Does anyone have advice about stop-animation with the HV20? Some cameras used to have a stop-animation feature where they would grab a frame of video.

I'm thinking these days this is more controlled by video editors? Couldn't any point and shoot digital camera be used to grab "footage" for a stop-animation project?

Chris

In the digital realm, stop-frame animation is normally done with still cameras. Trying to do this with a video camera recording to tape is will be frustrating, at best. You could use the still photo abilities of the HV20, recording to a mini-SD card, or indeed any point and shoot digital camera, but you will get much better results using a digital SLR camera. You won't need to use the highest resolution settings, but you will be able to use faster lenses and have more choices re depth of field and other exposure issues.

Happy shooting!

ya i know what ya mean, my older SD Sony Camera has a feature called 'frame mode' it basically records one frame only and then pauses by itself when you press record

this makes it much faster to do a stop motion clip because the camera does all the work, you could potentially make the entire stop motion video without using a computer, because the frames are already lined up in the camera.

anyone know if the HV20 has this specific feature?

You can take individual photos to the SD card with the photo setting at 1920 x 1080. Then, follow this thread:

http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=73855&highlight=time+lapse+vegas

This is for Vegas, but every program should have this feature.

Thomas

Oh, and then render it to a different codec if you have a slower computer.

The reason why using a video camera such as the HV20 may be better then a DSLR is because video cameras are better at locking in a certain exposure level for long periods of time. With stop motion if each frame has a different exposure level the video will flicker due to each frame having a different light level and color. As long as your lighting environment stays consistant a video camera will give you the exact same exposure and color every time. A relly good DSLR could be made I guess to lock everything in but I don't know how or which ones are good at that. Using a video camera however will be much easier.

The HV20 rocks at stop-motion. Use the digital still mode as others have said. I shoot using the highest resolution because the 1920x1080 mode actually crops the sensor. The highest mode gives you the entire sensor. Also use the remote to "expose" each frame so you don't risk moving the camera.

My thoughts on using the HV20 for stop-motion (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=91860)

The HV20 rocks at stop-motion. Use the digital still mode as others have said. I shoot using the highest resolution because the 1920x1080 mode actually crops the sensor. The highest mode gives you the entire sensor. Also use the remote to "expose" each frame so you don't risk moving the camera.

My thoughts on using the HV20 for stop-motion (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=91860)

Thank you, Wes!

Chris,

In terms of doing something bad to a tape drive. Dropping a single frame onto a tape and then waiting a minute or so before the next is probably the worst thing imaginable.

My son and I have a ton of fun with a Mac program called iStop Motion, which takes a firewire feed out of a camcorder and then captures frames into sequences on the computer. It does onion-skinning so you can see the difference between the previous frame and the new one.
The latest version supports high-definition capture, and capture from SLR still cameras.

The Corpse Bride was shot using a commercial digital SLR camera.