This is a really powerful feature in nawmal, and we want to make sure everyone is aware of it.
Using the backdrops collection in nawmal you can use ANY image as a background, and make it look like your characters are ANYWHERE you want.
The video also includes a couple of other bonus, cool, creative ideas.
nawmal founder, Paul Nightingale was interviewed on Autism Live (http://www.autism-live.com/) this summer to talk about how nawmal is being used for functional communication.
The software was previously being used primarily by corporations to easily create corporate training videos. Over time, however, and much to the surprise of Paul, nawmal started receiving messages from families who were using nawmal to communicate with each other, notably, families with autistic family members. Paul decided to start testing these ideas by engaging more families and schools to try using the software and what they discovered "was incredible." Minimally verbal or nonverbal people were communicating, expressing complex ideas, telling stories and sharing their personality through the videos they created.
As Paul explains in the interview with Autism Live, one mother reported she better understands, sooner, what her son is trying to communicate. This has resulted in a reduction in anxiety and frustration for her son, and the ability to reduce the likelihood of an outburst or meltdown from occurring.
Paul believes nawmal’s technology offers an alternative way to "open the door" to facilitating communication in the way each individual feels comfortable.
In addition, nawmal allows for videos to be shared - either between close friends and family, or with a broader, public audience. He hopes that with more people sharing their videos of social stories or practice situations, more people can benefit from a shared resource without having to create unique content each time.
Watch the full video to learn more and see the exciting new direction nawmal is taking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAX5TSA95bw&t=8s
Click here to try nawmal for yourself, your family or your students.
Until now, your nawmal 3D scene comprised the set and the actors.
The latest version nawmalMAKE introduces a collection of 3D objects (props) that you can use in your scene.Once added to the scene, you can position, rotate and a new feature, SCALE the objects.
Check out this introduction video, or better yet, try it firsthand in nawmalMAKE
Here, Independent Learning Consultant Allyson Benavides explains why using nawmal videos is so powerful.
Each of these videos was created and completed in less than 5 hours.
An animated introductory video will quickly focus your learners’ attention – setting the tone, helping to navigate the course, and ultimately becoming their guide.
Relating the character to the learning material not only creates visual context to what they are learning, it creates an immediate relatability and social connection. This connection motivates learners to the point where they are more likely to trust and retain the information.
Creating an animated, approachable, pedagogical character to introduce segments of a course is not only entertaining, but acts as a touchstone for learning.
When learners have a character to identify with, they are more likely to trust – and ultimately recall – the information. Your learners will have a visual context to what they are learning and are more likely to recall the information.
Scenario-based training is a powerful way to quickly connect with your learners', especially when creating soft-skills learning - such as Leadership and Sales training courses. Using video to tell your story is the most effective way to engage learners and connect with their emotions.
Accurately depicting human interactions helps your learners to visualize, engage and understand your scenario; for example, showing how to conduct a performance review or have a difficult conversation with a team member.
We have a few updated sets available for you to use.
We have modernized a couple of the more frequently used sets in the Suits collection: A new version of the open office - called : New Open Office; and a new version of the private office - called : New Private Office -Day
Open Office
New Open Office
These updated versions have a new, more neutral color-scheme, more contemporary styling, with wood flooring and flat-screen monitors on the desks. The New Private Office also includes a "fix" to improve the shadows on the floor.
Private Office - Day
New Private Office - Day
In addition to those "modernized" sets, we've also given a little facelift 3 other sets in the Suits family. Here the update involves the inclusion of new shadows on the floors of each. You can see this on the below example of the updated version of the Boardroom:
old version
new Boardroom
We've also added or improved the shadows on the floors of the Coffee Area and the Private Office - Night sets.
Coffee Area
Private Office - Night
If you have created a scene using the Boardroom, Coffee Area or Private Office - Night set, it will update automatically to the new version when you re-open that project file.
It's a pretty straight forward process if you have already created a project using the Open Office or Private Office - Day set, and want to update your scene to use the new, modernized versions.
In the Locations view, click [Change..], then select the new set where you want your scene to take place - the updated version of the set, then when the "Custom camera angles will need updates" pop-up appears (see below), click [OK], and your existing scene will now take place in the new set.
To round of the new collection of sets, there is a new, alternative TV set. Again, more contemporary, and with a selection of screens more appropriately sized for the scale of the characters.
In this set, all the walls and screens are inlays, so that you can decorate in your desired color-scheme, and incorporate your images on any or all of the screens.
To help you customize this set, below is information for the aspect ratio and optimal pixel resolution for each of the inlay screens available in the scene.
The world of training technology isn’t changing...it has changed. You’ve already noticed that your learners are losing patience with PowerPoint presentations, possess increasingly diminishing attention spans and want everything they can possibly get on their smartphones.
You may already be using video in some ways to enhance your training. To standardize the on-boarding process, provide live product demonstrations or encourage social learning, among other things.
But if you really want to scale your training, and keep up with demands that are growing on a budget that is not, it’s time to think about professional quality animated video. You may not want or need to use video everywhere, but here are five ways you can get started.
An introduction video is a great way to focus your learners’ attention. By using animated storytelling, you can get their attention and orientate them to what they will encounter in the course, letting them know what is expected of them. A one- or two-minute orientation video can have a big impact on the entire course.
Characters in videos are a great way to accompany your audience through a process that might otherwise be difficult. The characters can lay out the steps and encourage them, or help them, complete what’s required.
A very creative (and effective) way to use animation in video is to visually explain something that might otherwise be complex or boring. If you have a lot of information to deliver, consider adding in a character to “personally” present it to your learners.
Animated video characters have come a long way... you might be surprised how much subtlety and emotion they can express. If you need to present scenarios in your training, you don’t need to pay for actors and studio time to do it right. You can use animated characters to demonstrate any scenario.
You’ve certainly heard the buzz about VR360 and AR in training and you may be thinking that’s something for the future. Well, the future is now and if you want to turn engagement in your training up to 100%, you can use nawmal tools to create your own VR360 & AR videos. Put your learners right into a virtual reality scene, so they can not only watch the story but be a part of it... first hand. Instead of explaining how to do something, you can have them practice doing it themselves for much greater retention. And it can be done quickly and for a fraction of the cost of live, plain old reality videos.
This feature is used too little and yet it can be really useful. The Automatic Cinematography feature allows you to sit back and relax while the software takes care of “filming” your characters: taking care of selecting the camera angles and cutting between them to give you an edited movie - automatically.
We use it to quickly create a finished video: just type the dialogue and press play; and also to suggest ideas – sometimes the result may not be exactly what you want, but it can show different options, including things you might not have thought of.
Before you check the box. WAIT!
This feature works best if your characters are placed on the First and Second Positions.
When adding a character into the scene, you will notice that the “Position Task Bar” will open. When selecting First or Second, it aligns the character with the pre-set cameras in the scene. If your characters are already in the scene and your “Position Task Bar” has disappeared, don’t panic. Click on your characters’ picture and it will appear. Once your characters are on their positions, check the automatic cinematography box and enjoy the show!
Have you ever wondered how to use the colourful Cyclorama, the gridded Holodeck, the flashy Green Screen, the Presentation and the oh-so-very-white White sets? Follow the guidelines below to make the most out of the Backdrops Collection.
As colourful as the Cyclorama may seem, it’s purpose is not to be a cotton candy look-alike set. In fact, in the cyclorama set, you can import your own panorama pictures to personalize your characters’ environment. The 6 screens, filled with different colors, are customizable and of different sizes. To create the picture below, we cut one image in 3 to put the 1/3 of the picture on the Ceiling screen, 1/3 of the picture on the Floor screen and 1/3 of the picture on the Wall 01 screen.
For a better resolution, use pictures with sizes:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stafford_livingroom.jpg
The holodeck provides a neutral background you can use when wanting to concentrate on the characters’ text or speech instead of décor.
The Green Screen makes it simple to import your video in a movie editing tool and add the background you want. Our favorite editing tools are Camtasia, Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas and PowerDirector.
The “screen” in the presentation set perfectly aligns with Camera 1, so that the image completely fills the frame. This is ideal for putting your character in front of an image, or for presenting a video or a PowerPoint for example.
For a better resolution, use pictures with sizes:
The white set is a 6-screen box. You can import 6 different images or videos.
For a better resolution, use pictures with sizes:
Did you know that you can customize some of nawmal's characters? From their skin color to their shoes, make them look just the way you want! Have a look at the video below that demonstrates the customization available with the Suits characters.
Did you know that you can customize some of nawmal's characters? From their skin color to their shoes, make them look just the way you want!
