Hue Animation Studio gets a mention in Autism Eye!

The Winter 2011/12 issue of Autism Eye has a mention of Hue Animation Studio in the product update section, describing it as a "model present". We've been thrilled to hear how Hue has been helping children with autism discover new ways to express their ideas, and Autism Eye is packed with information for parents and carers. As well as up to date news and research, there are dozens of ideas for activities and ways to learn, and we're very proud to be included.

Would you like us to provide more information about how children with special needs are using Hue on the website, or perhaps you know (or are) an animator with autism with feedback to share? Please let us know!

Pefect Christmas gift for Kids

Thinking about doing your Christmas shopping next week and don't know where to go? Come to the Spirit of Christmas at Bluewater from 30th Novemeber to 4th December. And if you're struggling thinking about what to get your kids we have the perfect gift! Come see us on stand A46

Red Bull Canimation Competition

See our entry here and 'Like' us. The more likes we get the more we are in for a chance to win

Find out what teachers are saying about Hue Animation

Review from Islington Arts and Media School

I was thrilled when the Media department at Islington Arts and Media School asked whether they could use a Hue Animation kit in their Year 6 Open Evening. Find out what the teachers thought about Hue Animation in their review:
"
There’s something contradictory about the idea that you can get instant gratification out of making an animation film, but that is precisely what Hue Animation Studio offers.

On a busy Year 6 Open evening at IAMS Media department, aspirational animators were clicking away creating dance scenes, fight scenes and fairly ambitious sequences, by diligently manipulating wooden manikins. They captured small movements frame by frame with one click of the mouse, lit only by classroom ceiling lights.

Wowed by the good quality camera, which has a focus ring, Jason, our AV technician gave the product the thumbs up and now we’re buying in a few kits for our year 11 students to complete Media animation coursework. It’s so simple.  Plug in the kit and play – no extra add-ons.

The absence of too many distracting features cluttering thescreen makes Hue Animation Studio an idealcapture tool, allowing students to concentrate their attention on the complex skill of manipulating objects that they have found or made themselves.

For post-production, students can export movies in Quick Time straight into iMovie for more advanced editing processes.

As an introduction to animation, Hue Animation Studio is a great way to discover the joy of creating and seeing the illusion of moving images in a manageable school time frame – whether it is one lesson or a school open evening.

                                                                                                                                                       "

Martina Attille, Media Teacher

Islington Arts & Media School, Media Department

Dancing by Jenny and Joanna

Halloween Horror Animation!

Nothing gets you in the mood for Halloween better than watching a scary horror film. And I think stop motion animation films are the scariest - think Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and The Nightmare Before Christmas. These 'children' movies are enough to terrify the living daylights out of even the toughest of adults!

So with this in mind, here is a stop motion animation using Hue Animation studio that competes with the likes of Tim Burton! It's got ghosts, witches on broomsticks AND dancing pumpkins (amongst other things). Be afraid, be very very afraid!

Tell us what you think and if you think you've got an even scarier animation, we want to see it! Upload it to our facebook page.

4 Spooky Halloween Backdrops

I  have found a some eery backdrops to help set the scene for some spooky animations in time for Halloween next week. If you click on them and save them to your computer and then you edit them before printing them off. You may need to cut around the image to remove the margin but then you are good to go. They work well as a backdrop with a black piece of paper as the base. I hope this helps with giving you ideas for stories to animate this Halloween.

Top tips for your Halloween animation:

1. Print off a storyboard from our website to help plan each frame. These are really good if you are planning a Halloween animation party.

2. If you want a witch to fly across the corner of your scene we recommend putting her on the end of a pencil. You can then make it look like her broomstick.

3. Thin wire can be really good to make bats and ghosts look like they are flying across the sky.

4. Onion skinning can really help with making the best animations as you can see the image already captured and then the one you are about to take.

5. To make it really scary add some spine chilling sound effects to your animation or you can even record your own!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Oh and don't forget to send us your movies! You can upload them here or via our facebook page or post them to us on twitter.

Win a free Hue Animation Studio with Red Ted Art

It has been fantastic to see the huge response we have had from the review and giveaway from all the followers of Red Ted Art's blog that was written last week. Maggy who writes the blog keeps herself very busy getting crafty and she writes about everything from loo roll monsters to gumnut octopuses to Halloween ghost fruit (which I love by the way!) There are endless ideas for arts and crafts to do with the kids, I don't know how she comes up with them!

Please check out her blog and have a look at the review she has done on Hue Animation. She and her family have made some excellent animations which are worth checking out.

To Win a free Hue Animation Studio all you need to do to is to go to Red Ted Art and answer the question. If you get the question right you may be the lucky winner!

GOOD LUCK

Steve Jobs vs The Gods

Today the world is talking about the death of the creative genius, Steve Jobs. He was a remarkable man who changed how people viewed technology and in doing so he changed the world.

To pay tribute to him I wanted to post this wonderful stop motion animation I stumbled across made by the Jacob Burns Film Center, that puts their own spin on how he became to be the co-founder of Apple. I think he would have enjoyed it!



How does Animation Help Children with Special Needs?

With the TES Special Needs Show around the corner, where Hue Animation will have a stand, I wanted to write a bit about how animation can be really positive and a great teaching aid for children with special needs. Many special educational needs schools already use animation as a method of teaching. Stop motion animation is a extremely tactile and visual medium which is a perfect for getting across new concepts to children with learning difficulties.

With this in mind, I have decided to put together a small list outlining a few reasons how animation can specifically help children with special needs. (More information will be displayed on our website soon).


1. Promotes social and educational inclusion - Children working together on an animation project enables children of varying disabilities to engage confidently with each other, helping to build relationships and to create a positive learning environment in the classroom.

2. Children learn by playing - Animation is fun and interactive. It uses simple and bright technology which children with disabilities will find easy to get to grips with.

3. Increases self confidence - Children can achieve a real sense of empowerment and satisfaction from being able to carry out tasks all by themselves and then to be given the control to present their opinions to others.

4. Enhances organisation skills - The planning of storylines, scripts and music helps children to organise their ideas and focus their thoughts which in turn contributes to reducing stress levels.

5. Communication - Children can learn to express themselves through animation with can then be used to help them engage with the world outside the classroom. Animation is a great tool for children to communicate with other children, their parents and their teachers.

'Gemma learns animation' from The Guardian, May 2009

The picture above is taken from an article written by Emily Drabble for the Guardian about the 'Bloggers of Banbury' from Frank Wise School in Banbury, Oxfordshire which has been using animation and other types of media for a number of years to help children to communicate their thoughts and interact with others. 

Here are some animations I found made by children with special needs:

Please don't forget to come and visit us at our stand at the TES Special Needs Show on the 14th and 15th October at the Business Design Centre in London where you will be able to see us demonstrating the software and you will be able to see for yourselves the advantages of animation for children with special needs.

What I Like in The Guardian Weekend Magazine

Thanks to a lovely reader, we have been mentioned in the What-i-like section in The Guardian Weekend Magazine. It's great to see people talking about us and I hope this inspires some young animators out there. You can see the full article here

 

From a stop-motion animation kit for DIY movie-making, to the Great Northern Craft Fair, readers let us in on a few of their favourite things, The Guardian, 23September 2011