Looking for feedback on physics animations

[Matt Whibley]

Hi all

I've recently begun developing short (~1 minute) physics animations and would appreciate any constructive feedback. I'm currently uploading them to my Youtube channel here.

The purpose of these animations is to work alongside existing teaching. They are not designed or equipped to teach entire concepts by themselves. My intention is to use this medium to better illustrate concepts I've struggled to illustrate clearly with just my whiteboard.

I'm still very much learning the ropes of animation, and plan to continue as long as I can find time around my teaching schedule.

 

[jedishrfu]

Welcome to PF!

I looked at the first one.They are very well done.

What struck me though was the lack of a speaker reading the text or a music-like background.

Are you planning to add some sort of background sounds, music or narration?

What tools did you use to make them?

 

[Matt Whibley]

Welcome to PF!

I looked at the first one.They are very well done.

What struck me though was the lack of a speaker reading the text or a music-like background.

Are you planning to add some sort of background sounds, music or narration?

What tools did you use to make them?

Thanks jedishrfu. Adding narration is something I've been considering. My early thoughts were that it could cause somewhat of a sensory overload (like trying to read something and listen to someone talk at the same time), but I'm thinking this could probably be avoided if it was implemented right. When I get the time, I plan to trial it on some of my existing videos.

I started off using Adobe Photoshop (it has quite a handy timeline animation feature). Upon doing a bit of research however, I discovered Adobe Flash was better suited to what I was looking to achieve. I'm finding that there is quite a bit of a learning curve, but there's also plenty of support and tutorials online.

 

[Bystander]

background sounds, music or narration?

something I've been considering

Matter of "taste." My taste for visual aids runs to silence. Best auto seat-belt encouragement I ever saw was weekly "safety training" film on a projector that had no sound --- didn't have to listen to a lot of "preaching," but was able to watch crash-test dummies flying around in slow-motion with no distractions. That said, the pair I checked looked good, short, sweet, and to the point.

 

[SredniVashtar]

My comment here is based on the 'art' part only. And it's more a personal opinion, not a criticism.
Switch from light blue to sepia (and brownish - reddish - orangish elements), it will look much more elegant.
The lines are too thick and/or the font is too small - it looks as if you can strike a better balance.

For the nodal-antinodal animation, while it is clear how the nodal lines are drawn, it does not appear to be so for the antinodal ones. Since they happen to be 'midway' between two subsequent nodal lines, I'd animate it by showing these two lines first (fade-in, fade-out) and then the antinodal one in between them.
Also, there is a point in the animation when the caption says "these are the nodal lines" (or antinodal, I don't remember) but all lines (nodal and antinodal) are shown. Make the other lines fade when the caption is shown.

My two cents.

 

[Matt Whibley]

My comment here is based on the 'art' part only. And it's more a personal opinion, not a criticism.
Switch from light blue to sepia (and brownish - reddish - orangish elements), it will look much more elegant.
The lines are too thick and/or the font is too small - it looks as if you can strike a better balance.

For the nodal-antinodal animation, while it is clear how the nodal lines are drawn, it does not appear to be so for the antinodal ones. Since they happen to be 'midway' between two subsequent nodal lines, I'd animate it by showing these two lines first (fade-in, fade-out) and then the antinodal one in between them.
Also, there is a point in the animation when the caption says "these are the nodal lines" (or antinodal, I don't remember) but all lines (nodal and antinodal) are shown. Make the other lines fade when the caption is shown.

My two cents.

Interesting comment regarding the colour change. I can see how a more reddish colour would be easier on the eyes.

Thanks heaps for the feedback regarding the nodal and antinodal lines video, I can see the room for confusion.