SPIN, KITTY, SPIN!

What's up, pussycat?  Auto Awesome is up, that's what!  And CubeeCraft, too.  I love paper-folding and animation, so it's perfect to combine the power of Google Auto Awesome and CubeeCraft free paper toys.  If you have lots of free time, Google for "cubeecraft" and some fictional character's name, chances are there is a paper model for you to see.  Download the page to the computer then print it out on a color printer.  It's been a while since I got involved with making cubees, so the first one I printed I did so straight from the web browser and some parts of the page got cut off.  Use thick paper so that the pieces can withstand the frequent handling while you assemble the model.  Feed through the Manual slot, as the paper may be too heavy to be processed via the paper tray.  Cut the pieces with a scissor then make the slits with a hobby knife, which in my days of taking Career Drafting class was known as an X-Acto knife.  Lastly, fold the pieces and connect them, notches to slots etc.  Usually there's a head, a body, a pair of legs in one piece, and two arms.  Some characters may have something in their hands, like a lightsaber for Darth Vader.  Most have perfectly cubic head, but some are not and requires extra cutting and snipping.  I messed up a bit with the Hello Kitty model and had to use tape to re-attach some parts but by design you don't need to use glue or tape at all.  The models are made for viewing and not playing, so it's best to keep out of children's reach.  Good luck with that...

http://www.cubeecraft.com/cubee/hello-kitty

Stop-motion GIF of Hello Kitty spinning around and around.  With this post I discovered that to share the GIF in Blogger, you just insert the file made by Auto Awesome.  No need to download it and re-upload.  Cool!

MCR STOP-MOTION

A few weeks ago I discovered Google Auto Awesome and loved it.  It is a bunch of tools for enhancing photos with Google.  My favorite tool is Motion.  It's really more of stop-motion or claymation.  The motion isn't smooth, in fact jerky, but it's unique and interesting.  Much as I love it, I couldn't easily share the "animation".  It appeared the only way to share the animation is through Google Plus.  Then one day I decided to download a single image out of the animation, or so I thought.  What was downloaded instead was an animated GIF (animGIF) file.  Some people hate animGIF but not me.  I love them!  Sure they are annoying with their repetition, but it's a cool way to get some movements out of a web experience.

To accompany my newly-declared love for My Coke Rewards, I decided to make my first stop-motion with Coke bottle caps.  Had I saved previous caps, I may have enough to spell "MY COKE REWARDS" but this time "MCR" will have to do.  It takes time to lay out the caps one by one and take a photo of them.  Note that I used some sonobes to establish frame of reference.  I sorta squatted to take the photos, which was a mistake.  Next time I'll find a low-chair to sit comfortably and maintain the same view.

I'm satisfied with my first animation made with Google Auto Awesome.  To celebrate the occasion, I'll give out some MCR points, maybe three 10-point codes, to anyone who leave a comment and ask for the free code.  Just leave a comment and ask for a code and I'll reply to the comment, no need to list your email address.  The risk is that anyone can grab the code, too, but that's life.  Leave an email address if you so wish, but you may get spam that way.  Happy Coke Drinking!  Or at least Point-Collecting!

NO ANIMATION, NOT AWESOME

A few days ago I discovered Google Auto Awesome and was pleasantly surprised.  Take a bunch of photos from the same place, of the same scene, and Google would merge the photos into a little animation.  In my case, the animation was of runners in the NYCRuns Shore Road 10K reaching the midway point to head back for the finish.  The photos share a common background, blue sky with some buildings in the distance, the road, clearly delineated by grass on one side and the sea railing on the other side.  Check it out at https://plus.google.com/109153989599275468311/posts/cF6t72rD4Mj

At yesterday's PPTC Al Goldstein 5K Summer Series, Race #5, I thought I would be able to re-produce the animation by taking photos of the runners at the starting line.  My duty at the race was to stay with the last few runners to make sure everyone finish safely, so I had no need to be with the front users.  I took ten photos of the users dashing off but alas no animation was made.  I don't think it's because of the camera I used, a traditional digital camera from which I uploaded the photos via iPhoto into a Picasa album.  I think it's more because in Prospect Park the trees and bushes on the side of the road appear as a big blob to Google's computer eyes.  It cannot discern the forest scenery.  It probably didn't help that every now and then someone would go against traffic and passed too close to my camera.  So no animation.  Live and learn.

The photos, sans Awesome animation, are at

https://plus.google.com/photos/109153989599275468311/albums/5902126806398015457

GOOGLE AUTO AWESOME IS... AWESOME

Pleasant surprises are, well, surprisingly pleasant.  On my run this morning, I decided to head over to what I call the Belt Parkway waterfront, a pedestrian/cyclist path that runs along the Belt Parkway from Caesar's Bay (Bay Parkway) to Owl's Head Pier (Bay Ridge Avenue).  I usually run from my home to Caesar's Bay then along the water, pass the brief split of the bike and walker paths, to the first bench, then back.  I usually take the footbridge that goes into Bath Beach Park and also the steps that go to Dyker Beach Park, for a little elevation.  Tracing my way back and I would have my daily 8 km.  Today, just a little past the slope was the turnaround point of the NYCRuns Shore Road 10K.  I stopped to watch the race with the race volunteer stationed there.  Runners can be so focused on the race and would keep following the road even if there are a bunch of cones on the ground.  It's safest to have someone out there to tell them turn around.

I hoped to catch, if any, runners with PPTC gear but there was none.  After a while I decided to just photograph people randomly.  I pretty much stood in one place, against the railing.  When I sync'd the photos to Google+ later, Google automatically detected the same background in the set of photos and made a short animation out of it.  Very interesting.  I learned that the technology is called Auto Awesome.  Animating is just one of its few capabilities.  Pano (panorama) and Mix are two other techniques I will explore.

https://plus.google.com/109153989599275468311/posts/cF6t72rD4Mj

While it's easy to share the above animation to my Google+ audience, it took me a while before I found the way to share it elsewhere.  When I clicked on the animation itself, there was no indication that a link could be obtained.  The More option only allows downloading the picture or adding it to album.  In the end, I discovered that I had to use the actual post in G+ itself, on the upper right corner, to find the pasteable link.