Scratch

Here is how to create a basic animation!

One thing about Scratch is that scripts works like a sentence. The blocks are like phrases, and when you put them together, you can get a complicated sentence.

We will start with the basic screen with the orange and white Scratch cat. If you go just to the left of the screen, called the "stage," you will see three tabs. They are "Scripts", "Costumes", and "Sounds". Click on costumes, and you will see that there are two different images, called "costumes", of the Scratch cat. The program you are about to write will make these costumes switch, thus creating a walking affect.

On the far left of the Scratch window, there is a list of blue blocks with phrases on them. Above that, there are eight buttons with different words on them. These tell what the blocks in the corresponding list do. First, click on the "Scripts" tab. Then, click on the button above the list that says "Control"  and drag the
[blocks] <when green flag clicked> [/blocks]
block to the blank area to the right. The blocks with the curved tops like this one are called "hat blocks." These are what starts all scripts that do something in your project.

Next, drag the
[blocks]  <forever> [/blocks]
block to the area and put it right under the first block. It should snap on to the first block. This new block will repeat whatever blocks are inside it until the program or the script stops.

Then, click the button that says "Looks" and drag the
[blocks] <next costume> [/blocks]
block to the inside of the forever block. This block will switch the costume of the object (called a "sprite") to the next costume in the list. Since there are only two costume, they will just switch back and forth.

Next, click on the “motion”. Then, drag the
move 10 steps
block right below the previous block. The circle is where you type the amount of spaces (steps) you want the sprite to move This block means to move however many spaces. So, besides the costume switching, the sprite will also move, creating an animation effect.

Next, go back to control and add the
wait 1 secs
block to the script. Type in ".2" in the circle. This block will make the sprite wait .2 seconds before going on with the script. This is important because it makes the animation look better. Without it, the sprite would go really fast.

Then, go back to motion and add the
[blocks] <if on edge, bounce> [/blocks]
block under the last block. This will mean that the sprite goes back and forth when it hits the edge of the stage.

Lastly, above the scripts, there is a mini picture of the Scratch cat. Left of that, there are three buttons one with a curved arrow, one with a double straight arrow, and one with a rectangle. Click on the one with the double straight arrow. This will make the sprite only flip side to side. With the default curved arrow, the sprite would also flip upside down when touching the edge.

Click the green flag and watch the animation!

If you were to read this script like a sentence, it would read:
When the green flag is clicked, do this forever: switch to next costume, move 10 steps, wait .2 seconds, and if on the edge, bounce.


Sorry, the "move 10 steps" block and the "wait 1 secs" block do not show up, so I used text instead

Last edited by mr_fish_fish (2011-06-01 15:51:37)

I am suprised that you are a Scratcher with only 6 posts...