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Xtranormal Technology, Inc.
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| Reviewed: |
Jun 26, 2010 by Teacher Education |
| Overview: |
Xtranormal is a a site for making movies. All the user needs to do to get started is write a script and upload it. There is automatic lip sync as characters speak the lines provided.
Their revolutionary approach to movie-making builds on an almost universally held skill—typing. You type something; They turn it into a movie. On the web and on the desktop. |
| Learning Goals: |
Learning goals are dependent upon individual instructional objectives. One can simply learn to use animation, or one can create movies that provide historical, political, literary or scientific commentary and more. |
| Target Student Population: |
The site is designed for people 13 years and older. Younger students must work under direction of a parent or teacher or other responsible adult. However, the necessary manipulations of features is certainly within the capabilities of younger students. |
| Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills: |
Site is restricted to users 13 years and older. No other prerequisites exist. |
| Type of Material: |
Online movie-making site |
| Recommended Uses: |
This is an easy to use program that allows people of all ages to create a script and allow the software to create animated characters to speak it. It would be a good tool to provide students with alternative ways of demonstrating their knowledge about a specific subject, event or position. This site certainly provides a ready access for digital storytellers. Teachers can create vignettes featuring curriculum content to be addressed. Students can create clips that addressed assigned content, key issues, presentations points, and more. |
| Technical Requirements: |
Basic xtranormal and Text-to-Movie options are free and work with both Macs and PCs. For a fee they offer an upgrade product called STATE for the PC (Windows) with these minimum requirements: Windows XP Service Pack 2,1GB of RAM,64 MB 3D Video Card with DirectX 9 and Vertex Shader 1.0 support,and 1.8 Ghz Single Core Processor. |
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| Strengths: |
Whatever the user types the animated characters will say. The strength in this is that any curriculum content at any level can be used by either student or teacher. The user actually becomes the director because choices need to be made for physical gestures, spoken words, specific animation activities and camera angles. These skills all address literacy, visual literacy in particular. Spanish, French and German can be used as well as English. |
| Concerns: |
The scripts can also be nonsensical, inane, or socially inappropriate. The movies that are created are saved to the site where others can watch them and discuss them. Students should have some direction about socially acceptable content. |
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Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool |
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| Strengths: |
Essentially the program is an empty stage waiting for a script. Actors can be selected to meet cast requirements. The power of the site is the script that is presented. This is an excellent tool to help learners meet content standards and learning objectives in many fields and subject areas.
The potential of the site is tied to the creativeness of the user. Curriculum content can be delivered by characters. Based on the script, curriculum can be integrated, discrete, and combined in a variety of ways through a variety of characters. Used as tool for content delivery, students from upper elementary through graduate school can target specific topics, issues, and concerns and present them for class discussions and debates. |
| Concerns: |
None. |
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Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty |
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| Strengths: |
The design of the site is clean and systematic. Labeled tabs across the top allow for easy navigation from any page on the site. Tabs include: Make Movies, Watch Movies, Get STATE (upgrade for purchase for PC users), Text-to-Movies, and My Movies. You can easily update or change your account settings and the language that you wish to use as well.
Across the bottom of each page there are links for information on xtranormal, customer service, products, and following the site--YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.
An acceptable animation can be created in one's first session. As users play with different options and become more familiar with the strengths and limitations of the available tools, quality of the animations will go up. However, there is a certain power in dashing off a short script making a potent point and having actors bring the script to life -- especially on the first attempt. |
| Concerns: |
It is not clear to a new user that there is a charge for publishing the created movie until it is completed. This information and the cost should be shared up front.
It would useful to make the upgrade version, STATE, available for Mac users as well. Equal access is a good thing. |
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| Other Issues and Comments: |
xtranormal now charges for publishing the created animation. The process is not exactly clear to the users. This change occurred in early June 2010. Users are confused about no access to PayPal and why they must use a credit card. Hopefully this issue will be resolved. |
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