5/30 Blog Update

The presentation outline has been completed and handed in. Presentations will begin sometime next week.

Also, the exhibit night has been rescheduled for June 10th. My mentor has been informed accordingly.

5/27 Blog Post

The bulk of the work for the marking period has been completed. An outline for presentations is due tomorrow and will be handed in on time

5/23 Blog Update

It turns out that the exhibit night has been postponed due to a planned power outage at our location. It will be rescheduled for a future date.

5/20 Blog Update

Exhibit is due today. I will complete it by the end of class today, I just have a little bit of last minute gluing to complete.

Picture of completed exhibit will be posted when possible.

5/16 Blog Update

The self evaluation was handed in on time on Wednesday. I am currently planning what items I will need to construct my exhibit. Over the weekend I will purchase these items and write the words required in each section of the exhibit.

5/13 Blog Update

Self evaluation is due tomorrow. I started it this weekend and currently I am finishing up a few more sections of the report and will proof-read the final document.

Survey results have been posted.

Survey Results

5/9 Blog Update

Now that the survey has been given and the results have been recieved, I will compile the results into an excel document with proper statistical analysis computations done within the program (mean of scores, most likely).

5/6 Blog Update

I arranged with Mr. V, a junior physics teacher, for the class to watch my video and take my survey tomorrow.

5/2 Blog Update

The survey for distribution has been written. I have already given out this survey to my Systems classmates today and will give it to a junior physics class sometime next week.

Also, the survey has been posted.

Survey Questions

Grade: 11 12 Teacher

Please rate the animation presented on the following topics on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). Honest responses would be appreciated.


Animation Visual/Audio Quality 1 2 3 4 5
Ease of use (Did the animation work in a DVD Player?) 1 2 3 4 5
Aesthetics (both technical and artistic) 1 2 3 4 5
Educational Value (How much did you learn from the animation?) 1 2 3 4 5
Creativity (both of topic and educational methods) 1 2 3 4 5
Teaching Methods (was the lesson presented in an easy to learn manner?) 1 2 3 4 5
Appeal (Did the animation hold your interest throughout?) 1 2 3 4 5

After you watched this video, did you want to learn more about the topic discussed?




What would you change about this video?




Do you have any other comments about this video?

Blog update 4/29

The Calendar for the marking period was due yesterday. I will create my survey for the junior and senior classes starting today and finish creating the survey by the end of the week.

Marking Period 4 Calendar

Week 1: 4/27-5/3
• Calendar due 4/28
• Create survey sheet
• Contact Mentor
• Update web log

Week 2: 5/4-5/10
• Give out surveys and find audiences to view visual
• Compile testing survey scores
• Testing report due 5/8
• Update web log

Week 3: 5/11-5/17
• Work on and finish self evaluation
• Self evaluation due 5/14
• Send survey results to mentor
• Send evaluation to mentor
• Start exhibit plans and construction
• Update web log

Week 4: 5/18-5/24
• Invite mentor to exhibit
• Exhibit due 5/20
• Exhibit showcase 5/22
• Update web log

Week 5: 5/25-5/31
• Progress Update presentations 5/28
• Web log being checked 5/28
• Update web log

Week 6: 6/1-6/7
• Mentor contacts due 6/4
• Work on final exam
• Update web log
Week 7: 6/8-6/1
• Final exam due 6/10
• Update web log

Week 8: 6/15-6/17
• Update web log

4/4 Blog Update

The animation (and thus, my construction) is complete! The movie was successfully edited and rendered to DVD format via iDVD. I did run into a small problem using iMovie ’08, for this newer version has been focused on ease of use over features and therefore has removed audio-video synching capabilities. However, Apple offers a download of iMovie HD for those who own the iLife ’08 product suite. So, instead I used iMovie HD edit the animation. Today, I will present my construction process to the class.

Construction

4/1 Blog Update

Since I have returned from vacation (Saturday night) I have been working to get the rest of this animation done. By now, most of the animation process is complete for all of the storyboard frames (a lot has been created in the past 3 nights!). However, I still need to edit the video and mix it with the audio using iMovie in order to complete the animation (in addition to rendering it in iDVD, which seems to be a relatively simple process. It looks like I won’t have the animation ready for tomorrow, but Ms. X, the TSA adviser, says this is fine for she will be dropping off the items on Friday of this week.

Also, I have to create all the proper documentation for judging which acts as the project portfolio report.

Friday of this week I will present my web log and the construction process.

3/18 Blog Update

The press release is due tomorrow. So far most of the work is done. Tonight I will be adding a little bit more content as well as doing some final polishing work. Also, I need to add some screenshots of my construction progress to use in the press release. The school week ends on Thursday for spring break.

3/14 Blog Update

I have found out that my project for TSA will be due to the competition on April 2nd. This is two days after I return to school from spring break. By my progress to date, I know that working to finish up the animation in that first week of April will be a bit of a crunch time.

I have started to work on my press release (creating format mostly) which is due March 19th.

Meanwhile, I have been doing some work on creating frame 6 of the storyboard. Doing frame 7 may cause a little bit of trouble for the animation calls for more than simple motion tweening. However, the shape tweening techniques that are planned to be used seem to be working fine. There are a vast amount of online tutorials (in addition to the assistance of my mentor) which can help me with this animation process if I need to expand my knowledge about the Flash software.

3/11 Blog Update

Over the rest of the week I have been able to animate story frame 5 using the scrolling background created during school time.

Next week I will have to be working on my press release; however, I am confident that with the skills I have attained during my animation period in the past few weeks I will be able to put rest of the animation together in the week of construction remaining following my spring break in the last week of March.

3/7 Blog Update

I have begun work on the next Flash scene. Now that I have become more familiar with the software, animating has become much easier. Also, for the next scenes I am working on are a little less tough to animate than the previous scene work. And lastly, it is important that I mention that for these scenes I am working on a majority of the graphics used in the animation have been created during the developmental work and they are ready to be used as objects in the animation.

At home I am working on the animation for frames 3 and 4 of the storyboard.

At school I am working on the background scrolling star animation which will be used in storyboard frames 5-8. This background uses more advanced animating techniques.

3/4 Blog update

The flash work that has been sent to my mentor for response has come back and been polished accordingly. Also, with respect working among different versions of flash, I have found there is no easy way to do so. Therefore, I will work on certain scenes and objects in during class time while I finish up the majority of the animation work in the home version. It is possible to use files from the old version in the new version, but not vice-versa. With this system, I will be working on different scenes at home and at school.

Marking Period 3 Calendar

Week 1: February 4, 2008

• Voice over recording (must be done in quiet environment)
• Voice over editing (iMovie)
• Update blog
• Contact mentor if necessary

Week 2: February 11, 2008

• Complete voice over editing (must fit within 3 minutes)
• Begin animating of first scene
• Update blog
• Contact mentor if necessary

Week 3: February 18, 2008

• Complete first scene animation (story board frames 1-4)
• Render
• Update blog
• Contact mentor (send rendered work)

Week 4: February 25, 2008

• Make mentor changes, if necessary
• Complete second scene animation (frames 5-6)
• Render
• Update blog
• Contact mentor (send rendered work)

Week 5: March 3, 2008

• Make mentor changes, if necessary
• Complete third scene animation (frames 7-8)
• Render
• Update blog
• Contact mentor (send rendered work)

Week 6: March 10, 2008

• Begin work on press release
• Update blog
• Contact mentor if necessary

Week 7: March 17, 2008

• Finish press release
• Update blog
• Contact mentor if necessary

Week 8: March 24, 2008

• Spring Break

Week 9: March 31, 2008

• Complete fourth scene animation (frames 10-12)
• Render
• Update blog
• Contact mentor (send rendered work)

Week 10: April 4, 2008

• Edit compiled scenes to sync with narration
• Update blog
• Contact mentor if necessary

Midterm progress

I worked on my midterm some this weekend. Most of the project is a compilation of the work done thus far placed in one document. I have put all of the pieces together in the document so far, but I still need to write my introductory and concluding paragraphs to open and close the document.

Midterm will be due on the 31st.

Midterms next week

Mentor contacts have been handed in on time.

Midterm project is due on the 31st. Work will begin on this project this weekend.

Mentor Contacts compilation

We had the last of our marking period presentations in our class today. Mentor contacts from the marking period will be this Thursday.

Marking Period Presentaiton Complete

I presented my project progress today. Everything for the presentation went well. My next assignment due is my developmental work report for my mentor, which will act as the midterm grade. This will be due January 31st.

Preparing for marking period presentations

This week, I have been making sure that all of my posts onto the blog are properly put up for presentation format in order to avoid any technical errors during the presentation. Presentations will begin on the 17th.

Science and Math Report Submitted

An earlier post shows the completed Math and Science report. The report was handed in on time. The past few days have been devoted to rapping up the report. Next week will be update presentations for marking period 2.

Math and Science Final Report

Purpose

The final solution must be supported by many reasons for its selection. The past weeks have been dedicated to refining my developmental work for the final solutions. These steps are necessary for the production of the final solution. Mistakes need to be avoided as much as possible. The math, science, and technology related to the final solution will define the project and support the choice of solutions.

With respect to my particular project, I will need to perform more in depth research for the content of the animation – the theory of relativity. Also, I will need to research in more detail the timing schemes of the animation.

Science: The Theory of Relativity

Motion is Relative

Whenever we discuss motion, we must specify the position from which motion is being observed and measured. For example, if someone is walking 1 km/h on an airplane, they are only moving at this speed relative to the airplane when they are moving at much greater speed to outside observers. Technically, an outside observer that sees you walking in the cabin of an airplane sees you moving faster than the airplane itself. Speed is a relative value and depends on the place (or frame of reference) from which the speed is being recorded.

So, suppose your friend can always pitch a ball at the same speed of 60 km/h. Now, suppose your friend pitches the ball at this speed while moving towards you at 40 km/h on the bed of truck. When the ball meets you, it will be moving at 100 km/h. Now suppose the truck moves away from you at the same speed of 40 km/h as your friend pitches the ball. Subtracting the two speeds, you will find that you will now receive the ball at only 20 km/h (Figure 1).

Figure 1 – the relativity of a baseball as applied to a baseball thrown in the same direction as a moving vehicle from that vehicle.

This concept is not exclusive the realm of modern physics – physicists as early as Galileo noticed this trend in motion; however, it wasn’t until the time of Einstein when he expanded the relativity of speed in the context of spacetime.

The Speed of Light is Constant

In the previous discussion, we have established that physical objects – whether they be baseballs or people – only have speeds that are calculated relative to an observer. However, light seems to defy this property. When an observer is in any frame of reference, the speed of light measured in a different or identical frame of reference relative to the observer always will have the same value, often called the variable c (Figure 2). The speed of light has been approximated to equal 3 x 10^8 m/s.

Figure 2 – When the speed of light is measured in any frame of reference, the same value, c, will always be obtained.

This property of light was found by two American physicists in 1887. A.A. Michelson and E.W. Moreley performed an experiment to determine the differences in the speed of light in different directions. They though the emotion of the earth in its orbit around the sun would cause shifts in the speed of light. The speed should have been faster when light traveled in the same direction of the earth, and slower when it traveled at right angles to the earth. Using a device called an interferometer, they found that thee speed was the same in all directions.

The First Postulate of Special Relativity

“All laws of nature are the same in uniformly moving frames of reference.”

There is no stationary hitching post in the universe to which speed can be calculated against – it can only be found relative to an observer. So, when a space ship shoots away and says that the earth is flying away from him, he is just as correct as the earthlings who say that the space ship is moving away from the earth.

Also, on a uniformly (constant speed) moving frame of reference, the same laws of physics apply to different moving frames of reference. For example, a ball dropped in a constantly moving car or an airplane behaves the same as one that is dropped from a stationary person on the surface of the earth. Any number of experiments can be devised to detect accelerated motion, but none can be devised to detect a state of uniform motion.

The Second Postulate of Special Relativity

“The speed of light in empty space will have the same value regardless of the motion of the source or the observer.”

This property of light has been discussed in the previous section. It is this property of light that unifies space and time.

Time Dilation

Einstein offered a solution for the seemingly contradictory properties of the constant speed of light and the relativity of speed of everything else. He through out the idea that time was an absolute, and that the rate at which time passes is also actually relative. But how can this be?

Imagine an empty tube with a mirror at each end. A mirror of light bounces back and forth between the parallel mirrors (Figure 3). The mirrors are perfect reflectors, so the flash bounces indefinitely. So, if the tube is 300 000 km in length, then each bounce will take 1 s in the frame of reference of the light clock. If the tube is 3 km long, each bounce will take .00001 seconds.

Figure 3 – The “light clock”

Suppose we view this light clock as it whizzes by while being observed from a relatively stationary frame of reference. This observer will notice that the light flash will bounce up and down along a longer diagonal path than the path that the light clock perceives (Figure 4).

Figure 4 – An observer who is passed by the moving ship observes the flash moving along a diagonal path.

Since the speed of light will not increase, we must measure more time between bounces over longer perceived distances. The stationary observer can only deduce that the light clock on the moving space ship moves slower through time than a light clock that is within his own frame of reference. The slowing of time is not peculiar to the light clock – it is time itself in the moving frame of reference, and everything that occurs and exists within that reference moves slower through time as well. A faster moving body does not perceive “slow motion” or live a longer life. According to Einstein’s first postulate, al laws of nature are the same in all uniformly moving frames of reference. A rapidly moving person will have no clue that it seems his time is dilated when viewed from other frames of reference.

Mathematics: Time Dilation and Frame Computation

Time Dilation Equation

, where t₀ is the time measured by the observer of an alternative frame of reference where time is measured as t.

Frame Computation

The slide show will be created at 30 frames per second.

Following the principle of Frame rate x Time = Frame number, in order to properly calculate the frame number at a position of time t, they must use this equation:

Technology: Adobe Flash Software

• Pros
• Can create simple, vector based diagrams
• Very small file sizes
• Can be encoded into video format through software
• Cartoon style creates a more vibrant presentation
• Software can “smooth out” drawings
• “Tweening” makes animation simpler
• Allows for integration with Adobe Suite of products
• Can easily export in a number of movie and image formats
• Fast rendering times
• Cons
• Cartoon style look may turn off some viewers
• No realistic look to drawings
• For the most part, limited to two dimensional drawings
• Quality of video conversion may be sub par
• Coding in the software can become quite technical and tedious
• Requires user to draw most objects – imported images do not behave as well as objects drawn within the software
• May require a tablet to create best drawings (instead of mouse)

Figure 5 – A screenshot of the Adobe Flash user interface

Adobe Flash uses "key frames "in order to animate. Objects are set at certain positions at certain frames; motion paths are automatically created to get from point A in frame A to point B in frame B. The image to the left shows the drawing interface, and at the top is the time line that shows frame positions. Flash documents can be easily saved as shockwave files (.swf, a regular flash file for a web browser), animated gifs, movie files, or individual images. None of these exporting methods requires third party software. To the left is an example of an exported animation of a ship, similar to the one created in PowerPoint in the previous brainstorming section. Lines can be drawn with a mouse, or more popularly, with a third-party tablet attached the computer via USB interface. Also, there are tools to create ovals, rectangles, and straight lines. Objects can be separated to different layers; these layers can be locked or made invisible to make an easier drawing environment to work with. Also, each layer has its own time line for frames, which makes it easy to animate only within a certain layer while keeping a background layer still. Ironically, Adobe Flash is a complicated program used to make more simple animation.

Conclusion

These scientific concepts discussed will be used within the slide show itself. The mathematical equation for time dilation may be incorporated into the animation as well, but only if the time allows for it. The mathematical formula for finding frame position will be used during the production of the animation in order to see what time point I am working on in an animation and how fast I should be creating changes in motion between each frame. And lastly, the software being used, Adobe Flash, will be the principle tool used to create the animation – mastery of this software is key to the success of the final solution.

Science and Math Report: Outline and Sources

The math and science report will be due this Thursday. I have decided for the report to focus on these specific topics:

Science

• Motion is relative
• The speed of light is constant
• The first postulate of special relativity
• The second postulate of special relativity
• Time dilation

Math

• Time Dilation Equation
• Frame Computation

Technology: Adobe Flash

The source information for the science portion of the report will come from my research and the physics textbook that my school uses to teach the special theory of relativity. The math also comes from this book. My information about Adobe flash has been published in my brainstorming and can be reused for this report as well.

Science Report Progress

I looked through research to find what details should be included in the Science and Math report. I may use the school's junior year physics book in order to aid me in my science portion of the report.

Also, in terms of my technology portion of the report, I have decided to discuss the nature of the Adobe Flash program, my primary tool for crafting the animation.

Most of the diagrams will come from my existing developmental work.

Returning from the break

Now that the developmental work is complete, it is time to continue to the math and science process. Today, the class discussed the assignment and what it entails. According to the assignment sheet, the math and science report is necessary in order to avoid any possible mistakes and further support the choice of solutions.

My report will entail:

• Evaluation of time usage for each topic in the script
• Science research for information in animation (mostly completed during research stage
• Any caclulations used in the animation itself