Stop Motion Animation Tutorial

Transcription

1 Stop Motion Animation Tutorial Tutorial produced by Ed Friesen Feb, Monkey Jam is free software that allows the creation of stop animation video. The software is very easy to use, and if used effectively can open many opportunities for highly creative work in the classroom. Monkey Jam is approved software for installation in HSD. This means that the software can be installed upon request on any station in HSD. For practice at home, you can download Monkey Jam from Materials Needed: Webcam OR Digital Camera OR Digital Video Camera Tripod or stable surface Fun stuff to claymate with: PlayDough Lego Toys Microphones (optional) Groups: When working with Monkey Jam, it is recommended that students work in small groups of 2 to 3. File Sizes: Be aware that file sizes can grow to be extremely large and unusable if proper precautions are not taken. Many large files being opened at the same time or saved at the same time may cause lengthy delays. Extremely large files may not load or play properly on many computers. For Example: If you use a digital camera and have pics 3MB in size each, then when rendering a video of 15 Frames Per Second, then some simple math indicates: 3 MB x 15 fps x 60 seconds = 2700 MB/minute = 2.7 GB/minute Tips: use a low resolution capture device like a webcam If you are using a digital camera, capture them in monkey jam then RESIZE THEM before working with them to produce a final product. Getting Started: 1. Write your story/script 2. Hook up your Camera to the computer 3. Get your camera stable so that it does not move 4. Launch Monkey Jam

2 Monkey Jam Using a Webcam or video camera to capture photos: 1. Create a new XPS sheet with folders. 2. Set the properties of the project. You will need to give the project an appropriate name, Frame rate of 12 fps is a good number to start with, and layers = 1. Choose the folder location that the project with all of its files should be stored. Choose OK. 3. Select the Capture button 4. In the new window that opens, change the image hold to 1. If your camera image is not being displayed, ensure that it s plugged in and click on Camera to select it.

3 5. You can now begin taking individual pictures by clicking on the Capture button. Move the object(s) that you want to animate and move them a very small amount. When all is ready, click Capture again. Repeat the steps. In order to produce a nice and smooth video, you will need to be constant in moving the objects only very small amounts. You will need to take MANY images. Remember, 12 pictures represents only 1 second video when completed. BE PATIENT... If you take a bad picture, just keep going. You can always find and delete the picture afterwards. 6. If you wish to preview what you have thus far, you can close the capture window and return to the main screen. You can always add to your video later. Alternatively: Use a Digital Camera to Import Photos 1. Create a new XPS sheet with folders.

4 2. Set the properties of the project. You will need to give the project an appropriate name, Frame rate of 12 fps is a good number to start with, and layers = 1. Choose the folder location that the project with all of it s files should be stored. Choose OK. 3. Connect the camera or insert the camera s memory card into the computers media card reader and copy the photos into the Folder you chose in the previous step. 4. RESIZE YOUR PHOTOS USING PHOTORESIZE. You can do this by right clicking on the photos and choosing to resize them. This is a VERY important step. If it is missed, the file sizes will likely become too large to be usable. It is important to only use the resized photos from here on in. You may want to keep the originals in another location and delete the large photos from this working folder to avoid confusion. Resized photos will have an altered name that ends in a number. It is handy if the photos are numbered in order. Many cameras name files by number automatically. 5. In Monkey Jam, click on File>Import>Images 6. CHANGE THE HOLD VALUE TO 1.

5 7. Browse to the photos you have in your working folder. Click on the first resized photo, press SHIFT and click on the last photo in the folder. Click on Add Files 8. Photos now appear in the Import List. From here you can sort the order (numerically) of the photos if needed or remove the ones from the list to be imported. Once you are ready, click the Import button to continue. 9. If you receive a warning, choose to Copy so the photos will be automatically copied into the correct folder. 10. Photos will now appear in Layer 1 of the main screen Preview Your Stop Animation: After capturing, or importing your pictures, you are ready to preview your Animation 1. Click on the TV icon to preview your animation. 2. It will render your preview. The more images, the longer it takes. 3. To watch your animation click the right arrow 4. You can also preview different movie sizes, different segments of the animation, and use the scroller to see individual frames. You can go back and forth between the capture window and the preview window too.

6 Edit your Frames: 1. If you want to move frames, simply select them and then drag them to the new location. You will need to have room available as frames cannot be dragged onto frames that are already occupied. Make some room by selecting the last frames and moving them down. 2. You can extend or shorten the length of which any or all of your frames will be displayed by clicking and dragging the dark triangle in the bottom right corner of the frame. The triangle turns into a bar if pictures spam multiple frames. 3. Delete frames completely by selecting the frame and clicking the delete key. Don t forget to close the hole by following step 1 above. 4. If you find that your entire video is moving too fast, you can also alter the number of framer per second that are displayed as the animation runs. Reducing the number from 12 to 6 fps will effectively make the image run at half speed. The lower the fps, the more jerky the animation will appear. 5. Adding Audio I don t use Monkey Jam for adding Audio. Rather I export the video as an avi (see below) and then import the video into Windows Movie Maker to easily add voice recordings or mp3 audio. Exporting your animation: 1. You can export your video as an.avi file. Click on the Export to Avi button. 2. Choose a file name and location to save the exported file. Image size can also be selected at this time. If you intend to exhibit your animations on your wiki, you should consider sizes not larger than 320 x Reduce File Sizes - Do not choose compression through Monkey Jam. If you would like to optimize the file size for better viewing online, you are best off by opening up the video in Movie Maker and saving it with lower quality settings (Iess than 500 Kb/s). Alternatively, a free piece of software called Format Factory can easily tweak the size of your video. It should be installed on all of your HSD stations. (If it s not there, put in a request and we will install it for you.) Happy Animating!!