GoogleSketchUp-Lindsey Snow
Download here: http://sketchup.google.com/

Description:Google Sketch is great for 3D modeling. It is not a CAD but can be exported between programs. I really enjoyed learning Google Sketch because it is by Google which I love everything Google does. It is a great program to use because it is very easy to do basic things, anyone could learn, even a tech slow person like me. It also can do more professional and complex things as well. I believe it is very user friendly. The tools and buttons are pretty sweet to make things simple, except it takes a while to get used to drawing in with the axis and to complete objects on the right plane so they are actually 3D. There are a lot of helpful features like the learning center, video tutorials and instructor that tells you what each tool does. I found these to be very helpful, but there was almost too much information that it took a lot of time to read through and watch videos I wish I would have spent more of my time practicing designing.
Value/ Affordances:This was one of my favorite parts about Google Sketch- its free to download. There is also a Google Sketch Pro which has some extra professional features that costs $495. I suggest everyone go and download the free version and play around it is great tool to draw things up it. You can make quick sketch ups or precise measurement models. Google Sketch is great and very useful and helpful in designing and modeling.

Inivis-Jenny and Meagan Moody
Cost: $79.95 for one, the more you buy, the less it costs (200+ is $27.95).

http://www.inivis.com
http://www.et.byu.edu/~jheintz/Picture%202.png
http://www.et.byu.edu/~jheintz/Picture%203.png

Inivis is pretty cool. It's free for 14 days, but worth a trial run at least. They have models you can start with ranging from cars to faces to football fields. I liked that I was able to pick my angles, lighting, colors, textures, etc. It was a little bit hard to get used to when I had no clue what I was doing, but after going through a few tutorials, it was really good. It has a great online manual to help figure out what everything does and there are tons of shortcuts and quick ways to do things. Overall, I think this would be a useful program for junior high or high school because it is so easy to figure out (with the helps) and exportable to a lot of different apps and file types. In the trial version, I was not able to access the textures or animation (if capable), but I think there are opportunities for it. It's a good introduction to 3D drawing and possibly animation.

Anim8or-Jess

http://www.anim8or.com/main/index.html

This is Anim8or, it is a 3D modeling and animation program. Initially, I thought the program was difficult and a bit awkward to use, but the more I've used it, the more it has made sense and I am beginning to like it. I can see lots of possibilities for the program and you can see galleries of things people have made, however there are few tutorials. On the other hand, the entire program is free and would be very useful for junior high and high school students to learn modeling and animation. I would encourage all of you to download it and give it a try. If you do, before you go too far, do the flower and bird tutorial to learn the basics.

Blitz-Pete

Cosmic Blobs - Becky Olsen
Download here: http://www.cosmicblobs.com/freetrial/index.html
Web site: http://cosmicblobs.com
Cost: Windows/MAC CD-ROM $39.99, Windows Download: $34.99, MAC Download: $34.99, Expansion Pack Collection: Windows/MAC CD-ROM $19.99

About: Cosmic Blobs is a 3D Graphics Software for kids K-6 . According to the Web site it “Creates amazing 3D activities, It can uses blobs to print out a colorful poster – design a 3D buddy icon – e-mail blobs to your friends – direct a musical animation – the ideas are endless!” I spent most my time learning the palette for modeling since that is what I am most interested in. If I wanted to spend more hours I’d work on their animation station.

Values/ Affordances
__Help Center: __I found the Help Center very helpful. Basically, it allowed you to see the entire tool pallet/screen and select a tool. Then it took you to a page and explained exactly what the tool was and how to use it. I liked this because I could go at my own pace without having to push pause or anything.
__
Tutorials:__ The tutorial that helped me the most was the making a mouse. It finally clicked that I could add another have more than one blob for a creating. Since this program is geared towards kid I think they could make it better by using a fun voice to guide them through the tutorials. However, I'm not convinced that a young child could do this by themselves. I think it would take a lot of teacher/parent involvement in the beginning.

Favorite tools: The tool I’ve found most important when creating animals and people especially is the mirror tool.
__
File Saving/Format:__ I never quiet grasped the correct way to save a file in this program. They have a place called the fire kiln that some of my projects have/have not stayed in. This was the hardest part for me—even after watching the tutorials and searching through the Help Center.

Link to Sample file: I’m not sure what way to save these. So far they are in my WWW folder as screen shots

Shape Shop -Chris Brems

After Effects - Tara Fullmer, Braden Boss, Ashley Snow

Download here: http://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects/

Tara Fullmer's Description/Value/Affordances: Although I did not have much time to experiment with After Affects I could tell it had many options to animate text and other objects in great detail. Hence it was very difficult to navigate and change what you wanted. The online movie tutorials were very helpful and if one were willing to spend the time to watch them all, they would probably enjoy the program. The project that I completed in After Affects was based off of the Puppet Tool tutorial. I enjoyed experimenting with the Puppet Tool and like my finished product.
Cost: $999
BYU Bookstore with ID: Somewhere around $350 and includes other Adobe programs

Tara Fullmer's Link to Sample File: (I had trouble moving my project to my www folder and was not sure what format to save it in. It's currently saved as a quick time movie)

Ashley Snow's Description/Value/Affordances: After Effects was an extremely hard program to learn. I could tell that it has great capabilities that I do not even begin to comprehend. I did not think that the buttons and tools were very WYSIWYG. I struggled through my tutorial because a lot of the tutorials assume that the beginners at least have some previous knowledge of After Effects, which I did not. I think that it would be good for short clips and short effects, because editing long footage in this program would take an extremely long time. I would probably like it a lot more if I had a better understanding of it or a teacher who would show me how to use it.

Ashley Snow's Favorite Tool: I loved the lighting effects that you could do. You could arrange your layers in 3D and then point lights at your "stage". I could pull them back and drag them anywhere I wanted. They added some really nice effects and cast shadows and made things look great.

Ashley Snow's link to sample file: http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b83/golfcartgurl7/genie.jpg

Braden Boss' Description/Value/Affordances: I actually really enjoyed learning a little bit on After Effects. The more that I got into it, I realized that it has a lot more capabilities than I ever thought. It works in layers, although somewhat different from adobe products. However, I thought that the options for layers were great. You could adjust everything about anything because each element of the finished piece has its own layer. I did the ipod nano commercial and learned a lot. My favorite tools besides Particular (a demo software) was the ability to adjust camera views with the orbit tool. As far as the value goes, I think its very valuable because it can be used in so much. I am someone who just has to play around with a program in order to gain an understanding. Many tutorials seem geared toward those who already know the program, but if your willing to play around it, you'll be fine.

link to sample file: http://www.et.byu.edu/~bboss/nano_ad.mp4

Also, check out www.creativecow.net for a ton of awesome help, tutorials, and information

Live Interior 3D -Rachel
http://www.belightsoft.com/products/liveinterior/overview.php

Screenshots available here: http://www.et.byu.edu/~rmarler/live%20interior%203d/

Live Interior is a great program for visualizing spatial relationships in interior design. While the free version (demo) has many limitations, the full version allows the user to draw out and fully decorate a home. The 3d walkthrough is better than other programs I've used in the past. I have to say though, that for 2d, there are many better programs available for free online, that are more friendly when it comes to making floorplans. I guess the value depends upon the user's needs.

cost: $79.95

Domuscad - Becky Brown

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