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We'll show
you how to make |
stop-action animation movies |
Hi ! |
called
animated GIFs. We'll |
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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 |
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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 |
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this
later. For now let's get you set up for your first "shoot". |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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