Unlock the block: next costume
By: Valerie I
This post is the second in our Unlock the Block series, where we’ll help you unlock the magic behind some of the blocks in the Scratch editor. This series will also showcase some pretty impressive projects from our inventive Scratchers. By the end of this series, we hope to inspire you to create more of the things you want to see in the world.
What do alien musicians, flying llamas, and epic dance parties all have in common? A next costume block! This month we will teach you how to use this block to animate your sprites.
What is the Next Costume Block?
The next costume block is located in the Looks block panel and can be found in many animation scripts where sprites showcase a wide range of movements or expressions. When used, the block allows you to transition the selected sprite’s costume to the next one in the Costumes pane.
When selecting a sprite from the library, you’ll notice that some come equipped with various costumes like walking, dancing, flying, and much more.
But have you ever been curious about how to customize your sprite’s costumes? Today you can; let’s unlock the block!
Unlocking the block:
- Pick a sprite from the sprite library to begin creating
- Select the next costume block from the Looks panel
- Navigate from the Code tab to the Costumes tab to view the sprite’s costumes
- Delete the costumes you don’t want
- Right-click or long-press on the costume, then select the “duplicate” option
- Select the portion of the sprite that you wish to animate
- Use the tools within the Costumes tab to customize the sprite’s costume
- Navigate back to the Code tab to begin building on your code with blocks like the forever and wait blocks
- Continue with more costumes to make your animation as seamless as possible
Need more help?
Watch how the Director of Scratch Lab uses the next costume block to animate a fox!
Scratcher Inspiration
Check out how these Scratchers used the next costume block to reimagine the world around them.
For Scratcher alliebean, aliens are not only real, but they are apparently really good musicians too. Click to see how they used the next costume block to start the coolest band of aliens you’ll ever see.
What’s a dance party without the hottest moves? Scratcher meurpTV used the next costume block in this project to go on an epic dance tour.
Some of us may see birds and planes when we look up at the sky, but Scratcher -Favabeans- envisions skies with llamas! They used the next costume block to paint the sky with a flying llama!
Let’s see those costumes!
Now that you’ve unlocked the block, we want to see those costumes. Tag us in your creations on Twitter @Scratch!
