Creating Digital Animations: Animate Stories with Scratch!

✍ Scribed by Breen, Derek

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2016
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 131
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The easy way to start animating today!Creating Digital Animationsis your ticket to learning animation! Learn how to animate your very own characters using Scratch--the free multimedia tool that lets you create interactive stories, games, and animations. Designed specifically for kids aged seven and up, this easy-to-follow, full-color guide introduces you to important game design concepts through three simple projects. Step-by-step instructions walk you through the four major phases of animation design, showing you how to turn your idea into a real animation with sound effects and more! You'll work just like the pros as you sketch out your main idea, add your own details, and develop a complete, workable character from scratch.

If you're curious about coding, animation is the perfect place to start exploring. The Scratch platform doesn't require an actual programming language, but it gets you used to thinking like a programmer while you develop your very own animation. Short on rules but big on fun, this book is your friendly animation coach to get you started on the right foot.


Use stick figures to design your characters' 'bones' Flesh out your design and animate movements Create scenes and background locations Add sound to take your animation to the next level Animation is fun! Building your own characters is exciting! And putting the finishing touches on your animation project shows you just how much you can learn while you play. Coding is a valuable skill that will serve you throughout school and beyond, and this book teaches you the basics in a way that leaves you hungry for more. Where will you take your new animation skills next?Creating Digital Animationstakes you on the first steps of your journey to wherever you want to go!

✦ Table of Contents

Title Page......Page 3
Copyright Page......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
About Scratch......Page 9
About This Book......Page 10
Create online account......Page 11
Use Scratch offline......Page 12
Draw Your First Character......Page 16
Draw body parts......Page 17
Sculpt the body with the Reshape tool......Page 18
Adjust the thickness of multiple lines......Page 19
Animate the Stick Figure......Page 20
Draw a simple backdrop......Page 21
Adjust movement against the backdrop......Page 22
Putting the jump in jacks......Page 23
Animate with Code Blocks......Page 25
Add Stick Man’s Best Friend......Page 28
Modify parts to create a new character......Page 29
Develop your humorous story......Page 30
Walk Like a Man......Page 31
Rotate parts with the Select tool......Page 32
Add code to animate the stick dog......Page 34
Animate tail wagging......Page 35
Talk Like a Man......Page 36
Keep It Simple, Stupid......Page 39
Getting a Head Start......Page 41
Paint a new sprite......Page 42
Quick hairstyling......Page 43
Open wide......Page 44
A Little Body Work......Page 45
Add simple legs......Page 46
Arming your characters......Page 47
Apply Finishing Touches......Page 48
From Dead Skin to Furry Beast......Page 49
Fangs Make the Beast......Page 51
Undress the Beast......Page 52
Add Finishing Touches......Page 53
Create a Third Character......Page 55
From zombie girl to bland boy......Page 56
Tweak facial features......Page 58
Add a set of teeth......Page 59
Assembling Your Cast......Page 60
Planning Animation Scenes......Page 62
Design an Interior Scene......Page 63
Make Scenes More Immersive......Page 67
Design see-through windows......Page 68
Build your own furniture......Page 71
Design an Exterior Scene......Page 74
Draw scenes with perspective......Page 77
Scale characters inside a scene......Page 79
That’s What He Said......Page 82
Write dialogue for your characters......Page 83
Record Dialogue in Scratch......Page 84
Find the Record button......Page 85
Edit Audio Clips......Page 88
Trim Beginning of Sound......Page 89
Use sound editing effects......Page 90
Play Sound with Code Blocks......Page 91
Animate Character Speech......Page 92
Mouthing the words......Page 93
Easy lip-synching......Page 94
Achieve more realistic lip-synching......Page 95
Create custom phoneme costumes......Page 98
Switch costumes to match phonemes......Page 99
Create a night scene......Page 103
Turn out the lights......Page 106
Increase the costume size......Page 109
Create a back view of characters......Page 111
Action! (or Let’s Get the Story Moving)......Page 112
Add a (slightly) more realistic walk......Page 113
Send a broadcast message......Page 114
Receive a broadcast message......Page 115
Switch between Animation Scenes......Page 116
And Cut!......Page 119
Share Your Scratch Projects in the Scratch Online Community......Page 120
Share project from the online Scratch editor......Page 121
Broadcast Scratch Animation on Any Website......Page 122
Record/Export Scratch Videos......Page 123
Export Scratch Graphics to Other Applications......Page 125
EULA......Page 131