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

Question

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? 

Answer 1

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