TET's Animator Dominator Competition

As it turns out when I entered the last Unofficial, Official Animator Dominator Contest on GoAnimate I meant to let you know the results but didn't. Quite remiss of me considering I won and was crowned the new Animator Dominator.

If you're not familiar with this competition then here's some background.

Originally the competition was inspired by an animation by skits called Ryco vs Ro (two high profile GoAnimate members) where viewers could vote for who they thought would win. A debate then ensued.

Ludvig II then made a joke comment that the only way to settle it was to have an 'Animate-Off' with Ryco and Ro actually competing to determine who would win. Ludvig came up with some pretty crazy and humorous rules. His original comment was as follows:


The comments on the animation show that Ryco was inspired by Ludvig's rules to actually attempt an animation based upon them. From there Ro soon followed and the informal competition was on. The winner was determined by community vote. You can follow what happened in this forum thread on GoAnimate.

In the end Ryco emerged victorious and became the first Animator Dominator.

From those small beginnings the competition has grown with each new Animator Dominator devising the rules and when the next competition is actually run.

As far as I know I am the third title holder, with GoAnimate member, Mojochi, being the previous winner before me.

So that's the history as far as I know it.

Last week it was my turn to launch my version of the Animator Dominator contest which I did with the animation below.

TET's Animator Dominator Competion by etourist

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

The publishing date for animations is November 16, 2009 so if you're reading this before that date and are a GoAnimate member you might like to consider entering. Click on the links in the animation for your animations requirements and information for how the winner is chosen.

The previous incarnation of the competition was purely who could get the most views on their animation would win. This has been a common way to run competitions (including official ones) on GoAnimate that I wanted to address because it favors animators with the most fans and all time views.

Hence, to give lesser known animators some hope, I've combined views with a voting system that can be manipulated to favor more resourceful animators if they so choose. It's not necessarily fairer but it should make the out come a lot less predictable.

I announced this competition in the GoAnimate forums where you can follow the competition and read some of my humorous tips for winning.

I'll also be featuring the winner and perhaps the runner ups too in this very blog. The winners will be announced on November 30, 2009.

Domo Cooking Again

Ever since I made Domo Cooking (Internally) I've wanted to try another cooking episode because the first wasn't really what I had in mind. The story just kind of followed a path of it's own. I was also unhappy that Domo wasn't in a proper kitchen.

Finally I've completed Domo Cooking Again (see animation embeded below), which I started quite some time ago and kind of got side tracked.

This time Domo has a full kitchen and is aided by his capable assistant, Tashanna.

Domo Cooking Again by etourist

Like it? Create your own at DomoNation.com. It's free and fun!

Once again the storyline kind of went off on a tangent that wasn't there when I started. However these things happen once you start feeling the pinch of the limitation of movement the pre-made Domo Animate characters have.

I was originally hoping I'd be able to have Domo do some actual cooking this time around but I still haven't come up with a satisfactory way of getting him to pick up and put down objects.

If I was doing this on GoAnimate I'd be able to make some custom Domo arms and fake it a little with them but unfortunately Domo Animate doesn't allow custom... anything!

In the end we get what you see. For some reason both Tashanna and Mr Usaji have the mystical ability to bend spoons so I used that to suggest, somehow, that Mr Usaji had tampered with Domo's cutlery.

It kind of works as a joke.

I also like the interaction between Tashanna and Domo. I think I'm getting the hang of helping the audience understand what Domo is saying through the technique of using the surrounding characters to semi translate.

As I said this still isn't quite what I had in mind for a cooking episode so I expect I'll eventually give another episode a try. Once I've worked out how to fake Domo's hands picking things up and carrying them.

GoAnimate Spooktacular Contest

GoAnimate launched its Spooktacular Halloween Contest this week and although I missed the first deadline I've just managed to get this in before the October 25th (2009) deadline for tallying up total views during the contest period. So, if you happen to be reading this and it's October 25 or before please watch the animation below ASAP so I can get the view recorded in my tally.


Deer Hunter's Creek by etourist

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

The ten animations with the most views will go on to be judged for the major prizes (which are only exciting to GoAnimate members - so don't think I'll be inviting you as a guest on my prize of an ocean cruise or anything).

Anyhow all the animations are themed around Halloween and in particular Ghost stories. If you've already watched my animation you'll know it features GoAnimate's Full Energy Cast of characters as well as a couple of cameo appearances from characters in their Classics theme.

Of particular note is the animated fire pit which I created myself using Pencil Animator, a program that I will be reviewing on this blog in the near future.

Finally, I know the ending of my animation is pretty lame but, with a time limit of two minutes and the closing date looming, I just had to bite the bullet and end the story as best I could. Once the competition is over I may go back and do a better ending but for now, it is what it is. Hopefully the journey will make up for the ending.