Flip Boom Classic by ToonBoom

Posted by LisaHill - 11/04/09 at 08:04 pm

Subject Matter: Animation, Movies
Grades: Elementary to High School

Beginning Animation
I’ve been fighting this nasty spring cold, and it finally gave up. I could start reviewing, so I picked something fun and easy to learn. And being a kid at heart, why not doodle and create a movie?

Flip Boom is a software program that introduces users to basic animation. Animation is drawing a character with simple changes and drawings to create the illusion of movement.

And one of the simplest animations is flipping through hand drawn sketches. That’s how Mickey Mouse was born, with thousands of sheets of animations drawn, and while the film was rolling, the pages were flipped creating a sense of movement (animation).

Using in the Classroom
Flip Boom is a great tool to move students into the digital realm. Students use Power Point to illustrate reports, activities and lectures but this application is static. Flip Boom would allow students to draw their ideas and reports in a movie setting. Students can animate a history report, or draw a biology lesson. Teacher’s could draw out an art or biology lesson plan.  Say you can’t find a clear video clip demonstrating cell division – simple!  Just draw the process, and make the drawings animated.

Many students are artistic or visual learners. Drawing what they know is an alternative approach as a visual outline to help write an essay. And the user does not have to be an artist – simple drawings or cartoon figures come alive with animation.

Create Your Own Character Movie
With computers and Flip Boom, anyone can create animated movies. First, I reviewed the easy and well laid out tutorial PDF. Directions are simple, and lots of pictures provide visual support. ToonBoom charges $19.99, so play around with the software and if you still need assistance, purchase and download the tutorial.  Or purchase the Special Edition Kit at $49.99, which includes the tutorial, templates drawing pad and more. If users have some experience with other illustration software, the commands will be familiar.

Flip Boom’s interface is well laid out and colorful.  After downloading and registering online, select the User Guide.  This menu option displays simple directions detailing all the components of the Flip Boom program.

First Movie
Using a Wacom Bamboo stylus, I made three pages shown under the Drawing Slider, then drew three different colored clouds. One thumbnail represents one page. It’s easy to learn how to use the Select Arrow to copy exact images, and move or copy drawn images around individual pages. On the right hand side of Flip Boom’s interface, there is the circulating arrow key and right facing arrow key. Notice the tortoise and the hare symbol, which slow down or speed up your animation. My clouds zipped up and down on my first movie animation. It was that simple, and really, a lot of fun.

Publish Your Work
Once you’ve created a movie, why not delight friends and family with the finished product? Flip Boom Classic lets you publish your creation in three different formats: Quick Time (.mov), SWF (.swf) and iPod (.m4v). After choosing one format, your video clip is ready to export. I created a bouncing ball animation file, saved it as a Quick Time movie, and voila!, it bounced away on the Desktop screen.

Lots More Software to Choose
After you’ve played with Flip Boom, consider the other software offered by ToonBoom. View some of the animated films other ToonBoom users created. Creativity is limited only by our own restrictions, not by the tools provided.

System Requirements: Drawing Tablet & Pen; Mac OS X 1.5.1 (Leopard) with Intel & 1 GB RAM; Windows Vista and XP with Intel & 1 GB RAM
Contact: toonboom.com
Cost: $39.99; Special Edition Kit with Drawing Tablet & Pen, Templates & Tutorial ($49.99)

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 11th, 2009 at 8:30 pm and is filed under Animation, Art, Fun Stuff, Media. The entry is tagged under Animation, doodle, drawing, elementary, Flip Boom, FlipBoom, high, learning, middle, movies, school, sketches, teacher, Toon Boom, ToonBoom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.