Tutorial: Create a Stop-Motion Animation Movie using Digital Camera or WebCam
Sometime back, I created a stop-motion animation film with the soft toys of my 2-year old son playing the lead roles. This 19 second movie was done using just a digital still camera (not video camcorder) and Windows Movie Maker, a free video editing software.
If the term "Stop Motion" is new for you, Wikipedia defines it as an animation technique which makes static objects appear to move. The object is moved by very small amounts between individual frames, producing the effect of motion when the film is played back.
To create a stop motion animation, you need a webcam or a basic digital camera (preferably mounted on a tripod for stability) and any video editing software (like Windows Movie Maker, Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple iMovie, etc)
Step 1: Fix your camera in front of the subjects (Mickey Mouse & Co. in my case). You can also your webcam mounted on the computer screen and capture still photographs using the keyboard.
Step 2: Visualize the movements and action of the characters in the movie (like what path they would follow, whether they would jump, etc). You may want to write this down as a rough movie script.
Step 3: Once your initial setting is in place, click the first picture. Now move the object(s) by a very small distance (few centimeters) and shoot the next picture. Make sure you don't change the position of your camera.
Repeat the step until all your characters reach the final frame.
Here's are some sample photographs shot for the movie embedded above - Notice how the elephant, dog and Mickey have moved in each of the frames while the bear is sitting still.
Step 4: Open Windows Movie Maker and goto Tools, Options and click the Advanced tab. Change the "Picture Duration" to 0.125 seconds and Transition Duration to 0.25 seconds (both are minimum values).
Now import all your digital photographs into Movie Maker and drag-n-drop them onto the Video Timeline. That's it. Export the video in AVI or WMV format and upload it to YouTube for sharing with your friends.
Bonus Tip: If you like your characters to jump in the stop-motion animation video, attach them to a thin wire and lift the wire a few centimeters in each frame. If the wire is of the same color as the background, it won't be visible in the final movie.
If you have professional video editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro or Apple Final Cut Pro, you can further reduce the time duration between still photographs to create smooth animation video without flickers or jerks.
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Reader Comments:
Hey amit good trick. The more small movements in each frame the good will be the movie.
Looks so logical..Why dint I think of it earlier!??
Also worth noting you can use the free software VirtualDub for stitching together the images into a movie.
http://www.virtualdub.org/
http://tinyurl.com/yswbww
I did this for a class project once in duct tape. Granted it was for the book "Slaughter House 5" so the video doesn't make much sense unless you've read the book, but it's pretty impressive what two of us can do working for 8 days, STRAIGHT. -_-
We used Adobe Premiere and more than 600 pictures total.
A few words:
* Tripod is your friend. It is downright impossible to make one of these without a tripod.
* Don't forget about something. I had scenes where there were many characters and would often forget about one of them. It's painful to watch 3 hours of work turn into a mulling crowd with one person standing perfectly still.
* We tried not to use flash to avoid the white spot that you can see in the glass on her video. Used a couple desk lamps.
See more info about my video on the Duct Tape Wiki.
http://ducttape.pbwiki.com/Ductmation
Kenneth
Nice. Straightforward, understandable instructions. Thank you! I will use your technique.
Hey friend, great tutorial. I was wondering what the minimum resolution should be for these photos when shooting with a digital camera.
Though I used a 7.1 megapixel digital camera to capture the above stop motion frames, you can really get decent results even with 1 or 2 MP camera since the final rendering will be resized to 640x480 or 320x240 video clips.
Small images will also reduce the time it takes to compile and produce the who stop motion video in Windows Movie Maker or other video editing software.
This is a very simple tutorial meant for beginners. There are many other things to consider, if you wish to make a viewable stop motion video.
Wonderful tutorial and instructions! I will make my first animation with the dolls of my little sister and I will post it to youtube!
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