Alice Workshop
Problem Solving
with Alice 2 & Friends
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Traditional Problem Solving Strategy





Read and understand a problem or task
specification
Design a solution (develop an algorithm)
Implement (write code)
Test
Revise, as needed
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Alice Problem Solving Strategy
Problem Statement
Understand
the
problem
Design a
solution
Test
Implement
the design
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Step 1: Understand the Problem
Problem Statement
Identify the objects
(characters / props)
Identify the actions
Understand
the problem
Implement
the design
Design a
solution
Implement
the design
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Alice problem
Design and implement an animation to
create a film-short that tells this story (based
on a Garfield® comic strip).
Garfield and Odie are sitting at a table. The
table has plates and other items, similar to a
outdoor picnic table. Odie turns to look at the
camera. A vibrating sound is heard and Garfield
shakes. A second vibrating sound is heard and
Odie shakes. This vibration & shake action
repeats. Finally, Jon peeks in and asks Garfield
and Odie to stop texting one another. Garfield
and Odie look at one another and then continue
texting!
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Read & Understand
 Design and implement an animation based
on the following:
Garfield and Odie are sitting at a table and Odie is facing
Garfield. Odie turns to look at the camera. A vibrating
sound is heard and Garfield vibrates. A second vibrating
sound is heard and Odie vibrates. Then, Garfield and
Odie vibrate at the same time. Finally, Jon peeks in and
asks Garfield and Odie to stop texting one another.
Garfield and Odie look at one another and then continue
texting!
Red – objects
Green - actions
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Step 2: Design
Problem Statement
Understand
the problem
Set up the scene
Test the
code
Design a
solution
Develop an algorithm
(storyboard)
Implement
the design
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Design tool
To create a design, we borrow the idea of
storyboards from professional animators at Disney,
Pixar, etc.
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Visual Frames
Sketch and a description of the action.
Each successive frame is for a major
action in the story/game.
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Resource
In Day1/Resources folder
 Storyboard_template.pdf
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Textual Storyboard
Algorithm
Do in order
odie turns to look at the camera
vibrations: garfield, then odie, then together
jon asks them to quit texting
garfield and odie continue
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
world.my first method
When Play button is clicked, my first
method runs (executes).
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Create a comment
Comments
 Are not executed when a program runs
 Explain the programmer’s intent
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Enter a string
A “string” is a sequence of symbols
(alphabetic, numeric, special chars)
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Algorithm
Continue, one comment per each line of
the algorithm (storyboard)
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Setting up a scene
We will set up the scene, step-by-step
Scene Preview:
Note: Jon is off-camera (to our right as we view
the scene).
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Select Template
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Toggle to scene editor
Click on Add Objects button
Toggles from code editor to scene editor
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Using the Gallery
The Gallery contains 3D models for
creating objects in a scene.
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
A 3D model is a class
• Each class defines a type of object
An object is a new instance of the class
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Add Garfield
From the Garfield gallery, add a instance
of the Garfield class.
Two options
1) Drag n’drop
2) Single-click on thumbnail and
then the Add Instance button
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Object tile in object
tree
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Object properties
Object with bounding box
Orientation
Objects



are positioned in 3-D space
have a sense of orientation
have six directions of motion
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Mouse Controls
 Mouse controls change the way the mouse is
used to reposition objects in the world.
 White arrow is the default mouse control
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Undo
The Undo button “backs up” one step
Can be clicked more than once… to undo
more than one step.
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Put it back!
Always remember to put the mouse
control tile back into default icon (white
arrow) before going to next action.
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Your turn
Add an Odie object
Use mouse to turn garfield and odie so
they are both in the center of the scene and
facing you. (Does not have to be precise.)
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater
Save the world
 Use File/Save As for the first save.
 Select a location where the file will be
saved
 user account
 desktop
 USB drive
Copyright 2011
Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater