Hello there! This is a guide to MAP hosting and participating in a MAP. This is not a call for collaboration post!

The information below should be helpful for both new and experienced MAP hosts and participants alike! I'll be getting right into it:

⚠︎︎ This guide will not go into depth on how you actually “create” the MAP (ex. cutting sounds). Instead, this post will mainly be about some good tips for MAP hosting, like how to interact with participants, and some tips for participating in MAPs, like setting up a schedule! ⚠︎︎
Note: I'll be adding some helpful links below for the actual mechanics of the MAP, like cutting sounds and setting up palettes!

Table of Contents:

✎ MAP Hosting

✎ Participant Tips

✎ Sources / Examples

MAP Hosting

MAPs (Multi Animator Projects) are one of the best ways to collaborate with different animators and artists! However, there are many ways to do this, some of which are ineffective and others that will make your MAP shine! There are three main things you should keep in mind!

1) Communication with your fellow participants!
One thing I see often in MAPs is the lack of communication or miscommunication (we've all been there! Even myself!). Whether it may be a mistake in the rules or a confusing comment, miscommunication can lead to there being a gap in the collaboration between the host and the participant.

Before I go on, it is perfectly fine if you accidentally say something in a confusing way or mistype something in the rules of your MAP. Mistakes happen all the time, and there shouldn't be any bad feelings because of it! However, if it gets to the point where the participant has to redo their MAP part because of that flaw, you can see how it can be annoying for the participants. Some tips to lessen miscommunication are:

➤ Double checking your grammar
- Look at the red and blue squiggly lines :]
➤ Reading over your rules and/or story script to see if it makes sense
- You could get a family member irl to see if your description makes sense! If you are co-hosting (multiple hosts), you can ask them to read it over.
➤ Stay concise + rephrase some sentences if needed
- You don't have to write multiple paragraphs for the rules! Stick to small bullet points and use as few words as possible (ex. instead of saying, “do not exceed the sprite limit of 3 sprites”, try saying, “3 sprites or less”).

CHECK INS: You should also check in with the participants every now and then! If you set a 1 month due date, check in with them a week ahead of time or on the day of the exact deadline. Please don't pester the participants about their deadline - it can get really annoying, as the participant is lending their own time to participate in your MAP . Be willing to give the participants extensions and be flexible! However, if you are a participant and you are not responding to the host's messages, especially after your deadline, that's on you (the MAP host has the right to drop you from the MAP if you are holding up the MAP's release). I'll get more into detail about this matter in the Participant Tips topic.

2) Sharing Your MAP - Recognition Tips!
Another thing I see often is that MAPs often “die” and all the participants' hard work die with it (I mean, the hard work still pays off, but I'm speaking more of the hard work that goes into creating the MAP as a whole). This can be because of multiple reasons, including the host has left scratch / inactive, lost interest in the MAP, is hosting too many MAPs, etc. To keep this organized, first, I'll list some ways for advertising your MAP and then I'll tell you how you can keep that MAP alive!

Ways to Advertise your MAP:
★ Create a good, eye-catching thumbnail!
- I know the saying “don't judge a book by its cover” should be applied in most areas of our life, but the hard truth is that… we do -v- I'm not saying that it's necessarily a bad thing (unless you apply that principle to a living being), but when it comes to hosting a MAP, I see that the most successful MAPs have a good thumbnail! A couple things to keep in mind include the text, storyboard, shading/lighting, and more. Click on this link to see a few examples: https://scratch.mit.edu/search/projects?q=tne <- or just search “TNE” in the scratch search bar.
★ Sharing it with other people through studio invites!
- If the person you are wanting to share an invite to has an invite studio, definitely put your MAP invite there (out of respect to the person). If the person does not have an invite studio, check to see if the person mentions their MAP invites being open or closed in their “About Me” or “WIWO”. If they are closed, don't ask them! If the person doesn't mention invites being open, the safest thing to do is ask them on their profile WITHOUT the link. This is what I have been doing more recently (so it shows that you aren't trying to advertise).
- By the way, people know when you are trying to advertise on profiles… when you post a link on someone's profile, you are also posting it to those who visit that person's profile. So the best thing to do is just tell the person that they are invited to your MAP and that the MAP is on your profile (especially if the person says no advertising on their profile). This is just my opinion though- sometimes, posting the MAP link can be more efficient for the person you are sending the link to… so it's up to you :]
★ Post your invite into OPEN MAP studios: https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/449667/ <- the one I and many others use
★ Create a forum, like this one!
- Pretty much self-explanatory. Make sure to do it in the right forum topic “Collaborations” or “Show and Tell”.
★ Add tags to your project
- I honestly don't know if this works, but it's worth a try XD Just make sure the tags are related to your MAP (ex. #MAP #AU #OCs #Palette).

Now, let's move on to…

Ways to Keep your MAP Alive:
➤ Keep it as a featured project on your profile OR keep it on your favorite projects list (or Shared Projects list).
➤ Make due dates anywhere between a week to a couple months (one month is golden!).
- Anything too short of a deadline may repel some participants and anything over a couple of months may lead your participants to procrastinate or forget about their MAP part entirely.
➤ Check in with your participants (I elaborate more about this above)

3) Acceptance
Okay, there are going to be many opinions for this one. I've seen many people being denied from MAPs because of their art style, experience level, their “fame level”, and more. Now, not all of these are bad. Sometimes, I like hosting semi-experienced MAPs because I have a certain idea I want to convey through the animation (I do this mostly for scripted MAPs). Knowledge comes with experience, so I know that I can depend on the participant to do something that a beginner may not always do (btw, I usually invite people I know). I also host MAPs for all experience levels, since I believe in letting everyone have a chance to participate. The more you do something, the better you get at it!

That being said, let me talk about denial. If you are not going to accept someone, it should be because of the following reasons:
➤ Participants didn't fill out the form properly
- Example could be that they forgot the code word. Personally, I would remind the person that they should fix their form rather than never responding, because that could really disappoint if they don't know why they weren't accepted.
➤ They don't fit the experience requirements in your MAP. Please, please, PLEASE put your experience requirements towards the top of your MAP so participants know whether they should join or not. In my opinion, I would only do an experienced MAP if there are fewer than 10 parts, so the majority of people don't feel left out. What I mean is (for a bad example), if you are doing an experience MAP with over 30 parts, if people see that a LOT of people are getting in except them, you can see how this can be damaging to someone's self esteem.

I suggest that you host a MAP that is accepting rather than only for a few people. Once in a while, it's perfectly fine to have a high experience requirement (if I were against this, then I would be a hypocrite XD). Out of the 7 MAPs I've shared, 4 of them have been accepting to all levels. There should be a good ratio between these two different types of MAPs.

Very quickly, I will list a few other miscellaneous tips:
✦ DO A PART IN YOUR MAP! I know MAP hosts have great responsibility over creating the MAP and putting the parts together, but it is essential to do a part in your MAP for the following reasons:
- It serves as an example for other participants
- It advertises your MAP in a good way
- It shows that you are also willing to do your part in your own MAP (don't let others do all the animating for you - do a part to show that you also believe in your MAP idea!)
✦ Have a reasonable part length (I recommend something between 3-8 seconds)
✦ Have an interesting concept! Maybe consider telling a story or having a cool palette! This is a good example of that: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/796042534/ (just some shameless advertising heheh)

That's pretty much it for the MAP Hosting part of this forum topic! If you have any questions, let me know below!


Participant Tips

Whether you participate in a school event, group project, MAP, and more, there are always good values you should keep in mind. I will mention one main thing that you should keep in mind, but I'll also add a few others at the end.

1) Responsibility
When you sign up for a MAP, you are telling others that you will do your part. What I see too often is that participants procrastinate, have busy schedules, lose interest in the part, and more. This ultimately leads the MAP host to decide whether they should drop you or not, which is a really tricky decision in my opinion. It can also keep the MAP from ever being complete, which is really unfair to the other participants.

I'm not saying that participants don't have other things to prioritize in their real life. In fact, you should prioritize your irl stuff, like homework, family matters, jobs, etc. before you work on your MAP part. However (for example), if you end up applying for too many MAPs and you are holding up the MAP from being complete, that can be a problem. This is where responsibility comes in.

So… what I'm trying to get at is to emphasize the importance of a schedule. But before that, I will list a couple of questions you can ask yourself before you join a MAP.
➤ Will I be motivated to finish this part?
➤ Will I be able to finish it in time?
- You should always check the due date for your MAP part to see if you can finish it on time. If you end up in a situation where your part is overdue, ask for an extension knowing that you will actually complete your part. Don't ask for an extension just to leave your unfinished MAP part sitting for even longer. If you don't think you will finish your part, the responsible thing to do is to ask to be dropped so someone else can take your part (it will help you and the host).

If you think you'll stay motivated and the due date works for you, I suggest making a schedule! It could look something like this (example):

Due date for MAP part: 1 month from now (in other words, May 29th)

Saturday (4/29) - Work just on the storyboard. (30 min - hour)
Sunday (4/30) - Start working on the actual animation (line art). (1 hour)
-
Saturday (5/6) - Continue working on line art (if needed). (1 - 2 hours)
Sunday (5/7) - Continue working on line art (if needed). - personally, I spend a lot of time refining the line art for the animation. (1 - 2 hours)
-
Saturday (5/13) - Can't work on MAP parts today :]
Sunday (5/14) - Finish line art. Start coloring if time. (1 hour)
-
Saturday (5/20) - Continue coloring + make BG. (1 hour)
Sunday (5/21) - Finish coloring + finish BG. (1 hour)
-
Saturday (5/27) - Add anything extra (or finish coloring + BG if needed). (1 hour)
Sunday (5/28) - Finished!
-
Of course, this schedule could change. I don't animate on the weekdays, so this schedule can vary for others. I also plan on animating for 1-2 hours a day, so that could change for some people. If you can't animate one day and you end up needing an extension, I'm sure the host will be more than happy to give you an extension (at least if it's your first time getting one).

EXTENSIONS: I know I talked about this a little, but I want to go a little more in depth with this. Extensions are wonderful when you use them wisely. If you are almost done with your MAP part and you need some extra time, hosts usually give out extensions. Extensions vary in time, but I recommend them to be about a week long (and I'm willing to give them to the participant 2 times if needed). Although most people use extensions to work on their parts, I know there are probably some people that leave their MAP parts sitting until their next due date comes. This is not a matter of the extra time being given, but more about procrastination. I think all of us can relate to this, not just with MAP parts, but with… let's just say… homework assignments. I'm sure some of you out there are probably like, “No way! I've never procrastinated on a HW assignment ever”, but I know you've done it at least once in your life (if you haven't, good for you). That is why a schedule comes in handy in planning your work to be finished (try not to join a MAP knowing that you will probably use an extension).
I know there are other reasons why a MAP part isn't finished. This could be because of a family matter, for example. In that case, I would either tell the host:
➤ That I would need to drop out.
➤ That I would be able to finish it in (insert reasonable time frame).
➤ That I would need an extension.
- If you've had more than 2, I would go with the first option. In my opinion, it is better to drop out earlier rather than asking the host for many extensions later to end up dropping out anyway.

So after that big paragraph I just wrote above, what am I trying to say? Use extensions knowing that you will be able to finish your part. Otherwise, it is best to drop out, which will be better for you and the host.

Very quickly, I will list a few other miscellaneous tips:
✦ Check WHEN the MAP call was posted. If it was posted over a year ago and it seems like it won't ever be complete, it may be best not to join (just use your best judgement)!
✦ Give the MAP host updates. This could be in the form of comments and/or WIPs (work in progress). This will show the MAP host that you are still dedicated to your part.
✦ (adding more soon)

- - -

At the end of the day, everything I have written above is my opinion. In other words, you don't have to agree with everything I have said above. In fact, you can agree with none of it. But hopefully, this brings attention to some good habits a MAP host and a participant can use the next time you create/join a MAP!


Sources / Examples

Everything above is written by me (there may be a few grammar/wording mistakes- sorry about that).

Here are some projects/resources that may be helpful!

How to cut music for MAPs: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/476995877/ (PRO TIP: Label your full song audio a random # like… 89. That way, every time you push “copy to new”, the cut audio will automatically be labeled the part #).
How to host a successful MAP: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/775567918/
MAP studio: https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/449667/ (add all your open MAPs here)
Color palette generator: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/238403155/

MAP Ideas:
Palette MAP (followers a certain palette) - Ex. https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/670495735/
OC MAP (participants can use their own OCs) - Ex. https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/628714032/
Palette OC MAP (combination of the two ideas above - kinda the same as palette MAP?) - Ex. https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/742989641/
Fandom MAP (uses a specific fandom like Pokemon, Warriors, WoF, etc.) - Ex. https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/739448525/
AU MAP (alternate universe) - Ex. https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/752746732 (open MAP)


I will probably add more later! Thanks for reading :]

Also, if you have any questions, please don't quote the entire guide. I will do my best to respond to all of them!

hey uhhhh hi?

Hello! It's great that you want to help out other Scratchers. However, I think we have enough guides in the forums at the moment. Please feel free to welcome new Scratchers on the group welcoming topic or on individual topics created by New Scratchers.

Other places that can always use more helpful Scratchers like you, are the "Help With Scripts“ and ”Questions About Scratch" areas - please use them as designed, by responding to topics created by folks with problems to solve

Finally, a really good place for Scratch guides is the Scratch Wiki - check it out and see if it's something you might like to work on. They have a number of guides - and great organization.