How to Use Stop Motion Animator

While computer-generated animation now predominates in animation, there are still animators who use other methods like stop motion animation. Stop motion has been used for years by filmmakers to create the illusion of movement in inanimate objects. One of its most famous early uses was by Ray Harryhausen in "King Kong." Stop motion works by exposing a series of single frames, each time making some small adjustment to the model, such as moving the arms forward and turning the head. Stop Motion Animator is designed to work with Web cams and other video capture devices to create these snapshots.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Download and install the program to your system. It will only work with video formats produced by a Windows compatible Web cam or camcorder, meaning it supports Microsoft Video for Windows (VFW).

2. Connect your video camera to your computer through a USB port or Firewire capture card.

3. Open Stop Motion Animator. Then connect to the video capture device. Moving through the video, use the "Grab" function to select the frame you want to have for your animation. You can tell the program to capture one or a series of frames.

4. Adjust the "Video Viewing" window to any resolution you want as you are working to make it easier to to see what you are working on. This will not affect the screen capture resolution. Use the "Play" and "Step Back a Frame" buttons to move around the captured frames as you work.

5. Use the "Onion Skin" feature to superimpose a transparent image of one frame on the previous frame to make sure that the animation you are creating is working smoothly, without any sudden or jerky movements. When you are done, save your work.

References

• Stop Motion Animator Program