Clay model planning

Posted on February 1, 2012 by gdewar

Today sees the start of the Clay Model Animation part of the course. This will really test your craft skills as well as utilise your newly learned knowledge of hardware and software such as JellyCam, AnyVideo Converter and Audacity.

Planning is absolutely vital in creating a successful animation and you will be asked to put quite a bit of thought and preparation into your idea and design BEFORE I let you play with the clay.

Here are the stages I want you to think about:

Idea – including storyline and characters

Script

Design of visuals – character drawings, backgrounds etc

Storyboard – see chicken run storyboard for ideas

Create clay model characters

Take photos of clay models

Record dialogue

Record sound

Shoot video

Work out sound timings

Sound dubbing

Post production – tidy up

Showcase

This may seem like quite a lot but we do have the rest of the year to do this. I’d like to use this blog to highlight any good practice or discuss problems that pupils are having. Feel free to comment or ask questions.

Database Revision 2 (3E1 COM)

Posted on January 31, 2012 by gdewar

The record above is from a Ferry Company database. Look at the database and answer the questions below:

1. How would the ferry company arrange the records in order of name and, where two customers have the same name, in order of departure port?
(3 marks)

2. The ferry company manager wants to print out a list of all sailings to Stornoway during the month of July. Describe how he would do this.
(4 marks)

3. The ferry company database contains customer data. Which act of Parliament must they follow to ensure customer data is kept safe?
(1 Mark)

4. List 3 things the ferry company must do to comply with this act of parliament.
(3 Marks)

Database Revision 2 (3D1 COM)

Posted on January 31, 2012 by gdewar

The record above is from a Ferry Company database. Look at the database and answer the questions below:

1. How would the ferry company arrange the records in order of name and, where two customers have the same name, in order of departure port?
(3 marks)

2. The ferry company manager wants to print out a list of all sailings to Stornoway during the month of July. Describe how he would do this.
(4 marks)

3. The ferry company database contains customer data. Which act of Parliament must they follow to ensure customer data is kept safe?
(1 Mark)

4. List 3 things the ferry company must do to comply with this act of parliament.
(3 Marks)

Database Revision 1 (3E1 COM)

Posted on January 23, 2012 by gdewar

Look at the database above and answer the following questions

State the number of fields shown above.
State the number of records shown above.
List suitable field types for all fields in the database.
A new patient called Elaine Johnstone joins the dental practice. What must the dentist do with the personal information Elaine Johnstone gives her?
Describe how the dentist can find out which patients live in the town of Lomond.

Database Revision 1 (3D1 COM)

Posted on January 22, 2012 by gdewar

Look at the database above and answer the following questions

State the number of fields shown above.
State the number of records shown above.
List suitable field types for all fields in the database.
A new patient called Elaine Johnstone joins the dental practice. What must the dentist do with the personal information Elaine Johnstone gives her?
Describe how the dentist can find out which patients live in the town of Lomond.

Computer of the Future – blogging task

Posted on December 17, 2011 by gdewar

Ok…..now that you have finished the Computer of the Future task I’d like you to make a new blog post in Glow about your experiences.

To create a new blog post you must:

Log in to Glow
Click on My Stuff
Click on My Blogs
You should see your blog name listed here. Click on “dashboard” to go to your blog control page
On the left hand side you should see the “posts” option. Click “Add New”.
Give the post a title – “Computer of the Future”.
Select “ICT” from the category list on the right hand side of the screen.
Now you should describe, in detail, what your task was about. Include the following information:

Who you worked with.
What was the product name?
What you enjoyed about this task
What would you like to see changed
What was the most difficult thing in this task?
What software did your group use?
Include the team photo at the bottom of this post.

Exit Cards

Posted on December 14, 2011 by gdewar

Today during period 5 I will conduct an experiment using “Exit Cards”. All you need to do is answer, truthfully, the questions on the card that I give you. The card will then be returned to me at the end of the period. You can choose to enter your name on the card or leave it blank.

Next week I plan to go over the most popular areas that pupils find difficult. It also allows me to see what parts of the course are going well.

The questions you will be asked are as follows:

Name the process of sending data from a database to a standard letter.
Write one thing you learned today.
What area gave you the most difficulty today?
Write a question you’d like to ask or something you’d like to know more about.

S2 Computing – Website Update

Posted on December 14, 2011 by gdewar

Now that we have finished the Comic Life part of the course I’d like you to create the “Animation” page for your website.

Navigate to your website files in your own filespace.
Right click on your homepage file and select “open with”.
Open with Microsoft Frontpage.
Add a new page and enter information on the Comic Life part of the course. Include a screenshot of your comic and include this as an image on your page.
Hyperlink the new animation page to your homepage and vice-versa.
Let me see the new page before moving on to JellyCam.

Mail Merge steps

Posted on December 13, 2011 by gdewar

Basic Mail Merge steps as shown today. Remember, a more detailed set of instructions can be found on the school network….My Computer/Pupil Files/Computing and Info Sys/SG Comp/GPP/Databases

Carry out Database search
Select file and then export records
Create a save file. Make sure .mer is file type.
Select the fields that you need and then click on export.
In your letter ensure the Mail Merge toolbar is visible.
Select “Open Data Source”
Navigate to find your .mer file you saved earlier.
Select “insert fields” and place merge fields in place of placeholders.
Once complete select “View Merged Data” and print the letters.

Database Searching

Posted on December 12, 2011 by gdewar

A quick recap on the database search techniques we discussed last week….

< less than > greater than
<= less than OR equal to >= greater than OR equal to
<> not equal to

To carry out a range search for dates etc you could enter something like 01/07/2011..31/07/2011. This would search for appointments in the month of July.

“simple search” = Searching on one field

“complex search” = searching on two or more fields