MAKE ANIMATED VIDEOS
Using GoAnimate
Author: Vanessa Skiadelli
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/ctel
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License | [This document is under review]
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Make animated videos
C ONTENTS
Introduction to animation
3
Animation uses in higher education
Benefits of animation
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Animation workflow
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Creating an animated video with Go animate
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About GoAnimate
Login
Selecting a theme
GoAnimate Video Editor Overview
Adding a scene
Adding a background
Adding a prop
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Adding motion to props
9
Adding a character
10
Adding dialog to characters
10
Adjusting scene settings
11
Adjusting scene duration
12
Adding text
Adding audio: music, sound effects, narration
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14
References / Resources
15
Appendix A: Training-video script
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Video objective
Plot description
Selecting the video theme
Part 1: Somewhere in a London street
Part 2: At the tube station
Part 3: On the train
Part 4: At the British museum
Adding music
Adding titles
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I NTRODUCTION TO ANIMATION
Animations let you tell a story in a dynamic way by making emphatic points, clearly and without
constraints. It is a great way to change thoughts into visuals and give context to your ideas.
A NIMATION
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Videos for training and e-learning: Explain difficult subjects in an engaging and visual-rich
way.
Demo and tutorial videos: Explain a complex concept or demonstrate the steps of a
process.
Video presentations: Insert animated videos into your presentations to grab and hold the
audience's attention. Great alternative to PowerPoint!
Dynamic charts and infographics: Prove your points with hard data that looks dynamic and
professional.
Marketing videos: Create advertising spots to promote your department and attract
audience. You can create fun videos to explain what you are doing.
Video resume: Create an animated video resume to emphasize on your strengths and skills.
B ENEFITS
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USES IN HIG HER EDUCATION
OF ANIMA TION
Help students learn faster and easier with well-designed animations.
Explain difficult subjects.
Animation, with its ability to slide scales and bend the laws of nature, provides the flexibility to
explain difficult subjects.
Give context to your ideas.
Imagine starting on a close-up of a tree, then zooming out to show the entire forest, then
moving up into the sky for the BIG top view. Animated video makes it simple to put it all in
perspective.
Explore different ways.
With animated video, you are not constrained by video footage that you have filmed as you
create the scenes from scratch. Switch backgrounds, move characters, add props. Test
different ways to communicate your message.
Change thoughts into visuals.
Animation is good at demonstrating the steps in a process. It is even better at demonstrating
the thinking behind a process, by adapting from literal to conceptual with ease.
Strike the right tone.
The abstraction away from portraying real individuals allows animated video to strike a wider
range of emotional tones. This can help cover difficult subjects frankly and effectively.
A NIMATION WORKFLOW
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Scripting and storyboarding
Start by thinking what do you want your audience to think or feel or do at the end of your
video? That is your objective. Next comes the creative part - coming up with visual elements
to achieve your objective. Sketch these in advance -- then write your actual script to match
the visuals.
Visual excitement
Start creating your video. Choose your characters, backgrounds and props. Get the
characters and props to move around. Adding motion to your characters and props will make
the visual outcome more engaging.
Voice recording
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Add voice (dialog) to your characters or voice over (narration) to your video. You can record
the audio yourself or hire professional actors.
Audio sweetening
After "producing" the main video, it's time to polish the audio. Find just the right music track.
Drop sound effects here and there to really bring your video to life.
Publishing
Once your video is completed, you can publish it online and embed it on your site and let your
message spread.
C REATING AN ANIMATED VIDEO WITH G O A NIMATE
A BOUT G O A NIMATE
GoAnimate is a commercial online platform for creating animated videos. Creating an animated video
on this platform is as easy as drag & drop. The platform has libraries with many characters,
backgrounds and props. It is also very easy to import your own elements, such as backgrounds and
props. The software allows for the characters to move, talk and have different expressions. All editing
is performed online so users do not have to worry that they are going to lose their work or if their
system is powerful enough. Also, it is platform independent and can be used both on Mac and
Windows OS.
For the purposes of the practising, free accounts will be used. Participants should be aware that a
subscription is needed in order to take full advantage of the platform features. Note that free accounts
have limited access to libraries and templates and cannot download videos locally.
L OGIN
First, create a free account on the GoAnimate platform and login into your account.
S ELECTING
A THEME
After you have logged into the Go Animate platform, click on the Make a Video button.
Go Animate platform has a set of themes you can choose from for your video. Each theme has
different backgrounds, props, characters, etc. It is essential to choose the appropriate theme before
you start creating your video so that it fits your needs. You can play around with different themes
before you actually start, to see what the differences are among them.
Note 1: Some of the themes are only available with the paid plans.
Note 2: When you chose a theme for your video, you can still use backgrounds, characters and props
from other themes.
Once you chose your theme, click on the Make a Video button and the GoAnimate video editor will
open. (Image 1: Choosing a GoAnimate theme).
Image 1: Choosing a GoAnimate theme
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G O A NIMATE V IDEO E DITOR O VERVIEW
Image 2: GoAnimate video editor overview
1. Stage: Here you can preview and edit a scene.
2. Assets-Tray: All available assets can be found here. At the top of the tray, you can navigate through
different tabs to select a specific asset-category.
Look at Image 3: Assets categories to take a closer look at the tray tabs and see what categories of
assets are available.
Image 3: Assets categories
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3. Timeline: These are the tracks (containers) where you place all your media elements. The timeline
has 3 different tracks: the video track on which you place your scenes one after the other to create a
video, the narration track, on which all dialogs and narration are added, and the music track on which
all music and sound effects are added.
4. From this drop down menu (Image 4: Theme navigation, Your Library and Search), you can see which
one is the theme you are currently using. You can also navigate to see the assets of other themes,
access your Library and Search all themes for assets.
Image 4: Theme navigation, Your Library and Search
5. Click on this
button to Upload content from your computer on the platform, such as
backgrounds, props and audio.
Once you click on the upload button, a new panel will slide out on the left side of the editor. Drag and
drop the files you want to upload there (maximum 15MB per file).
If the file you are uploading is an image (.jpg, .gif, .png), you must define if it is a prop or a
background.
If the file you are uploading is an audio file (.mp3, .wav, .m4a), you must define if it is music, sound
effect or voice-over (Image 5: Upload panel).
All items you upload will be added in Your Library.
Image 5: Upload panel
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6. On the Toolbar you will find the Copy and Paste, Undo and Redo buttons.
7. Click on the Preview button anytime to preview the video you have created so far.
8. Click on the Save button to save your work.
A DDING
A SCENE
An animated video actually consists of a series of scenes which are placed one after the other on the
timeline.
The first scene is already on the timeline once the video editor opens. The first scene will have a
default background, no characters and no props. You can configure this scene to look exactly how
you want, e.g. change the background, add characters and props. You can also adjust other scene
settings explained in “Adjusting scene Settings”.
To add a new scene, click on the
button found on the timeline. A new scene will be added
after the previous one. The new scene will have the same assets (background, characters, props and
text) as the previous one. Dialogs and assets’ movements won’t be copied in the new scene. The new
position of the assets will be their end position on the previous scene to ensure continuation of the
video.
At anytime you can change the background, the characters and the props on the scene.
If you wish to add an extra scene between two scenes, then you can copy one of them and then insert
it before or after the specific scene. Just click on any scene to reveal these options.
A DDING
A BACKGROUND
Click on the Background tab on the Assets-tray.
To add one of the available backgrounds, drag and drop it onto the Stage area.
Some of the GoAnimate backgrounds come with props on them, which are selectable. You can
remove any unwanted props from the scene if they are selectable.
Remember that you can add a background from a different theme.
You can also upload your own backgrounds. When uploading backgrounds, consider the following:
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Maximum file size: 15MB
Image format: .jpg, .gif, .png
To cover the whole stage in a 1080p video, use an image of at least 1920px x 1080px.
A DDING
A PROP
Props are items that you can add to a scene or can be held by a character. Props that can be held by
characters are specified as handheld. Each theme has several props to choose from but you can
also upload yours.
Note: Uploaded props cannot be handheld by characters.
Click on the Props tab on the Assets-tray.
To add one of the available props, drag and drop it into the Stage area.
You can add a prop from a different theme.
As already mentioned, you can also upload your own props. When uploading props remember that:
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Maximum file size: 15MB
Image format: .jpg, .gif, .png
To perform more actions on the prop, select it on the Stage. You can drag any corner of the
rectangular panel surrounding the prop to resize it so that it is scaled properly. You can also rotate it
by clicking and holding the curved double arrow that appears on all corners. Using the Asset-toolbar
(Image 6: Asset-Toolbar), you can perform more actions on the prop.
Image 6: Asset-Toolbar
You can flip the prop horizontally by clicking on the Flip button.
You can also bring the prop forward or send it backward in relation to other assets on the screen,
such as characters, props and text. To understand how assets are placed on the scene, think of it as
all assets are lined up, with the asset inserted latest on the scene residing first in the line, while the
asset inserted first on the scene resides last in the line. Any time you can bring any asset forward or
send it backward to place it in the right perspective (Image 7: Bring Forward/Send Backward
example).
Image 7: Bring Forward/Send Backward example
By selecting the prop on the Stage, a new panel slides out on the left. From this panel, you can
perform even more actions to the prop. For most of the props, you will only be allowed to add motion
to them. For some of them though, you will be allowed to also change their color or state (Image 8:
Prop Settings panel - States).
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Image 8: Prop Settings panel - States
A D DI N G
M O T I O N T O P RO P S
You can make your props enter and/or exit a screen or you can make them move. Effects like these
will make your video more engaging.
To add motion to a prop, first select it on the Stage, the options panel will slide out on the left. Click on
the ENTER/EXIT tab and then click on the Add Enter Motion button. You can define the type of
Motion you want to add: Enter, Exit or Movement.
If you chose Movement in the Motion field, then the prop will be duplicated on the screen to allow
you pick start and end position of the prop (Image 9: Prop movement example). You can define when
the movement will occur, by adjusting the Delay parameter, as well as the Duration of the movement.
A shortcut way to add movement to a prop is to click on the Toggle Movement On/Off button on the
Asset-toolbar.
Image 9: Prop movement example
If you chose Enter or Exit in the Motion field, then you can chose from a different set of styles and
directions for your prop to enter or exit the scene. Again, you can define when the enter/exit will occur,
by adjusting the Delay parameter, as well as the Duration of it.
You can add a series of motions on the same scene, either on the same prop or on different props.
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A CHARACTER
Click on the Characters tab on the Assets-tray.
To add one of the available characters, drag and drop it onto the Stage area. You can also add a
character from a different theme.
To perform more actions on the characters, select them on the Stage. You can drag any corner of the
rectangular panel surrounding the character to resize them so that they are properly scaled. You can
also rotate them by clicking and holding the curved double arrow that appears on all corners.
Using the Asset-Toolbar, you can perform more actions on the characters. This toolbar is the same
as the props Asset-Toolbar. (See: Adding a prop for more details.)
Once you select the character on the Stage, a new panel will slide out on the left. From there, you can
add actions, expressions, voice and movement to the character. Each character has a basic set of
actions and expressions. Click on one to apply to the character.
Note: Each theme allows for different actions on the characters. Navigate through different themes to
see what actions are allowed.
You can also add movement to a character. The same options apply to characters as to props. Read
more in paragraph “Adding motion to props”.
A D DI N G
DI AL O G T O CH AR A C T E R S
Click on the Dialog tab to add voice to the character. If you assign dialog to a character, it will lip sync
automatically.
Note: Each scene can have just one character talking. So you will need to keep adding scenes to
create a dialogue between two characters.
There are a few different ways to add dialog to a character.
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Vanessa Skiadelli
Mic Recording: Record your voice directly into the GoAnimate platform.
Upload an audio file with pre-recorded audio.
Text-To-Speech option: Write the character’s line, select the gender, the language and the
type of voice and generate the audio. Then add the voice to the character. (Image 10: Adding
Text-to-Speech dialog to character)
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Image 10: Adding Text-to-Speech dialog to character
A DJUSTING
SCENE SETTINGS
To configure the settings of a specific scene, select it on the timeline and then click on the Scene
Settings button on the Stage. The Scene Settings panel will slide out on the left. This panel has a
toolbar at the top and 4 different tabs with more actions you can perform. Let’s take a closer look at
each one of them.
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Scene Settings Panel - Toolbar: You can copy and paste the scene to another place on the
timeline. You can also clear (remove all assets) the scene and delete the scene.
Scene Settings Panel – Options: You can change the duration of the scene and the
background colour of the scene. You can also reset the scene. (Image 11: Scene Settings
panel – Options tab).
Image 11: Scene Settings panel – Options tab
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Scene Settings Panel – Narration: From this tab, you can add narration to the scene. There
are different ways you can do this. You can record narration using the mic, you can upload an
audio file or you can use the text-to-speech facility of the platform.
Scene Settings Panel – Effects: From this tab, you can add transitions between scenes.
You can also choose and add from a set of predefined visual effects.
Scene Settings Panel – Composition: Use this tool to frame shots like close-ups, or create
camera moves like zoom and pans. You can define the exact coordinates of the camera
movement and also when you want this to happen and how long it will last. (Image 12: Scene
Settings Panel - Composition tab)
Image 12: Scene Settings Panel - Composition tab
A shortcut to access some of the scene settings is just to select the scene on the timeline, a box will
pop-up which will present you with some of the scene settings options (Image 13: Scene pop-up
options box).
Image 13: Scene pop-up options box
A DJ U ST I N G
S CE N E DU R AT I O N
Every newly added scene has default duration of 2.5 sec. You can adjust the scene duration manually
as it has already been explained by going to the Scene Settings. Another way to do this is by
dragging the scene on the timeline from its edges with your mouse.
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There is also another more accurate way to adjust the scene duration. You can adjust it to fit the
scene content or to fit the speech duration. For example, if you have a prop that moves on the scene,
you might want to scene to last exactly as long as the prop movement. Or if you have a character that
says a line, you might want the scene to last exactly as long as the dialog.
To make these adjustments on the scene duration, click on the scene on the timeline, then select
Duration and then one of the options Fit to all scene content or Fit to speech duration (Image 14:
Adjusting scene duration).
Image 14: Adjusting scene duration
A DDING
TEXT
Adding text to a scene is pretty straightforward. You might want to add text to a screen which has
action as well, e.g. a bubble speech or you might want to create a title screen at the beginning or /
and the end of the video.
Click on the Text tab on the Assets-tray.
To add one of the available types of text, drag and drop it onto the Stage area.
To perform more actions on the text, select it on the Stage. Double click on the text to edit it. You can
drag any corner of the rectangular panel surrounding the text to resize it. You can also rotate it by
clicking and holding the curved double arrow that appears on all corners. Using the Asset-toolbar,
you can perform more actions on the text (except flipping).
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Image 15: Text Settings panel - Style tab
By selecting the text on the Stage, a new panel slides out on the left (Image 15: Text Settings panel Style tab). From this panel, you can configure the text further. You can change the font family and
size; you can change text alignment, color and background. By clicking on the Enter/Exit tab you can
also add movement to the text. For example, you can make end titles slide into the screen.
A DDING
AUDIO : MUSIC , SOUND EFFECTS , NARRATION
When you have finished setting up the visual aspect of your scenes, you will probably want to add
some kind of audio to it. That could be some music playing in the background or sound effects or
narration.
Click on the Sound tab on the Assets-tray. You will find two different types of sound libraries, Music
and Sound effects. You can use any of the available sounds for free.
You can also upload your own audio. Make sure that you have permission to use any audio you
upload.
Click on any music clip or sound effect on the Assets-tray to add it on the timeline, on the music
track. Once added, you can see more options by clicking on it on the timeline (Image 16: Music popup options box). Actions you can perform on the clips include playing and pausing it, adjusting the
duration and volume, duplicating, splitting, attaching to a scene and removing it.
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Image 16: Music pop-up options box
R EFERENCES / R ESOURCES
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GoAnimate official website: http://goanimate.com
GoAnimate help center: https://support.goanimate.com/hc/en-us
Educational animation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_animation
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A PPENDIX A: T RAINING - VIDEO SCRIPT
V IDEO
OBJECTIVE
The video objective is to advertise the British museum and attract more tourists.
P LOT
DESCRIPTION
Paul from USA is visiting his friend Amy in London. Paul expresses his wish to visit the British
museum. They get on the tube to get there. Amy is giving Paul a tour in the museum. At the end of
the visit Paul is very excited.
S ELECTING
THE VIDEO THEME
INSTRUCTIONS
For the purpose of this session, select the Comedy World theme. Place your mouse over the theme
icon, click on the Create a video button and the GoAnimate video editor will open.
P ART 1: S OMEWHERE
IN A
L ONDON
STREET
Paul and Amy are standing on the street discussing what they are going to do next.
Amy: What would you like to do now?
Paul: How about we go to the British Museum?
Amy: That’s a great idea. Let’s get the tube to get there.
Amy and Paul leave to get the Tube.
INSTRUCTIONS
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Set up the scene. Chose a city street as your background. Add some extra props. (Select from
GoAnimate libraries.)
Choose your characters for Amy and Paul.
Add dialogs to your characters. Add as many scenes as needed to accommodate all action and
dialogs.
In the last scene, make your characters walk out.
P ART 2: A T
THE TUBE STATION
Amy and Paul are at the Waterloo tube station waiting for the train. Amy is annoyed because the train
is late.
Amy: The train is late.
Paul: It should be here any minute.
Amy: There it is. It has just arrived.
Amy and Paul get on the train.
INSTRUCTIONS
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Set up the scene. Chose a train station for background (search for station and select subway
station). Select the train on the stage and drug it outside of the scene, where it is not visible. Add
some extra props. (Select from GoAnimate libraries but you can also upload yours.)
Add the characters for Amy and Paul.
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Make Amy sit and look annoyed.
Add dialogs to your characters.
Make the train prop enter the station.
In the last scene, make your characters walk out of the scene as if they are getting on the train.
P ART 3: O N
THE TRAIN
Amy and Paul are on the train.
Paul: How many stops is the British museum from here?
Amy: It’s only 3 stops. We should be there soon.
INSTRUCTIONS
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Set up the scene. Chose the inside of a train as background (search for train and select subway
train). Add some extra props. (from GoAnimate libraries and/or upload yours)
Add the characters for Amy and Paul.
Make them sit.
Add dialogs to your characters.
Change the scene composition (zoom the frame)
P ART 4: A T
THE
B RITISH
MUSEUM
Amy and Paul arrive at the British museum. They are standing outside.
Amy: Here we are. Let’s go inside.
Amy is guiding Paul through 3 different museum rooms.
(Room 1) Amy: In this room it is the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.
(Room 2) Amy: Here you can see the Parthenon Marbles.
(Room 3) Amy: This is the colossal statue of Ramesses II.
After they finish their tour, they get out of the museum. Paul is very excited.
Paul: This was such an amazing experience. I must certainly visit the British museum again.
INSTRUCTIONS
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In this part, you will have to set up scenes with different backgrounds. Upload backgrounds
related to the British museum.
Add the characters for Amy and Paul on each scene.
Make Amy and Paul walk in or out.
Add dialogs to your characters.
Add camera movement to some of the scenes.
A DDING
MUS IC
INSTRUCTIONS
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Go to the music library and choose one of the available music clips.
Place it on the timeline.
Cut the clip to fit the duration of the video. (Split the clip appropriately and remove the second
part.)
Adjust the volume of the music to 25%.
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TITLES
Start screen
Video title: A visit to the British museum
End Screen 1
Video credits: Your name and department
End Screen 2
Image credits:
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Entrance of the British Museum, by Jon Sullivan of PDPhoto.org / Wikimedia Commons /
Public Domain
Statue of Ramesses II, British Museum by Nic McPhee / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA2.0
Parthenon Marbles, British Museum by Andrew Dunn / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-2.0
Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, British Museum by Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0
INSTRUCTIONS
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Add 3 empty scenes, one at the beginning and two at the end of the video.
Add the video title on the start scene.
Add the video credits on the scene before the last one. Make credits slide into the scene.
Add credits for all the images you have uploaded on the last scene.
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