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Students dive into animation at workshop

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Ten teams of N.E.mation! 2020 competitors from the Student Category have been hard at work, producing 30-second animation clips that will be shown on TV, in cinemas and on social media to encourage Singaporeans to put Total Defence into action.

These students, who have no prior experience in animation, have been spending at least eight hours at Nanyang Polytechnic each day, learning how to "make things move on screen".

The workshop, which started on Nov 18, ends tomorrow. Now into its 14th season, N.E.mation! is an inter-school digital animation competition organised by the Ministry of Defence's Nexus and Singapore Press Holdings' creative and content marketing unit Sweet.

The annual competition is open to students aged 13 to 16 for the Student Category, while the Youth Category is open to those aged 17 to 25.

Mrs V.S. Jegan Fernando, 44, an IT consultant, said: "Our daughter Dafni loves challenges and pushing beyond her limits. I can't wait to see the clip produced by her team Ninja Bird."

She had the chance last Friday as she joined other parents at the open house at Nanyang Polytechnic, where the teams showcased their almost-complete clips.

Local animation experts teach the different techniques of animation, taking them through the entire process, from storyboarding to editing.

Also helping them along are long-term N.E.mation! partner Wacom, its Singapore distributor Peripheral Solutions, and home-grown 2D animation software CACANi.

The Japan-based digital technology company is sponsoring the Intuos Pro small pen and tablet on which the students create their drawings.

Designed to maximise precision and control, the Intuos Pro combines Wacom's finest pen capabilities with intuitive multi-touch support.

Michelle Yeo of team PewPewPew from Kent Ridge Secondary School enjoys learning to use CACANi's animation software, which assists animators by generating in-between drawings based on their key drawings.

"It gives me the confidence to draw after just a few days of using it."

The top three teams of both Student and Youth Categories will bag a CACANi software licence each on top of other exciting prizes, including hardware from Wacom.

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