All About The Eleven Second Club

The 11 Second Club is a monthly character animation competition, and a great way for aspiring animators to practice their skills and get their work noticed. Animators from all over the world participate, animating a character speaking a line of dialogue, which is provided every month by the club.

Throughout the competition, participants can share their progress with one another and critique each other's work - just like in a real animation studio. At the end of the month, all the participants vote for the submission that they consider the best for that month - so it's a very democratic process. The idea of the 11 Second Club is "to give animators a chance to practice their skills in a fun, challenging environment".

It's all about the acting

How do you enter?

To participate, the first thing you'll need to do is to download this month's audio file. Then, use the month to animate a character performing the line, using whatever acting you feel interprets the audio best.

Finally, upload your movie to the site before the end of the competition. To get the most out of the club, use the "Work in Progress" forum throughout the month to get feedback on your work. The feedback you get from your peers will make your work that much stronger! Just like in a real studio, you will get used to both giving and receiving notes.

Time runs from the first of the month - Eastern Standard Time

What are the dates of each competition?

The competition runs from 12:01 am New York time on the 1st of each month until midnight New York time on the last day of the month.

The Voting period runs from the 1st to the 5th of each month. The winner is announced on the 5th of each month.

There are many free character rigs available

But I don't know anything about modeling or rigging! How can I participate without my own character???

Relax! No one said anything about modeling or rigging your own character. There are plenty of characters available online for you to animate with. Have a look in our "Resources" section to find expressive and ready-to-animate rigs for most popular 3D programs.


Can I still enter the competition if I'm a paper-and-pencil animator, or if I use stop-motion puppets? 

Of course! Animation is animation. However you feel most comfortable animating your entry, then that's how you should approach it. All that's really required is that you are able to upload a quicktime movie of your work to the site by the end of the month. The style and the medium is absolutely up to you!


What if I don't want my work picked apart and posted for everyone to see?

If you're troubled by the thought of having a professional animator pointing out areas of your work that need improvement, you can decline the prize by unchecking the box on the entry submission page at any time before voting starts. In the event that you win, the eCritique™ prize will go to the next highest rated entry.

That said, the experience of having someone much better than you point out your mistakes in front of a crowd of your peers is a daily one for a working animator (in sessions called "dailies" or "sweatbox"), and it's one of the best ways you can improve your work.


Wow, I really want to win! What are the things that will disqualify my entry and prevent me from winning?

Glad you asked! Here are the rules you need to be sure to follow to avoid having your entry disqualified and ineligible for voting or winning:
• Don't edit the sound file (beyond adding silence before/after if needed).
• Don't put your name or contact info anywhere on the actual video (this makes voting unfair).
• Don't try to upload files more than 10MB (the server will automatically reject it).
• Don't use anything overtly offensive (this is not the place for crude sexual humor).
• Don't try to cheat. You can give your own entry a high rating if you think it deserves it, but you are not allowed to organize groups of friends to give your entry unfairly high ratings. Our system is set up to check for suspicious voting activity, and if we find you've been cheating, consequences can include entry disqualification, account suspension, or a permanent ban from the site.


Is there anything else I should know?

Here are the terms and conditions.

To see more about the contest, go to www.11secondclub.com

---Alex


For more information on building a career in the animation and visual effects business, read our post on how to find a job in the animation industry, and check out our post about what not to do at a job interview. Also see our post on starting your own small animation business, learn how to create an invoice, and see how we are helping our students find work through our film co-operative Nano Films.  Download the free Escape Studios Careers in VFX Handbook. Take a look at how awn.com can help you find a job, and read our piece about how to survive as a freelance animator. Also, find out what Cinesite look for in a student's demo reel, and read our post on setting up your own animation business.