DIY animation

If you've ever fancied creating your own digital animations, but been put off because it all seems just so darned complicated, then fear not. Because now there's a wide range of tools to get you started.

The following applications are referred to in an activity taken from a new Open University short course Digital Worlds: designing games, creating alternative realities.

Simple animation

Aniboom Shapeshifter lets you create simple Flash style animations within your browser. If you would like to try doing some ‘low level’ animation, this is a good tool to get you started. So why not look through the gallery for inspiration, write down a brief description of, or storyboard for, your animation, and get started...

Direct a film… at your desk

Xtranormal is an online tool that puts you in the shoes of both screenwriter and film director, as described in this Friday Fun post from the Digital Worlds blog. All you need to do is write a dialogue-rich script for a short film, select your actors and film set, and then it's easy to make your own movie.

If you're not so hot on the drawing side, and would rather focus on developing an animated story, or short narrative, then this is a great tool to use. As with Shapeshifter, it's worth checking out the gallery to see what other people have managed to do. Why not recreate a scene from your favourite movie?

An example animation created in Xtranormal by LeadGem

An extra dimension

Once you've mastered the basics, and feel ready to engage in a bit of fully blown 3D design, why not try out the Blender 3D Studio? There are plenty of tutorials to help you get started, and even a free textbook on Wikibooks.

Share your work

If you do create your own animation, send a tweet with a link to your creation, using the hashtags #digitalplanet and we'll look out for them, and maybe even link to the best of them.