Thursday, July 16, 2009

New Anime Studio Forum

I'm very happy to announce the new Animators Forum - The Unofficial Anime Studio Forum.

Mike Kelley, another recently disenfranchised forum contributor, was kind enough to take me up on the suggestion of starting our own forum. This will be the only place keeping my work from becoming totally proprietary. This will include all of my new scripting, and techniques.

While there's not much there yet, I'm optimistic that people will enjoy being there. One thing I've noticed about the Lostmarble forum is while you do usually receive quick replies, they aren't always the correct answers. If you don't feel like your problem is being handled there, Animators Forum is the next place you should check for Anime Studio help. Fast replies and better answers.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Debut

"I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes."
-Laughing Man


That pretty much sums up my initial motivation for this blogs inception. Until not too long ago, I was a very active contributor to what I felt was a very strong and vital community, on the Anime Studio Forum. I have helped field user questions there for the past year and a half and had become one of the top relevant posters. But it appears that the work I freely contributed, in custom tools (including writing tools in response to user requests) and advanced and innovative techniques, was not enough to engender any consideration from one of its most outspoken moderators.

I found out, rather to my surprise, that the Anime Studio Forum was a place where any criticism would be met with censorship. Even several innocuous posts were deleted without warning. Now I've been told that questionable posts have, in the past, been addressed by asking the poster to make edits themselves, and that seems completely reasonable to me. But apparently I hadn't contributed enough to warrant that kind of courtesy.

It seems that it is considered an advertising vehicle for a commercial product, rather than an actual community, which is what I felt it was. But actual communities, and that sense of mutual contribution they entail, are not very compatible with an agenda to promote a product in the best of all possible light.

That being the case, I just can't contribute there any further. Although I'm afraid that the community I loved will suffer disproportionately for the reactionary behavior of one moderator, I cannot justify posting in that environment as it stands.

I haven't yet decided if all of my future work will just become proprietary to Syn Studio, or if I may take the chance to share, on a case by case basis, with individuals I trust. Either way, this will now be the home of my endeavors. What results or work I share will be posted here.