Sketchy is Here for iPod touch and iPhone

Sketchy for iPhone IconMy favorite software from GoKnow, Sketchy, is now available in the App Store for iPod touch and iPhone! Sketchy has been around for years on Palm handhelds and Pocket PCs, and it has been enjoyed by thousands of students. They have a yearly contest and you can view example animations from my former students. The process of creating a flipbook-style animation is incredibly educational. When students of any age make an animation about any subject, they learn a lot during the process, and they have a final product that they view over and over and over.

Here's GoKnow's description of Sketchy for iPhone:

Get started now with Sketchy - the easy to use drawing and animation app. You can use different drawing tools, photos from your library or direct from the camera, and even text to create frame based animations (or flipbooks).

Features:

  • Simple user interface
  • Import right from the camera or photo library
  • Paint brush, eraser, rectangle, filled rectangle, oval, and filled oval tools
  • Select tool - double tap to select all
  • Text tool - annotate your photos and drawings
  • Many colors to choose from
  • Adjustable drawing width
  • Cut, copy, paste, and delete
  • Undo function
  • Duplicate frames

Quick How-To:

  • Start drawing right away with your finger
  • Use + button to add new frames - including from the camera or photo library
  • Tools button lets you change the drawing tool, width, and color
  • With select tool, double tap to select whole frame
  • Edit button brings up Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, and Undo
  • Files button to create new animation or open previous animations
  • Tap frame number to jump to another frame

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone and iPod touch Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later

Sketchy ($0.99) for iPhone is really quick to learn. Popular animation apps, Flipbook ($4.99) and Flipbook Lite (Free), are more complicated in comparison to Sketchy because Flipbook has many more features. The most important feature that Sketchy lacks is a way to share animations. There is not a way to export the animation for viewing online or on other iPods and iPhones. In contrast, Flipbook projects can be saved as an MPEG-4 videos on the flipbook.tv site (read my previous post about the Flipbook app). Another similar app, Animation Creator ($0.99) can export to YouTube. I hope an export feature is added to Sketchy soon because everyone loves to share their animations.

After working with Sketchy, Flipbook, and Animation Creator, Sketchy is the most simple. Animation Creator has a good balance of features versus ease-of-use. Flipbook has the most features and is the most complicated to learn. Sketchy has one very important feature the others do not: a text tool. It's so much better to annotate a drawing when you can type on the screen. Handwriting on an iPod touch or iPhone is difficult and usually looks sloppy.

Animation App Screenshots

It's great that we have options when it comes to animation apps. Whichever app you use, drawing with a finger can be challenging. You might look into a stylus for drawing.

2007 Sketchy Animation Contest

Sketchy ScreenshotsGoKnow, the company that makes the Sketchy animation software for Palm handhelds and Pocket PCs (45-day free trial), has announced its fourth annual Sketchy Contest:

Do you use Sketchy in the classroom? Do you know a budding artist that uses Sketchy to convey educational concepts? We're announcing our 4th Annual Sketchy contest, and we hope you will participate. In past years we have received hundreds of Sketchys from all over the world. This year's contest will be even bigger and better!

Last year, as well as subject area categories, we introduced the new "Teacher" category for all you teachers to get in on the fun and we're glad to have it back! Prizes you ask? 1st place finishers will receive a special 1 GB iPod Shuffle. Digital Cameras are on hand for all 2nd place finishers, and 3rd place secures a new addition to our prizes: the Pocket Mind Reader! Numerous honorable mention certificates will be provided for those who have their Sketchys posted on the Web.

Please visit http://www.goknow.com/sketchycontest to view the official flyer and rules. You can also view previous winning Sketchy animations.

Please direct any questions to sketchycontest@goknow.com.
The deadline to submit entries is May 25th, 2007.

Thanks for your interest in Sketchy, and happy animating!
The GoKnow Sketchy Contest Team