@classmethod
def encoder(cls, inputs, base_class, name='encoder', **kwargs):
    """ Create encoder from a base_class model

        Parameters
        ----------
        inputs : tf.Tensor
            input tensor
        base_class : TFModel
            a model class (default=ResNet101).
            Should implement ``make_encoder`` method.
        name : str
            scope name
        kwargs : dict
            parameters for ``make_encoder`` method

        Returns
        -------
        tf.Tensor
        """
    x = base_class.make_encoder(inputs, name=name, **kwargs)
    return x
