FLASH: OT: Airforce soldier project

[Gahlord Dewald]

> We don't have a time limit on this project because it's a test to see if we

> can do it first, then we will demo it when it works.  

I want projects with these kinds of deadlines.


> I know this is a complicated project we are working on, but we have a very 

> skilled team here that can hopefully make it work.

It sounds as if your skilled team doesn't have a lot of the core skills

necessary to complete the project though. Are they fast learners? 3-D rendering,

video capture, audio processing, actionscript... we're not talking about a

weekend class here. Matthew wasn't talking shit about Max being tricky. Just

open it sometime, look at a screen shot of it.


> I would like him to respond to keyboard actions and depending on what keys

> are pressed, he will "speak" so I'm hoping to have a very sophisticated

> voice recognition type of thing that can take each letter, sounds, of the

> english language and put together sentences.

hahahahahahahahahahahhahhahahhahahhaha.



Ok I don't mean to be cruel or whatever. But the project you just outlined

sounds to me like a mongo-massive download: lots of audio, semi-realistic

textures (bitmap or not, all those vectors can add up in a hurry too). Which may

be ok if the thing is for an intranet is a standalone app. Then we add a series

of technologies that your team does not know: audio, video capture, 3-D

rendering, actionscript, kinematics, animation. Presumably you are providing the

design talent, which will be good. The VB/Javascript/programming will probably

be near useless on the project you're describing except for the ability to

troubleshoot problems (which shouldn't be underestimated because there will be a

lot of problems).


Each of the 6 techs listed above should probably be handled by an expert. Either

that or multi-media ninja straight out of the MIT Media Lab with a direct link

to John Maeda's brain. I would think a minimum of 2 months experience in playing

around with each of those technologies (and not all together at the same time

either) in addition to classwork would be required for someone who isn't

familiar with the limits of the technology. Your project assumes that one person

will do it. Luckily there is no deadline.


If you ditch the kinematics and just raw animate the guy (which doesn't mean he

has to look like south park but there is no "happy medium" on the web, only

medium), ditch the "voice recognition" (actually I think you mean something else

there but am not clear from your description above), and limit the angles and

overall movement of the soldier there's a chance this thing could be done by the

team you described: an artist, a handful of programmers, and a kinematic actor

(who can bring you all coffee in the revised project).


Otherwise, save your training and software budget and just hand the whole thing

over to Figleaf and let them make it.


Now with all that ranting behind me...


I do hope that I'm wrong about all of the above and that you can make it work.

If you go forward with the project you outlined above I recommend getting a

consultant who is well versed in a wide array of technologies to help you map it

out from a project management perspective. Plan between 100k-120k per year for

that person.


g


Gahlord Dewald

Weeds Media Consortium

Hoops of Fire. Dancing Bears.

Interactive Designers.

http://www.weedsmedia.com


v: 802.658.4267 x 1

f: 800.863.9606

e:

gahlordweedsmedia [dot] com

Weeds Media Consortium

416 Pine Street

Burlington, VT 05401

USA




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