How do you do a stop motion?

Answer 1

Making stop motion animation films is very easy to do, but the more time and effort you put in, the better the results will be.

Ingredients:

• A camera or webcam (a good zoom and high quality is best)
• GOOD LIGHTING! If your film isn't well lit, the finished product will be rubbish. A nice bright desk lamp would be fine, and make sure flash is turned off on your camera, otherwise every frame will be lit slightly differently.
• A tripod. It just needs to be as high as whatever surface your'e shooting on.
• Some sort of subject. Anything will do - try Lego, plasticine models or even yourself!
• A Mac or PC.

Method:

1. Get your lighting set up and put your tripod up.
2. Turn on your camera or webcam and place your subject(s) or character(s) in the starting position.
3. Take one photo. Move the subject(s) slightly. e.g. if it was waving, it would raise a hand a little bit. Repeat.
4. Continue doing this until you're done taking photos.
5. Now load your images onto your computer. There are many pieces of software for Mac, and PC. If you are using a Mac I would recommend Smoovie from the Mac app store. Its not free but it is quite cheap compared to others and is very intuitive to use. However, you could use iMovie for Mac, or Windows Movie Maker for PC if you like.
6. Once you have finished editing using your chosen piece of software, you can now export to DVD, YouTube or elsewhere! Admire your handiwork. That wasn't too hard, was it?

Tips and Tricks

• For pixilation (stop motion films of humans) I would highly recommend using a webcam, otherwise the process becomes very tedious!
• Remember, you will have to put some time into it, but don't lose your patience, it is a rewarding hobby
• A YouTube user called Mamshmam who made an excellent flying tutorial. Go check it out!
• Please take a look at my own YouTube videos. Search for Hexlizify - please leave some comments, I'm wanting to improve!