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    The Steps

     Look: Concepts

    Read. Introduction to Animation Composition (3) 

    Read. Integrating Technology Into Instruction (6)

    Technical 2D

    Watch 2D animation being made. Example of using Flash to create a basic animation: Bouncing Ball (7:47) from FlashLearner.com. Watch, don't do. Before beginning it is helpful to see someone working in the Flash "kitchen" or development environment and actually create something interesting before starting the series. This will show many of the tools available to the "animation chef". If this had been done by hand by animation artists in a pre-digital studio, this would have taken 35 separate hand drawn designs, which would have then required 35 photographs to convert it to film. If needed, YouTube has other examples of "chefs" creating simple and complex Flash animations.

    Watch 2D Flash tutorials.

    For more, see CS5-Getting Started Series (32 minutes, the 1 - 13 series of short screen movies)

    Watch tutorial on how to move Flash swf file to a Google Sites page into a Flash player gadget.

    Technical 3D

    Explore Interactive 3D: Frisco, Use Run button & arrow keys; Hawaii.

    Read and do 3D. Second Life Tutorial. Open an account with this online collaborative 3D application and make an avatar and remember your avatar's first and last name.

    Watch. Unity3D Gallery, a highlight reel of 3D animated composition techniques, a free version for beginners.

    Read. 3D Printing- the Personal Factory.

    Optional:

     

    Resources:

     

    Evoke

    If 2D Animation, follow the Study and Create link for 2D animation.

    * After finishing the Learn Flash - Getting Started Series, create a short Flash animation using Flash and place the resulting Flash file on your Web site using the same technique used when placing the videoclips done in chapter six. You could sail off on a creative adventure of your own, but unless those tutorials in the Getting Started Series really made sense to you, follow the movies in this next link to get this done more quickly. - Build a simple two layer Flash animation for any content area using one of your instructional images and some related text. (Reports are that the first version of this in Flash video format did not work. Let me know how this second version goes.)

    Build a more complex animation - using Microsoft Excel and the scaling features in Flash

    In-class activity: create a folder on your Flash drive (animations) search/start/build a collection of Web links and downloadable animation files that are related to your grade level of animations, whether they are GIF, Flash or 3D based. What would be the best way to share these collections with each other?

    If 3D focused, follow the Study and Create link for Second Life.

    * After finishing the Second Life Tutorial, open an account to make an avatar and carefully write down your avatar's first and last name. We'll do some teamwork visiting to WCU's Second Life site in class.

    In-class activity: use screen recorder software to create a screencast of some place and event in Second Life. Teaching on how to use screen recorder software is in the Second Life tutorial. The goal is to capture some screen movie footage of some events in Second Life with your grade level team. For example one or more of you could become the instructor who will teach something about a Second Life site during "field trip" to the site. The rest will become student avatars that asks questions that will help expand on what is being learned. Share your teams Web address of the movie once it is recorded. What would be the best way to share these movies with each other?

    * eCROP site (link in Blackboard): contribute at least 1 question related to your media of study for this chapter and 1 contribution to someone else's question related to this chapter.

     

    Assess

    Publish to Web Sites

    Flash animation and Second Life movies.

    Did you backup your files today?

    Printer friendly view of the chapter index.

    OPTIONAL EXPLORATION

    Look: Technical

    3D design/still image in 3 dimensional space (Virtual Reality)

    1. Pioneer by Vue, easy 3D scenes.
    2. TeamUp (& news story), enables real-time 3D collaboration, instant feedback, create photoreal images in seconds.

    3D Animation movement in 3 dimensional space (Virtual Reality)

    1. Bryce
    2. Second Life
    3. ActiveWorlds
    4. Best of Atmosphere
    5. Immersive VR
    6. Maya

    Movement in 2 dimensional space

  • GIF

    The web's original standard for animation was GIF animation. Two possible animation editors are provided for downloading below: 

  •   GIF Builder (Mac), Media 9a ;  
  •   GIF Construction Set (Win), Media 9b.

    • Flash

    The Web's current standard for animation was created by Macromedia, now owned by Adobe and is called Flash. Flash provides the very best in shrinking file sizes so that files move quickly even in low bandwidth settings. Flash is available as a free 30 day download. Flash (Mac/Win); Media 9c. As Flash has increasingly become more powerful and more difficult to learn its more advancd features, competing alternative software products are emerging, notably Silverlight from Microsoft.

  • Flash demo - Flash movie in upper left corner that demonstrates: scaling, motion path, rotation, tint changes, and 2 layers of animation but no sound layer.

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