Difference between revisions of "BBC Mixital"
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'''BBC Mixital''' was a site allowing users to create their own games, cartoons, music videos and stories. Often, but not always, these creations would be themed around a BBC television property (for example, the section for [https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/doctor-who-fanfiction Dr Who fan-fiction]). | '''BBC Mixital''' was a site allowing users to create their own games, cartoons, music videos and stories. Often, but not always, these creations would be themed around a BBC television property (for example, the section for [https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/doctor-who-fanfiction Dr Who fan-fiction]). | ||
In April 2019 the BBC [https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/internet/entries/dbb0e8f3-818a-47cf-875f-75025a3721cb announced] that Mixital was to be closed, citing "We’ve learned a number of valuable lessons that we’ll share internally and with partners, but we feel the time is right to take these lessons and explore how we might apply them in other ways online."<ref name="faqs">https://www.mixital.co.uk/faqs</ref> | In April 2019 the BBC [https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/internet/entries/dbb0e8f3-818a-47cf-875f-75025a3721cb announced] that Mixital was to be closed, citing "We’ve learned a number of valuable lessons that we’ll share internally and with partners, but we feel the time is right to take these lessons and explore how we might apply them in other ways online."<ref name="faqs">{{URL|https://www.mixital.co.uk/faqs}}</ref> | ||
From April 2019 the ability to publish new creations on the website has been removed. New users | From April 2019 the ability to publish new creations on the website has been removed. New users were also unable to create an account. The content remained online until April 2020 when it "will no longer be publicly available".<ref name="faqs" /> It disappeared sometime between April 1 AM and April 2 AM (UTC+1 time).<ref>#missitall: <@betamax> it was online in the AM of April 1st. Offline in the AM of April 2nd (those are GMT+1 times)</ref> | ||
== Discovery and API == | == Discovery and API == |
Revision as of 22:23, 6 April 2020
BBC Mixital | |
URL | https://www.mixital.co.uk/ |
Status | Offline |
Archiving status | Partially saved |
Archiving type | Unknown |
IRC channel | #missitall (on hackint) |
Project lead | Orldow6 |
BBC Mixital was a site allowing users to create their own games, cartoons, music videos and stories. Often, but not always, these creations would be themed around a BBC television property (for example, the section for Dr Who fan-fiction).
In April 2019 the BBC announced that Mixital was to be closed, citing "We’ve learned a number of valuable lessons that we’ll share internally and with partners, but we feel the time is right to take these lessons and explore how we might apply them in other ways online."[1]
From April 2019 the ability to publish new creations on the website has been removed. New users were also unable to create an account. The content remained online until April 2020 when it "will no longer be publicly available".[1] It disappeared sometime between April 1 AM and April 2 AM (UTC+1 time).[2]
Discovery and API
In the shutdown announcement, the BBC stated that Mixital contains "more than one million ... creations".[3]
- Search: https://www.mixital.co.uk/api/search/results?term=&term=&sort=newest&channelId=0&perPage=12&yawfMod=1&over16=1&page=1
- Content: https://www.mixital.co.uk/dmk/digitalmake/play/731
- View count: https://www.mixital.co.uk/api/digitalmake/view/731
- Comments: https://www.mixital.co.uk/digitalmake/731/comments?page=1
- Member’s “makes”: https://www.mixital.co.uk/fetchdom/public-published-makes?member=29239&displayPublic=true&page=1&sort=desc
Please Note: digitalmake's seem to only be indexed by upload order, there is no guarantee that a specific upload will be for a particular app the Channels bellow provides a list of possible content you might come across.
Range of Content
The type of content on Mixital varies wildly. Some items, such as fanfiction will likely be fairly simple to archive. Other content, such as the dancing robots will likely require effort to reverse engineer the JavaScript and requests used to make the creation "work".
It should also be noted that most of these communities also contain blog-style articles, usually providing writing advice such as can be seen here.
Channels
Mixital is split into about 20 or so "channels" each with their own content-creation interface.
BBC Young Reporter - Video Reports
Available at https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/youngreporter
Description:
"Find your voice with BBC Young Reporter! If you're aged between 11-18 years old, make and share the stories that matter to you! Learn how to make your film and upload it here"
Format:
A small page with an amateur video news report, a description, video uploader and view count.
Videos are publicly accessible both from the page they're posted on but also by direct URL:
https://www.mixital.co.uk/images-s3/{uploader-id}/57/DD-Mmm-YYYY/HH-MM-SS/media.mp4
ex. https://www.mixital.co.uk/images-s3/czgzvgbmlp/57/15-Mar-2019/14-23-40/media.mp4
Note: Some pages might be missing their videos.
BBC Young Reporter - Written Reports
Available at https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/write-with-youngreporter
Description:
Written reports for the BBC Young Reporter program.
Format:
A small page with an image box which leads to the pop-up report, a description, content uploader (can be an institution such as a school) and view count.
The contents of the pop-up text report may be copied to clip-board as-is, or optionally exported as a PDF.
BBC Young Reporter - Images
https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/young-reporter-images
Description:
JPEG images for the BBC Young Reporter program.
Format:
A small page with a photo, a description, uploader and view count.
Direct links to the photos also exist but seem to have their URL generated based on something akin to upload id, making retrieval non-trivial.
BBC The Social
Available at https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/the-social
Description:
Short scripts/scenarios for creative writing.
Format:
A small page with an image box which leads to the pop-up report, a description, content uploader (can be an institution such as a school) and view count.
The contents of the pop-up text report may be copied to clip-board as-is, or optionally exported as a PDF.
BBC Introducing: Vizii
Available at https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/bbc-introducing-vizii
Description:
A fun tool for adding visuals (hence the name Vizii) to songs. Users can also edit the song they're currently listening to, although export or "remixing" are no longer possible as new accounts can't be opened. That being said it's possible to play around and screen-cap for anyone willing to document this.
Format:
A small page with an image box which leads to an HTML-5 canvas which displays the Vizii content, a description, content uploader (can be an institution such as a school) and view count.
The Vizii player is loaded into the canvas and seems to make an access to a blob database to retrieve the contents for a particular submission. Seeing as it might be difficult to fully emulate this infrastructure it's worth opting to just record the canvas content as a video (which requires a screen recorder as there isn't an option for downloading).
Ten Pieces: SuperConductor
Status: Saved!
Available at https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/ten-pieces-vizii
Description:
An "expansion pack" for Vizii with different art assets to choose from. Other features appear to be more or less identical.
Format:
A small page with an image box which leads to an HTML-5 canvas which displays the Vizii content, a description, content uploader (can be an institution such as a school) and view count.
The Vizii player is loaded into the canvas and seems to make an access to a blob database to retrieve the contents for a particular submission. Seeing as it might be difficult to fully emulate this infrastructure it's worth opting to just record the canvas content as a video (which requires a screen recorder as there isn't an option for downloading).
Doctor Who: FanFiction
Available at https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/doctor-who-fanfiction
Description:
Doctor Who fan fiction.
Format:
A small page with an image box which leads to the pop-up report, a description, content uploader (can be an institution such as a school) and view count.
The contents of the pop-up text report may be copied to clip-board as-is, or optionally exported as a PDF.
Class: FanFiction
Available at https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/class-fanfiction
Description:
Class (BBC, 2016 series) fan fiction.
Format:
A small page with an image box which leads to the pop-up report, a description, content uploader (can be an institution such as a school) and view count.
The contents of the pop-up text report may be copied to clip-board as-is, or optionally exported as a PDF.
Jane Austen: Fan Fiction
Available at https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/jane-austen-fan-fiction
Description:
Fan fiction based on the characters of 18th-19th century author Jane Austen.
Format:
A small page with an image box which leads to the pop-up report, a description, content uploader (can be an institution such as a school) and view count.
The contents of the pop-up text report may be copied to clip-board as-is, or optionally exported as a PDF.
Magical Worlds With Harry Potter
Available at https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/magic-with-harry-potter
Description:
Harry Potter fan fiction.
Format:
A small page with an image box which leads to the pop-up report, a description, content uploader (can be an institution such as a school) and view count.
The contents of the pop-up text report may be copied to clip-board as-is, or optionally exported as a PDF.
Writersroom:The Script Gym
Available at https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/writersroom
Description:
Short scripts/scenarios for creative writing, similar to The Social, except seemingly meant for older audiences.
Format:
A small page with an image box which leads to the pop-up report, a description, content uploader (can be an institution such as a school) and view count.
The contents of the pop-up text report may be copied to clip-board as-is, or optionally exported as a PDF.
Contains: FLANEUR
Available at https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/contains-strong-language
Description:
FLANEUR or the Fabulous Literary Automated Numerical Engine for Unlimited Roaming generates a random sequence of instructions/directions to send the user off on a journey. The idea is to then write something based on emotions invoked by the sights the user has come across on this journey.
Format:
A small page with an image box which leads to the pop-up report, a description, content uploader (can be an institution such as a school) and view count.
The contents of the pop-up text report may be copied to clip-board as-is, or optionally exported as a PDF.
BBC Three Top Ten Comedy Kit
Status: Saved!
Available at https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/top-ten-comedy-kit
Description:
A drag-and-drop comic maker. Inspired by the aptly named BBC Three web-series "Top Ten" users can drag figures and dialogue boxes to create slide-show cartoons.
Format:
A small page with an image box which leads to an HTML-5 canvas which displays the Top Ten Comedy Kit content, a description, content uploader (can be an institution such as a school) and view count.
The player is loaded into the canvas and seems to make an access to a blob database to retrieve the contents for a particular submission, akin to Vizii. Seeing as it might be difficult to fully emulate this infrastructure it's worth opting to just record the canvas content as a video (which requires a screen recorder as there isn't an option for downloading).
EastEnders: Soap Factory
Status: Saved!
Available at https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/eastenders-soap-factory
Description:
Make East-Enders stories similar to Episode. A drag-and-drop comic maker much like Top Ten Comedy Kit, users can drag figures and dialogue boxes to create slide-show cartoons.
Format:
A small page with an image box which leads to an HTML-5 canvas which displays the Top Ten Comedy Kit content, a description, content uploader (can be an institution such as a school) and view count.
The player is loaded into the canvas and seems to make an access to a blob database to retrieve the contents for a particular submission, akin to Vizii. Seeing as it might be difficult to fully emulate this infrastructure it's worth opting to just record the canvas content as a video (which requires a screen recorder as there isn't an option for downloading).
Includes a Built-in PDF and GIF exporter, simply watch anything until the end to get the option to export.
Wolf Jenkins StoryTeller
Status: Saved!
Available at: https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/wolf-jenkins
Description:
Another drag-and-drop comic maker. Inspired by the aptly named Wolf Jenkins web-series, users can drag figures and dialogue boxes to create slide-show cartoons.
Format:
A small page with an image box which leads to an HTML-5 canvas which displays the Top Ten Comedy Kit content, a description, content uploader (can be an institution such as a school) and view count.
The player is loaded into the canvas and seems to make an access to a blob database to retrieve the contents for a particular submission, akin to Vizii. Seeing as it might be difficult to fully emulate this infrastructure it's worth opting to just record the canvas content as a video (which requires a screen recorder as there isn't an option for downloading).
Includes a Built-in PDF and GIF exporter, simply watch anything until the end to get the option to export.
A.Dot's Trashbag Tuesday
Status: Saved!
Available at https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/trashbag-tuesday
Description:
Amplify Dot's Trashbag Tuesday is yet another drag-and-drop comic maker much like the Top Ten Comedy Kit and in terms of features and layout appears to be the latest edition. Users can drag figures and dialogue boxes to create slide-show cartoons.
Format:
A small page with an image box which leads to an HTML-5 canvas which displays the Top Ten Comedy Kit content, a description, content uploader (can be an institution such as a school) and view count.
The player is loaded into the canvas and seems to make an access to a blob database to retrieve the contents for a particular submission, akin to Vizii. Seeing as it might be difficult to fully emulate this infrastructure it's worth opting to just record the canvas content as a video (which requires a screen recorder as there isn't an option for downloading).
Includes a Built-in PDF and GIF exporter, simply watch anything until the end to get the option to export.
Big Painting Challenge
Status: Saved!
https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/big-painting-challenge-images
ART PICTURES
Fortysix: Bring Ideas to life
https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/accelerate-your-idea
PROTOTYPE DESIGNS
Gold Rush Game Maker
https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/gold-rush-game-maker
A level editor for a third person top-down shooter.
Strictly: Robo-Dancers
https://www.mixital.co.uk/channel/strictly-robo-dancers
Pick a robot and give it a rag-doll dance.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.mixital.co.uk/faqs[IA•Wcite•.today•MemWeb]
- ↑ #missitall: <@betamax> it was online in the AM of April 1st. Offline in the AM of April 2nd (those are GMT+1 times)
- ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/internet/entries/dbb0e8f3-818a-47cf-875f-75025a3721cb