Animation

Itching to programme?

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Someone asked yesterday how to make sprites move up and down when using Scratch. I have not done anything with Scratch for a while so I was inspired to download the latest version and give it a whirl.

Scratch logo
Scratch logo

Scratch was developed at the [W:MIT Media Lab] Lifelong Kindergarten (doesn’t that sound like a great place to work?) and it provides a simple drag & drop means of building a [W:Java applet]. These can uploaded to the Scratch website and shared with others.

If Scratch is too basic for your needs then I can commend Greenfoot which is a step closer to proper Java programming. Another option is the RunRev’s RevMedia which uses an English like language. All of these options are free.

Although there are a lot of examples with Scratch there still seems to be a need for an introduction to creating a simple game. So here it comes 🙂

My infallible guide to Scratch page will answer some if not all of your questions.

Stykz and Revolution

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Stykz is a nice little animation programme…

[youtube 6ghwl9BxQ40&hl Stykz Demo]

…although you are not limited to animating stick people. A beta version for [W:Macintosh] is available with versions for [W:Windows] and [W:Linux] to follow shortly. It was created with Revolution which I once played around with as a replacement for [W:HyperCard] but I never did do much with it. So maybe it is time for another thirty day trial… and not get around to doing much with it 🙂

Time-lapse movies: One day in one minute /Sydney harbour

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Sometimes I remember to put the webcam on first thing and managed to catch the moon fading as the sun rose the other day. With the sun hanging so low at this time of year there are reflections – the sun is reflected in the lens which is reflected in the window – and flares aplenty. Note the wind change at the end of the day.

What is it about these [W:Tilt and shift] images that give them a toy like quality? Fascinating (but expensive) stuff…