Stop <span title="animation????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????">animation????????????????...</span>

Question

I need help with stop animation (well that's what i think its called. When you move something, take a shot, move something take a shot and so on. and then the thing looks like its moving) I don't have a professional camera. It's a small digi pic/movie. I've made some vids with it using this technique but it always looks choppy. How can i make them look better?

Answer 1

Make smaller movements between shots.  The more frames per movement, the smoother the animation will look.  My brothers got really into stop animation for a while and made some pretty impressive videos with a simple webcam, so you certainly don&#039;t need anything fancy!

Answer 2

Move away from your animation and study real-life.  Film yourself doing the motion.  Study it frame-by-frame, paying attention to elements such as spacing (how far do pieces move) and timing (how many frames does it take).

(Of course, you should take the video (or convert it) to the same frame-rate as what you are using in your animation -- 12fps?)  If you need a converter, as well as a way to watch frame-by-frame, check out virtualdub)

Answer 3

These tutorials will help you out.

http://www.animateclay.com/index.php?nam...

www.stopmotionanimation.com

It&#039;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...

If you&#039;re just starting out, don&#039;t use a digital camera, there&#039;s a lot 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.

As for making the actual movement of your animation better, there are principles behind animation you need to learn and be aware of in order to create smooth, believable movement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_basic_pr...

Here are some online resources about the basic principles of animation. These principles can and should be applied to any genre or medium you choose to work in, whether that be drawn, CGI, or stop motion 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.