KS1/2 Art - 3D Animation

We have been using animation in our KS3 curriculum in Art and Design recently and have found two programs that work well without breaking the bank. For those of you who wish to try these stop frame animations there are two cheap programs that do an excellent job. I am sure there are many more but these are two with which we have had great results. Firstly for the apple users there is iStopMotion by iBoinx (my favoured flavour) and then for the pc user there is Stop Motion Pro (version 6, junior edition). You can get a whole school licence for the latter which works on our RM network. We use webcams to capture images so that is a lot cheaper than buying video cameras or using professional digital still cameras. We are also fortunate enough to have a bank of laptops to use and I tend to have 3 students per group, a maximum of ten groups for each class. As Paul Ginnis states (author of "Teacher's Tool Kit") three is the magic number. In addition I have some cheap lamps from a well-known DIY store to light the sets (one per group). I hope this helps anyone hoping to start out in this line.

Can I ask which webcams you use and whether you have had problems using them with RM network?

I am trying to get animation up & running with KS3. We have 5 logitech webcams, which are recommended by our software (stopmotion pro). However, the ICT guys don't think the webcam software is compatible with the RM network, and say it would be too time-consuming to load it onto individual stations. Is anybody else managing to use webcams with RM?

Crikey Alexisa thats a bit cruel.
Stop Motion animation has so much to offer children.
Take a look at the work here for example
http://www.ikitmovie.com/TeacherZone1-39-ikitmovie.htm
ICT should be active in education, integrated in to learning rather than set as a separate subject. After all ICT is a tool for learning not a subject in itself.
Best Regards
Z

More bla-bla than creative work. Ms S. Taylor have so little to offer to the children about animation. Very disapointing work.

In Southampton we are working across all key stages to ensure children have the access and skills to ensure they are able to take an active part in the development of digital literacy. From our Regional Training Centre we run courses for both children and adults, engaging them in a range of workshops including digital story telling- speaking and listening developmen,t from FS to KS4 as well as music and animation projects. To ensure these projects are full embeded, schools in southampton have access to banks of laptops, cameras, sound equipment as well as support from a Teaching and Learning adviser to develop schools curriculums.
This holistic approach seems to be having a dramatic impact on the numbers of children using digital technology to enhance their learning.