In the past few years, specialty clips have gained popularity on the Web using time-lapse animation. Initially, it was advertising and insertions for clips and various films, then bloggers picked up the idea. This animation looks rather peculiar, but spectacular. In addition, the creation of such videos is now available to almost everyone who has a minimal set of equipment (at least a phone with a camera and a tripod). In this article, you will learn how to remove stop motion at home. In addition, we consider what is needed to know and be able to do this.
What is stop motion?
This is a technology for creating a video, the basis of which is frame-by-frame photography. To create a one-minute video, you need to take about 120 shots. Therefore, before removing the stop motion, please be patient. What to do? First you need to shoot the scene, then make a slight change to it (turning the head or arm of the doll) and shoot again. It is in this way that the effect of movement is achieved. Then all these pictures are mounted on a computer or in a special program on the phone.
Pros of stop motion
For shooting, you do not need an expensive video camera. It is enough to be the owner of a minimum set of amateur photographer and good imagination. You can create almost all special effects at home.
Necessary tools
Firstly, before, for example, how to shoot the “Monster High” stop motion, you will need to purchase a camera that can be manually configured. So you can adapt to almost any shooting conditions and do without further processing in Photoshop.
Secondly, you will need a tripod. It will be very difficult to do without a tripod: otherwise, you will have to look for a static surface in order to avoid the effect of shaking and shoot from one angle.
Thirdly, you should think about lighting. The best option of all possible is a constant source of light. You can buy a professional light for the studio, or do with table lamps of sufficient power. You can shoot in daylight. It is advisable not to use the flash, as it will certainly give too sharp shadows.
Fourth, you will need a computer, since the animation is created on it. Therefore, before shooting stop motion with dolls, you will need to learn how to work in one of the editing programs.
How many shots do you need
After you have written the script and decided on the production, you need to calculate the approximate time of each movement. Normal video consists of twenty-four frames in one second. But for stop motion, 12 frames will be enough. It is at this frequency that the movements of the dolls and objects will not seem too jerky and harsh. For stop motion it is better to take pictures with a margin. For example, if you made a calculation for 300 shots, it would be better to take 350 or even 400 photographs.
Process start
Before shooting stop motion with dolls, carefully fix the scene. It is to her that you have to touch a lot during filming, because of which she can move. Then mount the camera on a tripod and take a few shots from different angles. Choose the most successful one. To control the shutter, it is better to use a remote control. If it is not there, you can enable manual mode with a configured delay for the descent, for example, for two seconds.
Installation and post-processing
You need to use those programs that allow you to process a large number of pictures at the same time. "Photoshop" and "Lightroom" do very well with this task. If you did not need photo processing, you must import the pictures into the editing program. If you are a beginner, it’s best to use a simple program such as Corel VideoStudio. If you are no longer an amateur, Vegas or Premier Pro will suit you. Moreover, in Photoshop, at the stage of processing photos or already in the editing program, you will eventually learn how to create a variety of special effects.
How to shoot stop motion with voice acting?
And finally. If you already know how to shoot stop motion, you might also want to voice it. To do this, you will need a microphone, a sound card and a computer with a program installed on it. You need to record the voice already under the mounted video. For recording, a dull room is suitable in which the reflection of sound waves will be minimal.
After recording the voice, you can proceed to the sound design. You can find the necessary sounds (the noise of the city or the singing of forest birds, the conversations of the crowd in a cafe, the noise of transport, etc.) in any noise. To correctly insert noise into the project, you need to make time codes (the beginning and end of a certain sound). After you put voice and noise into your recording, you can put a compressor on the sound track so that there are no too loud sounds. After that, the audio track is exported to the editing program. Done! Now you know how to shoot stop motion.