In this article, we will talk about how to shoot stop-motion animation. More collected here technical advice to create stop-motion animations, which are aimed at avoiding twitching and flickering of the video, because stop-motion animation is a sequence of photos.
To create an elementary stop-motion video, you will need digital camera With manual settings, computer, and tripod (or any holder that can hold the camera).
But first, let's note that there are specialized programs for creating stop motion animation, such as iStopMotoin, Dragon Frame/Dragon Stop Motion, StopMotion Pro. These programs allow you to immediately see the image on your computer through your camera and have a number of settings and functions that help you follow the sequence of frames, compare frames, etc. You can also use conventional programs that allow you to immediately capture an image from your camera to your computer. But we will talk about all these programs later. And now let's talk about the case when you do not have such programs.
Shooting preparation:
1. Decide on the light
To create a stop-motion animation, you should use a constant light source, you can use daylight, but you need to watch the appearance and disappearance of clouds from the sky, and in the room there may be light reflections from you and from the walls.
In short, just turn on enough light for indoor photography and always stand in the same place when you press the camera shutter button. And don't use the built-in flash as it creates too harsh shadows.
2. Set up your camera by making all settings manual
M mode
ISO (50-400)
White balance manual
It is recommended to use manual focus
3. Mount the camera on a tripod or any flat surface so that the camera has a support throughout the shooting
4. Fix the tripod or something on which the camera rests so to the ground so that in no case do you move your legs or hands to this miracle of construction
5. Secure the subjects you will be filming and secure the stage you will be filming on so that nothing twitches
The stage is something that we will constantly touch, so it must be firmly fixed.
6. Calculate the approximate time of your animation
The video is shot at 24 or 30 frames per second, if your first video is at least 6 frames per second, then you can already see something interesting, but in the future try to get at least 12 frames per second
Calculate how many seconds each movement should last, then multiply by your frequency, how many frames you need to take
Shooting:
1. Adjust focus on the animation object
It is better to use manual focus to avoid flickering light.
And in the future, you can remember about beautiful game with refocus when main object gradually enters the focus area or, conversely, goes out of focus
2. Press the camera shutter with the remote control, if you have one, or use the two-second shutter release mode (the camera will have time to suppress vibrations caused by your pressing the button in 2 seconds)
3. Always keep in mind how many frames you need to take for a certain action in your animation
Installation:
1. Download photos to your computer and import them into any editing program (iMovie is the default on Mac OS, Windows Movie Maker is the default on Windows, Final Cut, Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas, Pinacle also exist)
2. Place all photos on the "timeline" (timeline), set the frame rate or the duration of each frame (the concept of "duration")
Example: When shooting at 6 frames per second and a frame rate of 30 frames per second (in editing software), the duration of the frame per second is 5 frames.
3. Add titles and "sugar to taste"
4. Export to video format
This is a list of the most elementary rules for creating the most basic, but high-quality animation. With these rules applied, your animation should be pleasing to the eye, smooth and even in light.
If you have any questions, we will be happy to answer.
In the past few years, videos using the Internet have gained particular popularity on the Web. Initially, it was advertising and inserts for clips and various films, then bloggers picked up the idea. This animation looks rather peculiar, but spectacular. In addition, the creation of such videos is now available to almost everyone who has a minimal set of equipment (at least a phone with a camera and a tripod). In this article, you will learn how to shoot stop motion at home. In addition, consider what you need to know and be able to do this.
What is stop motion?
This is a technology for creating a video, the basis of which is frame-by-frame photography. To create a one-minute video, you will need to take about 120 shots. Therefore, before shooting a stop motion, be patient. What to do? First you need to shoot the scene, then - to bring into it minor change(turning the head or hands of the doll) and shoot again. It is in this way that the effect of movement is achieved. Then all these pictures are mounted on a computer or in special program on the phone.
Advantages of stop motion
You don't need an expensive camcorder to shoot. It is enough to be the owner of a minimum set of amateur photographers and good imagination. Almost all special effects you can create at home.
Required Tools
First, before, for example, how to shoot a stop-motion "Monster High", you will need to purchase a camera that can be set up in manual mode. So you can adapt to almost any shooting conditions and in the future do without lengthy processing in Photoshop.
Second, you will need a tripod. It will be very difficult to do without a tripod: otherwise, you will have to look for a static surface in order to avoid the shaking effect and shoot from one angle.
Thirdly, you should think about lighting. The best option of all possible is a constant light source. You can buy both professional studio lighting and get by with enough power table lamps. You can also shoot in daylight. It is advisable not to use the flash, as it will definitely give too sharp shadows.
Fourth, you will need a computer, this is what happens on it. Therefore, before shooting stop-motion with puppets, you will need to learn how to work in one of the editing programs.
How many shots to take
After you have written the script and decided on the production, you need to calculate the approximate time for each movement. A typical video consists of twenty-four frames per second. But for stop-motion, 12 frames will be enough. It is at this frequency that the movements of dolls and objects will not seem too jerky and sharp. For stop-motion it is better to take pictures with a margin. For example, if you made a calculation for 300 shots, it would be better to take 350 or even 400 photos.
Beginning the process
Before filming a stop motion with puppets, secure the scene carefully. It is to her that you have to touch a lot during filming, because of which she can move. Then mount the camera on a tripod and take a few shots with different angles. Choose the most successful one. It is better to use a remote control to control the shutter release. If it is not there, you can turn on manual mode with a set shutter delay, for example, two seconds.
Installation and post-processing
You need to use those programs that allow you to do processing a large number pictures at the same time. Photoshop and Lightroom do this very well. If you do not need photo processing, you need to import the pictures into the editing program. If you are a beginner, it is better to use a simple program like Corel VideoStudio. If you are no longer a fan, Vegas or Premier Pro will do. Moreover, in "Photoshop" at the stage of processing photos or already in the editing program, you will eventually learn how to create a variety of special effects.
How to shoot stop motion with voice acting?
And finally. If you already know how to shoot stop motion, you might also want to voice it. To do this, you will need a microphone, a sound card and a computer with the program installed on it. You need to record the voice already under the edited video. For recording, a deaf room is suitable, in which the reflection of sound waves will be minimal.
After recording the voice, you can proceed to sound design. You can find the necessary sounds (the noise of the city or the singing of forest birds, the conversations of the crowd in a cafe, the noise of traffic, and so on) in any noise library. To correctly insert noises into the project, it is necessary to make time codes (the beginning and end of a certain sound). After you have inserted voice and noises into your recording, you can apply a compressor to the audio track so that there are no sounds that are too loud. After that, the audio track is exported to the editing program. Ready! Now you know how to shoot stop motion.
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Stop-motion animation and our time
Stop-motion animation and our time.
At a time when someone is buying The Foundry, and Autodesk is buying up everything that is more or less born in the open spaces of cg graphics, and in cinemas people no longer understand where 3d is and where shooting is on location, a crisis is thriving in our country. The advertising market for the last reporting year has fallen by 30%, many companies have laid off up to half of their employees, and some CG studios have closed altogether. It's time for advertising agencies to dump, optimize staffing, and look for new low-cost means of producing video ads, since advertising is still the engine of sales.
Today I would like to remind the dear reader of something new. And the new, as you know, is the well-forgotten old.
Today I will talk about the oldest effects technique in film and TV, a technique that does not require a render farm, a technique that requires almost no computer miscalculations, but only a little patience and direct hands.
This technique is called stop-motion or frame-by-frame object animation.
The history of the last 35 years, where we have not been.
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I will not analyze the whole history of stop motion animation. One has only to say that the very first film where the frame-by-frame shooting technique was used was used back in 1897 (!) movie The Humpty Dumpty Circus, where a puppet theater with acrobats was built for one stage. So one hundred stop motion can be considered the first effects technique in cinema. Then there was a lot more, from “Flight to the Moon” to “Cheburazhka” and “Mittens” and other wonderful Soviet cartoons collecting prizes and attention at international festivals.
But since the 1970s, technology in Hollywood cinema has begun to develop more rapidly. The pioneers of the “new” stop motion were ILM, who made the first Lucas films in the Star Wars series.
Since 1986, the famous British studio Aardman made the first series of their famous plasticine miniatures, and in the 90s they already switched to full-fledged full-length cartoons with their main characters of the studio - Walliss and Grommit. Tim Burton filmed Corpse Bride and Frankinville with Disney, and LAIKA did not lag behind with their first puppet films.
All of them were united by one bilateral feature, because of which we had nothing of the kind. On the one side - old technology animations with century history, but on the other hand, the booming TV advertising market, thanks to which studios appeared and grew, which proved to Hollywood that they could shoot big projects for both TV and cinema. In our country, in the 90s, everything was just starting, and the half-closed post-Soviet studios, although with wonderful animators, barely earned a living.
Now.
Right now we are going through a strange time. The advertising market is well developed. TV ads and online ads are well-received. Technology is also quite affordable. A dozen Russian CGI studios have already reached the international level. Everyone began to master 3d. There was an incredible darkness of studios and freelancers. We received orders from large Russian and foreign companies. With the availability of more powerful computers and more information, as well as more user-friendly software, any fifth grade student can now make a bouncing hairball in half an hour and count it with ambient occlusion.
However, the quality has gone with it. Not all companies, due to the struggle for time and cost of production, give out a picture of a competitive level. A creative battle ensued. Brain war. If earlier every art director in any TO of five people dreamed of making as many highlights as possible on the HDR glass, so that 2-3 hours per frame, no less, now, in 2015, with budget cuts for advertising agencies, many have switched to motion- design in whole or in part. Motion is now a trend not only because in most cases it is cheaper than 3d, but also because the customer realized that what he wants can be shown cheaper and at the same time more
in stylistically verified, memorable ways, than to beat the audience with tride technologies directly in the forehead.
Motion design has grown even faster over the past two years, and the competition for orders is also not a joke.
And now the main thing.
I want to say that this article is not against 3d and not for 3d, moreover, it was written by a 3d tech with seven years of experience. And not about motion. This article is about the fact that you and I should not forget that everything described above is just an artist's tool. A pencil, a wacom or a render engine are all tools for realizing visuals, the purpose of which is to sell a product or service to the viewer. The viewer does not care how much time and money you spent on the frame, it is important for the viewer that it is beautiful and interesting. But why have we forgotten about such a tool as stop-motion?! The cheapest and most “soulful” animator tool! It is not right. Therefore, I propose to plunge into the magical world of modern stop motion and consider it in parts.
Types of frame-by-frame animation.
Oil animation.
Perhaps the slowest animation technique of all to produce. The animator draws a frame with artistic oil on the glass of a special table, which is called an “animation machine”. The machine usually has 2-3 glass layers. The bottom one can draw backgrounds, the middle one can draw objects, and the top one can draw characters. IN Lately only two layers are used, where the bottom one is just a chroma key, and on the top one, all the details are drawn separately, which are then assembled on the composition. The machine has segmented illumination along the edges of each layer to control the illumination in the scene. The camera is mounted on a tripod from above.
Translation
The machine is also used. Flat puppets cut out of paper or cardboard are placed on the glass. Puppets of characters and objects can be drawn on the computer, or in the most old-school cases directly on the puppets.
The name of the technique corresponds to the principle used: the puppets are moved frame by frame to the next place in the next frame.
Bulk machinery
Bulk materials are used in this technique. They can be anything, as long as one of them can be conveniently drawn with a brush, as it were, on glass. A machine can also be used here, or everything happens already on a sheet of plastic desired color. Substances can be for example: ground coffee, sand, sugar, cereals, beads, etc.
Plasticine
A very versatile technique. Plasticine is actually used. It is divided into two types: volumetric and flat. In a flat one, a machine with a camera fixed on top is also used and all the footage is completed on the post. But the volumetric one can do only with color correction, real decorations can be created, sliders and pavilion light can be used.
An example of flat plasticine animation:
An example of volumetric plasticine animation:
The big advantage of plasticine is that in many cases it looks like 3d, while giving unlimited possibilities and cost several times cheaper than a similar three-dimensional roller.
puppet
An expensive technique for which dolls are made in advance from various materials, scenery is being built (sometimes in full human growth). The animator must be very careful not to hit any other objects on the diorama other than those being animated. Hard and painstaking work.
Do your kids like to watch? Are you looking for a project that will capture their vivid imagination and captivate them? interesting plot? Create a stop motion animation with your kids using their favorite .
Stop-motion is a filming technique in which objects (such as clay/plasticine figurines or ) are photographed in several different positions which gives the impression of movement. Stop motion - the so-called frame-by-frame. Such entertainment is, in fact, also a learning activity that enhances valuable life skills and creates lasting impressions.
Step 1: Write or Choose a Story
Gather all family members to brainstorm ideas. Hint: start with a short film and save the more complex story idea for your second filmmaking job. That's how they work professional studios when films are being made.
Share ideas. Try to combine everyone's thoughts to come up with a rich short script A film that has an opening, middle, and denouement. It's great if you can add a moral or an instructive conclusion to the film. You can also base your film on a recent family experience. Once you have an idea, write it down - briefly or in detail.
Another option: use a story already written by the child (for example, at school) as the basis of the film. If there are pictures in the story, use them as a storyboard to plan the scenes of the movie.
Once you have a story for a stop-motion movie and know how to present it, you don't need anything extra for the movie.
Step 2. Choose props
Based on the plot of your future stop motion, make a list of the necessary characters and props for the film. Heroes can be any toys, and you can also try to make something from cold porcelain, polymer clay or modeling dough. To use the constructor and its figures.
Do not be afraid to improvise - your fantasy will not spoil the story in any way, but the audience is a small pebble with a painted smile in leading role only charm.
Step 3. Choose a location and create a background
Once the characters and props are in place, start planning your locations. Make full use of every nook and cranny of your home or yard. Use a presentation board to make a backdrop for your shoot, and use colored cardstock or paper.
When choosing a location, remember that you will need a place to set up the camera. Do not try to squeeze into a corner along with the shooting area - choose a place where it will be convenient to set up equipment and shoot from different angles.
Step 4: Download the creation app stop motion video
Choose the stop motion program that suits you - LEGO ® Movie Maker app or Clayframes. There are other apps for both iOS and Android to create similar animations. All programs work in the same way: they help you take a photo frame, move the subject a little, take another frame to see the animation.
The LEGO ® Movie Maker app saves you a lot of work because it doesn't require you to take a million photos from every position to create motion. The app cleverly repeats and blends photos to give the appearance of movement. It's a time-saving program that brings instant pleasure when you hit the save button.
Step 5: Make a Title Frame with a Title
The LEGO ® LEGO cartoon app will ask you to take a title shot with the title of the movie and the name of the director.
If you're using another program, make your own title frame out of paper and markers and paste it into your movie.
Step 6. Camera, motor, start!
Arrange the props against the background you chose for the first frame. With the LEGO ® app, all you have to do is follow the instructions.
When the scene is ready and all the characters and props are in place, take the first shot.
There will be a lot of mistakes and rework, so take as many photos as you need for the perfect shot. For an aspiring director, this is forgivable.
Step 7. Shoot the next frame of the stop motion movie
Move the pieces and literally advance the plot further. Moved the props, took a photo. Moved the props, took a photo. Repeat until you remove all the action.
Improvise if necessary. In the story shown, the characters were supposed to be swallowed. The child wanted something red in the frame (like a tongue that engulfs the unfortunate heroes), and there was an umbrella nearby. And everything worked!
Make changes to the script if the props allow and pushes the flight of thought. Your stop-motion animation will only benefit from this.
Step 8. Editing
Follow the prompts in the app to edit your shots as you shoot. You can add sound, music, speed and other details.
Step 9: Add Dialogues and Sound Effects
Dialogues can be added to the bubble, like in comics, or you can record an audio track for each character. If appropriate, also add a couple of background sound effects when something happens in the story. There are many funny templates in the app.
You can also record the soundtrack for the movie all in the same applications. If you do not understand exactly how, they almost always come with comments and explanations.
Step 10. Edit the movie
The LEGO ® app will prompt you to edit the movie when you're done filming. It will take a couple of seconds and the Lego movie will be ready for preview.
You can edit the necessary moments before saving and distributing your stop-motion film on the Internet.
Step 11 Watch the Premiere
In any case, the experience gained during the filming is invaluable both in terms of skills and emotions. Once you have achieved perfection in the final version, taking into account all the recommendations from loved ones, feel free to share the movie on the channel or in social network. You can get a whole for this.
Of course, if you're uploading stop-motion videos online, be prepared for strangers' comments, and not always positive ones. Remember that achieving popularity is a thorny and long path, so it may take more than one year and more than one film to become famous on the Internet. It is not the number of subscribers and viewers that matters, but the experience and impressions of the work done.
Watch online stop-motion movie in LEGO style
Shooting a stop motion video is a great way to enhance family ties and strengthen relationships. With time and practice, children may want to transfer what they have learned to new level- a career as a filmmaker. For example, the first film of the famous director Robert Rodriguez ("Spy Kids") was in the stop motion technique called Claimation. Who knows, maybe your child is a rising star.
Stop motion animation involves the movement of inanimate objects in the frame to create a story. So, for example, your cup and coffee beans can create something unusual, and most importantly, unique for everyone in small video. It is worth thinking through the details in advance, as the process is different from shooting ordinary layouts (flatleys), but not as laborious as it might seem from the very beginning. It all depends on your imagination. Moreover, you can sell these small and short videos on stock , and some shots taken during the shooting process can be downloaded as photos, now it's two in one!
What is required for stop-motion photography?
To create elementary and high-quality stop motion video you don't need a lot of equipment, you can get by with one simple camera with manual settings and, if possible, a computer to facilitate the shooting process.
From experience, I can tell you that careful and timely preparation can not only save a lot of time, but also further nerves for processing animation.
Light
First of all, you need to remember that the light should remain the same throughout the entire shooting, you can use both daylight and softboxes. There are many opinions about lighting sets for shooting, but in fact it all depends on the tasks and skills of the photographer. If you decide to shoot at home with daylight, you need to be careful and take into account the fact that with a long duration of shooting, the light outside the window may change with the usual appearance of clouds, sun rays and new shadows or insufficiently lit areas will appear in the pictures.
Technique
The technical side of shooting is also quite simple. Mount the camera on a tripod or any flat surface so that it is firmly fixed throughout the shooting, without the slightest shift. Insignificant shifts of 5 millimeters to the right or left can change not only the light, but also the viewing angle in the picture, which will be noticeable when viewing already finished work. The standard position of the camera is parallel to the composition.
Background
It is also important to fix the background on which you will shoot, since the background shift is equal to the shift of the camera. During processing, your shots will not line up nicely and you can waste time aligning your shots to get the perfect result.
Decide in advance on the theme of the shooting, the objects that will be used in the frame, and think over the story you want to tell in your small animation.
Now how do you shoot everything?
The final stage is, of course, shooting everything you have planned. As already mentioned, it consists in moving objects a small distance in each subsequent shot in order to create the effect of an animated subject. The number of frames depends on the duration you want to get as a result. On drains you can upload videos of any length, but it is much better if these are several segments of the same topic, which everyone can collect as they want after purchase.
invent different scenarios shooting, add new objects to the frame, be patient and be inspired by the results. From the first time you can make small videos, and then you want more and more. Then you may be completely drawn into this matter. And believe you can achieve incredible success which until this moment did not even know!
Anna Georgievna (
