Animation Post #6-The Pitfalls of Animation [And what to do to avoid them]

Animation Post #6

        With your early testmations, you may have been displeased by several things which plague all of us animators.

LIGHT FLASH--Aaaaghhh!!! It's the worst! Light flash is what will show up in your animation where a single frame will have a different light tone than the rest, resulting in a light 'flicker'. This is very obnoxious and will probably have you tearing your hair out with frustration if you're a perfectionist. To avoid this never use natural sunlight in your animation. Natural light [the sun, for example] is constantly changing in just how 'yellow' its light is, based on where it is in the sky. For good animations, you must use lamps. I recommend crane-neck lamps because they can be bent and stretched to angle toward your objects. Some of the best crane-necks can be bought at Wal-Mart, because the lamps they sell are cheap and don't overheat. [pictured below right]

CAMERA SHAKE--Also a major problem to us animators. Be sure to use a tripod to hold the camera still. I recommend getting a Gorillapod--a super-flexible little tripod [pictured below left]. I bought mine at Sports Authority for about $20. You can also get rid of camera shake in iMovie by using the 'stabilize video' function.
      

   Using these tools, you can be a whole lot more successful in your animations.

 

These are the two main things that will really be a problem during early animation. Camera shake is almost unavoidable if you're clicking the camera manually for every frame. Light flash can be reduced also by wearing dark-colored clothing and not moving about much while animating. By following these rules, you'll be much more productive.

     In the next post, I'll go over video sharing to popular media websites.

---Noah Master, 2011

Animation Howto Post #5-Adding Sound Effects [Mac]

Animation Post #5

       Alrighty, you Mac users. Let's add some sound effects to that animation!

Head into iMovie. This is a nice video editing program that should come with any Mac computer. In this post, I'm going to be talking to you people who have iMovie '09, '10, or '11. Let's get started.

      First, open iMovie and click 'File', and then 'Import'. Search for your video clip, and import it. It should appear in your video footage bay at the bottom of the screen.

 


The video footage bay.





   Second, click and select the entire clip and drag it into the timeline. If you run your mouse over it, you'll be able to see the video play. You can go to clip adjustments and color-correct it if you want.
 

   Third, bring your sound effects folder into iMovie. You can open a Finder window, and locate your sound effects folders. Then, drag them into your 'Music' bay.



Your music and sound effects bay.

    Your sound effects folder will appear in the bay. If you click on it, you'll see the names of your sound effects. You can click and play the sound effects there. When you find the right one, drag it onto your video footage. It should appear as a green bar under your video.


The screenshot at below shows a bunch of sound effects added to a video bar.

 
       The sound effect probably won't be exactly where you want it but you can drag it around with the mouse until it's exactly where you want it under the video. You can play the video at any time to see how the sound and video look together. Pretty cool! Remember, you can add as many sound effects as you want.
        Keep adding sound effects until you're satisfied with how your animation sounds, and then click 'Share', and 'Export Movie'. You can select a graphics level [I recommend HD] and export a final video clip. Congrats! You just added sound to video on a Mac!

       In the next post, I'll go over the pitfalls of animation and how to avoid them. Also, have a Merry Christmas!

---Noah Master

Animation Howto Post #4-Adding Sound Effects [PC]

Post #4

     So.....you've got some good sound effects, and you'd like to add them into your video footage, so that it will appear your object is making noise.

  Let's give it a go.  :]

PC Users: Head into Windows Movie Maker and click the 'Import' button.

It'll look something like this.

        Search for and find the sound effect files you're looking for [it's a good idea to create one big sound effect folder], select them, and import.

        They will appear in your media bay. Now take a look at your video bar.

        See that slot labeled 'Audio/Music'? That's where you'll be placing your sound effects. Take your little animation video clip and bring it into the Video slot.
      Then grab a your desired sound effect [you can preview them by clicking them once and hitting the 'play' button] and drag them into the 'Audio/Music' timeline where you want the sound to play. Wallah! Play the clip and watch the sound play at the same time as your video, giving the appearance of sound. Isn't it cool?
          Now you should tweak the timing of your sound effect by dragging it around the Audio/Music bar until it's at the exact place you want it to be. Then you can add more sound in at other places in the video.  Congratulations--you just added sound to an animated video clip you created yourself.  :]
     In the next post, I'll go over how to add sound effects for those of you with Macs.

--Noah Master

Animation Howto Post #3-Sound Effects and Where to Get Them.

Post #3.

   Alright, people, so now you've got a little animation, but you'd like to add one of the major things which makes any film come to life---sound. Sound is what makes people really look. If you've got a great animation, but can't do good sound design, the video just won't look good.

   Also, if you've got amazing sound design, but rotten animation, it won't look good either. A good video has to be a clean mixture of both.

   So let's get started.  :]

You can't add sound effects without having sound effects. I don't ever recommend buying sound effects, there are thousands of great sound FX out there without having to pay money. Here are some great websites to download sound effects:

          #1. http://www.freesound.org/  This website will require you to create a [free] membership, but it has the best free sound effect compilation on the web.

          #2. http://www.findsounds.com/  This website is completely-free sound, no membership required.

          #3. http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/  This is the greatest royalty-free music website I've found. Definitely check them out.

       Using these sites, you can get hundreds of sound effects, and build up a 'library' of sound. If you don't know how to download sound effects, all the sites I listed will be able to show you how.

   In the next post, I'll go over how to add the sound to your video.

--Noah Master

Showing Off Some Stop-Motion Animation

While you're learning how to animate, you should probably check out some of my animation to see what you can do with Windows Movie Maker and iMove.  :]

"Lego Alien Defense" This video was made in iMove, following the same process that I've outlined in earlier posts. Take a look!

Animated by Noah Master, 2011.

"Spam Police 3"  This one was made in Windows Movie Maker.

Animated by Noah Master, 2009.
Yes, I'm aware this video is a piece of crap, I was very new to animation at the time. Ah, well, I've improved considerably.

If you enjoyed one of these videos, you can check out all kinds of awesome stuff I've made by clicking here--http://www.youtube.com/user/thecluegeek


Stay tuned for Stop Motion Howto Post #3, coming soon.

---Noah Master

Animation Howto Post #2-Putting Frames Together

Post #2

Alright, so you've got your first stop-motion pictures, and you'd like to see how they look playing at high speed on a computer.

So.....five easy steps, once again.

First, import your pictures onto your computer. It's probably a good idea to create a folder for your images to go into. Call the folder 'Animation 1' or something else deep and meaningful.


Second, open your video editing program. If you've got a Windows computer, open up a program called Windows Movie Maker (WMM for short)  If you've got a Mac, open up a program called iMovie.

Third, click and drag all your photos into your editing software. On WMM, click 'Import', and find your files. On iMovie, open up a 'Finder' window and go to 'Animation 1's' folder. Open it, and select all the photos and drag them into iMovie's video bay.

Fourth, set all your pictures to 0.1 seconds long.  In WMM, you'll need to go to and change the still duration to as low a photo length as it can, and on iMovie, you'll need to go to 'Clip Adjustments' on any photo in your group and check the box labeled 'Applies to all stills'. Then, click the still duration and change it to 0.1 seconds. With 'Applies to all stills' checked, iMovie will change every photo in your bay to one tenth of a second.
         On WMM, you'll need to drag a box around all your images in the import bay, and drag them into the timeline.

Fifth, preview your video. Go to the first picture in either of the programs, and click play.  Look what you've done!  You just made a basic stop-motion animation.
We'll cover more details in the next post.

--Noah Master

Animation Post #1-Beginning

Post #1

Overview.

I'm sure many of you have seen the interesting new type of video which has exploded on Youtube and other video sharing websites---Brickfilm animation. The videos feature the small little plastic toys we all know and love--moving, talking, and messing around. Many people, specifically young boys and teenagers wonder--how does this work? How are the little toys moving as though alive?

The answer is this--stop motion animation.

This process is very simple and easy to do, all you need is a computer, a digital camera, and some video editing software. If you're using a Windows computer, you'll have Windows Movie Maker. If you're using a Mac computer (RIP Steve Jobs), you'll have a program called iMove.

With these three things, you too can bring inanimate objects to life in a very short time.

Here's how to get started in five easy steps: One, find something to set your camera in, to hold it still. This is crucial to the animation appearing to be moving. Two, get your object, and place it in view of the camera. I recommend starting off trying to animate something small and simple, such as a pencil, or a book. Figure out what you want the object to be doing, and then continue. Three, turn the camera on, and make sure everything is in the correct place where you want it, and then take the first picture. Four, move the object a tiny bit toward its destination. For example, if you wanted a book to appear that it was slowly crawling its way across a desktop, you would move it about an inch closer to its ending point. Five, take a picture, and then Repeat step 4.

Remember to not move the camera while doing these steps.

If you followed the directions correctly, you will have created a basic stop-motion animation. You may think the process is tedious, but the end product is very rewarding.

In the next post, I'll cover what to do with the pictures when you bring them onto your computer for editing.

---Noah Master

Beginning.

Stop-motion is the concept of taking an inanimate object and making it appear to move by itself, without any human hands in the picture. The way it works is this:

*Many pictures are taken of an object, with a little motion in between each one. The more pictures you have, the smoother the object’s motion will seem to be when playback begins.

*You must have a digital camera which can import pictures onto a computer.

*When taking your pictures, make sure your hands are NOT in the frame. Take a picture of your object, with the camera in one place. After taking your picture, move in (without bumping the camera) and slightly move the object in whatever way you want it to go. Then, take your hand out of the frame, and take another picture.

*Repeat this process until your character is at their destination.

*Then, import your pictures onto your computer. Depending on what type of computer you’ve got (Mac or PC), you will have to have a frame-capture software. (free)

*On a Mac, I highly recommend using ‘FramebyFrame’, a free software available here:http://web.mac.com/philipp.brendel/Software/FrameByFrame.html

*On a PC, I would use ‘Windows Movie Maker’ available here:http://download.cnet.com/Windows-Movie-Maker-Windows-XP/3000-13631_4-10165075.html

Each of these softwares will be able to import your pictures into the software, and then they can be played back at a quick speed.

*MAC USE--With FramebyFrame, you will have a choice of ‘frames per second’. Frames-per-second , also known as ‘FPS’, (no, not ‘first person shooter’), is just how fast your pictures are going to play. You can animate at 1fps all the way up to 30fps. When starting out, I recommend animating at 10fps.

In FramebyFrame, you will need to set the little slider bar to ‘10fps’. Then, go to ‘Edit’--up at the top of your screen, and click ‘Import Images’. Then, select the images which you want to import. When they load, click the first image in the picture bar. Then, slide the little bar which shows a video camera at one side and a little reel of footage on the other (in the lower right-hand corner of the screen) all the way to the footage reel’s side. Then, click the play button. Your images will play, and you will have created a stop-motion animation.

*PC USE--In Windows Movie Maker, you will need to bring up the folder which holds your images, and select them all. Then, click ‘Import’. Your images will appear beside the video box, but the playback section and timeline will still be blank. Go into ‘Tools’, and then into ‘Options’. You will need to turn down ‘Image duration’ or ‘Video Duration’ as far down as it can go. Then go back to your main screen and select all your images and bring them into the timeline. When they load, click play and you will have created a stop-motion animation.

---posted by Noah Master