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For your reading and finding Counselors pleasure...

 

http://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/blog/new-animation-badge-draws-on-scouts-interest-in-animation

 

It has not (as of this moment) made the Merit Badge Catalog page on scouting.org

 

Per USScouts.org, the EARN START date has not been announced.

 

EDIT TO ADD:  REQUIREMENTS HERE:

 

http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2015/05/19/animation-merit-badge-requirements-released/

Edited by John-in-KC
Requirements added
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Boy's Life recently posted a story with video links.

 

http://boyslife.org/merit-badges/animation-merit-badge/

 

IMO, after a long delay I expected more than Easy here. This seems ready to join Fingerprinting for merit badge Saturday or camp. :(

 

My $0.02

 

 

We had two scouts involved in a field project from BSA to get ideas for how animation could be integrated in to a MB. There were several meetings over a 3 month period. BSA was trying to find out how much these kids knew and how adept they were at using technology. Both of these boys went on (last fall) to prestigious colleges in graphics and animation. Both were using Scribblenauts on their GameBoy's 5 years ago while travelling to camp outs; HIGHLY skilled kids. By the time they left high school they could use Photoshop to create nearly any kind of animation you could think of. One of them built a Doctor Who opening sequence for a COH video; looked like it had been done by Pixar!! 

 

Long story short, 99% of that these guys suggested to BSA seems to have been left out of this MB. Very sad. Not sure who this was dumbed-down for, the kids or the adults teaching the MB.

Edited by Bad Wolf
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http://boyslife.org/merit-badges/animation-merit-badge/

 

IMO, after a long delay I expected more than Easy here. This seems ready to join Fingerprinting for merit badge Saturday or camp. :(

As the boys will see this MB:

 

Req 1) Describe blah blah

Req 2) Discuss blah blah

Req 3) Do Something!

Req 4) Discuss blah blah

Req 5) Discuss blah blah

 

ZZZZZZZzzzzzz.

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We had two scouts involved in a field project from BSA to get ideas for how animation could be integrated in to a MB. There were several meetings over a 3 month period. BSA was trying to find out how much these kids knew and how adept they were at using technology. Both of these boys went on (last fall) to prestigious colleges in graphics and animation. Both were using Scribblenauts on their GameBoy's 5 years ago while travelling to camp outs; HIGHLY skilled kids. By the time they left high school they could use Photoshop to create nearly any kind of animation you could think of. One of them built a Doctor Who opening sequence for a COH video; looked like it had been done by Pixar!! 

 

Long story short, 99% of that these guys suggested to BSA seems to have been left out of this MB. Very sad. Not sure who this was dumbed-down for, the kids or the adults teaching the MB.

 

Sorry to hear that your scouts' earnest and expert effort was ignored. I have scouts that started from Scratch (2D) and are now using Maya or Cinema 4D. I doubt they will bother with this MB.

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As the boys will see this MB:

 

Req 1) Describe blah blah

Req 2) Discuss blah blah

Req 3) Do Something!

Req 4) Discuss blah blah

Req 5) Discuss blah blah

 

 

Imagine how the STEM scouts will feel.

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I am obviously missing something. Where are the requirements?

 

Do they actually require that the Scout produce an animation? As far as I am aware, good software to do that is pretty pricey. While in high school my son was involved in producing several animations as part of his FIRST robotics team, including one where he was the animation team leader. (The animation usually did not relate directly to robotics; the competition was sort of an "add-on" to the robotics program.) The software, however much it cost, was "donated" by the company that was sponsoring the animation competition. (I say "donated" because what was actually donated were licenses needed to activate the software, without which it was of course useless. I recall my son going through a somewhat frustrating and bureaucratic process to actually obtain and activate the donated licenses, in the correct number needed for his team, and to keep them working through the project period. I suppose that was a valuable experience for him in and of itself, and it was several months after he had completed his Eagle project and other requirements and all the paperwork associated with THAT (at the last minute), so he had a few good doses of "reality" within a short time period.)

 

Naturally, both the Robotics and Animation MB's have come out too late for my son to earn them. Maybe he can be a counselor for them someday? But I think that's some distance down the road yet.

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@@NJCubScouter a quick note to Adobe got use a 5 user license for the full CS-6 suite. I'm sure a group like BSA could do something like that...if they actually had the right people with the right thinking to pull it off.

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Do they actually require that the Scout produce an animation? As far as I am aware, good software to do that is pretty pricey.

Actually with Maya you can download a free 30 day trial, or they offer a 3 year free license to students and teachers. Lots of other animation software publishers do something similar.

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 Not sure who this was dumbed-down for, the kids or the adults teaching the MB.

 

LOL, I have my suspicions. Maybe they should set it up as an online merit badge so the boys can find a 'virtual' counselor who actually can 'counsel' this one, lol.

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LOL, I have my suspicions. Maybe they should set it up as an online merit badge so the boys can find a 'virtual' counselor who actually can 'counsel' this one, lol.

 

Great idea!

Plenty of Youtube animation tutorials. Free animation software (Scratch, Blender, Pencil, various simple Stick people apps ...) for various hardware platforms is easy to find. Cinema 4D Rev14 was freely available awhile ago. Autodesk Maya was free to FIRST students and mentors though it is a bear to install  

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