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Topic: Here it is - THE NEW ANIMATION NATION
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nettajean
IE # 98
Member # 561
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posted
Ooohhh, Ahhhh.
WTG. Looks beautiful. Congrats to all the folks who worked so hard.
![[cheers]](graemlins/cheers.gif)
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Hope for the Best. Expect the worst. Life is a play. We're unrehearsed
--Mel Brooks
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Charles
Administrator
Member # 7
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posted
This is a work in progress folks. The site will continually evolve. This is a point of departure. A launching pad and we can add stuff and change stuff just like the international space station.
We've left things open with an ear to your input. We have ideas as to the intent of each module, but we're leaving things open to discuss it with you and to get feedback from our members.
The heart of the new homepage is the video player which gives us an archival utility that we can continuously expand upon as we introduce more content.
The slide show at the top of the page is intended to give our members and friends maximum high profile exposure and link to your sites as well.
The modules set aside for advertising are available to interested parties. We don't know what we're going to charge yet, but this is something that will evolve as well.
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jupeykrusho
IE # 273
Member # 3227
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posted
I'm gonna go ahead and say WOW! ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
The new platform is amazingly inspiring and looks limitless!
Hearty congrats to everyone involved in the evolution of Animation Nation.
Can't wait to see where we take it!
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http://www.jupeykrusho.com
[ February 20, 2009, 07:31 PM: Message edited by: Account Administration ]
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http://www.jupeykrusho.com
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Charles
Administrator
Member # 7
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posted
The geniuses behind this are Snakebite, the designer and planner of the site, and Adrian, our genius webmaster who's made the technology possible. They're the ones who deserve the congratulations.
AN can truly achieve its intended potential thanks to them.
This is a great day for our community.
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siskavard
Member
Member # 3175
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posted
Looks amazing. Feels very fluid yet stable.
Very exciting, I'm thoroughly impressed!
-corey
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Charles
Administrator
Member # 7
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posted
The team's been working on it consistently since last September. I've run out of adjectives to express how impressed I am with the results. There were a lot of challenges that had to be overcome in the process and each one was faced and conquered.
There's virtually no potential we can't manifest with AN's new format.
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Law
IE # 112
Member # 1348
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posted
Ah FINALLY!!
This looks incredible. And, yeah, the potential is very apparent. I can't wait to see where this goes.
How do I approach you guys with animated content?
-L
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www.lawrencejackson.com
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Mr. Fun
IE # 63
Member # 352
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posted
Congratulations, all. Wow! It sure looks good. You've done a great job.
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acme
IE # 51
Member # 1591
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posted
Awesome! lives up to the hype!
Congrats on the launch.
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Zane Kohler
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Metsys
Member
Member # 3503
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posted
Ah, I just figured out that hovering over the banner pauses the slide show. I was about to say that each slide doesn't stay on long enough for you to read it. ![[Smile]](smile.gif) You might want to add some text or a visual cue to communicate how that works. If I was going to do it I'd have the word "PAUSED" in very small text, not the pause symbol because that'll look like a button, on the bottom right corner when hovering.
Anyway, didn't mean to critique before complimenting. Great work! I really like where this is going. Can't wait to start submitting content.
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http://glenmoyes.blogspot.com
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Law
IE # 112
Member # 1348
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posted
Congratulations BIGTIME on this!!
I hope this site misses no opportunities to be as great as it can be!
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www.lawrencejackson.com
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Splatman
IE # 94
Member # 2096
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posted
So I decided to swing by and see if the new site was up yet, and boom! ![[lamer]](graemlins/lamer.gif)
Knocked my socks off!
Congrats!
Splatman ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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Chief Doodler
SPLAT digital
www.SPLATdigital.com
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Greg B
IE # 118
Member # 886
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posted
Dang! Fer a minute there a feller thought he was in boot camp! Sorta leaps out at ya and smacks ya in the forehead don't it?
Loud and bold and camo green!
Whar's the "Buy a t-shirt" link? Fer 10 years I've been wantin' a t-shirt!
The links on the bottom should be at the top especially the 'message board' link. The message board is all about the interactivity with other artists and professionals.
Big, bold, loud, proud, with big ass promo banners at the top!
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http://www.boonestoons.com
http://www.spacefool.com
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Charles
Administrator
Member # 7
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posted
Law, we will indeed do all we can to make the most out of the new AN. We're only human and I know from past experiences here that it's not possible to make everyone happy all the time, but all things considered, we'll do all we can to make this everything that it can be and more.
Greg look to the top of the page. Links to the forum are at the very top. Everything that was on the old homepage has been placed at the top. I still have t-shirts, got one for you when I see ya next. Maybe this Tuesday night if you're there. I don't sell them online, too damn busy to arrange for it, sorry. Hopefully if I can get some help with it on this end of things that'll change, but I do have AN t-shirts available for sale as well as Animation Academy ones.
Your input is important to us brothers and sisters, so try out the site and see if there's any glitches or bugs that you catch. If you do see them let us know. We've been pretty thorough amongst ourselves working out any trouble spots, but in case something slipped past us be sure to let us know.
There's still a lot of work to do with this, much of which will involve the input of our members. We can use a break right now, so we're gonna chill and give all in the community a chance to check out the new homepage, watch a few videos, enjoy the moment.
Keep in mind that AnimationNation Night is this coming Tuesday evening, Feb 24 in Burbank.
http://www.animationnation.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=013440
The subject of the new homepage is something we'll be discussing at some level, so your ideas and suggestion are welcome at AN Night as well.
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Skynet
Administrator
Member # 3539
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posted
I guess no one else knows me here yet, but thanks to everyone!
It was an awesome experience creating the new AN with Charles and Snakebite and I'm excited to continue the process along with everyone's input. It's off to an amazing start but I can't wait to keep building and see how we continuously fill it up with inspiring content.
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skynet[at]animationnation.com
http://www.alivenotdead.com/slipperysky
http://www.slipperysky.com
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BobV
IE # 119
Member # 392
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posted
Wow! That looks awesome guys. Congratulations! Can't wait to be a part of it.
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Charles
Administrator
Member # 7
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posted
The video player is prime. Very quality. Check it out by watching some videos folks. We'll be filling things up and switching things out and archiving things this way and that. Plenty of room to feature good stuff from many directions.
Limitless possibilities people!
Gotta love the future!
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Charles
Administrator
Member # 7
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posted
I'm proud to say that I contributed in a small way to the beauty of the design. The new standard logo at the top of the forums, and also the winged AN shield logo on the homepage are a collaboration between Snakebite and I.
Back in September '08 I saw the movie 'Flying Tigers' with John Wayne from '42 and was very inspired by the story behind this American mercenary air squadron that went to China to defend the people from unopposed Japanese bombing of civilian populations and thoroughly took care of the problem until the US got there after Pearl Harbor to take over the fight.
So we started talking about the P-41 fighter plane with the painted shark teeth and the new tactics the fighter pilots used, so on. That lead to a design direction where we would base the upcoming designs for AN on a fighter plane theme and that's the way it started.
We can change the theme, mood, look, feel of the site on a regular basis, and with Snake's design skills we can count on some uber cool imaging to enjoy in days ahead.
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toonedbob
IE # 45
Member # 422
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posted
Fantastic. I just logged on and it blew me away - well worth the wait! Congrats to Charles, Snakebite and everyone involved for making a sensational site worthy of the Animation Nation name and legacy.
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The Mod
Administrator
Member # 854
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posted
Kudos to everyone involved! Charles I know this is what you have invisioned the AN to be. Thanks go out to Snake for the looks of the site, and especially Adrian who made it happen. I wish you all the best towards the future of Animation Nation.
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starla30
Member
Member # 1885
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posted
Wowee, way to go guys!
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oogieboogie
IE # 265
Member # 2706
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posted
I'd rather see content, then a huge advertising banner taking up half the screen at the top. And the whole thing looks like a billboard "Your Ad Here" everywhere. It all looks kind of confusing. If I were a new coming, I wouldn't know what the point is.
First impressions...
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bigshot
Member
Member # 1024
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posted
My four year old Mac chugs on trying to scroll down with the big changing ad banner at the top. It makes it very hard to get down to the links. I'm not sure if it's the image downloads or the java that's causing it. It would be nice to have the main jump info in the first fold.
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Greg B
IE # 118
Member # 886
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posted
One thing I'm glad about the new layout is that it's got powerpacking ability to be interactive as a showcase and tutorial hub.
If everyone here did a 1 page tutorial of what we know from storyboards to sketching to character design, people from all over the planet would be here and bookmark it for reference. I don't think kids and adults would be able to find anywhere near the combined talent that has visited this site. Heck, if just ten of us contributed it would be popular.
One day who knows, maybe AN correspondents will go out in the world and interview people of interest in the field of not only animation but science, industry, finance.
I'm reminded of my first journalism ID card:
Archie Comics fan club! Cost only 25 cents back in 1968 if I recall and I still have it! I've had ID cards from AP, Gannett News Service, and a half dozen others and one time when the governor was visiting I had to show my press cards and had my Archie ID and the lady at security shrieked and giggled and said Archie was good enough for her!
So maybe one day we'll have Animation Nation cards and cover the news too.
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http://www.boonestoons.com
http://www.spacefool.com
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Charles
Administrator
Member # 7
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posted
Just tried the site from a 9 year old computer, a 600 mghz pentium with 256 mgs of ram and a broadband connection. It was a little sluggish loading, the slide show doesn't rotate as snappy, but it rotates. The bottom part, from News Flash on down, seperates from the top with extra real estate on the page for some reason, but scrolling down everything's there. The video categories flip around faster that I would expect on a system this old, and the video player runs fine. If not for the mystery of the top bottom gap, it works better than I would've expected for a system that old.
Also, I've tried the site out from a cheap laptop, to the computer labs at Cal State Northridge, on friends' computers, I've called others out of the area to check it out and see how it runs and in every instance it loaded smooth as silk. If you're having problems viewing the site or if it isn't running properly on your computer, my suggestion is to consider getting a new system at some point and catching up with today's technology. We have to prep AN for the future and this is our first step in that direction.
That said, and if you are having problems with the site loading on your system, let us know so we can at least be aware of it.
The site's technology is very powerful. It's beyond those blog based sites that you may be used to. We can expand upon this format into just about any direction we want. Literally, there is nothing we can't do with this. Just about any idea or suggestion that's been offered up on AN through the years, we're now able to accommodate in one way or another. It's a helluva lot better than what was there before, and considering the potential and platform this offers us, I see very exciting things ahead when I look at the new page.
As far as content goes, as I said at the beginning, we're just getting started with this. It's someting of a blank canvas that we're going to be working up, but click on the video categories and see what's there already! And we can archive this content, and sub archive it if we want, and sub archive that.
The ad space coming soon is just that. Ad space that's coming soon. We've had requests from all sorts of companies over the years to advertise with us but we had no way of bringing that business into the site because we were forum based. We were just a message board. Now we're New Media! We'll be able to accept requests for advertising as well as offer high profile promotional opportunities to our members or anyone else looking to get the word out about their product, service or art!
This is a win win all around. And from the overwhelmingly positive responses to the new format that I've received so far, from the way the site works to the look and feel of AN's homepage, to its functionality, I'm very confident we've got a great thing going here. Far far better than what was there previously.
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Greg B
IE # 118
Member # 886
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posted
Excellent Charles!
I'm sure with the high profile interactivity it gives again as I've mentioned the possibility of a huge meeting facility. Interview teachers, students, companies.
You might even try a 'Facebook' like interface.
Hey, does AN have a facebook page? It should.
Nowadays you gotta throw them ads up there. Showcase as much as you can.
Reminds me of a real funny movie I saw 30 years ago that was called "Bingo Long's Travelling All Stars And Motor Kings" it even had James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor in the same movie. About old baseball teams that had to compete against ruthless managers and owners. It was hysterical but delightful in showing how teams come together to battle oppression.
Anyhow, the new design is definitely in-your-face and although I ain't partial to green I can chalk that up to a "fightin' Irish" sorta green.
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http://www.boonestoons.com
http://www.spacefool.com
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