Aardman launches Animate It! A new website for NEW animators.
This week saw the launch of Aardman’s shiny new new website – Animated It! www.animate-it.com is aimed at young animators who are looking to take their first steps into the world of animation. Regardless of experience, Aardman make the highly technical world of an Oscar-winning animation studio accessible to everyone, nurturing and inspiring the next generation of animators.
The site is fun and easy to navigate around and has everything a budding young animator could ever desire. There are hints and tips from the professionals at Aardman, regular video tutorials, competitions, resources and assets to download and the latest behind the scenes news from the Aardman studios and the wider animation world. It also provides a platform for young talent to showcase and share their work.
Along with all of these goodies there is also a free 14 day trial of the Animate It! software for your PC or Mac which enables the user to create their own stop frame animations using a webcam. The software is very straight forward to use and is a valuable introduction into capturing single frames and compiling them into a video sequence. Backgrounds and effects can also be downloaded to use in conjunction with the software to enhance animations and inspire young minds.
Animate It! is endorsed by Nick Park who says: “The best advice I have for anyone interested in animating is ‘Have a go’ and Animate It! makes it so easy to try for yourself. I wish this had been around when I first started animating.”The launch of the website coincides with the release of Animate It! Morph Edition, a do-it-yourself stop-motion animation pack developed in association with Aardman. It comes complete with animation software, flexible moulds and clay to create your own Morph and Chas models, a green screen to enable you to drop in your own choice of backgrounds, video tutorials – and 26 episodes of Morph! It was showcased by the Guardian Games Blog as one of the five highlights from Toy Fair 2012.
Animate It! Morph Edition will be available from May in selected high street and online stores and will cost around £29.99. If you would like to learn how to make your own Morph and Chas adventures (and let’s be honest, for most of us that would be a childhood dream come true) take a look at this quick video that explains it all…