|
 |
|
 |
. |
|
We'll show
you how to make |
|
stop-action animation movies |
|
Hi ! |
called
animated GIFs. We'll |
| |
only cover
the basics here. |
|
Once you
get the hang of it |
|
we're sure
you'll want to |
|
learn more
on your own. |
|
.. |
|
Stop-action, or stop-motion animation simply means that each change of
|
|
action or
motion in a scene is photographed, or stopped before the next |
|
change
in the action is set up for shooting. So if you |
 |
|
want
to make a stop-action animation of a running |
|
ostrich, for example, you will need to shoot at least two |
|
photos of it - one with its left leg forward and one
with |
|
its right leg forward since that's how it runs. Many
types |
|
. |
|
of
animation formats are available for producing moving pictures, or |
. |
|
movies.
We'll only cover animated GIFs here because they are the simplest |
. |
|
ones for
the beginner to understand and they have the widest use. More on |
. |
|
this
later. For now let's get you set up for your first "shoot". |
. |
|
. |
|
Equipment -
The main thing you'll need is a camera of course. The
least |
|
expensive
way to produce animated GIFs is to use a digital camera or web |
|
cam that
can take still shots. A more expensive way is to use a 35mm film |
|
camera or
Super8mm movie camera that can be set to take still shots. |
|
. |
. |
| . |
|
It is
easier to produce animated GIFs with a digital camera because the |
|
photo is
already digitized and ready for editing by your computer. Also you |
|
can create
the animation frame by frame as you take each shot. That way |
|
you can
see how the animation is progressing and make any changes in |
|
the camera
settings or model movements before the entire animation is |
|
completed.
If you use a digital camera set it to low resolution to conserve |
|
its batteries and speed up
image downloading to your computer. GIF |
|
animation programs convert
your images to low res (72ppi) images anyway |
|
so you don't gain anything
by shooting images at a higher resolution. |
|
. |
|
You will probably get
higher quality images with a film camera though. |
|
If you use
a film camera your photos will have to digitized before they can |
|
be used by
your computer. You have two basic options here. You can have |
|
your photo
development shop digitize the images for you on a compact disc |
|
(or if
your computer doesn't have a CD reader the photo lab can probably |
|
e-mail
them to you directly). Or you can scan your prints on a flat bed |
|
scanner if you have one.
The major draw back of using a film camera is |
|
you have to take all of
the pictures before you can compose the animation. |
 |
|
 |
|
back |
Page 1 Polymorf studios |
forward |