|
So if the
picture quality is not acceptable or there is some problem in how |
. |
you set up
the models for any of the shots, you may have to reshoot some or |
all of the
shots to correct the problem. |
. |
If you're lucky enough to
have both a digital and a film camera you can use |
the
digital camera to shoot a practice run of the animation |

|
and
the higher quality film camera to shoot the final take. |
The
choice is yours. You are the director! |
|
Another necessary piece of equipment you'll need is a tripod |
to
mount the camera on so that it doesn't move at all during |
the
filming of each action sequence. |
|
|
Shooting the
animation - The technique for shooting each
frame of a |
. |
stop-action animation is basically the same as taking a regular still camera |
. |
shot.
So if you already know how to do that you're already well on your |
. |
way to
becoming a movie producer. The main difference is that with stop- |
. |
action
photography you are trying to capture action or motion using a series |
. |
of still
shots instead of just taking one still shot of a stationary object.
You |
. |
. |
are trying to create the
illusion of movement by making small, incremental |
adjustments in the position of the moving object between each shot. |
. |
You take a
shot then move the object slightly in the direction you want it to |
move, take
another shot then move the object again, and so on until you |
have shot
all of the positions of the movement. Depending on the type of |
movement
you are filming you may have to take two, three, four, or more |
individual
shots of it in order to film the entire sequence. The minimum |
number is
two shots - one for each extreme position of the movement as we |
showed in
the ostrich animation before. Two shots works okay for fairly |
quick
movements such as running legs, flapping wings, or spinning wheels. |
That's
because the images in the animation change so quickly that your |
mind fills
in the gaps in the movement from one position to the other. So |
the
movement appears naturally smooth and not too jerky. |
. |
Slower
movements such as bending over or walking slowly may require |
more than
two shots to make the animated movement look smooth. How |
many?
Only experimenting will tell. If you are using a digital still camera |
or web cam
this is not generally a problem since you can "screen" the |
animation
in your image viewing program as you are shooting it. You can |
do this by
toggling back and forth between each image or just running the |
animation.
However, if you are using a film camera the best bet is to buy |
yourself a little
insurance until you get some more experience. If you think
|
you can get away with just
two shots, shoot three - two for the extreme |
positions and one for the
middle position. Instead of three shots shoot four, |
etc.
The running time of the animation won't change. You just reduce the |
amount of time each frame
of the animation plays before the next frame is |
played thus smoothing out
the action. |
 |
|
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