OFTEN computer users are happy to achieve their end using just one piece of software. But to create high quality and sophisticated results it may be necessary to use several programs in combination to get the desired effect...

So it was with Vallajeelt Year 2 and their ‘Olympic Posters’. The main brief was to introduce them and their teachers to the remarkable 3-dimensional drawing program Google Sketchup. But the aim of the task was to make something that would link to the ‘Olympic’ theme of the week.

And so it was that Year 2 began by creating 3-D logos in Sketchup, ‘interesting’ lettering in Comic Life, then combining these in Apple’s Pages.

Doing all this required the use of many, many techniques, including basic copy and paste to more complex selective screen shots, ‘instant alpha’ - not to mention 3-D drawing in the first place.

The Olympic ‘rings’ were relatively straightforward, as was the creation of a 3-D ‘podium’. Next up though was a 3-D rendering of the 2012 London ‘graffiti’ logo, traced from the original in Sketchup. (Year 6 had done something similar last week but using the animation tool iCanAnimate).

Next, Year 2 used Comic Life to make exciting display text for their poster. As well as providing access to numerous bold typefaces, this program also allows it to be transformed and manipulated.

Next these ‘assets’ from Sketchup and Comic Life had to be combined using a page layout document - Apple’s Pages. The Comic Life lettering was simply copied and pasted. Dead easy...

But the Sketchup work needed more effort. Several methods were on offer, but the opportunity was taken to show the children and their teachers how to do a ‘selective screen shot’, copying a portion of the screen to the computer’s clipboard, before pasting it onto the final poster.

The downside of this is that the graphic copied is often accompanied by a rectangle of unwanted background. The good news is that the superb ‘instant alpha’ tool in the iLife/iWork software can be used to easily render this background transparent. Great for overlaying graphics on top of each other.

After all this work, some of the completed posters were printed out on the computerbus colour printer, (earlier in the day another Year 2 group printed their ‘skyscrapers’), and the folders of work were transferred to the school’s server for more work in school.

Meanwhile, in the hall a substantial display of all the computerbus work has been put together by Mrs Asbridge in the hall - with the poster boards done up to look like computer screens - complete with OSX ‘Docks’ complete with all the program icons.

Superb! Well done children - well done teachers!

Tomorrow - Year 1 and data handling...