Balloon Animals contains tutorials for 5 balloon sculpting techniques, 11 specific balloon sculptures, and a single dollar-bill origami technique (a promotion for the Dollar Origami app sold by the same developer).
While I haven't tested the techniques out on the special balloons required for one of these sculptures (special only in length, not shape), the tutorials take things one step at a time in a straightforward fashion, and the written tips complement the 3D visualizations nicely. Tutorials are also ordered by ascending difficulty, so that if a user starts with the first techniques and moves on one at a time they should be able to learn one new thing with each sculpture.
One potential roadblock is the need for multiple twists in a single step when making sculptures. While the 5 techniques have a hand placement guide integrated into each instructional visualization, that guide is lacking for the 10 sculpture tutorials. As a result, it's hard to visualize how one would keep one twist in place while making others. But I'm sure something as simple as a clothespin would do the trick if difficulty arises.
Pros
- Symbiotic combination of demonstrated and written instructions
- Playback speed and viewing angle can be adjusted for visualizations
Cons
- Constant ad at startup
- Requires special very-long balloons
A good application to learn how to make the animals from balloons. I think my nephews will love it too.
Handy at children's birthday parties, or when preparing for them. But when you've done the preset shapes you want more, so a wider library would be great.