Welcome to my guide on how to host successful animated collaborations. In this guide, I will detail the process for executing several types of collaborations, as well as general rules, tips, and tricks. I will be detailing the stages of preproduction, production, communication, and compilation that goes into hosting collaborations with 1 or more people.
Table of Contents
0. Intro
Who is Hatena360?
Before we get into the guide, I would like to introduce myself for those who do not know me. I’m Hatena360, I got my start in animation back in 2011 on Flipnote Hatena where I would frequently collab with other creators. As the service would eventually shut down in 2013, I moved onto Sudomemo as its successor and by 2016 I would have moved entirely to the Hyun’s Dojo community where I have become known for hosting many kinds of collabs. I have created collaborative projects that include larger and smaller amounts of participants, starting with synced collabs such as Kryptonite and Aerial Master. I eventually began to branch out into a collab style that would accept more animators such as the Stuntman series, and I would grow experience by working with smaller and more selective teams. Hosting these collabs has given me great experience on team leading and execution of these projects of varying size and scale. Thanks to these skills, I have been recruited by YouTuber, Alan Becker, as his production manager turned line producer.
Why?
The purpose for writing this guide is to help others understand how to best host the collab they want to host. I wish to make the process as easy to research and reference as possible. I won’t be giving you an exact outline on how to host anything as a collab can be hosted in many different ways, but I will do my best to show you what I have done before, what others have done, as well as good and bad examples.
Do you need to be successful to host a collab?
I often hear this assumption that someone already needs to be considered “successful” and well known in a community before they can host a collab, but I cannot stress how incorrect this assumption is. I have seen and participated in many successful collabs hosted by people who haven’t hosted a collab before. In any community, it’s not so much as what you can do, it’s more who you know. If you know many people in the community, that will of course help your chances but that isn’t the only way to host a collab. For anyone interested in hosting a large-scaled community collaboration, I would heavily recommend starting out small. Make a small collab with just you and a few close friends! You may find that hosting projects like these isn’t for you, so discovering this on a much smaller scale will not only save yours and other’s time, but you’ll save yourself a lot of stress from communication and compilation.
1. Becoming The Host
There is a lot of responsibility to becoming the host of a collaboration. I frequently witness a lot of collabs that either cease production, take years to complete, or constantly switch through different hosts. This could happen for a number of reasons.
Most commonly it is a result of poor time management and team leading skills. Other reasons may include losing passion for the project, burnout, and personal issues arising that prevent further progress. If you are deciding to host a collaboration, you should reflect on your skills, availability, and motivation to ensure that the project gets completed. Failing to follow through on a collab will hurt your chances of hosting another successful collab later on as you begin to lose trust from potential participants. Nobody wants to join something that they suspect won’t even get finished.
As the host you are also expected to take on most of the work. No matter what the collab is, you should be leading your project with a lance and shield. Never have the participants do more than what was initially asked of them. If there are assets that do not need to be worked on by the participants, do not burden them with these tasks unless they are offering to do so. If you are not confident in hosting your own collab on your own, it is recommended that you have a close friend of yours help out with the hosting position as a co-host. Oftentimes people may lack certain skills to host a collab independently, but so long as they have someone to help pick up for what they lack, it can even everything out. For example, Person A might be good at asset and file prep, but they are not as good at communication and setting deadlines. Person B might be great at communication and setting deadlines, but not as well versed in asset and file prep. Together, this duo would be able to host the collab so long as they are both equally passionate about the project, share a similar vision for the project, and maintain great communication between one another. There can be more than 2 hosts of course, but the more hosts you have the more the communication may break or become lost during production. I would recommend having no more than 2 hosts for a collab.
If something comes up during production and you need to take a leave for the project, you may find yourself facing the decision to either delay the production of the collab, finding a new host, or canceling the project altogether. Any of these choices must result in clear communication with all participants as if this is not properly communicated, it will result in the participants’ trust in your skills decreasing. If you decide to find another host to help out, ensure that they share a similar vision to yours and can properly host a collab on their own. If you don’t mind them changing things to fit their vision, that must also be communicated with your replacement host and the participants in order to prevent confusion & conflict.
2. Setting Things Up
It’s important with any collab to have a set of rules. There are rules to be set for the participants, and good rules to follow as a host.
The Prompt
A good collab has a good prompt. It doesn’t need to be complicated, but you should try to set yourself apart from the fight-in-a-box collab. This community has been hosting all kinds of collabs for many years so while you’re not going to come up with something completely original, it should be interesting from a single sentence. Here’s some examples from successful collabs:
- Fame rate or frame rate range
(Some collabs accept animations with different frame rates. While not recommended, it is important to note) - Aspect ratio
- File/export dimensions of their renders
- Software
If at all possible, it is recommended that you create a template file for the participants in order to minimize these file properties from shifting. The only instance I can see someone not creating a template for their participants to use is if the collab accepts any and all software, Windows, Mac, mobile, etc. That’s not to say it hasn’t been done before. Pluto, the creator of the “Doors” series, created a template for nearly every animation software commonly used by the community including Flash software, Adobe Animate, Sticknodes, and even Flipnote Studio for “Doors 5”.
File Rules
It’s important to list out specific properties of the files before having others begin work on your project. Some things to think about:
- Fame rate or frame rate range
(Some collabs accept animations with different frame rates. While not recommended, it is important to note) - Aspect ratio
- File/export dimensions of their renders
- Software
If at all possible, it is recommended that you create a template file for the participants in order to minimize these file properties from shifting. The only instance I can see someone not creating a template for their participants to use is if the collab accepts any and all software, Windows, Mac, mobile, etc. That’s not to say it hasn’t been done before. Pluto, the creator of the “Doors” series, created a template for nearly every animation software commonly used by the community including Flash software, Adobe Animate, Sticknodes, and even Flipnote Studio for “Doors 5”.
Creative rules
As mean as it sounds, it is good to limit one’s creativity. Depending on your style of collab and how consistent you want the style to be, you might be more limiting as to what someone can do in your collab. There are some general creative limits you could place in an interest of monetization such as sexual or NSFW content. Think about how you might tackle the prompt for your collab from a different direction. Put yourself in the perspective of someone new to collabs and find ways they might work around or misinterpret your rules.
Where to Host
There are many places that you can host a collaboration, but here are some options depending on the scale of the project:
- Group chat: If you’re only working with a small group of people, you really don’t need much. If there is a lot of file-passing and communication, create a group chat with everyone who is involved with the project.
- DMs: You can take your project one person at a time and if it doesn’t rely on the communication between participants, you can just talk to them in private messages.
- Discord Server: If you have a lot of rules, instructions, and your project is complex, you might find it useful to create a Discord server to organize all of your information. This is also a great way to allow your participants to communicate and give feedback to each other’s progress.
- Forum: If you want to find many animators, announcing your collab publicly would be a great option. If you create a forum where they can apply, you can review the applicants and choose who you want to participate. This is also a good choice if you provide a template and a place to upload their entries.
- Video: This is a good way to sell the concept of the collab visually. If you are uploading this video to YouTube, you can use the description or the comments to direct potential participants on where to go and what to do.
3. Collab Types
There are 7 common types of collabs. Here I will detail the following in each type:
- What they are
- When to use the collab type
- Examples
- Tips & Tricks
Type 1: Private Collabs
A private collab is exactly what it sounds like. It is a type of collab where only people the host asks to participate can join. This is what most animators do when hosting a collab as it reduces public expectations so you can take more time on it. Be careful to not spend too much time on it though.
If you are interested in hosting public collabs of any kind, I would heavily recommend starting with a few private collabs first. Something a lot of skilled animators look out for when looking to participate in collabs is the host’s portfolio. If they find that the host is competent and has successfully released a number of collabs, they will be much more likely to join. For this reason, you should also stick to working with close friends to start.
Examples of Private Collabs
Dominate by guzzu
Dominate became revolutionary in stick figure animation inspiring many to attempt these insane angles and fast-paced action inspired by many action anime.
RHG Legacy by Oxob
RHG Legacy and its sequel would be received wonderfully by the community as a wonderful tribute to the world of RHG. I had the opportunity to participate in RHG Legacy 2 and it was a very smooth process! Anything I needed to do was properly communicated early on, and anything I didn’t need to do was taken care of in post-production by Oxob himself.
The Massacre Room Collab by Atsukedaime
The Massacre Room Collab series is known for its very fast pacing. My part in this collab is… well it’s there. I’m not sure if the host thought it was good enough to stay in the collab but I have a hard time defending that thought. Remember that it’s ok to ask for revisions or permission to edit someone’s entry, haha.
Tips & Tricks
When hosting a private collab, it’s in your best interest to give your participants deadlines. If they are all animating at the same time, it’s ideal to give them the same deadline to make things simple but if you’re giving them parts at different times, you should be giving them personalized deadlines. I’d recommend using a calendar to keep track of their deadlines and encouraging them to post and share progress in a group chat or server for the collab, or just ask for progress half way through their deadline to ensure progress is being made.
Type 2: Public Collabs
If you want people to submit entries for your collab without any messaging or reviewing, public may be the way to go. These collabs tend to have a lot of extra prep time before they become public since oftentimes they need to prepare template files and flesh out a more strict set of rules and instructions. Once the collab has been prepared, the host will make a public announcement and direct them to a Discord server, forum thread, or a YouTube video to share instructions and directions.
Most importantly they need a place to collect entries. I would recommend creating a Google form where people can upload their entries to a Google Drive folder owned by you. Keep in mind you need to have a lot of space open on your Drive because these files will be uploaded onto your account, taking up your Drive space. You can create a new gmail account specifically for this purpose, which will give you 15Gb free.
Once you publicize the collab and have directed animators where to submit their entries, you can set a global deadline. This deadline should be based on the complexity of your collab prompt, but be careful to not give your participants too much or too little time. If you give them too much time, you risk them forgetting about your collab since most animators tend to wait until the absolute last minute. If you give them too little time, you’ll either get lower quality entries, or far fewer entries.
Examples of Public Collabs
The Homerun Contest Collab by Hyun
My personal favorite of Hyun’s collabs, this collab was a tribute to the Homerun Contest minigame from the Super Smash Bros. series. The prompt was simple, had a good template file, and already had a solid reference since it was pulling from a pre-existing game. Every entry is super engaging and unique and is a perfect example of a public collab.
Stuntman 3 by Hatena360
The Stuntman series is based on a TikTok challenge from 2020. No template was necessary for this collab since the format was so simple, a template wasn’t really needed! Just some simple file prep instructions and that’s it!
Doors 4 by Pluto
A fantastic collab where a template was released with a place to submit all entries. Pluto would take these submissions and take the best ones and compile them into the collab!
Tips & Tricks
Make sure to create an example part or a proof of concept for the animators to reference. Most potential participants won’t care enough to read instructions and rules so it’s best to create an example for them to directly reference. That and it will pull more potential participants into the collab because there will be some eye candy for them to look at!
If you need to specify a lot of instructions, it’s a good idea to make a video explaining the rules. While it won’t fix the problem, it will encourage more people to pay attention to the rules since they just have to sit back and watch. Here’s an example from my most recent collab:
If you don’t want to make a video, just try to keep the instructions and rules as simple, short, and as easy to read as possible. Use LARGER TEXT and formatting options to pull the viewer’s eyes to the right keywords to allow them to skim the rules without really paying attention.
Type 3: Applicant Collabs
If you want to make your collab public but don’t want everyone to make an entry, you might want to filter through some animators. While you can directly ask animators to participate, you can also create a public application-based collab to expose yourself to potentially new animators looking to participate in some fun projects!
It is important to gather all of the necessary information about the animator in one simple and easy-to-read place to review and to respond to. I typically ask for the following:
- The name the animator wants to be credited with
- Part (if there are a certain number of parts in a specific order)
- Software (Even if you specify this in the rules and requirements, most people don’t read it so use this to make sure they are using the right software)
- Possibility of completion (Most will lie about this, but it’s good to read their confidence levels before accepting them)
- Portfolio/examples (Give them a chance to show off the work they’re most proud of!)
You may find you need more information than this depending on the project’s requirements, but that’s up to you to figure out.
Once you start getting applications, you can start reviewing them! While you don’t need to respond to every submission, it’s good to respond to as many of them as you reasonably can. People don’t want to think they’re being skipped and ignored, especially if the responses and applications are public.
Once you get your animators, you can reference the Private Collabs type to finish things out!
Examples of Applicant Collabs
360 Collab by Hatena360
My most experimental collab to date features a VR mechanic using YouTube’s 360 video feature! This was one of my many collabs that required animators to apply before joining. I had provided a template and example of how to fill out an application and reviewed them as they started coming in!
The Christmas Tree Collab by Hyun
This collab was an example of a first-come-first-serve style of applications where instead of making a proper application, you would claim a number on the tree and then animate your ornament placement where that number was located. If I remember right, Partners got a first pick before the rest of the community and I’m unsure if there were any filters in the application preventing less experienced animators from participating.
Obstacle Course Collab 5 by YeonAnims
Yeon made a public forum page where participants could apply on the Hyun’s Dojo website. The participants left applications in the replies and Yeon would respond to the people who got accepted and they were given the file to participate. A very solid example!
Tips & Tricks
Fill out the application yourself publicly to make it clear for potential participants to understand the format and the kind of answers you’re looking for.
Refer to the Public Collab type to see similar tips and tricks.
Type 4: Joints
A joint is a term most commonly used in stick figure collaborations where each animator participating in the project animates their own character. This is a good way to show a clash of styles and a fun way to challenge your friends by choreographing a sequence that you keep building on until it’s finished.
This is one of the more involved collab types that requires a fair bit of communication and is great for smaller friend groups, though larger scale joints have been hosted before. Due to their complexity and heavy participation/involvement, we don’t see as many of these as the other types of collabs since the format is inherently more restricting.
The term “Joint” is often used for different styles of collabs, but I believe this format best defines the term. (Yes, this means “Big Ol’ Synced Joint” isn’t really a joint by this definition. There are a couple of joint entries in there though.)
Examples of Joints
The Joint 2 by BOOMKAMI
Hosted by BOOMKAMi, this series of joints were widely praised by the community. These are a perfect example of the visual clashing style of joints.
Fantasy Staff 2 by SJT15
One of my personal favorite joints hosted by SJT15, this joint shows the unique styles of a select few animators with a powerful, simplistic, and flashy style!
JCTLM
JCTLM was one of the first joints to really nail down the style of a joint and would set the standard for many animators going forward. This joint was made in 2008 and still holds up very well today!
Tips & Tricks
When animating your portion of a joint, help out your opponent(s) by creating a simple sketch guide for their movement. They don’t need to follow it strictly, but it will help them get an idea of the movement you had intended for your choreography. Once they fill out their segment from your sketches, they will continue the action and will make a sketch guide for you as well.
It is crucial to make sure you are all using the same software to avoid an increased risk of file corruption. If you start the file in Flash 8 for example, I would recommend you keep it in Flash 8 throughout production. If you’re using Adobe Animate, make sure you specify the version. Versions 16 (2016) – 19 (2019) work best with each other, and versions 20 (2020) – 24+ (2024+) don’t play nice with previous versions due to the introduction of “Advanced layers”.
Type 5: Synced Collabs
Popularized by Shuriken, a synced collab is a collab where the actions follow the beat of the featured track or tracks. They don’t necessarily have to be combat-centered to be a synced collab, though that is the most commonly associated type for the term.
To host a synced collab, it’s recommended that you already have experience hosting applicant and private collabs before so you have a better understanding of how to communicate with and assist your participants. Most frequently you’ll see a synced collab as a type of applicant collab, though they can be done privately just as well.
If there are sounds included in the collab, it is ideal that you create the soundline first before allowing the animators to animate it. There are other ways to deal with sounds in synced collabs, but I would heavily recommend compiling the sounds first. Feel free to ask the participant what kind of sounds they would like to be used, as well as what speed their soundline should be. You can also ask for these in an application format.
Examples of Synced Collabs
Ultra Combo Collab by Shuriken255 & C3WhiteRose
this collab featured a 3D background made entirely within Flash 8! This is one of the best examples of a synced collab since Shuriken got pretty good at it over the many years of hosting synced collabs.
Bil Ol’ Synced Joint by Hatena360
My most recent synced collab (at the time of writing this) and one of my best collabs in my opinion. It started as a private collab but I turned it into an application collab in order to gather motivation to finish the project and to find newer animators to participate.
The Castle Sync Collab by Avalancro
A great sprite synced battle , though the sound work is pretty inconsistent since they had their participants do their own soundwork.
Tips & Tricks
I would recommend having 1 person make all of the soundlines, and if someone can imitate their style of soundwork then maybe another person or two can help. I would HEAVILY recommend against making your participants do their own soundwork because not only do most animators not know how to properly sync sounds effects to sound satisfying, but you will get many different styles of sound work that don’t blend well. You want to treat the sounds like an assistive percussion track that flows along predictably with the featured track so if the style is constantly shifting, it may be less appealing.
Create a cue layer in your template that tells the animator the exact frame data and sound type for the sound effects. This will help them make their action look properly synced since a lot of animators tend to struggle with sync.
Type 6: MAPs
A MAP is a type of collab that follows a strict timestamp system, most frequently used in fan made music videos and reanimated collabs. They can scale up pretty quickly depending on the duration of the audio being used.
You would need to have great prep & organizational skills, as well as great communication skills to commit to this kind of collab. This is often a type of collab that when set up properly, can be finished in a month or less if every participant is available and finishes within a small period of time. Oftentimes delays come up and delay the production of the collab. This issue only becomes more and more present the longer and larger they scale up.
You could make this an applicant collab by providing hyperlinks or timestamps to portions of the song or audio being used, then assign that portion to an animator. The animator could also request a portion of the song. I’d recommend letting your animators choose their parts so they have the best chance of making something right in their comfort zone.
Examples of MAPs
The Freefall Collab 2 by Lunsar
While you could also call this a synced collab, it is also a great example of a MAP. Lunsar chose a song and split it up into parts, listing them on a Discord server for participants to pick and choose from. Once they chose a part, Lunsar would send them the file once the person before them had finished.
DJ Spit – Animated Music Video by Stickly
A funny collab using a track based on the character “DJ Spit” from Smiling Friends. The animators were prompted to animate a music video for the character and assigned segments from the song.
Animate-A-Grump by Ludolik & PaleaRaptor
A great example of a longer reanimated collab. Ludolik & PaleaRaptor hosted and compiled this 16 minute long adventure based on a Game Grumps video. The styles in this video are so unique and you can see that each entry was built out of love. I still go back to watch this every now and then! Take a look at the credits and see how many people helped outside of the animators alone, a large production for sure!
Tips & Tricks
I would be weary of letting participants claim multiple spots. I would recommend setting a rule that the animator must finish a part before claiming another. Be sure to give deadlines to these people!
Type 7: Tributes
The last style of collab and the most vague, tribute collabs are collabs made in the spirit of another project, collab or not. While they can be done well, it’s often discouraged since the original project should be able to speak for itself but that doesn’t mean they can’t be good! These collabs can come in the shape of any of the previous types based on the creative vision of the host. All I would recommend is to get credit from the original creator if possible. While it isn’t necessary to get permission, it is considered respectful to get the opinion from the original creator before creating your tribute collab.
Examples of Tributes
The Comeback Collab Tribute by Awez
Based on the Comeback Collab series by Stone, Awez brings back the energy of the classic stick series for the modern (at the time) stick community!
Imitator Collab Tribute by Hatena360
My first and only attempt at a tribute collab, based on Shuriken’s Imitator collab. I wish I had done the Vcam better, but I still enjoy the subversion of expectation from synced collabs at the time this was posted by featuring a second track.
Rushed Tribute Collab by Alpha_Seagull & X
A tribute to the infamous “Rushed” collab series originally created by Terkoiz, this would offer an opportunity to the newer animators in the community to participate in a Rushed collab since Terkoiz started to distance himself from the community at this time.
Tips & Tricks
See any collab type above based on the format you intend on using for your tribute collab.
4. Compilation
Every collab reaches that one stage of production where everything must be put together. It is crucial to be organized during this stage of production. Depending on the type of your collab and how you hosted it, there are a few ways to compile your collab.
- In-program: If all of the entries were made using the same software, you can create a master file containing every entry. These tend to get pretty large though, so if you can split it up then it is recommended you do so. This method allows you to make visual changes much easier than in other compiling methods.
- Editing Software: If you have entries that are made from many different softwares, it might be best to use an editing software. There are plenty of free options, the most recent and highly praised being DaVinci Resolve! It has a trial version, but don’t worry! It won’t expire on you and already comes with so many useful tools!
Other software like Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegas Pro also work just fine, but they do cost money. Make sure you use folders and be sure to have a good file naming convention for easy navigation! - Basic Compilation: There are easy options out there where you can just place parts next to each other in any program and place a backing track behind it. This should be pretty self explanatory though so I won’t bother.
In any collab it is expected to credit the animators. You don’t have to include their names in watermarks, but it will help their discoverability and potentially get them work if the right person sees it! If you don’t include their name over their part in watermark-form, be sure their credit is easy to find and attribute to their animation. Be respectful and be sure to credit anyone else who may have helped in the production of the collab.
If you wish to apply major edits to someone’s entry of your collab, make sure you let them know and get their permission first. It may be your project, but they are representing themselves in the way they want to be represented. If you change the timing of their entry for example, that can skew the original vision of their entry and is considered extremely disrespectful to the animator. I almost participated in a collab that started changing people’s entries to match their specific vision without asking the animators first. Once I got wind of this, I dropped out.
5. Marketing
Once you’ve finished compiling your collab, it’s time to release it! Now you could just post it instantly and let the audience enjoy it without making them wait, BUT WHERE’S THE FUN IN THAT? Get people hyped and turn it into an event! Even if it isn’t a huge crowd, it ‘s extremely fun to make a trailer for your collab to get people talking! It’s all about community here anyway, why not have some fun with it?
Making the trailer is full of creative decisions that are up to you as the host, but I do have some tips to help make it more engaging.
Hatena’s Tips for Teasers & Trailers!
- Only include the most necessary info. Don’t bloat your trailer with long pieces of text and pre-credits, you’re trying to convince us to give you our time!
- Cut to the action! Show off what people are doing, but don’t show everything! Save the coolest parts for the actual collab itself, but don’t be scared to tease a bit of them. Give us a reason to come back!
- Show who you got! It’s a collab for pete’s sake, it’s all about the people! If you have any big names, show them off and be proud!
- Match the energy! If your collab is fast paced and full of action, get into the action as soon as possible and don’t interrupt it! If your collab is slower and more story based, lean in on the story much more, but avoid relying on text.
- Sync the music! Even if you’re not hosting a synced collab, it’s a good idea to match the actions of the trailer with the music you may be using for your trailer. It gives your presentation more oomph!
- Have fun with it! This should go for hosting collabs itself, but make sure you are enjoying the process of your collab and your trailers/teasers. If you’re pushing it out just to get views, your audience can tell. If you find yourself coming back to watch just the trailer, that’s a great sign!
- Keep it going! Once the collab is published, don’t stop there, you can still convince more people to watch the collab! Do some marketing with images, videos, etc after the video is released!
Good collab trailer examples
There’s many more things you can do to advertise your collab but I’ll leave you to experiment with marketing yourself!
6. Ending
I hope this article helped you better understand how to host a collab! I hope to see the community thrive with more community projects, they’re just so damn fun! Remember that your project doesn’t need to be perfect, but you also don’t need to rush them out.
Back in 2017-2019 I had a bad habit of pushing out collabs just because of the high I would get from the attention, but like any drug, it loses its fun after a while. Take your time to craft something that means something to you, and it might inspire someone who watches it. I love hosting collabs and I’m glad I’m not mass producing them like I used to. I’m far more proud of my collabs now that I give them time to breathe. I love sharing the spotlight with new and aspiring animators, and even people I already look up to. I prefer hosting community projects because I never want something to be all about me, and I think that plays a huge part in making a good collab. Make sure you never let views and attention impact your collabs, or anything in that matter. If you have fun with it, people can tell. People like fun, so have fun 🙂
Happy hosting!
Xoxo: Brandon “Hatena360”
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