Hi, I'm Jay, and below you'll find some of my work on Scratch. | |
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| The Trimmed photos from the photoshoot AllThePhotosTrimmedGifs.zip Cassy 
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Some Early Draft 10 Second Tutorials34 8 10 | |
 | Drag and Drop, Double Click, Snap Together A 10 second intro to scratch  The Tutorial (250 KB gif) I'd like to build on last week's discussion of how to show how to use scratch very quickly and efficiently. Here's an example of a 10 second introduction to how to use scratch. It is only an animated gif, so there's no sound or video player required, and the file size is only 250 KB (here is an 85 KB version). I can imagine some future trimmed down version of this being used at scratch startup. |
 | Dance Tutorial A 10 minute intro video to scratch.  Video (40MB wmv) and DesignBrief.pdf and Dance.scratchI explore one point in the space of intro tutorial videos. I focus on the "show and tell" presentation model, where I show how I built the project and tell how I feel about it. In the design brief I explain how I made the video and why I chose a "show and tell" model. |
Focusing on web2.0 concepts: download
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Projects | |
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Interactive Greeting Card A card from a secret admirer secret_admirer_interactive_card.scratch
I first made this for a demo for a Media Lab sponsor week. It's a greeting card that lets you interact by screaming out loud and exploring 3 miniature interactive worlds. |
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Blocks Virtual building blocks that you can yell at blocks.scratch
After seeing the music making project I realized the value in making projects that let others create with on many degrees of freedom. This is a virtual block set that you can build with. It simulates gravity. It makes noises when the blocks fall. And, it shakes if you tap the computer or yell. |
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PacMan Tag (2 player) A maze game with levels and interacting characters pacman_tag_2player.scratch
I wanted to take a look at what the challenges are to do games in scratch. I wanted to make a game where you don't have to push buttons over and over again in order to play - instead I wanted "continuous" movement. Another challenge in scratch is to make sprites that navigate following the rules of "maze walls" without getting stuck on the walls. I use a mini maze to accomplish this with a bigger maze to use pretty graphics. At first the program worked slow because broadcasts really tend to slow things down. But I used variables as a workaround. The end product is a decent looking 2 player pacman game. John pointed out to me that the slowdowns are often taken care of by going into presentation mode. |
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"Speak Out" Scratch Projects with Opinions Drive SUV: Surprise DriveSUV.scratch
Although you could easily express your opinion with any category of Scratch project, I think some people would be especially motivated to use Scratch specifically to make a statement. When Scratch is used this way it becomes an overt persuasive technology. I think this type of project deserves its own category. In this project, I created a driving game, but the goal is a little different from what you'd expect. As you drive the glaciers melt. The faster you go the faster they melt. Then you crash into the water. In order to "win" you must slow down and turn into a bicycle. Then you can drive all you want without the glaciers melting (and the sky turns a healthy color and the flowers bloom). |
 | Social Interaction Pool Party Project PoolParty.scratch My first thought upon seeing Scratch was "We could build really intricate social interaction models and games." This project shows one possible model for social interaction, with 4 characters who talk to each other and interact with their environments. The theme is kind of like The Sims. Soon to come will be a simple version with just 2 people and one thing in the environment to interact with. |
 | Trampoline - And Multiple Example Project Versions Example of a Simple-Complex Project Pair SimpleTrampoline.scratch and ComplexTrampoline.scratch You may already be familiar with the simple version of the trampoline project because it's in the "official" sample projects. The complex version builds on the original, adding random parabolic'ish jumping, the ability to trace the history of the jumping patterns with the pen (by holding down the mouse), and some extra animations. |
 | "Life" in Scratch A Slow Motion Rendition of Conway's Game Life.scratch In this project, I show how the pen tool can be used for complex data storage. I also break down the game of "life" into a series of visual steps to reveal how the game works. I don't think this serves as a good example project, but I think it is good to have some ideas of what Scratch is capable of. Instructions: Use the arrow keys and the space bar to set up initial conditions. Then click the start flag. |
 | In-Scratch Tutorial Complex Menu System to Act as Facilitator for Project DogChaseCat.scratch If a tutorial is going to guide a new learner through a specific project, I'd like to think that the tutorial shouldn't guide "step by step." Rather, I'd like to see a model of "get help when you need it." Also, there's the question of whether the tutorial should be in scratch, in another program (video, html) or on paper. This tutorial functions from within Scratch. I don't really think this example is a very practical way to introduce Scratch, but I think it serves as an example of possible complex types of projects that can be made in Scratch. I also like the theme of having three tiers of help:
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 | Break Dance One of My First Attempts at a Personally Meaningful Project BreakDance.scratch Click the boombox to start the music and a basic dance step. Click the icons for power moves. |
