Hello from all of us on the Flipnote Hatena team. This is Aaron at Hatena's offices in Kyoto, Japan with another edition of our weekly news blog.
Earlier this week, we posted the winners of the Flipnote Hatena 1st Anniversary Contest. If you haven't already seen them, please have a look at the link below:
We enjoyed seeing your ideas about the concept of "time" last week, and would like to thank all of you who took part. This week we've chosen a new topic that is based on one of the fundamental concepts of animation called "Squash & Stretch". We hope that taking part in the weekly topic can help you to improve your animation skills, and welcome you to experiment and have fun when you create your Flipnotes.
One of the goals of this news blog is to give you the opportunity to try new things and become better animators, and we hope that the weekly topics and Flipnotes that we feature here can both entertain and inspire you.
New limited edition themes: Sea Life Collection
From now until September 16, 2010 (Thursday), you'll get one chance to win a prize for every 10 stars you exchange for themes in the Color Star Exchange. If you're lucky you might win the weekly limited edition theme.
This week's limited edition theme is "Penguins" which is available until September 16, 2010.
For more information about the Sea Life Collection tap on the "Get Special Themes!" button on the top menu of Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.
This week's new themes
The Flipnote team has created two new Creator's Room themes that are available in the Color Star Exchange this week. Below are some screenshots and details about the new themes.
★ Colorful, fuzzy characters with funny faces. (20 color stars)
★ Swords left in an abandoned wasteland after a great battle. (10 color stars)
The best of last week's topic: "Time"
We've selected some of the best Flipnotes posted from around the world that we hope you'll enjoy.
You can see all of the Flipnotes posted about last week's topic at the URL below (be sure to set your content preference to Worldwide to see Flipnotes from all regions):
You can also see the Flipnotes for last week's topic by entering the command 
via "Command Search" on Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.
Hatena's favorite "Time" Flipnotes from the Europe & Oceania region
★ katt (id:katt2) made this nice Flipnote about how older people want to be younger, and young people want to be older.
★ A young girl ages from youth to old age in this strange and wonderful Flipnote by AGUEDA (id:agueda).
★ We enjoyed this excellent Flipnote by Léon ツ (id:leon14) about a character who teleports through time.
★ A young man waits an eternity as he heats up a hamburger in this Flipnote by Je@n-♭@pt★ (id:jbmasteur)
★ Simon (id:simon-a) explores several types of time in this funny Flipnote.
★ A sleepy character attempts to turn back time in this Flipnote by Joni (id:hattukatti).
Hatena's favorite "Time" Flipnotes from the Americas region
★ Watch a child grow into an old man in this nicely done Flipnote by Sammy (id:GammaX).
★ This Flipnote by gadget (id:gadget01) shows how a city scene changes over the course of one day.
★ SnowyOwl (id:BurrowingOwl208) created this Flipnote about time and love that really impressed us.
★ A student struggles with time in this beautifully drawn Flipnote by Loner (id:MONONOKE).
★ MonkeyKing (id:Xcix) made this great Flipnote about two characters and a device that can alter time.
★ IMaGYMNAST (id:Cailey) created this interesting Flipnote about the changes of nature over time.
Hatena's favorite "Time" Flipnotes from Japan
★ A young girl grows to be a woman in this cute Flipnote by (^△^).
★ Jyun (id:youchan1204884) created this interesting Flipnote about the passing of time at one location.
★ A character has a dreamlike encounter with time in this Flipnote by Yu (id:yu-1123aq)
★ DOKU (id:mika-5936) made this Flipnote that teaches you how to say time in 13 different languages.
★ This Flipnote by K. (id:I-am-K) is an interesting way to express the passage of time.
Peter•J (id:piass-15）created this story about a man who has unexpected encounter with a mouse while having his 3pm snack.
This week's topic: "Squash & Stretch" (9/10/2010 - 9/17/2010)
For this week's topic we would like to create Flipnotes using one of the basic concepts of animation, that is called squash and stretch. Squash and stretch is a technique used by animators to give their animations more realism. This style of drawing gives drawings the illusion of heaviness and elasticity. A good example of squash and stretch can be done with a bouncing ball.
When the bouncing ball hits the ground it deforms and gets squashed, and when is moving quickly it stretches. Try to squash and stretch simple objects, such as a bouncing balls, or faces and have fun adding some flexibility to your Flipnotes.
We're looking forward to seeing your Flipnotes, and will feature some of the best ones next week here in the Flipnote Hatena Weekly News. Post the Flipnotes you create to channel 7 from Flipnote Hatena on your Nintendo DSi.
Also, please do not use copyrighted music in your Flipnotes if you want them to be featured here. Check out some of the sites below for Creative Commons licensable and other royalty free music:
You can see all of the Flipnotes currently posted about this week's topic at the URL below (be sure to set your content preference to Worldwide to see Flipnotes from all regions):
Weekly Frog Sighting
If you are interested in having your frog photo or illustration featured in the "Weekly Frog Sighting" section of the blog please post them on Hatena Haiku and we might feature it here.
Please submit only original photos/illustrations that you have created yourself.
★ This is a nice illustration of a frog with a long tongue that was posted by id:Gabtraf.
★ This is a funny photo of a frog soap pump that was posted by id:a721pikachu.
Please let us know what you think about the Flipnote Hatena Weekly News blog by posting any comments you might have in the box below. Thanks!
★ You can also see comments posted by Nintendo DSi users by viewing the comments for the Flipnote below:
