Introduction to Stop Motion Animation - Dragonframe

Stop motion animation (also called stop frame animation) is animation that is captured one frame at time, with physical objects that are moved between frames. Skiptocontent IntroductiontoStopMotionAnimation WhatisStopMotionAnimation? Stopmotionanimation(alsocalledstopframeanimation)isanimationthatiscapturedoneframeattime,withphysicalobjectsthataremovedbetweenframes.Whenyouplaybackthesequenceofimagesrapidly,itcreatestheillusionofmovement.Ifyouunderstandhow2Ddrawnanimation(earlyDisney)works,stopmotionissimilar,exceptusingphysicalobjectsinsteadofdrawings. Thebasicprocessofanimationinvolvestakingaphotographofyourobjectsorcharacters,movingthemslightly,andtakinganotherphotograph.Whenyouplaybacktheimagesconsecutively,theobjectsorcharactersappeartomoveontheirown. FRAME1 FRAME2 FRAME3 FRAME4 ANIMATED Youseestopmotionanimationallthetime—incommercials,musicvideos,televisionshowsandfeaturefilms—evenifyoudon’trealizeit.Whileitiscommonforpeopletothinkofstopmotionasjustonespecificstyle,suchasclayanimation,therealityisthatstopmotiontechniquescanbeusedtocreateawiderangeoffilmstyles: CapturingStopMotionAnimation Earlystopmotionwascapturedwithfilmcameras.Animatorscouldnotseehowtheirworklookeduntiltheygottheirfilmprocessed.Theyusedsurfacegaugestokeeptrackofwheretheircharacterswere,andhowfartomovethem.Iftheanimationwasnotfluid,ifthesethadbeenbumped,orifthelightingwasbad,theworkwaslostandtheanimatorhadtostartalloveragain. Later,specialvideomachinesallowedtheanimatortoviewthelastoneortwoframes,andcomparethosetothelivevideofromthecamera.Thisallowedthemtogetasenseofhowtheiranimationwasprogressing. UsingDSLRsforStopMotionAnimation In2005,CorpseBridewasshotwiththeCanonEOS-1DMarkII,makingitthefirststopmotionfeaturefilmcapturedwithadigitalstillcamera.EarlyDSLRsdidnothaveliveview,afeaturewherethecameracanprovideavideostreamoftheimagethroughthelens.So,thestudiohadtouseasecondaryvideocameratoprovidethevideoassist. In2007,CanonandNikonintroducedDSLRswithliveview.Sincethen,DSLRshavebeenusedtocapturemostoftheprofessionalqualitystopmotionthatyousee,fromfeaturefilmstomusicvideostobroadcasttelevisionseriesandcommercials. Dragon1.0(theoriginalreleaseofDragonframe)wasreleasedMarch1,2008,andwasthefirststopmotionsoftwarepackagetosupportboththeCanon40DandtheNikonD90DSLRswithliveview.Thismeantthattheanimatorcouldseeafairlyaccuratethrough-the-lenspreviewoftheiranimationastheywent. WhatDragonframeDoes Dragonframeisthepremierframe-grabbingsoftwareforstopmotionanimationandtime-lapsephotography.Usingtheliveviewofasupporteddigitalcamera,Dragonframeprovidesvideoassisttoolsfortheanimator,andisthecentralhubforcapturingandorganizingthehigh-resolutionframesfromyourcamera. Dragonframeisanexcellentframe-grabber,withtoolssuchasstep-to-live,onionskinning,auto-toggling,anddrawing(virtualgreasepencil).Dragonframehasinnovatedintheworldofstopmotionsoftwarebypushingthefunctionalitybeyondframegrabbingtoprovideafullassortmentofproductiontools. ThefiveworkspacesofDragonframesoftwareprovidethesetools: Animationtoolsforvideoassist,frame-grabbing,andediting Cinematographytoolstocheckfocus,setexposure,andmakesureyougettheperfectshot FulllightingautomationwiththeDDMX-512 Integratedaudioanddialoguetrackreadingtools Multi-axismoveeditortoquicklyprogramcomplexcameramoves Whetheryouareanindependentfilmmakerworkingonaprojectinyourgarage,asmallcrewworkingonacommercial,oramajorstudiomakingafeaturefilm,youwillfindthatDragonframehasthetoolsyouneedtocreateamazingstopmotionanimation. Dragonframesoftware30-dayfreetrial FulllistoffeaturesinDragonframe InspiringstopmotionprojectsfilmedwithDragonframe Listofsupportedcameras Stopmotionvideotutorials Closeproductquickview× Weandselectedpartnersusecookiesorsimilartechnologiesasspecifiedinourprivacypolicy.Youcanconsenttotheuseofsuchtechnologiesbyclosingthisnotice,orbycontinuingtousethesite.OkPrivacypolicy GotoTop