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
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