My friend Neal over at Fastworks has been doing some exceptional work with mondaydots. He recently did a post on his blog about the new direction his company is moving. I loved what he did with the dots, but I saw "the model" a bit differently.
With his permission, I used his audio to create a new model. It is really interesting to look at the differences between the two, and the first thing you will notice is how my model more strictly follows the narration. The major advantage is that if you are new to the material, the visual representation makes it easier to follow along. The major disadvantage is that it limits the ability for interpretation. If the dots move more loosely with the narration it gives the viewer more opportunity to fill in "the gaps" with imagination and their own experience.
So you must walk a fine line with the pacing and detail of the animation as it relates to the narration. If you go too much in either direction - you lose the viewer.
Tip: I have found the best slide size for export is 1024 x 768. You will notice that the above video has some text cut off. I was experimenting with slide size and found that a slide and wider than the 3:4 ratio does not export well out iMovie for display on YouTube or Vimeo.
That was far easier to understand - the original had very vague dot movement/representation.
Posted by: Tony | May 14, 2009 at 12:47 PM