This week was it…
The week of showcase, and the week of installation.
The beginning of the week was spent mostly getting ready for showcase, but we also made sure to send the PCs to the village. In hindsight, we should have prepared the computers and sent them sooner. Since it was so close to the installation date, we had to rush the PCs and overnight ship them. They got there in time, which was wonderful, but a major lesson we learned was to make sure to prep and send the PCs at least a week ahead of time.
We got the completed animation and it turned out wonderful!
Showcase was a lot of fun! There were not too many children, so it was more of showing off the project and less about testing.
After showcase, we found out the PCs had made it to the village safely (phew) and everything that we needed for installation had come in on time. We left for Kissimmee on Friday and the second we landed, we went straight to the Give Kids The World Village. We were asked to do the main installation at night so that there were no disturbances during the day. For the first night, we installed the new computers, modified the project build, and cleaned behind the tree.
We spent the day at the village on the second day. We were able to get feedback from volunteers on operating the Pillow Tree, and see how children reacted to Buttons. The volunteers asked that we change it so that rather than using a remote, it would just run through automatically. We also learned from playtesting with the volunteers that having the ability to switch scenes at the touch of their finger constantly, is too much power and can easily repeat and skip scenes. That day we also made sure to cut and drill into the tree so that we could add the doorbell and extra language switches on the side. As we were setting up the DMX lights for the show, we noticed something: the lights that are currently there were broken and could only show red light. We ran over the nearest Guitar Center and bought 3 new DMX lights for the village. This was not something we had planned for at all, but it was something that we were prepared to do. We got help installing the lights once we got back to the village, and were able to set them up immediately. That night we installed all the new buttons, finalized the build, and touched up the physical tree with some spray glue and burlap. We are not sure how long the new decorations will last, we don’t expect for very long, but we are hoping it makes the tree more appealing and gives Buttons a comfortable home.
Finally, on day 3 we made backups for the backup computer, playtested one last time, handed off documentation, and said goodbye to Buttons. We could not have pulled off this installation without everyone who helped us at the village. Everyone there was so eager and willing to help us, which is something that we really appreciate. Every child that we were able to see experience this show was smiling by the end of it. We are so proud of what we have created and hope that it functions and stays in the village for as long as possible.
To everyone that has helped us: thank you!!!! We could not have done this without you! 