community forum
• XP awarded

The critical item in this list that requires me to limit participation to 30 is the direct feedback + grading. This takes significant time and effort to give meaningful feedback each week. However, I’ve learned that not everyone needs the same level of feedback to successfully contribute high-quality work. Several contributors in 2021 hardly spoke but submitted amazing work nonetheless.

So the new idea this year is that we introduce a second level of participation called Shell Team. It’s the same list as above minus weekly grading + feedback:

• Completed, approved contribution(s) featured in the final project/animation
• Credit
• Access to livestreams
• General communication via discord & community forum
• XP awarded

In a way, Core Team is probably better for beginners and intermediates who are a bit more lost without instructor feedback each week. Perhaps they’re not as confident in their skills or quality level and need to be directed explicitly.

Whereas Shell Team is probably better for self-motivated, resilient, resourceful contributors who can learn from feedback given to others and apply those principles to their own work. This could mean higher-level intermediates and advanced artists who have confidence to achieve the project’s quality standard without needing explicit direction.

This Shell Team idea is new and tricky for me to explain so I imagine it’s also hard to understand as well. Let’s try some hypothetical Q&A for clarification:

Q&A

If I’m on Shell Team, does the instructor ignore me?

Is Core Team more special than Shell Team?

Since I participated in a previous Collab, is Shell Team better for me?

Does Core Team and Shell Team get credited the same?

What if I’m on Shell Team and my contribution does NOT meet project standards?

Can I participate on Shell Team as a beginner?

Do I have to be a subscribing Citizen member to join Shell team?

What about Membership?

Both Core and Shell teams are reserved for subscribing Citizen members.

I’m sure some of you reading this just checked out, and that’s OK. In fact, that’s by design. If you didn’t check out, you’re the type we’re interested in: The Invested.

Here’s a few key reasons we’re requiring membership for both participation levels:

Members are invested in their Blender journey.

Passion Projects are extremely prone to failure.

This will not be the case for Collabs. We are committed to seeing them succeed to their highest potential. Such success depends on an invested community.

Collabs are a Citizen thing.

This project doesn’t need more participation.

Trust me, I love that Collab2021’s credit sequence was 8 minutes long! And the more people that celebrate as a team on premiere day - that’s amazing. The more the merrier!

Yet if no one wants to participate on Shell Team, that’s OK, the project isn’t threatened.

Free participation is a liability.

This is my first Collab - What videos should I watch to prepare for this project?

I've added 3 playlists that are relevant to anyone wanting to prepare for this project:

1. PLAYLIST: Collab 2022 [Prep]
2. PLAYLIST: Collab 2021
3. PLAYLIST: Collab 2020

wendy10698 asked a great question:

Is it beneficial for me to be watching through the live feeds of the last project?

Yes, generally I think it's beneficial to watch the stream recordings from the previous collab. It's a LOT to watch so I recommend 1.5x speed (or higher) BUT it will give you a much better idea of what's involved and the key protocol concepts.

Team leadership will essentially be the same, aside from the pre-production and post production weeks in the schedule, but it's possible that the core of our communication will not take place here in the forum. Wes has offered Basecamp for this purpose, which is the project management solution we use internally. Those details are still being worked out BUT the concepts will essentially be the same: WIP threads for each contributor, Main communication thread, etc. They'll simply be executed a little differently this time around.