Peer Review

PhotoPuppet HD App for iPad

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Reviewed:: Mar 15, 2020 by Teacher Education

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: This app provides a way to make animated cartoons on an iPad. Cut anything out of your photos and move it on the screen. The app will record everything you do. You can use lots of ready-made puppets or custom ones (including PNG files with transparency) and edit the recording via a timeline (like in iMovie). Then - export to YouTube! This is the only animation app for the iPad that allows you to use a timeline with precise time and movement control. You can edit individual object movement tracks.' 'PhotoPuppet HD allows: - creating puppets out of iPad photo gallery - recording and editing individual object movement tracks - rewinding and fast forwarding on a timeline - exporting your creations to video files with 3 possible quality settings - posting animations to YouTube, links to Twitter and Facebook - sending projects, project parts or single puppets via email to other PhotoPuppet users - your content can be reused - sending movies as e-mail attachments You don't have to be an artist to create cartoons or animated movies using the many animation techniques supported by this app. These features are EXCLUSIVE to PhotoPuppet HD: 1. frame-by-frame animation - create sequences of frames, edit them in PhotoPuppet HD and use during animation by switching frames using two different kinds of frame switchers 2. automatic motion - set objects in various types of motion (eg. rotation for car wheels or planets) 3. characters can be built from many separately controlled parts (create puppets with animated legs, arms or heads - move them separately or set automatic movement - eg. a walk sequence for puppet's legs ) 4. attach heads to ready-made bodies and create cartoon-like puppets instantly. It's the perfect software to impress your friends - the most frequent comment we've received was that nobody considered so stunning visual effects with so little effort. ' This app costs $2.99
Type of Material:: Development Tool
Recommended Uses:: This app could be used for education in animation skills or digital storytelling, in various ways depending upon the availability of iPads in the classroom. It is usable for in-class content development, individual exploration, self-paced assignments, and class presentations.
Technical Requirements:: Requires iOS 11 or later. Compatible with iPad. It is also available for the iPad.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: PhotoPuppet HD allows:
– creating puppets out of iPad photo gallery
– recording and editing individual object movement tracks
– rewinding and fast forwarding on a timeline
– exporting your creations to video files with 3 possible quality settings
– posting animations to YouTube, links to Twitter and Facebook
– sending projects, project parts or single puppets via email to other PhotoPuppet users – your content can be reused
– sending movies as e-mail attachments
Target Student Population:: The app is designed for Middle School, High School, College Lower Division, College Upper Division, Graduate School, Professional users who want to create animations or tell a story digitally.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: No required prerequisite skills, but having an understanding of how to access user photos and import them is helpful.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: There is a complete set of tools for users to create animated cartoons. If users take time to investigate this app, they will find the process for making animations in Help section and in a 37-page pdf available for download.
Concerns:: You have to "dig" to find the information to actually create a successful animation. There should be a statement that says start at the Help section or an actual section titled Getting Started on the app that allows users to experience some basic success with animations when first using the app and then tips for digging deeper into all the tools available.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

The potential for using this app as a teaching tool is very good, IF the teacher has had the time to explore and use the app in advance. The tools for creating the animations from dragging and dropping a character for basic movement to the voice capture and recording the entire animation process are all available in the app. Once the process has been successfully completed, the created animations can be connected and integrated into a variety of cross-curricular content. These animations could be used by the teacher to highlight or demonstrate key concepts and/or by students to demonstrate their understanding of targeted content.

Concerns:

There is limited guidance or support for this app other than one video on YouTube which assumes some basic skills unless you are interested in purchasing the suggested iPadimation book for $4.99 at iTunes.

This suggested website was not accessible http://www.morriscooke.com/?p=132 at the time of this review.

Another suggested website was not secure so again inaccessible www.photopuppet.com.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

Button information --New, Open, Puppet Editor, and Help--is clearly labeled. The Help section actually introduces the process. There is a supporting homepage with tutorials, guides, and hints posted there. There is also a complete PDF manual (37 pages) available for download from the Help section. The manual provides written directions and images to help users know what to do.

Concerns:

There is no documentation to assist a new user. Also one reviewer suggested that the app crashed whenever she created anything.

The ease of use is not intuitive for this app and that is its main issue. Most users do not go to the help section first so they will encounter some frustrations until they do.

Other Issues and Comments:: Be aware that the app appears as free on some sites and as $2.99 on other sites.
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