Issues
Do I lock WB/exposure settings. Does that depend how I am bringing objects in and out?
What isvthe best interval timer setting – 15fps? For what types of movement?. Or use remote?
Backdrop/lighting. Pro version has greenscreen.
Issues
Do I lock WB/exposure settings. Does that depend how I am bringing objects in and out?
What isvthe best interval timer setting – 15fps? For what types of movement?. Or use remote?
Backdrop/lighting. Pro version has greenscreen.
LOOK AT KEVIN PARRY
Flicker is the consequence of variable lighting, but it can disrupt the flow of an animation and break the illusion of movement by drawing the viewers attention elsewhere. Continuity of lighting – lighting levels, direction and colour balance – are important to ensure that when you cut between shots, visual continuity is not disrupted.
As with filming, to ensure continuity, you will need to set the white-balance of your camera and ensure that the exposure settings are set to manual and remain the same throughout your shoot. As animation is made up of still images, rather than recorded video, you are able to shoot in much lower light conditions than video. You are also able to use long exposure in your camera to very exciting effects.
Another common problem for beginner stop-motion animators is ‘camera shake’. Just as with continuity of lighting, continuity of frame is essential in animation and is the primary mechanism on which the illusion of animation depends. As a general rule, in order for the audience to believe that something is moving within a frame there must be some elements of the frame that are kept constant. A constant rate of change such as a very slow pan of the camera would also work, however this is difficult to achieve without the appropriate software or hardware. (See more in Part 4).
A note on stop-frame animation software:
Computer software has been developed specifically developed for this process: Dragon Frame (professional pc), Monkey Jam (free), iStopmotion (iPad) and Stop Motion Pro. These enable you to review your animation with onion-skinning while you are making it and lay down audio tracks on the timeline and produce your animations entirely within this kind of software without the need to use your editing software.
Animation is a process and the malleability of time is its primary material.
‘Time is what prevents everything from being present all at once’ Henri Bergson. The animator seeks to control at what pace, rhythm and direction things appear.
“What happens between each frame is much more important than what exists on each frame” Norman McLaren, Computer Animation
It is not the image, drawing or shape of each frame that matters in animation, rather it is the difference between the frames that generates the illusion of movement in animation.
It is the animator’s ability to control and play with these intervals between frames that matters. It is important to think in terms of intervals, rates of change and flux, rather than thinking in terms of still images or compositions.
There are two main forms of animated movement: manipulation and replacement. These can be used in a number of different ways.
There are two main forms of animated movement: manipulation and replacement. These can be used in a number of different ways.
Many of these types can now be simulated using Aps on tablet, smart phones and iPad as well as computer software. The different types can also be combined in different ways. See posts:
Traditional Cel animation: to reduce the amount of drawing required each image was constructed using multiple overlaid layers of drawings on transparent sheets of celluloid (cels). In this way, the background scenery for say, Mickey Mouse could be drawn once for use in a scene, while Mickey would be re-drawn multiple times. Typically, an animated feature would require over 100,000 hand-painted cels. These would be photographed one by one onto a painted background using a rostrum camera – a specialised camera used to animate still objects.
Common visual conventions include:
A flip book or flick book is a book with a series of pictures that very gradually change from one page to the next, so that when the pages are turned rapidly, the pictures appear to animate by simulating motion or some other change. Flip books are often illustrated books for children, but may also be geared towards adults and employ a series of photographs rather than drawings. Flip books are not always separate books but may appear as an added feature in ordinary books or magazines, often in the page corners.
Flipbooks work on the same principles as frame-by-frame animation. They can be made in very many different styles. Software packages and websites are available that convert digital video files into custom-made flip books.
In addition to their role in the birth of cinema, flipbooks have also been commonly used in marketing of items like cars and cigarettes. They are also in art and published photographic collections. Vintage flip books are popular among collectors, and especially rare ones from the late 19th to the early 20th century have been known to fetch thousands of dollars in sales and auctions.
‘Andymation’ is the YouTube channel for Andy Bailey – a stop-motion animator and worked on Laika’s movies ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Missing Link. He has produced a series of very useful tutorials for creating paper flipbooks using a lightbox. The same principles can be adapted for tablet Flipbook Aps.
Requires very good drawing skills.
eg Flash. Can create rigs for tweened animation.
https://www.youtube.com/user/rossbollinger
drawing on and manipulating video or photo sequences.
This can by hyperrealistic or output in various illustration styles.
frame by frame capture of moving elements using eg Claymation, Cut- outs, Silhouettes, Lego.
After Effects. Adobe Animate. moving elements in space
BOOKS