Review by K. R.

Up until several years ago I was a high school teacher, and one of the classes that I taught was Digital Graphics & Animation. Back when I was teaching, I was a bit envious of the middle-school teachers that also taught this subject. One of the software programs that they used for their classes was the Honestech Claymation Animation package. I always wanted a chance to play with it - but never got it. The classes I taught, we did 3D CGI animation and 2D flash-based animation. I think the main reason I was so interested in the stop-motion animation was due to my having attempted that sort of thing back in the mid-70’s when I was a high school student (I was a big fan of the Gumby cartoons). Course back then you had to use super-8 film cameras and it took a lot of time and effort to get something good. Nowadays, with the software and technology available today - even young children can make some really neat videos and it doesn’t have to cost a whole lot of money.

This software is very easy to use, the controls are very simplified and all you need besides the software is a computer and a webcam. I tried two different cameras, one a regular webcam (Logitech C615) and one of the U-create Games and Artimation devices. I had much better results with the HD webcam than I did with the low-resolution camera on the U-Create unit, but the results with the lesser camera really wasn’t that bad. What you can do with these is limited to your imagination and what props and material you have on hand.

So, if you have some children who like to be creative and have a computer and a detachable webcam this would be the prefect summer activity (or winter) to keep them busy and maybe teach them something in the process. If you go that route, and want to be a bit educational - search the web for lesson plans and instructions handouts, like I mentioned there are teachers out there using software like this with their students.