Animating Communication Models

My first attempt with animation helped me gain a little bit more experience with Leonar3do. For my communication theory scene I created three sets of a cone, two different colored rectangles, a yellow tube, and a ball to fit the tube. Each set represents the elements that can be used to depict communication as action, interaction, and transaction. One rectangle is the sender, one is the receiver, the tube represents the channel of communication between them, and the ball is the message. The cone is used to manipulate the level the rectangles rest at in order to show how the "message" would fall. Here comes the benefit of the animation tools within Leo because I can now show the actual trajectory of the message ball as it is intended to be displayed. For communication as action, the cone sits under the sender block so it is higher than the receiver block, and then the tube rest atop it. Then the green ball falls from the receiver side down to the sender side. To visualize communication as interaction, the cone just can be shifted back and forth from the receiver and sender as they send messages to each other one after the other. Finally, the transaction model places the cone under the tube so that it teeters between the receiver and sender, causing the ball (message) to move precariously between the two.

When it came to the logistics of the animation functions, I struggled a bit at first, but I think that was mostly because I missed our group meeting when Dr. Carlson went over the basics. After a short tutorial video, I finally started to get the hang of it. In Drew's previous post he mentions the inconvenience of having to switch away from the animation toolbar to access other functions, and I agree with his frustrations. I am more used to how Adobe programs are set up with the ability to view multiple task windows at one time and prefer working that way.