Creating Your Animation

Get objects and figures to use in your movie. Some good choices include clay, wire, Lego or similar building block figures. Be imaginative in the types of objects and figures that might work for your movie

You can also use a whiteboard, animating figures and editing the drawing slightly with each frame.

Set up the figures (characters) in a particular position and within the "set." 3

Place your camera in front of the "set" that you are going to take photos of. Make sure that it can view the entire frame. It is very important to support the camera or place it so that it is sitting steadily and cannot shake as you take the photos. Otherwise, the end result will appear chaotic and lack continuity. 4

Set up a good source of lighting. It might be a lamp or a flashlight. If your light is flickering, you need to shut off other sources of light like blinds or curtains. 5

Take a single photo of the figure in the selected position. 6

Begin the movement sequence. Move the figure bit by bit, in very small movements each time. It may be the entire body if the figure is walking, or it may just be an arm, head or leg. If you are moving only one body part and you find that the figure is tilting or threatening to fall over, make use of poster tack under the feet or other area touching part of the set. 7

Repeat the movement sequence until your action step is completed, or your camera's memory is full. 8

Save the pictures on to your computer in an easy to remember place. 9

Use your movie-making software as instructed (or see two popular software methods below). There are a few key steps regardless of what movie-making software you use.

Import the pictures into the desired program.

Make sure the pictures are at a very small duration so they flow fast. If you are disappointed by the speed at which your program can animate, try exporting the project as a video file (before adding audio), then importing it again and using a speed effect on it such as double speed (these effects only work on video clips). Then, if the resulting speed is sufficient, you may add your audio.

Add titles and credits if you would like. You can also add effects or transitions, if desired.

Make sure you like the end result of your stop motion animation. Keep going if you need to complete more actions to create a story.

Save the video. If you plan on having multiple stop motion segments, save each segment as a separate movie. Once the entire group of segments is completed, you can import all the segments into the final movie. This will make it will look much better and it will be easier to finalize. 10

Share your movie by burning it into a CD or place it into an iPod. Continue making other ones!

Windows Movie Maker Method

Please note that Windows Movie Maker does not officially support converting images into a movie sequence. If possible, you should use a different program.1

Open up Windows Movie Maker. 2

Import the pictures. 3

Click "Tools" and then "Options". Do this before placing the pictures into the timeline. 4

Click the "Advanced" tab. 5

Change the picture duration to 0.03 seconds per frame (the lowest setting). This is found under "Picture Options." 6

Ensure that the pictures are in the correct order. 7

Load the pictures into the storyboard. 8

Add titles and credits if desired. 9

Go to "Finish Movie" and click whichever option is suitable.

Tips

  • Keep in mind that the more photos you have, the smoother your video results will be.
  • If you do not have a tripod, good alternatives include balancing on solid books, poster tack on the surface of the set or a piece of solid furniture at the same height.
  • In single frame, 24 pictures equals one second of film. It's best to take two pictures of the same shot, so you only require 12.
  • Make sure your battery is fully charged.
  • Stay out of the way of your light source or position it so you don't create distracting shadows over your animation that change with each frame.
  • To reduce flicker and create a smoother animation, set your camera's white balance and exposure settings on manual mode so they don't change with each shot.
  • If you use clay as your medium, try putting wire inside the clay. This will help you move the figures more easily.
  • If objects are going to be moving limbs, make sure you can keep them in that one position without holding on to them. Poster tack or looped over adhesive tape works well for this.
  • If your computer is slightly slow and you try to preview your video in the editing stage, all the pictures may not play and the film will get stuck on one image. It's okay for this to happen. When you save it, it will flow fine.
  • If you do not want every frame saved on your computer, then you can delete them.
  • You do not need Windows Movie Maker. There are some programs specifically for stop motion that are better. Windows Movie Maker is free though, which is often a compelling reason.
  • This way of making movies can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours, depending on the length. Make sure to have a lot of patience when making a movie.
  • Watch other stop motion animations for inspiration. These may give you some new ideas about how to do your own animation. "Wallace and Gromit", "Fantastic Mr Fox" and "Knox" are fresh and popular animations.
  • You will become faster at moving the figures and judging the distances with more practice.
  • If the frame rate (frames displayed per second) in Windows Movie Maker is too fast/slow, you can use the double (x2) speed or half (x0.5) speed effect on the video for a faster or slower frame rate. The minimum amount of frames per second required for humans to perceive motion is 24.
  • When you are beginning, try shooting the sequences where characters are moving in stop motion. when they are talking, just take single shots of their faces. It speeds up the process and still looks okay.
  • If you want to make a toy fly (such as a pterodactyl or a bird), attach clear string to it. Hold it up in the air for every shot that you want it to fly. Make sure you have two people working on this part.
  • Make sure that your camera is compatible with any movie maker you are using. If the movie maker will not find your files, you might have to download a different software for movie making.
  • Doing this too long will cause a case of extreme boredom and you may feel frustrated. Give it a break after a sequence is completed if you feel this way. Note down on paper where you have suspended the process so that when you come back, you know where to pick up from.
  • Don't get discouraged if your video turns out to be very short. An hour's worth of work may turn into a 30 second video. It all depends on the frame per second rate. You can use anywhere from 6-30. More frames per second creates a smoother video, but more time must be invested.
  • Make sure to frequently save your video in case the program freezes or turns unresponsive. If you have to close your video in the middle of editing, don't worry. Note that Windows Movie Maker does have an automatic saving feature.
  • Set your camera resolution low enough that your individual frames are not huge files. If you've already shot and each picture file is too big, you can reduce file sizes in batches in PhotoShop. Large file sizes for images are likely to overwhelm the computer's memory. It's best to keep each frame close to half a MB unless you're using professional software. You can also compress the images using some form of compression software.