Hi, Ds10 has been going bonkers over the flip-notes program on his nintendo DSi. It was apparently free, though he only just started using it. There is a website where he can upload his creations and download others' work.
He just loves it, but is thinking about other options, more color, etc., as it is a bit limited.

I looked at PENCIL, and thought this seemed pretty great, just a straight-forward 2d animation software, a bit like the SCRATCH program without the programming. (He liked scratch due to his interest in animation, but not yet interested in fiddling with the programming aspect).
Please let me know if you have recommendations for other similar programs (don't mind paying a bit, but less $ is prob. better for me. )
Also, any ideas for hardware that would allow for drawing on his pc. He likes the DS because he can use the stylus...my sister recommends this one, but other options are always helpful: Intuos 4 Pen and Tablet for pc

Is there some kind of software that lets you videotape yourself or an animal moving and edit in a drawing and replace yourself in the video, making the drawing animated? I thought I saw something like that in a Best Buy once. But I could never find that box again.

Ds is using something like that called 'photo dogo'....he takes pictures of himself and then plays some kind of martial arts game. Not the same, but similar idea...

Hi,

I know this is an old thread, but I'm also trying to find a program like flip notes for the PC that would allow my DS11 to do more detailed drawings for his animation.

He loves flip notes on his DSi and has made some really great animations. He tried out Scratch over the weekend, and liked it pretty well, but I think he would prefer something that is more drawing based like flip notes. Chris1234, is your DS happy with Pencil?

We are planning to get him a tablet and stylus for Christmas so he can draw easily onto the PC (haven't researched which brand yet, so ideas are welcome there too).

If you go with a stylus and iPad, there is a fun animation app that is $5:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/animation-desk-for-ipad/id409124087?mt=8

Thanks ABQmom. That looks fun.

When I said tablet, maybe I was using the wrong word . . I meant an accessory that plugs into the PC to replace the mouse (kind of a drawing screen). I think this would be less expensive than an ipad.
This is the kind of tablet I'm thinking of:

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/aboutgraphics/a/graphicstablets.htm

No, those are called tablets, too. We've got a Bamboo Fun.

One notable downside - the pens are easy to lose, and pricey to replace. DD isn't allowed to use ours, having lost the $30 stylus once.

Are you using Mac or PC? I know we have software that allows our trackpad to track sensitivity, meaning the pressure of the stylus changes how dark/thick the lines appear. If you have a Mac, I'll check with my daughter and see what it is. It would keep you from having to buy a plug-in tablet.

ABQMom: We have a PC. We don't have a trackpad, only a mouse. DS will probably eventually get a laptop of his own and I was thinking he could plug the graphics tablet into that.

AlexsMom: $30 is expensive for a stylus! Maybe I'll have to tie it to the computer. My son is ADHD-in and I can't tell you how many styluses (styli?) he has lost for his DSi. Do you like the Bamboo Fun? It looks like the Intuos is better than Bamboo for doing detailed drawing, but its quite a bit more expensive. One comment I read said that using a Bamboo was like drawing with a crayon and an Intuos was like drawing with a fine tipped marker.

I don't use it myself, and honestly, it has not gotten much use by anyone else. DD really enjoyed it for the week before the stylus disappeared, but she didn't ask for it to be replaced, either. That said, neither she nor anyone else in our family is a dedicated artist.

Google for "flipnotes for PC" comes up with these as PC analogs:
http://animation.about.com/od/referencematerials/a/freesoftware.htm

DS8 is getting animation software for Christmas. It is called Anima, and uses anmie style(think pokemon)as it's basic style. It was highly recommended to us by a friend. It runs about 49.00

We got ds11 the bamboo tablet too, (drawing pad + stylus) it seems excellent and he created some great animations before his computer died
finally we have another pc set up for him, but I am still looking for something to fit the bill for animation, because Pencil really is not set up yet to output files on pc, mac only (you can output individual frames and sew them all together , but who is going to do that??)

I will look at Anima, thanks! I also saw this for about $80 ('pro' version, with no restrictions) http://www.amazon.com/Anime-Studio-..._6?ie=UTF8&qid=1323268337&sr=8-6

Maybe it is the same on your are referring to, Shari? I like the idea of him being able to scan in his own drawings.

Thanks for all the advice.

I think we are going to get a Bamboo tablet + sylus and maybe the Anime software as well for DS11.

Hi Verona, let me know how it goes!...we got the software for xmas but still need to load it on the new computer.

Pencil is VERY cool, my ds loves it, and it is free. However it is not as useful on windows as it would be on Mac -- they are still working on some of the exporting of movie files on windows.
The Bamboo pen+tablet is what we finally ended up with for him and it is pretty intuitive and he took to it quite quickly. Just a small tablet, maybe 6"x8" is adequate.

But we are moving onto another animation software intended for windows and for 3d work, but that has not gone as smoothly for various reasons. Can't say much yet, but will post back.

I am not sure about pencil on oher os's...

as for anime software, one very cool thing is you can make a drawing in one frame, copy it to a future frame, tweak it a bit, and the software calculates all the frames in between to take a ton of work out of the animation part.
Also, there is the option to scan in your own drawings.
And the other thing we've seen so far is that the software allows you to create a skeleton for any creatures you draw so you can control the animation this way...ds hasn't gotten into that part yet.

There's a section on animation on this wiki. I haven't tried the sources yet.
http://web20guru.wikispaces.com/Web+2.0+Resources

I also came across http://www.animationlibrary.com/ but if you google free animation you'll come up with a list too.