Hatena::Diary

2012-02-08

February 8, 2012: Hatena Featured Artist - TAK (id:TAKtheAWESOME)

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Welcome to the Hatena Featured Artist section of our blog, where we introduce Flipnote creators from around the world.

We post the Hatena Featured Artist every week on Wednesday, and hope to introduce a variety of different artists that will inspire and entertain you.

Be sure to check here every week to see some of the most amazing artists on Flipnote Hatena. Maybe we'll even feature you someday!

Today's Hatena Featured Artist is TAK (id:TAKtheAWESOME) from the Americas region.

Please tell us about yourself.

Greetings one and all, I am TAK and I am 13 years old. My little brother, Ronnie, who helps me a little on my Flipnotes, is 12 years old. We both live in New York and we are students. And you know what's surprising, I'm the quiet one in the family. Speaking of family, my family is pretty big. I have 3 nieces, 2 sisters, and 6 cousins. Some of my family members say I'm clever and witty.

I was actually asked to join Hatena by a friend of mine, who now lives in Massachusetts. So if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't had made a lot, and I mean, A LOT of good friends.

What are your interests or hobbies, and how do you spend your free time?

My hobbies? Basketball. Basketball's one of my favorite sports and I compete with my friend or classmates every Friday afternoon. I also like playing video games. I mostly like RPGs (Role Playing Games) because you have to use your strategy skills.

One of my interests is robots. Some day in the future, robots will help us with our homework, cleaning the house, and other stuff like that. Every time you wake up in the morning, your robot will say, "GOOD MORNING, MASTER. HOW WAS YOUR SLEEP?". It's going to be a little annoying (Ha ha!).

In my free time, I usually play videos games, draw cartoons, exercise ('cause it's good), take a nap, or look at other Flipnotes by some creators.

Please introduce some of your best Flipnotes, and tell us why you like them.

Usually my Flipnotes takes about 1-4 hours when it comes to animating. When it comes to drawing, it takes me about 30 minutes. I keep a journal to keep track of how much time it takes me to make a Flipnote and where I get the idea from.

★ 'Alien Wants Sweets' - This is one of my Flipnotes I like. The alien speaks backwards. Everyone loved it, especially my parents.

★ 'Sweet Dreams' - This was based on a real dream I had the day before I posted it. I can tell you, it was a good dream.

★ I also loved 'Shrink Ray'. It took my 3 HOURS to make this. Wow! We both talked about fictional stuff, then when Ronnie said 'Shrink', I had the idea.

★ The sequel to 'Shrink Ray': 'Shrink BAND'. This also took me 3 hours. A friend of mine really loved 'Shrink Ray', so I decided, 'How 'bout shrink band?'

★ This Flipnote was the first to be featured in the Weekly News, and is called 'Family Tree'. This took me 3 hours to make. This is not based on my real family tree.

★ This Flipnote, 'Sticky Situation', was also featured in the Weekly News. This took me, surprisingly, an hour to make. When I saw the weekly topic saying 'Sticky', the first thing that came to my mind was gum.

★ Last, but not least, 'Robots'. This took me 3 hours to make. I love robots, so I decided to make this Flipnote.


What techniques or skills are you especially good at in your Flipnotes?

My techniques? Well right now I am trying to make my characters flip and run. I know how to make my characters walk, punch, go SPLAT, turn his head, and speak (lip-sync). Sometimes, doing these techniques made me wonder how Butch Hartman does it.

What are some techniques or skills that you wish to improve?

Someday, I'll try to make my characters move at different angles. I will also make backgrounds instead of making the backgrounds blank. And I will try to draw and animate animals, like dogs and cats and lions and tigers and bears (Oh my!).

Please introduce some of your favorite Flipnote artists

★ One of my favorite artists here on Flipnote Hatena is SnowyOwl (id:BurrowingOwl208). He's awesome and I'm kind of proud of him for being really original. Sometimes his Flipnotes made me wonder, 'Why didn't I think of that?' He's great. :)

★ I also like the Flipnotes by Bo (id:bovegas). This guy is very good at animating. Not only that he can animate humans, but he can also make clever stuff. ...HOW DOES HE DO IT?!

★ Another one of my favorite artists is Limelight (id:Limelight). He's so original and to be honest, he can animate much better than me. Even his 5 second Flipnotes are hilarious and I can't stop watching them. I can tell he's into video games.

★ I'm amazed at how Thomas (id:tomf-96) turned from making stick figures dance to making humans jump. Even I can't draw or animate a human that well. Thomas, who or what inspired you? 'Cause your animating skills are awesome, no doubt.

Here are some of my other favorite artists:

fred (id:blankenburg)

Epic (id:EpicGuitar)

MdM (id:MdMbunny)

gizmo (id:kingboo7)

Anthony (id:MarioAndSonicLover)

STARWARS#1 (id:sith2565)

Niffian (id:Niffian)

Is there something you would like to say to the Flipnote Hatena community?

Well first off all, I would like to say that I am honored to be Flipnote Hatena's Featured Artist. Thank you. I would also like to give a tip to make your Flipnotes better. Watch some cartoons. Study, the movements, the facial expressions, etc. Also study actors movements and gestures.

Flipnote Hatena is a site where you can share your Flipnotes with the world, not to beg for stars ('Please add stars if ......').

Entertaining your fans is more important than begging for stars. Don't copy anyone's Flipnote and claim it as your own. That's wrong. Because other creators will comment and say, 'YOU STOLE THIS FROM (original creator)!'. If you keep doing that, you'll probably become Flipnote Hatena's Public Enemy #1.

That's all the advice I can give to you. Thanks to the Hatena Staff for interviewing me, and I hope you guys have a great year.

Click here to check out all of the Flipnotes by TAK (id:TAKtheAWESOME)

Thanks for checking out the Hatena Featured Artist, and please let us know any feedback that you have in the box below. Also, please be sure to check out Flipnotes by the creator we interviewed here, and show them your support with your stars and comments!

はてなハイク

2012-02-03

February 3, 2012: Flipnote Hatena Weekly News

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Hello, this is Aaron at Hatena in Kyoto with another edition of the weekly news.

Today there is a festival in Japan called Setsubun, which marks the coming of spring. On Setsubun people wear demon masks and throw soybeans to ward off evil spirits. You can see some Setsubun inspired Flipnotes in our selections from Japan this week.

In other news, for the next two weeks we are offering 20% extra color stars for purchases made with Rixty at Hatena.com. Keep reading to find out more about this great new campaign.

We also have a fun new topic this week that offers many creative possibilities. Get out your stylus, tap on Flipnote Studio and get started making some new Flipnotes!

Along with the Flipnotes that we have selected in the news this week, you can also see some more of our favorites in the 'Hatena Recommends' channel at the URL below:

Hatena Recommends

Thanks for checking out the news blog, from all of us at Hatena.

Buy Hatena Color Stars with Rixty: 20% Bonus Campaign!

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We are pleased to expand our payment options by adding Rixty, the leading cash-based payment platform for games and digital content.

Got cash or coins? Buy Hatena Color Stars using Rixty!

From today until February 15, 2012 you will get 20% extra Hatena Color Stars if you make a purchase on Hatena.com using Rixty. For more information please click on the link below:

Buy Hatena Color Stars with Rixty: 20% Bonus Campaign!

Flipnote of the Week

★ Duck for cover in this action-packed animation by Otogen (id:otogen) from Japan.

The best of the last week's topic: 'Masks'

There were over 600 Flipnotes posted about last week's topic, and here are some of our favorites from around the world.

You can see all of the Flipnotes posted about last week's topic by clicking on the link below (be sure to set your content preference to Worldwide to see Flipnotes from all regions):

Weekly Topic: Masks

'Mask' Flipnotes from the Americas region

★ Check out the action in this cool Flipnote by GIGANTOR (id:Fuddy-Duddy).

★ Laugh out loud with this animation by ¡EnCiSo! (id:Enciso).

★ We liked the sound effects of this funny Flipnote by △MASABEAR△ (id:ButterBear).

★ Watch this Flipnote by Hannah (id:lymegirl97) and see vivid expressions follow one another.

★ Is it a mask? We do not know, but this Flipnote by cosmasque (id:cosmasque) does look really cute.

★ We wonder what is beneath all the masks in this Flipnote by T.O.Y (id:Trippel-M).

'Mask' Flipnotes from the Europe and Oceania region

★ You will be taking the stairs after watching this Flipnote by geezer (id:geezerdk).

★ We enjoyed this neat combination of pictures and drawings by Barry (id:BarryX).

Rose_girl (id:RedroseGirl) made fun out of the super-hero in her Flipnote.

★ Enjoy watching this painful but hilarious situation by josecandel (id:goomer).

Funny Sun (id:FunnySun) made this great Flipnote with the Nintendo DSi Camera application.

★ We liked the smooth changes in this liquid-like animation by GRIBOUILLE (id:GRIBOUILLE).

'Mask' Flipnotes from Japan

★ A demon tries to disguise himself so nobody will throw beans at him, by Johnny3 (id:a3735963).

★ We hope there will be a sequel to this amazing Flipnote by Foomin (id:wrbyno10).

★ Is the princess in this Flipnote by Pekira (id:pekira9074) really the princess she appears to be?

★ In this animation by Hanta-san (id:yppah) aliens are visiting earth in search of curry and rice.

★ This Flipnote by Itokichikun (id:wakasuga) made us smile!

★ We really enjoyed this animation about shopping for a mask by Izumi (id:izumi-v).

New Creator's Room Themes

The designers at Flipnote Hatena have created two great new Creator's Room themes. For more information please visit the Color Star Exchange by tapping on 'Get new themes!' on Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.

★ This cute theme features some smiling pancakes. (10 color stars)

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★This theme features a dragon soaring through the sky. (10 color stars)

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This week's topic: 'Coins'

Coins are something that almost everyone has in their pocket. This week we would like you to create animations that somehow include coins. Create stories about flipping coins to make decisions, chasing coins that you have dropped, searching for coins with metal detectors, or animate some coins with the Nintendo DSi Camera application. We welcome any kind of Flipnote for the weekly topic as long as it features some coins.

Please submit your weekly topic Flipnotes by midnight on February 9, 2012 (Thursday) US Pacific Time, and we will present some of our favorites on February 10, 2012 (Friday).

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 Topic: Coins

Frog Sightings

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.

id:SarhA made this cool drawing of the Flipnote Frog sitting on a lilypad.

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Feedback

What did you think about the weekly news this week? Let us know by telling us your feedback in the box below.

You can read comments posted by Nintendo DSi users by viewing the Flipnote below:

Hatena Haiku

2012-02-02

Buy Hatena Color Stars with Rixty: 20% Bonus Campaign!

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Got cash or coins? Buy Hatena Color Stars using Rixty!

We are pleased to expand our payment options by adding Rixty, the leading cash-based payment platform for games and digital content.

20% Bonus Color Stars Campaign!

From now until February 15, 2012 you can get 20% extra Hatena Color Stars if you make a purchase on Hatena.com using Rixty.

For more information please visit the Hatena Color Star Shop.

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No credit card? No problem! With Rixty, you can use cash and coins to buy Hatena Color Stars, or you can pay online using your bank account.

There are no fees to use Rixty, and no personal information is required.

To buy Hatena Color Stars with cash:

Exchange your cash & coins for a prepaid card or voucher at nearly 500,000 locations worldwide, including Coinstar kiosks in the US.

You can also purchase Ukash vouchers at over 275,000 retail stores in 22 countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

  • 1. Click here to find the retailer or Coinstar machine nearest you.
  • 2. Visit the store and buy a prepaid card or voucher with cash. Rixty’s helpful online instructions show you exactly how!
  • 3. Login to www.hatena.com and begin the purchase process; choose Rixty as your payment option.
  • 4. Enter the code on your card or voucher, and follow the instructions to complete your purchase.

To buy Hatena Color Stars using your bank account:

  • 1. Login to www.hatena.com and begin the purchase process.
  • 2. Choose Rixty as your payment option, then select Bank Transfer (available worldwide) or eBillme Online Billpay (available in the US).
  • 3. Follow the on-screen instructions. When the transfer is made, you’ll be notified and directed to return and complete your purchase.

For more information about Rixty, visit www.rixty.com/learnmore.