Stop Motion at DVinfo.net

Matthew Roddy · January 1st, 2009, 11:20 PM

I just did a 5 second test of a simple item rotating. I put the item on a tripod and took a still, rotated the tripod a smidg and then snapped another pic, etc. The speed of the anim looks fine. I wouldn't need it to move any faster or slower, but BOY does it look like stop motion (very jittery).
Assembled from a JPEG Sequence in AE CS3 at both 720/24p as well as 720/29.97i.

Are there any sites that talk about stop motion or where might I find advice regarding stop motion with a DSLR?

Thanks very!

Toenis Liivamaegi · January 2nd, 2009, 06:13 AM

Add in some motion blur, AE shoud be able to do that. Frame blending of some sort would help too. Else just shoot more frames of the rotation.

T

Adrian Frearson · January 2nd, 2009, 12:23 PM

Matthew

You could always try experimenting with longer exposure times, this might help smooth some of the motion and make it less jittery.
StopMotionAnimation.com is a pretty good resource for all things stop frame.

Adrian

Matthew Roddy · January 2nd, 2009, 02:09 PM

Thanks very much to you both.
My interlaced project was a lot smoother than the 24p project. I also noticed - and let this be a Matthew-learned-lesson to there would-be animators out there - that part of my jitter was me stepping on the carpet near my tripod when I shuttered the camera. There was just enough cush in the carpet that it moved the tripod, making each frame a little different.
Nasty stuff on the brain.

So, lessons learned:
Use Interlacing
Apply Motion Blur Where Necessary
STAY AWAY FROM THE DOGGON CAMERA WHEN RELEASING THE SHUTTER
(Same thing when moving the object)
Seems like no-brainers in hindsight, but hey... I'm a slow learner.

That web site looks awesome! A definite bookmark! Thanks!

Evan Donn · January 2nd, 2009, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Roddy

STAY AWAY FROM THE DOGGON CAMERA WHEN RELEASING THE SHUTTER

Best bet is to use a remote, or run remote control from a computer. Boinx Software - iStopMotion 2 is also great tool for this type of thing, a lot more features specific to stop motion than canon's remote utilities, although it gets pricy for the full-res option.

Matthew Roddy · January 3rd, 2009, 12:29 AM

Thanks, Evan. You're absolutely right. Fortunately, I remembered that from my Super8 daze. I had a wired remote, but I still had to step within a foot or two and that was enough to push the carpet.

January 1st, 2009, 11:20 PM	#1
Matthew Roddy Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Riverside, Ca Posts: 307	Stop Motion I just did a 5 second test of a simple item rotating. I put the item on a tripod and took a still, rotated the tripod a smidg and then snapped another pic, etc. The speed of the anim looks fine. I wouldn't need it to move any faster or slower, but BOY does it look like stop motion (very jittery). Assembled from a JPEG Sequence in AE CS3 at both 720/24p as well as 720/29.97i. Are there any sites that talk about stop motion or where might I find advice regarding stop motion with a DSLR? Thanks very!

January 2nd, 2009, 02:09 PM	#4
Matthew Roddy Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Riverside, Ca Posts: 307	Thanks very much to you both. My interlaced project was a lot smoother than the 24p project. I also noticed - and let this be a Matthew-learned-lesson to there would-be animators out there - that part of my jitter was me stepping on the carpet near my tripod when I shuttered the camera. There was just enough cush in the carpet that it moved the tripod, making each frame a little different. Nasty stuff on the brain. So, lessons learned: Use Interlacing Apply Motion Blur Where Necessary STAY AWAY FROM THE DOGGON CAMERA WHEN RELEASING THE SHUTTER (Same thing when moving the object) Seems like no-brainers in hindsight, but hey... I'm a slow learner. That web site looks awesome! A definite bookmark! Thanks! Last edited by Matthew Roddy; January 2nd, 2009 at 03:13 PM.

January 2nd, 2009, 06:13 AM	#2
Toenis Liivamaegi Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Tartu, Estonia Posts: 579	Add in some motion blur, AE shoud be able to do that. Frame blending of some sort would help too. Else just shoot more frames of the rotation. T

January 2nd, 2009, 12:23 PM	#3
Adrian Frearson Regular Crew Join Date: May 2008 Location: U.K Posts: 154	Matthew You could always try experimenting with longer exposure times, this might help smooth some of the motion and make it less jittery. StopMotionAnimation.com is a pretty good resource for all things stop frame. Adrian

January 3rd, 2009, 12:29 AM	#6
Matthew Roddy Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Riverside, Ca Posts: 307	Thanks, Evan. You're absolutely right. Fortunately, I remembered that from my Super8 daze. I had a wired remote, but I still had to step within a foot or two and that was enough to push the carpet.