e.g., a toothbrush, a car, a coke bottle, etc.
Factors in choosing a character
e.g., to pop a word in/out of the screen, to sparkle a logo -> to draw attention
e.g., put up one character at a time like a typewriter e.g., "pulsing" - the word grows/shrinks (or changes color) a few times
Note: Do not slowly move entire line of text, they are not readable. Instead, for example, slide the bullets in and out.
+: more powerful than still images
+: often easier to obtain than graphics animation
-: takes a lot of disk space
-: sometimes needs special hardware
"A leaf doesn't flutter if the wind doesn't blow."Only animate when it has a specific purpose
e.g., dove softly flapping its wings -> peace
e.g., air bag explosion + dummy movements -> car crash.
e.g., show insertion of a memory chip onto the motherboard (much better than a diagram) e.g., Microsoft Golf (instructional)
e.g., "pulsing" words (in and out of screen) adds emphasis
e.g., clock/hourglass -> program still running e.g., animated text -> to prompt for interaction/response