Community Template Contest

[Jochen Kranzer]

this post refers to http://forum.quest3d.com/index.php?topic=64049.0

i think, that an open place for all usergenerated content (like templates, custom channels, tutorials, etc.) would be a great idea. of course this public pool of information should be clearly disconnected from the official documentation (wiki). i´m quite not sure if this forum is the right place for this content as you have to spend much time searching for solutions - and often enough there is no example code to illustrate a certain problem.

to offer an incentive to post your code (which to produce did take you hours/days/weeks and often enough sweat and heartblood) there could be some kind of "Communtiy Template/Tutorial Contest". all users can evaluate your code and rate it
the winner gets a price 
also act3d can integrate good examples into the official documentation which can always be improved!

so what do you think of this?
is there anyone out there willing to share his code?
is there anyone out there wishing to search for cool "ready to use" examples and tutorials?

>Jochen

[Mikhail Polshaw]

Sounds a good idea to me, many questions posted would probably easily be solved with a good library of templates to draw on, though I'm a bit lazy with my own templates (I have a habit of not saving a new template when I do something new, so I keep ending up copy/pasting bits out of other projects...naughty me)

[Peter Hou]

(I have a habit of not saving a new template when I do something new, so I keep ending up copy/pasting bits out of other projects...naughty me)

Yeah, me too 

I like the idea of a template repository, though

[Anton Wintergerst]

great idea 

We could start with the examples that are available on the forum quite easily.

Anyone up for making this system happen 

[Peter Hou]

Well, does anyone have a wiki or a website to store the templates?
Maybe Act-3d could simply add a forum section called "Templates" - that would be an easy way to get started organizing them. Of course, the moderators will have to help keep it nice and tidy

[Anton Wintergerst]

yeah, but the more user controlled the faster it will get filled (licensed users that is). Call it the Quest Community Repository QCR 

[Mark van Heeswijk]

To answer your questions:

 so what do you think of this?
This definitely sounds like a great idea. In my opinion Act3D, Quest3D and it's users can greatly benefit from such a repository where users can contribute tutorials, templates and things like that and it would allow the community to show it's strength: building cool stuff. 

For example, having an open-access wiki could partly alleviate the workload on the Act3D team if users start posting tutorials and other useful documentation. This was discussed before in the Open Wiki topic. As mentioned there, it is possible to submit content to the 'wiki', but not in a wiki-like way where you gradually and collaboratively build content. Judging from the nature of the updates to the wiki (easy to keep track off using RSS!) there's not too many users submitting content currently.

For reference, there was earlier discussion on such an asset sharing system (and what it could look like) in the topic Make Quest3D Artist Friendly.

I wonder what the best way is to build such a system, and what the requirements would be. Below are some ideas that could serve to start a discussion on what the system could look like:

• Alternative 1: Extend the current Act3D-wiki with a user-editable section. Users cannot edit the basic documentation but perhaps discuss it in the discussion pages attached to each topic. This approach would keep Act3D in the loop, which is something they will like . An added advantage of this is that they can integrate it more easily into Quest3D. It is questionable whether non-registered users should and can contribute with this alternative. If you make it only accessible to registered users then you might lose some contributions, but on the other hand it would be a good service to the paying users an give them advantage compared to the non-paying users. Quest3D-programs of non-registered users could easily be crippled by not giving them access to the documentation and high-quality content and tutorials on the wiki/repository.
  
  
• Alternative 2: Create a separate system (not controlled by Act3D). The community can create exactly the system they would like. It will be harder to control access though, and chances of getting it integrated with Quest3D are slimmer.
  
  
• Alternative 3: ...
  

I am curious what the rest of the community thinks about what such a repository should look like, and what the opinions of Act3D are regarding such a repository. Some questions related to that:

• Only access to registered users, or to everyone?
• Controlled by community or Act3D?
• Ways to organize the repository (a.k.a. 'how to easily find stuff when things gets big like the forum')
• How to deal with the different versions of Quest3D that are in use?
• What could be good ways to encourage people to contribute content, besides having a contest? Some kind of credit or kudos system maybe?
• What kind of asset management systems or repositories are out there, and what features would be good to include in a Quest repository?

is there anyone out there willing to share his code?
Judging from the activity on the forum there definitely are people willing to share code and i think the amount of code shared will be far greater if it would be easier to share code

is there anyone out there wishing to search for cool "ready to use" examples and tutorials?
Aren't we all? 

[Jukka Alander]

Great to see that there is discussion going on about this topic again. Direction is good, as it seems many people are interested in creating an open Quest3D community.

We must keep in mind that new community should not compete with official Quest3D forums, but just enable things that are not possible here (sharing of assets and templates easily). It would be best to keep non-registered users out, but it will be challenging with 'Alternative 2', so I hope Act-3D would be interested in 'Alternative 1'.

I might have some time in July to contribute with some templates and stuff. 

[Carsten Schonart]

I again and again I think about sharing my code:

Basically I really like to help people here and see them  "growing", because me too - I search and download shared code here, too.
My "heart" tells me to upload and share a lot.     
My head says: "No, it´s your work, you invested time and money bla bla bla."     

I don´t know.

Carsten

[Mikhail Polshaw]

I can understand the "It's my work" view, but, it amazes me sometimes just how many times people re-invent the wheel. Especially in some fields. The film indistry is the worst with this in my opinion. Just about every films special features I've watched recently, someone says "We had to invent a tool for doing crowds" etc....Why? There's hundreds of such tools now but no-one is willing to share...

[yama]

Its truely also an issue of copyrights, not only a money and time issue.
But everyone can and must decide this individually, how much and what he wants to share.
So basically think its a good idea, but it has to be considered how its beeing done.
Tutorials, samples, snippets can really be helpful for every developer.

werner

[Peter Wuyts]

Maybe tutorials, tips and tricks, solutions desciptions are better then full templates.

In most case a template is a good start, but you end op custimising it, and as you see now, alot of guys even there are full templates are asking for an example as THEY want it...

Copyright is the main issue, and access should only be for legal users of q3d, because using q3d for free and then also use somebody else work...

[Mark van Heeswijk]

In thinking about this again I realized that a template repository is in fact quite a natural extension of the current 'Examples' folder. In fact, the current 'Examples' folder would make a good start for such a repository .

I don't think 'copyright' is the right term here to use for all issues involved, but it's rather 'Intellectual property' (of the creators of the templates) and 'legal use' (by the people downloading them).

Intellectual property is not an issue since people presumably post their own code or an adaptation of 'public domain'-code and they agree with the fact that other people use it. As yama already said: everyone decides individually how much and what to share.

With respect to legal use, it only makes sense to create a system for sharing templates since then you can control who can access it. Currently, templates are free for everybody to download from the forum.

In my opinion, the biggest challenges in the creation of a reposity are:

• 1. making it an open system that can change and grow on its own and can mostly be run by the users. i.e. like a wiki.
  
• 2. creating a good way to organize the content. Again, mostly supported by the users. Perhaps a tagging mechanism would work?
• 3. how do the various types of user-generated content (templates, tutorials, custom channels) fit within this repository?
• 4. natural integration with the existing infrastructure: the documentation on the wiki, the forum, and the Quest3D program itself.

For inspiration, have a look at the community supported repository of information at Ogre3D:
The Ogre3D Wiki

[Jochen Kranzer]

Great to see, that many users seem to be interested in such a system! 
I wonder what Act-3D thinks about it?

[Rhys Black]

I would be very interested in this and willing to submit templates from my own personal library and/or develop templates in my free time for submission, time permitting.

I agree completely that it should be as easy as possible to submit templates in order to encourage submitting templates.  I also agree that a system should be in place for searching for templates so the library remains useful as it grows.

~Rhys