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At 5/6/11 10:07 AM, TheNooch wrote: Quick question... what's the official feelings about easter eggs?

At this point, I don't know if I'll even be able to finish my animation on time, but I'm certain I won't be able to get a particular scene in. If I were to tag a voiced and unanimated still drawn scene on at the end in the form of an easter egg, would that be allowed and how would it affect the overall score?

Judges just judge based on what they see after clicking "Play". Easter eggs are not included in the scores.

6 Days, 22 hours remaining!!

Best of luck while everyone finishes up their entries!

At 5/1/11 03:54 PM, Goat-Man wrote: So are likenesses of other game shows allowed?
You said we can do parodies, like "The Price is Correct" or something like that?

One last question, do reality TV shows count as games hows? I mean ones like The Amazing Race, where there are events, challenges and a cash prize

Yes, name parodies should be fine. Reality shows aren't typically considered game shows but the theme is open to interpretation. Go nuts!

At 4/28/11 03:34 PM, funkycaveman wrote:

At 4/28/11 03:29 PM, Mark-er wrote: You're not allowed to have another animator, but idk if they don't mind whether someone helps you with background art and non-animating stuff like that.

so long as only 1 person animates the it's fine? it's just that by starting late now, the time restrictions might be a problem and it will quicken up development by having an extra pair of hands. If i can get confirmation that one animator and one additional artist is allowed, that would be great!
thanks :)

All visual aspects of an animation must be done by a single person. The contest's purpose is to find who the best single animator is. Voice acting, music and scripting help are okay (Just be sure to agree on compensation in advance). The first category that entries are judged in is "Artwork", and hiring an additional hand for artwork would effectively put a major handicap on all other entrants who could not get that help.

Sorry that you began late. I have been keeping the forum updated for months until now to prepare.

I'm pretty sure the worst one was the very first theme (2007) "The Brim of Existence"
Everyone was like "wut"

@ 2 People Animating -> No, the tournament is a one-on-one style competition to see who's best. Script writers, voice actors, etc. are allowed, but you may want to be clear on whether or not they will be compensated if you win :)

@ Rendered video -> Yes, that's totally cool. As long as your entry can be considered an animation by nature, and is .swf, you're fine.

@ speeling -> You might be best off not using a direct reference. Laws vary on this from state to state: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality _Rights . However, it is your call and your risk, should the public figure in question want to sue you :)

@ Canvas Size -> Any size is fine.

On another note, Eddsworld may or may not be judging due to extraneous circumstances. Will update on this later.

Let's get this show on the road.

Over the next 18 days, animators from across the world will have the opportunity to define their animating skill through a large Tournament to decide would the ultimate Champion of Flash Artists is for the year 2011. This is the Fifth Annual Tournament of Flash Artists.

*** Open Round ***

The Theme for the Open Round is...

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Create a Game Show
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*** Rules ***
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* You have until 11:59:59 PM, Eastern Standard Time, on May 12th to complete your submissions. No submissions will be accepted after the deadline without severe penalty.
* Entries must fit the theme above to both level the playing field and ensure that entries were not previously created.
* The animation must be no shorter than 30 seconds and no longer than 5 minutes.
* The animation must be in flash format. Other mediums are allowed (but not beneficial to the animator's time constraints), but the final product must be produced in flash and published on NewGrounds.
* Excess nudity, profanity, and other things of profane nature are not allowed. (It cannot have a "Mature" rating.)
* Absolutely NO copyright material is allowed without permission. If you use copyrighted music or other material in your animation, you MUST get the permission of the original creator of that material.
* If you would like to parody, then use similar names instead of the real names - ie. "Smears" instead of "Sears". No copyrighted material whatsoever.
* The Audio portal is a great source for music, just be sure to get permission to use it for this contest!
* Any entry in violation of these rules will be disqualified.
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*** Judging ***
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Entries will be judged by the following judges:
* Tom Fulp
* Eddsworld
* Symphybunny
* Zeurel
* Salty Peach

Judging for the Open Round will be performed by each judge selecting their "top picks" and combining the top pick lists to narrow the entries down to the top 32, which will enter the brackets. In each bracketed round, judging will be score-based on each entry.
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*** Submissions ***
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* Entries must be uploaded via the NewGrounds Flash Portal.
* Entries must be tagged with "tofa2011open" to distinguish them from other rounds and years.
* Entries must be submitted before the deadline. (See above)
* It would be wise to post a link to your entry in this topic, to be sure your entry does not get lost.
* Entries will otherwise be found by searching "tofa2011open" on NewGrounds, showing all entries with that tag.
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*** Late Penalties ***
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Late penalties look like this for submissions after the deadline:
0 - 29 minutes: - 5 total points
30 - 59 minutes: - 10 total points
1 - 2 hours: - 15 total points
2 - 3 hours: - 20 total points
3 - 4 hours: - 30 total points
4 - 5 hours: - 40 total points
5+ hours: Disqualified
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*** Current Prize ***
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The current prize pool is set at $1,710 Cash, as well as a Windows copy of Adobe Premiere CS5 and After Effects CS5 (Est. $1800 value). Additional donations can be made using the Donate button on the TOFA Website, and will be accepted up until the final round.
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*** Fine Print ***
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* By submitting an entry to TOFA 2011, you are agreeing to let us show it off in the future as a testament of awesomeness.
* Final sorting of prize money among winner and runner-ups will be determined once donations are no longer being accepted.
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Good Luck!!

At 4/24/11 01:34 PM, PiGPEN wrote: So to win a thousand bucks a person would have to make 6 animations over 4 months?
Seems kinda excessive.

The winner also gets Adobe Premiere and After Effects (Est. $1,800 value), and a spot in the Tank Awards this year. Not to mention bragging rights about being the best animator on the web. Some of the previous winners have been picked up by companies for animating jobs.

The entries do not have to be very long, they typically have a 30-second minimum and 5 or 10 minute maximum. In theory you could animate only 3 minutes over 4 months.

About 9 hours remaining...

$5 have been donated by Nathan S.! 315 to go.

The open round will be chosen by the judges' top picks. I will group the higher-ranking entries together and the lower-ranking entries together in the brackets. Still, there is always the possibility of dropouts.

Hey, 24 hours to go!

http://tofa.munchymedia.com/about.html

The competition pits animators against each other through scored Rounds where the animators have a certain amount of time to complete their entry. Entries are scored by a panel of judges in Five categories.
The person to make it to the top of the brackets by defeating each opponent in each round is the victor!

At 4/4/11 06:26 PM, Timmy-the-Wing wrote: May I suggest getting it announced on ABS as well? That's where most people are going to expect to see it after 3 years of holding it there, which might be why not as many people seem to be donating/entering this year.

TOFA had a rather rough departure from ABS. I could try posting a thread about it over there, but it would likely be recieved very negatively.

I will send the prize to whichever paypal address you specify. After that, it's in their hands.

I'm going to send PMs to a bunch of animators inviting them to participate when the contest gets close.

So, who do you nominate to enter?

I nominate R. Wappin, ZekeySpaceyLizard, and Jimmy Egeland, to name a few :)

(25 Days!!)

I'm happy to announce that Tom is donating $1,500 to the prize pool for TOFA, in addition to a guaranteed nomination for the Tank Awards later this year.

We have only received two donations aside from that, however, and that is a bit disappointing for this contest. We only need $325 to make the total prize a whopping $2000!!!

If we reach our goal, the Champion will receive $1,000, the runner-up will receive $500, and the 4th and 5th place contestants will receive $250 each. If we go above the goal, the prizes will be adjusted as necessary.

It begins in just over a month!

ThorClodofBlunders has donated $50!

$425 to go!

If anyone has troubles with the donation button, admin@munchymedia.com can be used as a paypal address.

This Tournament relies on its donations to thrive, please DONATE HERE to make this year's contest an enormous success!

At 2/12/11 11:13 AM, PBass wrote: So is anything submittable as long as it ends in .swf?

It must be an animation submitted in .swf format on the NewGrounds portal, and tagged with TOFA 2011. Flash is preferred, but any other animated medium can be accepted - Keep in mind that doing a stop-motion animation, for example, is going to take a lot longer and may not come out as well. You only have two weeks for each entry.

Remember the contest doesn't begin until April 25, when a new topic will be created describing the theme, time limit, and rules of the round.

At 2/12/11 06:51 AM, Phenom9 wrote: TOFA submissions are usually great. Authors actually create good things. Unlike in other contests...

It's ironic how Adobe, at least in previous years, gave Adobe Flash as a prize for a flash animation contest. Animations were created in Flash, they rewarded the winners with something they already had. Adobe, you morons!

The idea was to give animators the latest and greatest(?) version of Flash
But people still didn't like it, so it's Premiere and After Effects this year :)

Side notes:

- The Champion of Flash Artists will be automatically nominated for a Tank Award at the end of the year.
- Avid Lebon is here to help with questions about the contest, her answers are legit.
- ThorClodofBlunders is the offical TOFA critique-man. He will help entrants with advice on entries if needed and will offer helpful comments leading up to the contest.