A summary booklet providing information on animation techniques and resources.

1. Stop-Motion
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2. Stop-Motion
Animation
Animation is a great tool for engaging
with and drawing out the story-telling
passion of children. There are a number of methods of making still
objects appear to move but in this workshop we will focus mainly on
Stop-Motion.
Animation can be used across the curriculum to enhance and ex-
plore, evaluate and explain different subjects.
How Can You Use Animation In Your Classroom?
Stop-Motion Top Tips
· Secure the camera and characters
Blu-Tack works great
Check lighting is good
Watch out for glare
Limit the number of characters
Too many figures is too difficult
Use a background
Adds interest and minimizes distractions
Resources Used In Our Workshop
Primary Wall: Online post-it notes for your classroom
Wordle: “Word Cloud” generator
Flipbook: Create and share simple animations online
Anithings: Simple CGI Animation demonstrator
Zu3D: Stop-Motion software for quick and easy film creation
Free Stop Motion Resources
JellyCam
AnimatorHD
Helium Frog
Stykz

3. Stop-Motion Software
There are a number of excellent Stop-Motion pro-
grams available in the market place, amongst them
are Zu3D, I Can Animate, SAM Animation, and
2Animate.
When looking for a program consider; operating sys-
tem compatibility, camera requirements, ease of use
and special features. Most applications now use low-
end, cheap, USB connected webcams. These can
often be found from around £5 a unit.
When looking for special features the following are
useful additions to the standard fare:
Chroma key (Green screen)
Useful for creating special video effects.
Onion Skinning
Helpful when repositioning characters.
Sound
Digital Blue Cameras (Version 2 and 3)
Does it come with a catalogued library?
Video Compilation
Many schools have these camer-
Able to create a video for use on other systems.
as. They came with a software
package called “Digital Movie
There are also a number of free applications that
Creator” which offered a rich
offer a useful (and cheap) pathway into Stop-Mo-
Stop-Motion and Live Video edit-
tion. This is especially useful if you want to encour-
ing suite.
age and inspire use at home.
Unfortunately Digital Movie Cre- Finally, there are numerous examples of using Win-
ator will not work with Vista or dows Movie Maker to create excellent Stop-Motion
Windows 7. As a consequence videos, the advantage of having a free tool available
you can no longer use the Digital Blue Cameras for to do the task is far out-weighed by the effort re-
live action or Stop-Motion as originally intended. quired to make the software do something it was
not designed for. A sure way to put the children off.
You can however prolong your investment in
these devices by using them as stand-alone video
cameras. To use in this mode you need to consider
the following:
Batteries: Have plenty handy (and a screw-driver
to open the compartment).
Memory: You will need external memory. Use a
1GB or 2GB SDHC card (a 4GB card won’t work)
Video Transfer: Remove the SDHC memory,
insert into your target system and then copy the
video across.

4. You will find links to the resources used in
our workshop on our website.
If you have a smart-phone then you can
scan the adjacent QR-Code to be immedi-
ately taken straight to the page.
For those without smart-phones, or if you
are at your computer, simply type
http://goo.gl/D7gJZ into the address bar.
ComputerXplorers exists to further the knowledge and skills of those who
teach and use technology. From teachers to children, parents to gover-
nors, ComputerXplorers aims to fill knowledge and skills gaps to help
those who live in the participation age to be competent, confident and
inspired to take full advantage of the connected world.
If you want to know more about our services then get in touch today.
‘You are nowhere without digital skills in the 21st century. Ignoring
that fact will just breed social exclusion. What’s more, in the future,
Europe could face a massive ICT skills gap – if we don’t have the
ICT specialists we need, our economy will suffer. We need to get
kids from a very young age learning about IT, exposed to online
education, and expanding their career horizons.’
Neelie Kroes (December 2011)
Vice-President of the European Commission (Digital Agenda)
Create your own video game. An exciting Easter Holiday activity for boys
and girls aged 10 to 13. Friday 13th April at Wootton Bassett School. Visit
http://reachme.at/HolidayClubs for further details.
ComputerXplorers Wessex
23 Redhill Close
Derry Hill
Calne
Wiltshire SN11 9NY
Tel: 01249 811952
Mobile: 0780 863 1901
Info@wessex.computerxplorers.co.uk
www.wessex.computerxplorers.co.uk