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drmatt drmatt
 
M$2 March 06, 2009 04:57 PM

Mac software that kids can use for making movies/stories?

I'd like some software that will allow my kids to take pictures (primarily of their legos) and then integrate a story with those pictures.

We only have a digital camera (no video) and would like to add audio to the pictures to tell a story. (Would Apple's iMovie or iPhoto work for this?)

Any suggestions about Mac software that would help my kids design/develop a story would be great.
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easyeboy easyeboy
 
 March 06, 2009 05:25 PM
Hi Dr. Matt!

Below are a list of sites and software programs online that can assist kids with making movies or stories. Although iMovie can work, some of the other programs may be better suited for your specific needs. I believe each site has a unique angle to it, and you may want to try a few of them out yourself or use a few of them for different kinds of stories.

Slideroll is a great program for this.
http://www.slideroll.com
Slideroll™ is online slideshow software that allows people to create smooth, video-like slide shows and publish them on the web. Slideroll™ is unique because it has all of the power of a desktop application, plus all of the connectivity benefits of being online. Slideroll™ even allows you to easily put Flash movies on your site without having to learn Flash.

EveryTales is great for this as well and it's a contest you can enter
http://everytales.com
Everytales defines a tale as a story told through illustration. In the real world these illustrated stories may be called picture books, kids books, e-books, cartoons, manga, comics, or graphic novels, but on Everytales these are all called “tales.”

If you like animations:

Go Animate and Animasher are good to check out:
http://goanimate.com
http://www.animasher.com
Great sites if you like the animated stories.

You may like automated animated slideshows, then try out Animoto:
http://www.animoto.com
It's simple, just upload your photos and choose some music to accompany a unique animated show!

Bubbleshare is another good one I enjoyed testing out:
http://www.bubbleshare.com
BubbleShare's mission is to help you tell your story using fun Web-based tools that make your photo sharing experience easy and entertaining.

StoryTop is another one for Stories.
http://www.storytop.com
This is a simpler site, yet it might come in handy as well.

Lastly, you may also want to send the kids to Kidzui as there might be a program like this built in.
http://www.kidzui.com

Hope this helps, Dr. Matt!
Asker's Rating:
• Many different options with many different links. Perfect!


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dholowiski dholowiski
 
March 06, 2009 05:13 PM
iMovie would be great for this. In imovie under the preview window theres a little camera icon which will let you bring in pictures from iphoto or photobooth. The music icon will let you bring in music from itunes.
You can build a pretty good video with just pictures, in imovie.

Also if you have it, one overlooked option is using keynote. You can put pictures, movies and text in very easily, do all kinds of transitions and effects, and when your done, you can save your keynote presentation as a quicktime movie (which you can then put on a dvd using idvd.

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robbrown robbrown
 
March 06, 2009 05:45 PM
Hello Dr. Matt!

I was a teacher. One of the combined curriculum projects that I came up with (in short) was to write a short script; build small sets using lego, clay, cardboard, etc; and make a stop-motion movie.

iMovie can do exactly what you want.
Photojojo, one of my favorite blogs has full information:
http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/stop-motion-digital-camera/

http://photojojo.com/images/logo_darkBG4.gif

Basically, you import each photo, time the sequences, add sound, etc and end up with a full movie.

Here are some tips:

Filming can be very time consuming. Before your child develops a full story, have him or her quickly create a single scene. My personal favorite suggestion was a bank robbery. Students would film a lego person walking into a bank, doing some ninja type moves and running out with a bag of money. This small short will show your child that a feature length script should be short, clear and concise.

Use clear straws to make things jump and move.

Use a diffused light source like a big directional table lamp. Diffuse the light coming out of the lamp with a fire safe material. Theater Gel's are a lot of fun if you want to spend $10.

Storyboards are key. Almost as important as a story with a clear beginning, middle and end is the creation of storyboards. This will allow your child to stop work on the project and return to it later. Without storyboards, the project will become disjointed very quickly.

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engles engles
 
March 06, 2009 05:53 PM
If you want something to make a story out of pictures, I can think of no software better than Comic Life. You can't add sound or make them move, but you can make the pictures into your very own comic book. It looks great, and you can use it really easily. You can find a free 30-day trial here: http://plasq.com/comiclife/

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eatthatpop... eatthatpop...
 
March 06, 2009 06:06 PM
Well you have a mac already, so you're off to a good start!

Photo Booth allows you to take pictures straight to your computer (from a webcam). Since you already have a digital camera, just upload your pictures and open them on iPhoto. It's easy to modify your pictures on there with effects, and to delete the ones you don't like.

My recommendation is that you have them upload them to iMovie (very easy) and from there you can add nice transitions, titles, and even music!
Source(s):
Mac user
iMovie Expert


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