Press Release
Nothing Keeps Villy from His Toon Boom Studio Express!
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Willem (Villy, for short) Hattingh is an eager animator often making an animation a day with Toon Boom Studio Express. Just six-years-old, this prolific animator has made Toon Boom Studio Express an essential ingredient to his developmental diet, pleasing and amusing family, friends and strangers on the Web!
Between the ages of two and three, Villy was diagnosed with autism, a developmental disorder with a number of characteristics, including difficulty interacting and communicating with others. Over the years, Villy's parents, Jason and Rachel, have worked hard to find educational tools that will stimulate these skills. [an error occurred while processing this directive]
"The consistent struggle is finding or creating ways for him to interact with games/materials/software which provide an opening for interaction with peers and adults. When I consider educational material, the first question I ask myself is, "Where is the scope for me to get involved with Willem?".
As an admitted "wannabe" 2D animator, Jason was quite pleased to discover that Villy was excited by the idea of animating. They tried several different tools before they got to Toon Boom Studio Express; a child's package, which proved to be too limited, and LightWave 3D, which was way too complicated. Then they picked up Toon Boom Studio Express, which turned out to be just right!
"I bought TBS-Express because Willem was beginning to make some really interesting animations in a children's package that allowed drawing in up to 16 frames only. His animations were so cool (for his age), but we had no way of saving them. This upset me - not being able to preserve his work."
Despite Villy's difficulty learning from people, Jason has had a pretty easy time teaching him Toon Boom Studio Express. "His attention span is fairly short, but if I can demonstrate a feature fairly quickly (i.e. if I make sure I rehearse first!!), he is delighted to watch and receptive to almost all that I show h! im." According to Jason, Villy's experience with Toon Boom Studio Express has brought him many benefits.
"His imagination and creativity are flourishing as a result of using TBS. He has an active mind as it is and I know that TBS has been an excellent way of allowing him to express it. What makes it so useful is that it's SO ACHEIVABLE. He can more easily transfer his ideas from his mind and into an animation than with any of the other programs we've tried him with."
It has also had a measurable impact on his schooling. "The key impacts include his greater concept of past, present and future tense, an otherwise difficult concept to teach him. Apparently, since working with TBS, this area has improved a great deal. It also has "flexed" his PC skills - we have heard that it's had an effect on how confident he is with the PCs in his "IT" classes. Also, he apparently makes excellent stories - especially the "a day in the life of..." stories, to which he applies his acquired "frame by frame" approach and creates quite interesting and well laid out stories with diagrams."
Overall, Toon Boom Studio Express has proven itself perfect for Villy and Jason's needs and interests. "I hunted down what I believed to be the best value for money, easy to use and feature-rich package I could find. I really believe I couldn't have found anything better than TBS."
Willem's got some fantastic animations - including an animated Toon Boom Studio logo, tributes to the Power Puff Girls and Kirby, as well as many other fun goodies. Check out Willem's animation on the Hattingh's web site!
About Toon Boom Technologies Inc.
Based in Montreal, Canada, Toon Boom Technologies Inc. is the world-leading supplier of animation solutions. Toon Boom Technologies is the parent company of USAnimation, Toon Boom Studio and Toon Boom Studio Express and provides co! nsulting services related to production workflow and productivity. Toon Boom's client base ranges from major studios creating Hollywood blockbuster animated films to individual animators creating their first masterpieces. Market-leading studios using Toon Boom's products include Nelvana, Klasky Csupo, Warner Bros., DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures, Universal, Wild Brain, Mercury Filmworks, Sunwoo, and Cuckoo's Nest, to name a few. Toon Boom Technologies is committed to delivering intuitive and powerful solutions that advance the art of animation for the web, video, TV, wireless and film.
For additional information, visit Toon Boom on the Web at www.toonboom.com
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