Stop motion animation

Hi,
Can quicktime pro be used to create stop motion animation? If so how do you do it?
Thanx
Dave

Mmmm... not really... but you could...
If you create all your frames in photoshop (i assume you're wanting to
make 2-d animation rather than traditional 3d models) and export them in a numerical order (frame1, frame2 frame3 etc etc), then take them in to quicktime as an image sequence, then export from QT as a movie etc...
I guess it is possible, but quite an inefficient way of doing it... After Effects is good for this kind of thing as you can create all your frames in photoshop, in one file, as layers, then import the one PS file and all the layers will be present... you can also manipulate frame rates much easier in AE... most animation (traditional 2d/3d models) doubles up on frames, so you have (in PAL land) 12 frames per second... easy to do in AE.

Similar Messages

What programs/functions do I need to master in order to create stop motion animation?

Hi,
Im just starting a new job, and will be creating a handful of films for my new employer.
I want to create something interesting, and have been leaning towards stop motion animation.
What initially inspired me was this music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfcHq0hhFWg
To me, it looks like a bunch of stop motion ( ex; the paper balls and hand colored individual frames of the guy playing guitar), paired with some digital animation (walruses). Please correct me if I am wrong about this.
So - to focus my question:
1) What program does one use to play all the individual pictures taken to create the stop motion animation? In other words, once I have shot all the individual pictures of the objects I want to animate, and am ready to organize them and set a playback speed, what program would I use? Do most people just throw all the pictures into final cut and do it that way?? Or is there a better program?
and
2) How do you cut portions of pictures / drawings / frames out to allow for a deep layering effect? I figure most people take each frame and manipulate it individually using photoshop (cutting portions of an image out so something else can be seen through the void). But is there a better way??
For example, lets say I have two crecent shaped pieces of black paper, and I want them to move towards each other from the left and right sides of the screen, and eventually completely obscure whatever is going on in the background behind the paper images. First I would take a series of pictures, moving the pieces of paper in small increments, until they closed the gap and overlapped each other. From that point, I would lay down whatever video I wanted playing in the background into the timeline. Next, I would import the series of photos with the pieces of paper moving towards each other - then comes the problem. The portion of the pictures used for the animation that is NOT PAPER would be obscuring my background video. So at this point, is it easier to shoot the animation against a white background and just chroma key the white out? Or do most people cut the non paper part out using photoshop? or is there a better way?

frisbee681 wrote:
Hi,
Im just starting a new job, and will be creating a handful of films for my new employer.
I want to create something interesting, and have been leaning towards stop motion animation.
Congratulations on the job. Not many of them out there.
frisbee681 wrote:
1) What program does one use to play all the individual pictures taken to create the stop motion animation? In other words, once I have shot all the individual pictures of the objects I want to animate, and am ready to organize them and set a playback speed, what program would I use? Do most people just throw all the pictures into final cut and do it that way?? Or is there a better program?
Easy to search the app store, as mentioned, or just google stop motion for macintosh. Mastering the application is easy. Learning how to animate is where you need to start.
frisbee681 wrote:
2) How do you cut portions of pictures / drawings / frames out to allow for a deep layering effect? I figure most people take each frame and manipulate it individually using photoshop (cutting portions of an image out so something else can be seen through the void). But is there a better way??
In the odlen days, we used multiplane stages. Each set of drawings was placed on a glass stage, one under the other. INcredibly fun, absurdly difficult to keep clean and properly lit. Now all of that stuff is done with alpha channels and compositing software like Motion or Afer Effects.
frisbee681 wrote:
For example, lets say I have two crecent shaped pieces of black paper, and I want them to move towards each other from the left and right sides of the screen, and eventually completely obscure whatever is going on in the background behind the paper images. First I would take a series of pictures, moving the pieces of paper in small increments, until they closed the gap and overlapped each other. From that point, I would lay down whatever video I wanted playing in the background into the timeline. Next, I would import the series of photos with the pieces of paper moving towards each other - then comes the problem. The portion of the pictures used for the animation that is NOT PAPER would be obscuring my background video. So at this point, is it easier to shoot the animation against a white background and just chroma key the white out? Or do most people cut the non paper part out using photoshop? or is there a better way?
Umm, yes. You're only guessing. And, honestly (Did you want honesty?), your heart may be in this but you don't have much a clue. Techniques and effects (and the experience to guide the decisions to do them in camera, on the shooting stage, or in software) are not where you start animation. You start by learning how cameras work, how shutter speed and f-stop relate to ISO speed, how to shoot on-2s (or if you should), how to do eases and stretches and squishes, how to develop characterization in inanimate objects so you can invoke emotive responses from the audience, how to shoot to hooks in the soundtrack, how to plan, how to storyboard, how to budget time, how to establish and maintain quality shooting conditions, how to do animatic or rough tests, how to learn from the tests, how to have fun, how to make money, how to get it done.
This is kind of like saying you've just inherited a hundred acres and are thinking about getting into farming. You plant some seeds and do some stuff and then pick it and sell it. How hard can it be?
bogiesan

Low quality export for stop motion animation stills from Canon 5D Mark ii

Thank you very much beforehand to anyone who is willing to look through this issue, it's been a long and frustrating process so far...
I am attempting to put together a stop motion animation in Final Cut Express but my exports are always either low quality, or medium quality and stretched. I am shooting on a Canon 5D Mark ii set to take pictures at 21M 5616x3744 [999] (though I'm not entirely sure what the 21M or 999 mean).
When I first assembled my stills (unedited or altered in any way) and exported, it looked like this:
A relatively drastic loss in colour and quality. This was achieved exporting through quicktime conversion using the following settings:
Compression Type: H.264
Compressor Quality: Best
Size: 1920x1080 HD
Preserve aspect ratio using: Crop
Deinterlace source video: unchecked
Unhappy with the result, I went through hours of testing and researching which only yielded a result after I discovered the control-Q Easy Setup menu. I tried setting up as an apple intermediate codec using HDV-Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i60 at 29.97 fps. I kept the export settings the same as above, but knowing that I was now working with a canvas that keeps to the 16:9 proportions, I tried cropping one of my stills in photoshop to fit that 16:9 ratio.
I then imported my 16:9 cropped still and an unedited JPEG version from my camera and exported the resulting 10 second video. The result was better quality, but still noticeably degraded from the original stills. More importantly, both the cropped 16:9 and the unedited JPEG were stretched out of proportion as seen below (16:9 version):
Of course I forgot to note the original settings on Easy Setup so I can't figure out how to get back to the original lower quality, yet undistorted image (not that I want to do that). I tried numerous different sizes for the export including changing the Crop (when necessary) setting to letterbox. Nothing worked.
The canvas, however, immediately looked 100% better after switching the Easy Setup to HDV-Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i60 at 29.97 fps. It held the improved quality without distorting the image:
I'm not sure if there's any hope of having a great image quality, but at very least I would like to be able to export at the decent quality of the second screenshot without the stretching and cropping.
I need to have this resolved ASAP for work, I've already wasted too much time here. Any help is so appreciated, I'll be active in providing whatever additional information that I can to responders, though please keep in mind that I'm relatively new to all this, I don't know where to find everything

I've decided just to try to get back to the export that I showed in the first screenshot. That result came before I started tampering with the Easy Setup. Like I said, when I changed the setup the canvas quality improved drastically and the dimensions seemed to fit much better, but the export was vertically stretched and cropped. I just reset my FCE settings and it turns out the default setup is DV-NTSC, but it's giving me a terrible quality still...
I just want to get back to that second screenshot's quality.. Could someone suggest what I should switch the easy setup to for importing stills from my Canon 5D Mark ii to yield the right results?

How can I make a stop motion animation using Premiere Elements 13?

I am trying to make a stop motion animation with a series of still shots. So far I have managed to speed up the shots so that I have one frame per second but this is still not fast enough and I can't work out how to make them go any faster!
I am working on a class project with my 8/9 year olds and the project has stalled at this point because I can't get past this hurdle. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

yogawithlexi,
Welcome to the forum.
Im also needing to just edit the photos but adding text. Nothing fancy. I just want to make some flyers.
For editing photos, to be output to the printed page (whether by a commercial printing service, or a desktop printer), I strongly recommend Photoshop Elements (PsE).
If you need to output to a video file, then Premiere Elements (PrE) can possibly do what you want, but not for the printed page - at least not easily, and with the ultimate results. First, Video is not dependent on DPI/LPI (Dots Per Inch, or Lines Per Inch), where printed material will be. Also, while PrE can output a Still Image, the quality, when printed, will be far less, than what one can obtain with PsE.
Do you currently have Photoshop Elements on your computer, or only Premiere Elements?
Good luck,
Hunt

Stop motion animation using iMovie by a child

Hi. My six year old granddaughter has just become interested in stop motion animation. How good is iMovie for this and what are the best learning tools / tutorials?

First, for Stop Motion Animation, there are better tools. These include iStopMotion and QuickTIme Pro Version 7.
If you want to do it in iMovie, it is possible, but slow.
First, go into iMovie Preferences, and make sure you check "Display Time as hh:mm:ss:frames". This will let you edit to the frame lever rather than to the nearest 10th of a second.
Second, see this Tutorial by Jon Walker on how to edit down to a single frame in a still image sequence.
You can modify his technique to get 2 or three frames.

Is it possible to make a stop motion animation in premier pro ?

hi
there is it possible to produce a stop motion animation within premier pro

Paint strokes are always on a 2D plane in 3D space, and always in "local 3D" which means they cannon interact with other objects (unless you keep them as 2D).
However, you can animate particle emitters and replicators along a motion path in full 3D space and wrap around objects.

I want to import still images to make a stop motion animation, but when I try to change the duration of still images, it isn't reflected in the timeline. How can I do this?

I want to import still images to make a stop motion animation, but when I try to change the duration of still images, it isn't reflected in the timeline. How can I do this?

Tonaw,
If you import your still images using iPhoto, then the time you set for each still, using FCPX Perferences works.
You can set the durantion from 1 frame to as long as you want them view.
If you do not use iPhoto to import your stills, the default is 10 sec's.
FYI: This issue was brought up within a month after FCPX was released. They found out by using iPhoto, you had better control of the amount of time your still was viewed.

How to adjust multiple picture times to make a stop motion animation

I am trying to make a stop motion animation but I can't find a feature where I can change the length of multiple pictures at a time. I've managed to get them down to a second by going into window > movie properties > settings, but after that I have to change the length of each picture individually using the precision editor and it is taking me forever. Any ideas?

Nevermind, I figured it out! Just in case anyone else is having this problem, select the phots you want to edit. Right-click one of them, click on adjust. Click adjust up the top again if the bar is not showing. If it is, click on the i and you can type in duration there!

What project settings to I need for stop motion animation in elements 10 for youtube

I wanted to export a short (no more than 60sec) stop motion animation using approx 40 hi res photos (3888x2592px) we took and then upload this to youtube.
Does anyone have any suggestions of project settings I wanted it to be 1920x1080 but not sure of the frame rate and other settings.
Whether I choose NTSC or PAL doesn't make any difference to youtube does it, I'm currently in Peru so I'm wondering if it's probably better to use NTSC.
Gracias
Sally

I completely agree with Steve, and especially on Scaling the Still Images in Photoshop, or Photoshop Elements, prior to Import. This article goes into more detail, and has steps for batch-processing an entire folder of Stills: http://forums.adobe.com/message/2200755#2200755
When I do Stop-Motion, I like to do a small test with a few of my Images first. I usually decide on between 3 - 10 frames, but that choice is based on the "look" that I want, with those particular Images. It just depends.
Steve make a great point, and I want to reinforce it - when you do decide on the Duration, that suits your purposes, be sure to set the Stills Default Duration, BEFORE you Import all of your Stills into the Project.
Good luck, and when you have uploaded to YouTube, please add a link to it, in this thread, so we can all see it.
Hunt

How to make stop motion animation in flash

Hello,
I'm new to Flash (using Flash CS5.5 on Mac OSX) and am trying to make a stop motion animation using photos that were created in a layered psd file and then turned into individual jpegs. There are many of them (400 and will be more) and I'm trying to find a way to make the process more automated.
What I think I want to do is import the images into the Flash library and then have each image be a blank keyframe. I can do this by copying and pasting into place each individual image, but this is way too time consuming. I assume there is some straightforward way to automate copying and pasting each images into consecutive blank keyframes... but so far haven't had much luck.
Open to other suggestions and appreciate any help!

If your images are named sequentially (as in img1,img2,etc..) and are located in the same folder, when you use Import To Stage, Flash should recognize there is a series and will offer to import them all. The process also includes importing them into sequential keyframes.

Stop Motion Animation Capture

Is there a option to capture one frame at a time thru Final Cut Pro 5.0 to do stop motion animation? My camera is attached via firewire. Adobe Premiere has a stop motion button that captures one frame at a time.
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

the issue with using the digital still camera is that you will create large image files (not really a big deal) but framethief is a simple shoot & capture & import
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Nonsense.
All DSLRs give you wide choice of image sizes and compressions.
The advantages of shooting with an SLR far outweigh the perceived limitations but they require thoroughly understanding your animation project's needs. The documentation on Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride" and many other stop-action films shot with still cameras is extensive. It's great fun to research. You'll spend hours on google looking for various stop-action proejcts. Lots of these animators are artists or students, gladly sharing their techniques on their sites or blogs. if you find one you like, post it.
There are cults of animators who shoot with still cameras and bring the frames into After Effects for processing with time remapping, frame blending and many other effects. Incredible stuff. Try google for Patrick Siemer, a visual effects artist at Pixar. He is featured in the new AE7 CIB from Adobe.
bogiesan

Stop motion animation help using images from a digital camera...how tricky is this?

I'm teaching a media arts course for the first time, and I'm trying to figure out how to use images taken with a digital camera, import them to Premiere Elements 7, and put them in the timeline without having to shorten the length of them. As soon as I drag an image from the project bin onto the timeline, it automatically plays for 5 seconds, and I have to try to shorten it to one frame length. If that's what it takes, this process is going to take a lot of time, because the students are going to be taking several hundred photos. If I edit them in the preview, it's still just as difficult. Is there any way to change the settings before I import the images so that they automatically are one or two frames in length on my timeline? Your help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Welcome to the forum.
As Steve points out, setting the Edit>Preferences>Still Duration BEFORE Importing, will get what you want.
When doing Stop-Motion, I find that a Duration = 3 to 5 Frames, works best, but that will depend on the images, how far apart, they were shot, and the exact effect that I want. It might take a little experimenting, to get things correct to both your eye, and to the images from the camera.
Also, Scaling the Still Images, prior to Import is a very, very good idea, and especially so, with Stop-Motion, as you will have lots of them.
Good luck,
Hunt
PS - if you are using Transitions, between the Still Images, you will want to alter the Duration of those too, prior to applying them.

(Urgent) Stop Motion Animation in After Effects?

THIS IS URGENT I need to make a stop motion out of a series of pictures that i took but i need a simple way to do it instead of having to individually drag and edit the shots. Is there anyway you can import a serise of shots as a sequence or something? Or is there another Adobe Software that is good for stop motion? THANKS

Are you asking about importing a series of still images as a still-image sequence?

Remaining quality of stop motion animation using jpeg photos in i-movie

Creating an animation in i-movie using photos in jpeg-format from i-photo, I would like to know if the quality of the jpeg-photos inserted into the i-movie-film-line remains the same during the process working with i-movie.
Can I save the photo-data inserted into the i-movie film-line several time without its quality becoming less and less?
Thank you for your help!
Annettli

Annetti
Welcome to Discussions.
iMovie saves your media ( video, stills, audio) as imported. When you save a project you are saving the instructions you have given iMovie. The media is kept intact.
Peter

What will work for stop-motion animation?

I'm a student and Maryland Institute college of art studying animation. I'm a senior and considering necessary investments. Camera, software, etc. Does anyone have suggestions of what software/camera will best work for my computer. I need to be able to have a live view while shooting and am limited by the new mac books only have firewire 800. Any suggestions help.
Thank you,
jdudem

Canon's EOS Utility software has an option for time lapse photography with a SLR camera. My old 1Ds II doesn't have live view but will write to the computer via a FW 400 cable and this software. You'd need a FW400 female to FW800 male adapter to use a FW400 cable with the MBP or buy a new cable that fits your camera (mine has a four-pin DV connector) and a FW800 to the MBP.
I have not used the time lapse option. I believe this software limits the minimum interval to the amount of time it takes to write to the disk. I would expect there are other programs that would give you more options and capability. EOS Utility works but it's pretty basic.

Stop motion animation

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