vste2009

**Lights, Camera, Animation! Engaging 21st Century Learners**

Learn about the exciting world of computer generated animation and how this technology can be adapted to energize and engage 21st century learners. Free or inexpensive tools will be shared.

Audience Level: Intermediate Grade Level: All Audiences Presentation Strand: 21st Century Teaching and Learning Cutting Edge Technologies

Sunday: 2:15 pm - 3:15 pm in Meeting Suite 4E

**Machinima and Digital Animation**

Digital Animation is being used more and more as a viable means of communication in today's society. Today we see digital animation not only in the special effects of movie blockbusters, but in the everyday commercials we see on television. Many of us sit and watch these commercials and comment on how nice they look or don't even notice them because they have become the norm. What if you could take that same technology that is being used in this media and translate it into your classroom?

One of the many types of digital animation is the art of Machinima (//pronounced muh-sheen-eh-mah//). The term machinima is a portmanteau of machine and cinema and is created using real-time interactive 3D animation software. Machinima can also be referred to as a pre-vis movie which is used by many major studios to visualize a scene in a movie prior to the expense of shooting the scene live. Machinima can be as simple or as complicated as you would like it to be. With Machinima, the weather is always right, you don't have to pay the actors overtime and reshooting a scene is a simple as pressing a button.

**Animation in the Classroom**

Since I am by no means a programmer or a 3D graphic artist, I am looking at the educational value of implementing such a program in the curriculum. I will admit it can be an extremely time consuming process but the rewards are fantastic. Students become engaged in creating a product that they can share with others and be proud of, I see social and teamworking skills increase in more difficult animations as the students work in group. Students enjoy the strong sense of control animation gives as they create characters and scenes and move the characters around those scenes. Animation can also be used as a bridge to introduce storytelling and artwork concepts.

Animation can be used to improve both reading and writing skills of students as they create scripts for their animations. Let's face it, how many times does a student write an assignment and then read it outloud to see if it makes sence? Not only do reading and writing skills come into play but also sequencing through storyboarding, character development, and proportions and measurements during scene design and construction.

When thinking of classroom uses we must also remember that there are classes taught other than English, Social Studies, Math, and Science. Art classes can easily study 3D texture and the concepts of perspective. If you have a class that is studying clothing design, imagine creating a dress in the 3D atmosphere and then putting on a fashion show. The opportunities are endless for all classes.

**The Software**

There are many pieces of software that can be used to create Machinima. The software runs the gambit from total 3D software such as Maya, Blender and Daz3D to software that comes with precreate content which can be dropped into any project. Since I am by no means a 3D programmer and I am pretty sure that my students are not either, I have primarily looked at software that comes with precreated content or content that is extrememly easy to modify. Below are a few of the observations I have made regarding the software packages I have looked into or use. The list is by no means exhaustive and the notes listed beside each software title are personal observations.

[|iClone4 Pro] - (edu $159.99, iclonex FREE) WINDOWS ONLY This program is the most expensive program that I have looked at for this presentation and by far at this time the most versatile. The free version is just like the standard version but will only allow you to create 300 x 230 movies. It comes with little content out of the box however their website contains a great deal of content. Reallusion, the maker of iClone, sells a great deal of content for various amount. It is extremely adaptable but I found it difficult for a non 3D person. Reallusion also offers a program 3DXchange for $55.95 that will allow you to transfer 3D content from other 3D programs. Documentation is growing slowly. Most tutorials are in the form of movies, not written form, so it makes it difficult to follow. This program must communicate with the reallusion server in order to be installed.

[|Moviestorm] - (FREE) WINDOWS/MAC There is a moderate amount of content that comes with this program and the company ShortFuse is growing and constantly producing more content. Modifying the pre-created content is extremely difficult at this time, however creating customs sets are very easy. All additional content at this time comes for a small fee. Documentation is not really available other than the online help files. I have not found any real tutorials but hopefully some will be coming out soon. From what I understand at this time, Moviestorm is going to be eventually released in an educational version. Perhaps one of the best features of Moviestorm is the quick movie mode which will guide you through the steps of creating a simple movie. One of the drawbacks of this program is that it must communicate with the Moviestorm servers in order to receive program updates and install media. There is a work around for the install. All program update are done automatically during the log in process.

[|Alice]- (FREE) WINDOWS/MAC/LINUX This program is designed as a new and exciting way to start students into the world of programming. Alice is being created by MIT and uses the same approach as Scratch. There is a great deal of content for this program available on the Alice website. One of the detractors from this program is that it does not support a standard movie export format at this time. This program is due for a major upgrade soon that will encompass graphics on the level of Sims 2. The current version of the software has average graphics quality and will only play in a web browser.

[|ZenCub3D] - ($49.00) WINDOWS ONLY This program creates graphics reminiscent of the graphics used for the Nintendo WII, characters with large heads. Written documentation is extremely scarce. Moving the characters is not extremely difficult but again there are no sound capabilities. Sound can be added through other programs such as Microsoft Moviemaker.

[|SciFi 3D Moviemaker] - ($39.95) WINDOWS ONLY This program is designed specifically for creating 3D science fiction movies. The program is designed for space travel movies such as Star Trek, Star Wars or Battle Star Galactica.

**Additional Software**

[|Audacity] - (FREE) WINDOWS/MAC/LINUX This program is designed for recording digital audio on a computer. The software can be used for podcasts and audio for Machinima projects.

[|MorphVOX] - ($39.95) WINDOWS ONLY This program is designed for recording audio for a project. The difference between this and Audacity is that it will it will allow you to digitally modify your voice so you can record parts for two different actors.

[|Celtx]- (FREE) WINDOWS/MAC/LINUX This program is designed as a media pre-production software package. This package will allow you to type your script as well as track information regarding your actors and props needed for your project.

**Introductory Project**

I started looking at how to engage my students in a manner where they would begin to enjoy some of the mundane tasks they do in class, I quickly realized that doing oral presentations was extremely difficult for some students because they freeze up when in front of a group. Enter the art of Machinima and a quick and easy project you can do with your students.

This project is designed to quickly get your students using the Moviestorm software. There is some preparatory work that can be done to make the program go smoother. Have your students write a short documentary or poem that can be used for this project. You can either prerecord the audio for this project using Audacity or record the audio during the project creation. [|Project 1 - Tutorial.pdf]

**The VSTE Conference**

I must say that I was really suprised at the amount of people who attended my session at VSTE this week! I had several people come up to me during the conference and say they had already downloaded Moviestorm and created a quick movie using the steps above. Here shortly I am going to create Tutorial 2 which will go through creating a simple 2 person conversation in Moviestorm. If you send me an email at the address on my card (or in the program) I will use the refer a friend feature and we can both get Moviestorm points. I hope you all get a chance to use the program and will send me an email on how you are starting to use the program. If you have any questions, please let me know.

This example was created to use the camera views. media type="custom" key="3619289"