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Position:Home>Visual Arts> How do I make a stop-motion film?Question: How do I make a stop-motion film!? My son is fascinated by the stop-motion films he has seen on YouTube -- ones where people use Lego or Playmobil people, they can be quite sophisticated!. I think he would like to dabble in this himself, but I don't know what kind of camera we need!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: If you're just starting out, don't use a digital camera, there's a sh itload of problems you need to overcome when using a digital camera for stop motion!. A good webcam or camcorder is much easier to use for novice stop motion animators!. Using digital cameras for stop motion is still in its infancy, and the majority of point and click cameras are terrible and not suitable at all for animation purposes!. Absolute manual controls are necessary when using a digital camera, otherwise your white balance and automatic focus on your camera will keep changing from image to image, which will royally screw up your shot!. Plus, an AC power adapter is necessary since stop motion takes a long time to shoot!. If your battery runs out in the middle of your shot, as soon as you pick up the camera to recharge/change batteries, you've screwed up your entire shot!. Even with a camera that has manual settings, digital cameras have flicker problems when used for stop motion due to incandescent electrical lighting which buzzes and fluxes!. also, the majority of digital cameras (especially point and click ones) will not be recognized by stop motion frame-grabbing software!. As such, it's preferable to use a high-end webcam or a camcorder with a usb or firewire connection!. But if you must use a digital camera, remember these things: 1!.Camera should be on all manual settings!. No white balance, no flash, no autofocus!. If your camera has an auto shutdown option, turn that off too!. 2!.If you can avoid pressing the button on your camera to take the pictures, that's good!. If you've got a Canon or Nikon that comes with Remote Capture software, use it!. Even if your camera is on a tripod, pressing the button on your camera with your finger will still most likely cause your camera to move slightly, and it will be noticeable when you play your finished movie!. For any specific questions, you should check out http://www!.stopmotionanimation!.com It's a message board filled with stop motion animators helping eachother out!. They even have a handbook section that has basic answers and info on a variety of stop motion topics (armatures, sets, cameras, etc) http://www!.stopmotionanimation!.com/handb!.!.!. There's also a community of Lego animators that help eachother out at http://www!.brickfilms!.com/ To actually frame-grab and compile the movie, I'd suggest using Monkeyjam if you're on a PC!. It's free!. http://www!.giantscreamingrobotmonkeys!.co!.!.!. AnimatorDV: Simple+ became freeware!. http://www!.animatordv!.com/download7 If you're on a Mac, you could try Framethief or FramebyFrame, both of which are free!. http://www!.framethief!.com/ http://web!.mac!.com/philipp!.brendel/Softw!.!.!. Here are some online resources about the basic principles of animation!. http://www!.idleworm!.com/how/index!.shtml http://www!.awn!.com/tooninstitute/lessonp!.!.!. http://www!.animationarena!.com/principles!.!.!. http://www!.animationmeat!.com/notes/notes!.!.!. If you need more help or info, let me know!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Stop motion films are, simply, a set of still photos that have been assembled to be played back in rapid sequence to appear as animations!. The simplest stop motion animations are the flip book type pieces, such as sets of drawings made at the bottom of a note book and then flipped through by fanning the pages!. Still, for something more advanced, it can be done with any still camera, by taking one photo at a time, moving each piece or prop between each shot a very tiny bit!. The trick will be in how the stills are assembled and shown!. Software is available to do this, including some that may already by on your computer system!. One example would be Windows Movie Maker!. Even easier, would be a movie camera or digital movie camera that allows the user to take one frame at a time!. For this method, and with a still camera, a tripod or other, stable mounting device is essential!. An even form of artificial light is also helpful!. Just keep in mind that it is a long, painstaking procedure, as frame rates can run from 15 frames per second to aroung 25 frames per second!. That means the one second of action could take as many as 25 individual photographs!. Ten seconds of animation would be 250 shots!Www@QuestionHome@Com anytype of camera can do stop-motion, its all about taking still photographs and then playing them back in quick succession!. You may need some video editing software like premiere so you can organise the photos and control the speed and scenes etc!. Have fun!Www@QuestionHome@Com |