#2: Animations and Webcams
Hey there - I hope everyone is doing well.
Here in the UK we’re getting ready for schools to reopen next week. They were closed at Christmas because of a spike in Covid cases over the holidays.
However, homeschooling my 5 year old hasn’t stopped me from working on Brush Ninja.
Over the last few weeks I’ve made quite a few tweaks and improvements to the app and they are currently being tested by the Brush Ninja patrons (join my Patreon to get access to the beta).
Upcoming Features
I’m always working on Brush Ninja, even when I’m working on other projects I have my little Ninja in the back of my mind!
This last month the biggest changes will, hopefully, be invisible to you as a user. They are mostly rearranging and improving the coding practices which improves how I work on the app allowing me to develop things more quickly.
Actual new features though? We have:
Webcam background image
This is something I thought would be fun to add. I’ve never programmed with webcams before but I managed to get it working. You will be able to take a photo with a webcam and then set it as the animation background.
I actually have some more ideas for the webcam feature but I needed to get the basics working first. I’ll write more about this in the future.
Flip shapes tool
When I’ve been animating with Brush Ninja I wanted to flip the shapes horizontally and vertically, and now I can - and you will be able to soon.
When?
I plan to release this update in mid March
Recently from the Gallery
I found the following tweets on Twitter. Post yours and mention Brush Ninja for your chance to be in the newsletter and gallery.
Check out the #GIFs 2-3 and 4-5 students have created in #BrushNinja! https://t.co/LI5BAhbVSO pic.twitter.com/Q3a7sSWCY9
— Amanda Fuder (@CVHSTechTeacher) February 26, 2021
Pancake day AND learning about onomatopeias. Love it! Nom nom nom 😄
💥4th and 5th graders have been exploring how onomatopoeias elevate the stories we read! They used #BrushNinja to animate their favorite onomatopoeia. Way to go, kiddos! 💥 #ccs118life pic.twitter.com/ROVSfDYThx
— Sarah Curran (@CCSLibraryNews) February 16, 2021
This animation was for valentines day but it’s Mothers day in a couple of weeks in the UK. The US has to wait until May, but this animation works at any time!
Ok just one more Ss created #brushninja @NISDCole @NISDGTAA @techcoachsmith This Explorer’s animation grit is strong! #TheColeWay pic.twitter.com/ePPHmD66HG
— Julissa Abing (@MrsAbingColeGT) February 11, 2021
Thanks!
The Brush Ninja Patreon helps to support the development of the app and website.
This year I decided to make Brush Ninja totally free, but I still have to pay for servers and the services the app uses; so I need to earn some money to cover these. Every Patron that signs up helps me to cover my costs and hopefully, one day, work on Brush Ninja full time.
I look forward to seeing your creations on Twitter.
Until next month! - Ben
