ASIFA CENTRAL 2020 - ZOOM PIXILATION WORKSHOP

ANIMATING CONNECTIONS ACROSS SOCIAL DISTANCES

Stephan Leeper & Christine Veras

THE FINISHED WORKSHOP ANIMATION & TIMELAPSE SCRIPT

Click here to watch our finished workshop video. The music is copy free so feel free to share this on social media.

You can watch also watch the tests we ran before the workshop with pixilated lightwriting.

Download your own Mac Script for Screen Capture Timelapse by Dimitrios Zacharopoulos

If you enjoyed our workshop. . . and even if you didn't, please take minute to fill out our 2020 Zoom Pixilation Survey

GETTING STARTED

Since our time is pressed, and technology seldom behaves the way we expect it to, we'd like to maximize or time together by setting things up ahead of time. 

THINGS YOU WILL NEED 

1. A Mask: No kidding. :-) Not so much for safety as for the theme. We thought this would be a nice visual element to play with given our theme of "Animating Connections across Social Distances".

2. A Colored Ball or Sphere: Roughly the size of a tennis ball or slightly larger.

3. A Red Object: Something that you can hold in your hand.Something that will “pop” visually on the screen and won’t be too heavy to wield.

4. Post-it Notes and a Sharpie: Paper and tape will do in a pinch

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE DAY

The workshop starts at 3pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) in Michigan, US.

Please check what time the workshop will be on your timezone: https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com 

At the beginning of the workshop we will review the instructions and give time to orient ourselves but you'll want to review the following steps beforehand.

Once we begin an animation DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR CAMERA or leave the Zoom space! Removing or adding members completely reshuffles the Zoom grid. 

SETTING UP

• Your video camera should be set to the default "Mirror Camera". This will help you keep oriented to your space. (If you have never changed this setting on Zoom, this is the default mode and you should be good to go)
• Make sure you have enough space to move around in front of the camera. Your web-cam should be situated in such a way that you can look closely into the camera for an extreme close-up and step back from your camera for (if possible) a full body shot.
• Use a post-it note or tape to label your Right and Left on the edges of your screen for quick reference.  Once we begin, things can get confusing.  All instructions during the workshop will refer to your personal Right and Left.
• Virtual backdrops are not a good idea. As cool as thay are, for this workshop as they will conflict with and distort the final image.
• Check your Zoom Settings. Turn your video on and mute your microphone before entering the Zoom space. Check that your audio is turned on.
• Set your display to gallery mode. So you can see all the participants in a grid view. You'll find this on the upper right corner of screen.
• Finally. Be aware that what you see is not what you get. The capturing image will follow Steve’s computer and that is why it is extremely important to follow the verbal instructions given and post-it markers on the sides of your screen. 

Let's start animating!!