CS 107: Pictures and Sounds: Programming with Multimedia

Winter 2009

Final Programming Project
Creating Your Own Animation

This programming project may be done in groups of two or three. This project may not be done individually. Keep in mind that if you have worked with the same partner on more than two previous projects, you may not work with that same person on this project. Since this project is done in groups, hand in one copy of your code with the names of all teammates on it. It is okay to get help from the TAs and/or the instructor if you get stuck, but you should try to do it within your own group first.

The objective of this project is to combine a number of the methods we have learned for manipulating images and sounds with some creativity of your own to produce an original animation.

Part 1: Creating the Animation

In groups of at least 2, but no more than 3, you are to design an animation that, at a minimum, should include the following:

The title of the animation and the names of any starring actors/actresses should scroll on the screen at the beginning of the movie. This may be on a colored background, or you may use an image as the background.
There should be at least three moving objects. At least two of these must move simultaneously, and at most two of these can move in a linear pattern.
It must either use chromakey on at least one moving object, or manipulate the background colors, similar to what we did with slowsunset or slowfadeout.
There should be at least two sounds, either with the moving objects, and/or with the scrolling text at the beginning or end of the animation. At least one of the sounds must be modified from its original form.
Credits should scroll at the end of the animation. These should include which group members worked on which part of the animation, and should give credit to anyone who helped with the animation (TAs and/or Instructors).

Be sure to fully document your program, including names, date, project desription at the beginning, comments before every function, comments inside the functions. You should include a paragraph at the beginning of your program that describes what your animation is about, what pictures and sounds you use, and what techniques you are using.

If you have objects that you want to be photographed, or sounds you want to be recorded, please see one of the instructors as soon as possible!

Your animations should be more interesting and creative than boxes moving on a screen. Be creative, have fun! This is your chance to put together many of the skills we have learned this quarter. Show us what you can do!!

These projects will be graded on creativity, programming, and documentation. More detailed grading criteria will be posted on-line at http://www.cs.kzoo.edu/cs107/Labs/FinalPPGradingCriteria.shtml.

For more helpful hints and tips, see http://www.cs.kzoo.edu/cs107/Labs/FinalPPTips.shtml.

Part 2: Turning the Animation into a Movie File

In this part of the project, you will use Windows Movie Maker to turn your images and sounds into a movie (.wmv) file that you can put on the web.

Open Windows Movie Maker: Go to Start -> All Programs -> Windows Movie Maker.
Import your pictures into Movie Maker: Under the Capture Video heading in the Movie Tasks window, choose Import Pictures. (Or go to the File menu and choose Import into Collections.) Select all of the .jpg files you created for your animation. To select more than one file at a time, single-click on the first file you want, then hold the Shift key down and click on the last file. Then click Import.
Set the duration for each frame: Go to Tools -> Options. Click on the Advanced tab. Change the picture duration to a smaller time. Five seconds is too long; one second seems to be an okay value to use. You may choose whatever duration you think is appropriate for your animation. (Later, you may edit the movie so that some frames are longer than others if you wish.) Click on OK when you have changed the value.
Add pictures to the timeline/storyboard: Click on your first picture. Go to Edit -> Select All, then Edit -> Copy. (Or do Ctrl+A, and then Ctrl+C after selecting your first picture.) Then click on the video portion of the timeline at the bottom of the screen, and select Edit -> Paste (or do Ctrl+V). Your pictures should be added into the timeline.
Check that your movie plays correctly at this point: Click on the first picture in the timeline. Then click on the Play arrow to watch the movie. Make modifications if necessary.
Import your sounds into Movie Maker: Under the Capture Video heading in the Movie Tasks window, choose Import audio or music. Select the .wav files you want to use.
Add sounds to the timeline: Choose your first sound. Copy it from the Collections window and paste it into the frame in the timeline where it should start playing. Do the same for your other sounds.
Play your movie. Do you see and hear what you expected? If not, edit the timeline to make any necessary modifications.
Save your movie: Go to File -> Save Movie File. In the window that pops open, choose to save it to your computer. From there, follow the instructions of the Save Movie Wizard. Choose a name that reflects whose movie it is or what it is about.

Part 3: What to Submit