I've never posted anything I've created here. Here is a marketing piece I created for intercompany use. I used Randy Borum's stick figures with a few modifications. I wanted to learn how to use the pan and zoom effect to create a story with motion. I'm actually going to use this as a presentation in April to another department.
I would appreciate your thoughts and comments. I'm posting the story file so others can see how I created the pan and zoom effect. The motion is done with the zoom feature and some slide transitions. I used very few animation effects.
Love it Marty - I only have one small suggestion. Right now there are a few places where there is dead space (nothing on screen) when the narrator is talking. You might want to considered removing it. I would probably just add some key words on screen that are synched with the audio to fill this space.
Thanks Nancy and Bruce. Great feedback. Yes, the white space bothered me too. The use of a few key words is a great idea. I can remove the eyes too. I like the thought of creating a "stick like" fire truck, house and ear. I will look around on the web and Microsoft clip art.
That is EXCELLENT Marty! The voice over is so good, great quality and, well, voice!
You know, maybe you could contact Randy and ask him whether he would consider doing the fire, engine and ear for you? That way it would match the others nicely...
Thanks Veronica and Alicia. I have revised the story based on feedback and will upload it shortly. I actually created a firetruck I think works. Finding an ear that looks like the stick figures is difficult so I replaced it with a word. I liked the ear conceptually but I think using a word works as well and better conveys the message.
This is SO very cool. And thank you for sharing it. I can't wait to take a look at how you did this with mostly pan, zoom, and slide transitions.
I agree with everyone regarding the V/O. So very clear. Perfect pacing.
My two cents:
Did you notice that the letter "Y" in Marty and Randy got cut off so you can just see the top of it on the screen?
Also, and this may be "personal", I get really frustrated when I can't pause/play/rewind a video and I prefer to see the time. So I personally would like a seekbar.
Thanks Rebecca. I didn't notice the "y" cutoff. It might actually be the font style. I wanted the video design to look like a commercial so I wanted a clean look. I am presenting this in a staff meeting that is why removed the volume control and seekbar.
You would need to copy the entire course output to a server, or DropBox or whatever, and then provide a link to the story.html file so we could play the course.
Hi Marty, you could try putting it on the articulate tempshare site. It is a short term solution as modules are only available for 10 days before they are automatically deleted.
Nice work, Marty. I like the "visual excitement" of the flying on and offs. I may use that.
Regarding the VO, a few suggestions:
1. Increase the volume. I bet you could increase it easily by 25% if not more. Ideally, you would do this before you start recording (i.e., when you are setting your recording levels).
2. I like your casual delivery, but in a few spaces the articulation could be a bit clearer: e.g. slide two "Scott Schafer is director of organization and development." It's get a little slippery at the end of that line. It might even be an editing issue.
If you're curious, I just finished a similar project with Randy's figures. You can find it here. Thanks for showing us your stuff.
Thanks for the feedback Daniel. Actually this is a draft. My manager has final edit approval so I expect changes to be made. We typically record voiceovers at lower volume and allow the participant to adjust as necessary.
I would like to see your project but that sight is blocked by Web Sense.
Very clever, Marty! Thank you for your efforts to post your course in a format where I could view it. I enjoyed seeing what you came up with. The pacing and imagery is great. I liked the added touch of a little color in some of the stick figure drawings and the occasional sound effect. You also did a great job with the transitions. Nice! While I know it's not an exact fit for the stick figure theme, I found myself wanting to see an actual face for each of the team members as they were introduced. Maybe you could have a face on a stick figure body? Just a thought. Thanks again!
21 Replies
Love it Marty - I only have one small suggestion. Right now there are a few places where there is dead space (nothing on screen) when the narrator is talking. You might want to considered removing it. I would probably just add some key words on screen that are synched with the audio to fill this space.
Love it love it love it love it love it
Got totally hooked on this concept some time ago....
To echo Nancy - cut the white space with some words, using a font that is congruous with the line drawings.
I would love you to get an illustrator to make the buildings, the ear and the fire engine also "stick like".
At one point the stick person gets eyes - to look at the objects above them, IMHO he/she does not need them, again - just keep the style.
Lovely idea, very well executed.
Bruce
Thanks Nancy and Bruce. Great feedback. Yes, the white space bothered me too. The use of a few key words is a great idea. I can remove the eyes too. I like the thought of creating a "stick like" fire truck, house and ear. I will look around on the web and Microsoft clip art.
That is EXCELLENT Marty! The voice over is so good, great quality and, well, voice!
You know, maybe you could contact Randy and ask him whether he would consider doing the fire, engine and ear for you? That way it would match the others nicely...
Thanks for sharing!
Marty,
That was a lot of fun. It's a great overview of what many "training" departments to.
Good luck in April.
Alicia
Thanks Veronica and Alicia. I have revised the story based on feedback and will upload it shortly. I actually created a firetruck I think works. Finding an ear that looks like the stick figures is difficult so I replaced it with a word. I liked the ear conceptually but I think using a word works as well and better conveys the message.
Thanks for all the good ideas. Here is the new version.
Marty,
This is SO very cool. And thank you for sharing it. I can't wait to take a look at how you did this with mostly pan, zoom, and slide transitions.
I agree with everyone regarding the V/O. So very clear. Perfect pacing.
My two cents:
Did you notice that the letter "Y" in Marty and Randy got cut off so you can just see the top of it on the screen?
Also, and this may be "personal", I get really frustrated when I can't pause/play/rewind a video and I prefer to see the time. So I personally would like a seekbar.
Love it! Tx again for sharing.
Thanks Rebecca. I didn't notice the "y" cutoff. It might actually be the font style. I wanted the video design to look like a commercial so I wanted a clean look. I am presenting this in a staff meeting that is why removed the volume control and seekbar.
Hi Marty,
Any chance you can post a published version of your course (not the Storyline file)?
Thanks!
Lorie
Lorie, I'm not sure how to do that. Maybe someone can tell me how.
Hi Marty,
You would need to copy the entire course output to a server, or DropBox or whatever, and then provide a link to the story.html file so we could play the course.
Bruce
Thanks Bruce. Unfortunately I can't access DropBox. Our IT guys thinks it is a security risk.
Hi Marty, you could try putting it on the articulate tempshare site. It is a short term solution as modules are only available for 10 days before they are automatically deleted.
http://tempshare.articulate.com/
or you could try scorm cloud
http://scorm.com/scorm-solved/scorm-cloud-features/
Thanks Nancy for the tip.
http://tempshare.storyline.articulate.com/p17lv3v9k2195i98c4md1ol91bco1/story.html
Nice work, Marty. I like the "visual excitement" of the flying on and offs. I may use that.
Regarding the VO, a few suggestions:
1. Increase the volume. I bet you could increase it easily by 25% if not more. Ideally, you would do this before you start recording (i.e., when you are setting your recording levels).
2. I like your casual delivery, but in a few spaces the articulation could be a bit clearer: e.g. slide two "Scott Schafer is director of organization and development." It's get a little slippery at the end of that line. It might even be an editing issue.
If you're curious, I just finished a similar project with Randy's figures. You can find it here. Thanks for showing us your stuff.
Thanks for the feedback Daniel. Actually this is a draft. My manager has final edit approval so I expect changes to be made. We typically record voiceovers at lower volume and allow the participant to adjust as necessary.
I would like to see your project but that sight is blocked by Web Sense.
Hi, Marty:
Here is the web address: www.brighamcommunications.com/blog
You'll recognize the images for sure. Thanks again for sharing your stuff.
I can get to your website but when I click on the video it is blocked because I don't have access to DropBox.
Yeah, that makes sense, if your IT guys blocked dropbox.
Very clever, Marty! Thank you for your efforts to post your course in a format where I could view it. I enjoyed seeing what you came up with. The pacing and imagery is great. I liked the added touch of a little color in some of the stick figure drawings and the occasional sound effect. You also did a great job with the transitions. Nice! While I know it's not an exact fit for the stick figure theme, I found myself wanting to see an actual face for each of the team members as they were introduced. Maybe you could have a face on a stick figure body? Just a thought. Thanks again!
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