Animation | Margaret A. Powers

Tag Archives: Animation

Walking Through the #ETMOOC Browser

Posted on February 10, 2013 | 8 comments

Here it is! My post about another new tool that I tried as part of the digital storytelling focus in #etmooc that I promised to share in my last post about flip books. After seeing someone else in the course suggest using Moquu, a free app that lets you make animated GIFs from your photos, I decided to test it out. Until recently, I had never created a GIF and my first ones were made from videos. So this time, I wanted to create a GIF from still images.

I heard many reports from the #etmooc community that GIMP (a free software that you can use to turn your images into GIFs) was pretty challenging to work with and since my time was limited, I decided I would try starting with a user-friendly app instead.

I found Moquu pretty easy to use, although I was confused for a bit about the difference between the app and “MultiMe” which is included in the getting started instructions but is actually a 0.99 cent add-on. The app has a fairly detailed introduction that you can always revisit by pressing the “i” icon. The instructions explain the different icons and app capabilities over a few screens although some things, like “onion skin” are not explained. I did find another neat animation site by looking it up though! The discoveries I make when I get stuck and go searching for solutions or new ideas is one of my favorite parts of learning with educational technologies.

Some advice I will offer after a few attempts at trying to make my GIF in Moquu:

The app hasn’t gotten the vertical video syndrome notice and doesn’t seem to record vertical GIFs well
If you get an error message uploading/sharing, close the app and try again
There are 3 shooting modes: Single, Burst, Timelapse
You can re-order your photos on the editing screen and delete individual images

Once I figured out the basic tools, I moved on to making my GIF. After one of the scenes I saw in the #etmooc lip dub, I was inspired to create something using the #etmooc blog as my subject area. I also thought about this quote that has spoken to many of us involved in the course:

” @courosa: We all decided to walk through the same door on the Internet so we could think together.” #etmooc BEAUTIFUL!

— Laurie Renton (@RentonL) January 29, 2013

I decided I wanted to convey some part of that idea through my GIF, so I took shots of opening my laptop (door) onto the #ETMOOC homepage, the central node from which we have all been connected to this community and the place from which we have each gone out to create, connect, and share some more.

And although the laptop closes as the GIF loops, it always opens again. That’s kind of how I think of the #etmooc community. It lives in a space that’s primarily virtual and therefore it’s always open and waiting for me to ask questions, to engage and interact, to learn and share and to support me. This GIF tells the story of me opening or walking through my browser to enter the #etmooc community and join in on our shared thinking and learning. How do you visualize and tell the story of walking through the door and joining #etmooc?

#etmooc Digital Story Telling Experiment: Animated GIF v. 2 (jamespatrickjensen.com)

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Posted in Tech Tools

Tagged #etmooc, #etmoocgif, Animated GIFs, Animation, digital storytelling, Educational technology, Free, GIMP, Graphics, Graphics Interchange Format, Jim Groom, lip dub, moquu, photos, software, technology, timelapse

Giving GIFs a Try

Posted on February 7, 2013 | 18 comments

One of the suggested #etmooc tasks for this week’s topic of digital storytelling is to make an animated GIF. I’ve never tried created a GIF but I’ve been very interested in testing it out, especially after watching the the “How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the GIF” session with Jim Groom.

During the session there was an active backchannel via the #etmooc hashtag and someone asked about tools and apps to create GIFs. One of the suggestions was Cinemagram, which I promptly downloaded so I could test it out.

@penpln There are apps for GIFfing on an iPhone — Cinemagram (turns short movie into GIF) or GIFture, or Giffer! Pro #etmooc

— Andrew Forgrave (@aforgrave) February 6, 2013

After checking out the app, I considered different things I could film to create my first GIF. I had hoped one of my cats might be a willing participant … but no such luck. Then, on my way into work today, I realized I had the perfect setting right outside my door – the playground.

I love playgrounds and think they can be wonderful places for play, exploration, and discovery. Given how many people have experienced a playground of some sort, I think they are also rich ground for calling on memories and prompting people to reflect on their own childhoods.

I created two GIFs to try and capture the movement of playgrounds. I appreciated the ability to slow the clip via Cinemagram because while action is often very fast on the playground when you’re a child, when you recall your experiences, things seem to slow down. Time is less of a factor and you’re able to gently savor a moment and think back to the people and places that share your playground memories with you. I’d be curious to hear what memories these GIFs might call up for others.

This first GIF shows swaying monkey bars, slowly yet perpetually migrating from side to side. To me, they tell the story of children who have swung on them over and over, of the desire young kids have to return to the same games time and time again. And while they sway, they are also not all in sync, reminding me of the discord that often develops among children during play when activities don’t always go as planned.

I debated about what story this next GIF was trying to tell (since I’m giving it a life of it’s own) and hopefully it will speak in different ways to different people. At first, I thought the GIF was a bit somber, showing empty swings with no one to enjoy them. But as I watched it some more, I felt it was actually a nice way to capture the peace and joy I often experience when swinging. I like how through the GIF I can capture the rhythmic repetition of gliding back and forth in one “still” scene and watching it, I actually begin to feel like I’m in motion too.

With all of that said, I’m not at all sure if I’m taking full advantage of all of the capabilities of Cinemagram and creating GIFs to capture a moment. Next, I hope to explore creating GIFs from photographs and using a tool like GIMP.