Simple Animation - Getting Started

What is animation? What does it mean to animate something? How has the practice and application of animation evolved as a media? How does it work to display and shape our culture?

Let's get started_____________________________

In this unit you will explore the following:

1. Animation history & applications (animation vs film/video vs still imagery)
>>>visit & interact>>>> http://uliktechnoartblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/animation-whats-point-why-animation.html#comments
2. Examples of historic/small & large scale animation (including student & indy animation)
>>>visit NFB Canada>>>>> http://www.nfb.ca/explore-by/keyword/en/animated_films/?&tag_range=all&lang=en
*also visit >>>> "student animation" slideshows & "Animation links" on left sidebar of blog.


3. Narratives used in animation (storyboards, transitions, social impact)
>>>>visit Voicethreads to browse & comment on various storyboarding examples>>>>http://voicethread.com/share/1166894/


Beginning Short Exploration Sequences [20-30 frames] _______________________________

4. Techniques for creating basic 2-D animation sequenced frames (wacom drawing, rotoscoping, collage cut-out, frame-by-frame)
*Can use a variety of image manipulation programs to create numbered jpeg files. Programs include: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, GIMP, Corel Painter, Blender, Microsoft Paint. Links to online tutorial soon!
*Student examples - beginning shorts/demos, visit >>>>>http://www.lacrosseschools.org/se3bin/clientgenie.cgi?schoolname=school288&statusFlag=goGenie&geniesite=269&myButton=g5plugin&db=g269_b4257

5. Importing numbered image files into GIMP for gif animation playback and compression. Link for online instructions soon!
visit GIMP for freeware download (if at home)>>>>http://www.gimp.org/

6. Using audio with animation (using recorded sound, found sound sources)
*For found sound effects visit>>>>http://www.freesound.org/
**For editing sound visit & download (if at home) >>>>http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

7. Editing, rendering, and compressing (finalizing... adding titles, etc)

8. Uploading compressed formats (avi, mov, gif, mp4) to "assignment dropbox".
visit>>>>>http://www.lacrosseschools.org/se3bin/clientgenie.cgi?schoolname=school288&statusFlag=goGenie&geniesite=269&myButton=g5plugin&db=g269_b3567