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Post by Kristal Rose on Oct 14, 2007 0:59:41 GMT -5
I propose you create member-only boards, organized by project owner, with sub-threads per projects, with the purpose of proofreading and critiquing each others script and storyboard material prior to production and public display.
It would also be a place to link any online production resources or references that aren't meant for the public.
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Post by Tenjen on Oct 14, 2007 1:35:42 GMT -5
weird. just yesterday i was having similar thoughts but disregarded them halfway
could be quite the utility if inserted and used properly
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Post by Kristal Rose on Oct 14, 2007 2:22:37 GMT -5
I've already used a forum for collaborative software development. I works out well, having structured places to check-out (so modules aren't modified in tandem) and post current code for project builds. All the guidelines, conventions, plans, bench marks, deadlines, status-reports, brainstorming, and such can be posted in appropriate boards. Microsoft had online document sharing, but until their recent 'Project' software, had no kind of common bulletin board workspace for managing these collobarative file sources.
What were you thinking to use it for?
It has to be layed out well. The forum designer has to anticipate every sort of thinking perspective and project material, and create places for it before team members just add threads anywhere. Your members have to be comfortable with forums. This is in part where my usage plan fell through. I even had to train my team members on using forums. You would think computer programming students would be familiar with that.
My immediate reasons for suggesting such a board are three-fold 1) They've both needed advance proof-reading. 2) They are doing projects using collaborative resources like emotikiwis, and should have a place to share such stuff without exposing their hidden site content. 3) I want some advance opinions on the Kbpinkie the Frog cartoon advertisement scripts I hope to produce soon, without publicly exposing my characters, plots, or products prematurely.
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Post by Nixie on Oct 14, 2007 3:20:15 GMT -5
Do you mean boards that only certain members can see? To have options like that, I would have to set up member groups for every member-only board, and I would have to register each member of it. Like the old hentai board. Or did you mean just boards where you have to log in as a general member to see the content? I already have it so some forums require you to log on to view them.
Do you want to hide some projects from general forum members? I think that kinda defeats the purpose of having a forum in the first place...
So what do you want? A special board called "Secret collaborations!" that requires group membership, not just general forum membership?
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Post by Tenjen on Oct 14, 2007 3:41:14 GMT -5
Nope, just something which will be hidden/unaccessible to anyone who isnt a member.
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Post by Kristal Rose on Oct 14, 2007 4:42:29 GMT -5
I'm not worried about anyone here now, but basically it shouldn't even show up as an existing board if you aren't a forum member. I would though prefer something that neither showed up nor was accessable unless you were a board member, in case we get unknown forum members.
It'd be a place to work on things not yet ready for public consumption, and possibly necessarily secret.
I've already revealed much more about my product than I'd liked to have here, considering that competiton is close on my heels, I won't be getting a patent, and will have to rely on a surprise rush to market to establish my market position as an untouchable industry leader. I can't afford to appear easily out-marketable by Yamaha or M-Audio, which would certainly be the case. ..Thus I've left some rather cryptic posts already on what I've been up to, hoping members here have followed past history well enought to know what I'm referring to.
I don't anticipate anyone stealing Kbpinkie, but I wanted opinions on scripts, story-boards, packaging concepts, and such from a marketing perspective, and that seemed to belong in a work-in-progress board, not the arts showcase we have here now.
Work-in-Progress material can quickly add up to a lot of clutter if people are passing around things like half-tone samples, vine-art references, character profile sketches, palettes, style-guides, sound-samples, layer-object files, and such.
** [sort of thing that'd be posted there]
I've just researched my boxes, going for white front-tabbed boxes which I will stencil and airbrush with a combo of acrylic, acrylic flourescent, 14 hour high capacity colored luminous paints (just ordered), and dry-brushed interference pigments.
Intended design is a black-night city skyscraper background, with a white b-g floral circle emblem from which Kbinkie protrudes.
I wanted to contrast his bright light to the darkness, but I also wanted to get in the sorcerors RGB glow of product-T. Perhaps I can ditch the emblem, and have glow-in-the-dark pink Kbpinkie playing a glowing T as a street musician at night, but I don't think parents will find that too comforting.
It's also going to be a huge messy hassle to paint nearly an entire box black, and each window would need a separate mask placed, unless I go for silk-screening instead of airbrushing for the background.
I'd also like to emboss Kbpinkie if I could figure out a cheap means on corrugated cardboard of doing so. As is, he'll already be done most in flourescent paint, which lays pretty thick already.
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Post by Nixie on Oct 14, 2007 14:20:45 GMT -5
So, you want me to make two forums: the registered-member only Work in Progress/Resource Posting area, and the group-members only Secret Experiment forum that wouldn't even appear on the list unless you were a group member?
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Post by Tenjen on Oct 14, 2007 16:39:04 GMT -5
Kristal realizes that someone can register for the lulz and see the hidden board. So extra sensitive stuff would be better off as group member only.
A forum section only seen to members and within that a sub thread that is group member only
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Post by Nixie on Oct 14, 2007 17:04:53 GMT -5
Question- who will use these boards and how often? I'm not gonna bother with a board where the only thread in it is one about Kbpinkie.
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Post by Kristal Rose on Oct 14, 2007 19:59:21 GMT -5
Tenjen independently had the idea himself for some unknown purpose. Alex is looking for assistance on his Flash, which also merits a seperate section for collaborating on works-in-progress, even if he doesn't care that it be hidden or members only.
The structure would be something like *Works-in-progress [hidden] **Alex ***UVGC [members only] ****Audio files ****ActionScripts **Kristal ***Instruments [members only] ****Designs ****Audio-samples ***Marketing ****Packaging ****Wicxed/Hummingbird-art ****Kbpinkie-cartoons *****Style-guides *****Scripts *****Art-in-progress **Tenjen [members only] ***whatever **Kiwi ***what-should-i-work-on-next?
Actually I was thinking the other day that you could have a ton more forum members if you created a forum site optomized for collaborative Flash artists to review work and exchange resources. It's something you could easily turn into a business after it caught on for a year or two free-of-charge.- sponsored by Adobe even, if they felt you had more audience than they could gather themself.
Such a site is needed by online collaborators if they wish to be efficient. You'll also get more membership if you expand into 'works in progress'. That also fits in with member sponsored 'tutorial sections'. There are already tons of art showcase sites now which you could never compete with now. {If you were up to it a few years back though, you could have been the Deviant-Art site by now}. If you were up to writing a graphical forum a couple years back, you could have been the next 2nd Life or Gaia. Making a collaborative art forum however requires no new skills for you. My music collaboration forum is a simple php board with hundreds of thriving members, racing to continue being the top site of it's sort, and building new auxiliary javascript/php site plug-ins as needed. If it can be done for virtual band gigging/recording, it can certainly be done for collaborative Flash authors.
The time is probably exactly ripe too, as your generation is just ready to produce Flash stuff, and has probably just realized that this stuff can't adequately be done solo, and that their most appropriate cohorts must be found online, not down the block. Actually our music collab site has a section for exchanging graphics resources too, to produce our CD cover art.
Indeed, it's my nature to discuss things I'm working on, and I probably would be the most prolific poster in that section, as I am on any forum, but Alex should find it useful, Ten seems to have a purpose, and you should have such a thing too, for Humans Flash voice auditions, if nothing else.
If desired, I could add sections on my software collaboration forum for art collaboration, but the audience which could use it is here instead already.
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Post by Nixie on Oct 15, 2007 0:24:37 GMT -5
Jeez, ya know, I already have a Work in Progress sub-board under arts. You people just never use it because it's a sub-board.
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Post by Kristal Rose on Oct 15, 2007 1:39:19 GMT -5
Oh, I didn't realize that. Umm, where? 'Requests' and 'Sayonara' are the only sub-boards I see anywhere. Oh, WIPs, see in now. Somehow I miss that board even when it's been recently updted. Probably beacause sub-boards are the odd exception rather than the habitual rule around here.
How deeply does this forum let you nest? Can I put some sub-sub boards under the WIP board?
I might add that you never use it when appropriate either, and you know it exists.
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Post by Nixie on Oct 15, 2007 1:53:55 GMT -5
How often do I show works in progress, aside from chapter-by-chapter, page-by-page things? Eh, whatever. I can put sub-boards within sub-boards, but I think that's the deepest I can go.
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Post by Kristal Rose on Oct 15, 2007 4:18:53 GMT -5
Actually in you case, as with me come to thinkof it, it's more like 'Works not yet in progress'. You discuss plans when you don't even have a project necessarily selected.
Since my threads would be more status reports than collaborations here anyhow, I could get by with a single WIP sub-board containing instrument, art, and KBpinkie threads.
If I ever move on to collaboration on this, I'll just use my own forum.
It was mostly for Alex that I was thinking it would be valuable. Either he's done his current Flash work entirely at school, or he must must be doing file exchanges and status reports entirely through email and IM, which must be frustratiing for all team members trying to keep track of where everyone's at on the project.
Also I'm trying to gear you up for being able to work collaboratively on your own projects online, since you were thinking to do Humans as Flash.
Sadly though, each of us has team project scale ambitions, and are each working solo anyhow (except maybe Alex).
and then there was the idea of offering a collaboration forum as a service to other artsts who aren't members yet.
Obviously it's not what happens here already or there wouldn't be any point in my suggesting it. I had the idea though that even you discussed your potential animé story plans with others before posting them as finished works on your site. The WIP board would be the sort of place to do that. If you have a spoilers crowd, and a non-spoilers crowd, then you only give the spoilers crowd access to your WIP sub-board.
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Post by Nixie on Oct 15, 2007 9:59:40 GMT -5
Problem: do you expect me to make a sub-board for every member's projects??
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