It's always difficult to create new stories and find actors and shoot a film with minimum resources.The final result may not always be as promising as you have expected .Are you tired of making short films which are uploaded in thousands daily on youtube.Do you want to make some new kind of videos and and amaze your friends.Then i suggest you guys to try Stop Motion animation videos,which is now new trend for students making short films.Stop-motion animation is a simple, imaginative, and fun type of filmmaking.In this blog I'l explain in detail how to make one.
Here is a Stop Motion made by me.This was my first attempt when i started clicking pictures randomly without a plan.
You may feel,you don't know or do animations or you don't have required euipment and editing softwares.Any kind of video editing software will do the job. All you need is a camera(no need of DSLR) , a tripod(this is compulsory!) and that's it.Stop motion is kind of animation which is made only with photographs.If you have passion for photography then your job is done easily.Unlike shooting videos for short films, in stop motion you only have click photos(lots of photos,in thousands). Then you have to club them together in editing software in different frame per seconds(fps) as per required to the kind of the video you need,add some background music and there your video is done! .Don't get too carried away by reading fps.. I'l explain about it later in this post.
People who have never made any short films and planning to do one , this will be very easy for you guys to take off for your passion.Believe me....... I made many stop motion videos which helped me to reach out more number of people and even got few offers to make some videos in my college.The most important three things needed for making a stop motion video is PATIENCE! PATIENCE! PATIENCE !.
Here are some making pictures of the above video.
Remember that you have to click some thousands of pictures which might take your whole day.You shoot one still frame, move the characters slightly, then shoot another -- then repeat thousands of times to make a little animation. While each individual frame may not be so tough, the overall effort is massive, and it shows. There's something about stop motion that just makes you say, "Wow -- that's real!"
And these things happen when people get fed up doing the same pose for hours !!! .
First, you’ll need an idea for your own stop motion video. Keep it simple and short the first time out. You will need about 10 photographs for each second of finished video. It is more important to complete a couple of simple projects than it is to attempt to reach too far. You might start by making an object do seemingly impossible things. Perhaps a small ball that, with the unseen help of rubber glue, clear fishing line, or double-sided tape, appears to defy gravity by climbing walls, moving across ceilings and more. Or a person who appears to “skate” through a large yard or room. After you’ve planned the shots, get your digital camera and tripod. You can choose a low resolution setting on the camera since these photos will not be printed on paper. Depending on the size of your memory card, you may need to fill the card, then transfer all photos to the computer, delete the images on the card, then fill the card again until you have all the photos you need on the computer.Your computer will need video editing software such as Sony Vegas Movie Studio, Apple’s iMovie or any video editing program you have.
If you choose to film a small ball, set up your tripod and aim the camera at the first position of the ball. Take a shot as a still photo, not a movie mode. Don’t move the camera, but move the ball to the next position, perhaps six inches from the start. Use this same distance in subsequent shots to make it appear the ball is moving at a constant speed. Continue making individual shots until the ball is out of frame. This will appear that the ball is moving through your frame.
You could also move the camera and the ball together so the ball stays in the same relative position in the camera frame. This will appear that the camera and ball are moving together. This is called a tracking or dolly shot. There are many possibilities for the movement of subject (the ball) and camera.
If you make a mistake, you can simply delete that photo and shoot another one to replace it. Deleting mistakes as you go will save work in the editing phase, but be careful not to delete a good frame. Keep the photos in the proper order in which you want them to play.Check your camera manual to learn how to transfer your photos to the computer. Make a new directory or folder for all the photos. Using your video editing software, move the photos into a new movie using the image sequencer function. Choose a frame rate, then play your movie.
In some editing programs you can specify how long each photos should appear. In Sony Vegas this is 5 seconds by default, but that is much too long. You will want each photo to appear for only a fraction of a second. This is what makes it a movie rather than a slideshow. The timing you choose will determine the pace of your video as well as how long it will run.
Video normally plays at 30 frames a second. So if you set each photos to play for three frames, (.33 seconds each) that means the viewer will see 10 photos every second. So to produce a 1 minute video, you will need 600 photos! (10 times 60) At this rate a 90-minute feature film would require 54,000 photos, but they would generally want a high resolution. Let’s say they wanted 15 frames per second. 15 x 60 x 90 = 81,000 photos. So keeping your stop motion projects simple and short is a good place to start.Save your project often using different file names e.g. Animated Ball1, Animated Ball2, etc. This will protect you in case of a computer crash, power failure, or electrical storm. You can later delete the unnecessary files. Experiment with different kinds of music and sound effects. Music will make an enormous difference in the final film. You can also experiment with the playback rate. All video will ultimately be played at 30 frames a second so changing the play back rate will involve a couple of steps of rendering the video.
If your a good artist or you have a friend who is one then you can also try white board animation which is done by same technique.This is my first white board animation and my friends could not believe that it was made with photographs.
Producing good stop motion video requires patience and planning.
Happy clicking!!!
Here is a Stop Motion made by me.This was my first attempt when i started clicking pictures randomly without a plan.
You may feel,you don't know or do animations or you don't have required euipment and editing softwares.Any kind of video editing software will do the job. All you need is a camera(no need of DSLR) , a tripod(this is compulsory!) and that's it.Stop motion is kind of animation which is made only with photographs.If you have passion for photography then your job is done easily.Unlike shooting videos for short films, in stop motion you only have click photos(lots of photos,in thousands). Then you have to club them together in editing software in different frame per seconds(fps) as per required to the kind of the video you need,add some background music and there your video is done! .Don't get too carried away by reading fps.. I'l explain about it later in this post.
People who have never made any short films and planning to do one , this will be very easy for you guys to take off for your passion.Believe me....... I made many stop motion videos which helped me to reach out more number of people and even got few offers to make some videos in my college.The most important three things needed for making a stop motion video is PATIENCE! PATIENCE! PATIENCE !.
Here are some making pictures of the above video.
Remember that you have to click some thousands of pictures which might take your whole day.You shoot one still frame, move the characters slightly, then shoot another -- then repeat thousands of times to make a little animation. While each individual frame may not be so tough, the overall effort is massive, and it shows. There's something about stop motion that just makes you say, "Wow -- that's real!"
And these things happen when people get fed up doing the same pose for hours !!! .
First, you’ll need an idea for your own stop motion video. Keep it simple and short the first time out. You will need about 10 photographs for each second of finished video. It is more important to complete a couple of simple projects than it is to attempt to reach too far. You might start by making an object do seemingly impossible things. Perhaps a small ball that, with the unseen help of rubber glue, clear fishing line, or double-sided tape, appears to defy gravity by climbing walls, moving across ceilings and more. Or a person who appears to “skate” through a large yard or room. After you’ve planned the shots, get your digital camera and tripod. You can choose a low resolution setting on the camera since these photos will not be printed on paper. Depending on the size of your memory card, you may need to fill the card, then transfer all photos to the computer, delete the images on the card, then fill the card again until you have all the photos you need on the computer.Your computer will need video editing software such as Sony Vegas Movie Studio, Apple’s iMovie or any video editing program you have.
If you choose to film a small ball, set up your tripod and aim the camera at the first position of the ball. Take a shot as a still photo, not a movie mode. Don’t move the camera, but move the ball to the next position, perhaps six inches from the start. Use this same distance in subsequent shots to make it appear the ball is moving at a constant speed. Continue making individual shots until the ball is out of frame. This will appear that the ball is moving through your frame.
You could also move the camera and the ball together so the ball stays in the same relative position in the camera frame. This will appear that the camera and ball are moving together. This is called a tracking or dolly shot. There are many possibilities for the movement of subject (the ball) and camera.
If you make a mistake, you can simply delete that photo and shoot another one to replace it. Deleting mistakes as you go will save work in the editing phase, but be careful not to delete a good frame. Keep the photos in the proper order in which you want them to play.Check your camera manual to learn how to transfer your photos to the computer. Make a new directory or folder for all the photos. Using your video editing software, move the photos into a new movie using the image sequencer function. Choose a frame rate, then play your movie.
In some editing programs you can specify how long each photos should appear. In Sony Vegas this is 5 seconds by default, but that is much too long. You will want each photo to appear for only a fraction of a second. This is what makes it a movie rather than a slideshow. The timing you choose will determine the pace of your video as well as how long it will run.
Video normally plays at 30 frames a second. So if you set each photos to play for three frames, (.33 seconds each) that means the viewer will see 10 photos every second. So to produce a 1 minute video, you will need 600 photos! (10 times 60) At this rate a 90-minute feature film would require 54,000 photos, but they would generally want a high resolution. Let’s say they wanted 15 frames per second. 15 x 60 x 90 = 81,000 photos. So keeping your stop motion projects simple and short is a good place to start.Save your project often using different file names e.g. Animated Ball1, Animated Ball2, etc. This will protect you in case of a computer crash, power failure, or electrical storm. You can later delete the unnecessary files. Experiment with different kinds of music and sound effects. Music will make an enormous difference in the final film. You can also experiment with the playback rate. All video will ultimately be played at 30 frames a second so changing the play back rate will involve a couple of steps of rendering the video.
If your a good artist or you have a friend who is one then you can also try white board animation which is done by same technique.This is my first white board animation and my friends could not believe that it was made with photographs.
Happy clicking!!!
