How to Create Animated Civil War Battles
Learning to appreciate the history of the Civil War can be difficult for children, especially when all they have to work with is a textbook. However, making the battles of the "War Between the States" come to life would make the educational process much more interesting. You can make your own animated Civil War battles using just a few basic supplies, or you can help your child create his or her own animated battles to further the learning experience.
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Instructions
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Decide on a style. If you want the battles to look cartoonish, try drawing the people, cannons and background images yourself. If you want a more realistic look, use actual photos from the Civil War as the basis for your animations.
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Design the characters using Photoshop. In order for your animated battle to seem real, you have to include people doing the fighting. Draw people or use pictures of Civil War veterans to animate. If using pictures, "cut out" the people from any background images to make them easier to move about in the animation.
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Design interactive items using photos or drawings. A few things required for a Civil War battle animation include rapiers, guns and cannons. Scenery items like trees, grass and houses may also be appropriate. Simply draw these items in Photoshop or find photos of them online to use in your animation.
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Use animation software to bring the action to life or use an online animation studio like FluxTime Studio. While the tools are extremely simple, a system like this makes it easy for kids to drag around images and create an animation with just a few clicks. Begin by opening a blank animation.
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Add shapes to the animation. Add circles for heads, ovals for torsos and rectangles for legs. Stretch, pinch and edit these shapes to make them look like people. Add shapes for clothing and background scenery. Or, upload images to use. Edit the colors of these shapes by using the levers on the right hand side of the program. Group shapes together to create people that you can move around.
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Bring the shapes to life by pressing the "Record" button. Drag the shapes around to make an animation. Press "Stop." Press "Play" to view the animation. Save this animation as a clip.
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Record several clips to portray the battle. Group them together and e-mail it to yourself or to family members.
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References
- Photo Credit civil war cannon 1 image by Jim Parkin from Fotolia.com
