An old friend asked me for advice yesterday about graphics/design programs for her 11-year old son. I was pretty stumped! So I posted the question on an animation mailing list I maintain and got a few responses. I'll use this post to collect them for future reference.
Thus far I'm a bit surprised not to have more kid-specific stuff here, but I'll list it all anyway (highlighting where appropriate the super kid-targeted software).
I'm also going to name a few things that I learned about when we recently got our XO Laptop.
Squeak (kid-oriented, free): a media authoring tool that lets you do paint objects, then build simple scripts for them so they move around procedurally.
Cosmic Blobs (kid-oriented, commercial): neat-looking kids modeling package.
Not specifically kid-oriented, but these are free:
Blender: free high-end 3d software
Wings 3D: free high-end polygonal modeling tool
Seashore: free 2D painting/design software
Not specifically kid-oriented, and not free:
Bryce: commercial 3D software
Photoshop: commercial 2D painting software
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
This is just for drawing, but Autodesk SketchBook Pro is a really simple, intuitive, colorful, and I'd say very kid-friendly interface. Not free, though there is a free trial.
I think that 11 years old is a grat time for a kid to start getting into Macromedia Flash. There are many websites (www.newgrounds.com/ www.armorgames.com) that are based around a HUGE community of 11-16-older year olds. Flash is relatively simple and really fun to start animating with. I get tons of emails from kids who have seen my games somehwere online, and I usually tell them to get a student copy of the program and start tinkering around...to my surprise, lots of them actually have
Sir,
I will surely show my 10 year old brother how to play around with these graphics software. He learns fast and I think he will love making his own animated car races (he is crazy about cars). This blog is great... Thanks!
another possible resource:
Graphics Software for Kids and Young Children
Thanks, I also have a list of free design apps on my site, you can view it here.
Post a Comment