

This will help with timing, and it might come in handy if you end up needing to insert black space into your edit. Shoot a few pictures before you start any action and a few more after the action ends. This way, you can always remove those frames in post if the animation takes too long. If you want something to move across the frame, don’t do it in 12 pictures - try 24. The secret is: the slighter the movement and the more pictures you take, the smoother and longer the animation will be. There’s no easy way to plan out how something will animate until you do it. Having more frames per second will make for smoother animations, but a lower frame rate can have a neat effect. You can decide what style you want to shoot in, so experiment! Shoot at a higher frame rate for smoother animations Most stop motion videos are between 12fps and 24fps (1920x1080). We’ll usually shoot in JPEG instead of RAW for a quicker workflow in post, and set the quality at medium. Since stop motion is all pictures, you have complete control over the frame rate and the quality. Shooting a stop motion video Choose what format you want to shoot in This is pretty key, especially since any movement in your camera will affect your stop motion animation. This way, you don’t have to touch your camera at all. If you’re investing in stop motion video, get an external camera controller - either wired or wireless.
#Learn how to do stop motion animation tv
If you don’t have an external display, a spare TV can work just as well! Minimize camera movement with a shutter release We’ll usually set up our external display on it’s own separate little light stand at a nice angle, so it’s easy to see the scene without having to touch the camera. They plug into your DSLR through HDMI and display what would have shown on your camera’s LCD. We use the line of Small HD’s for our external displays. It can make the whole process more efficient, and you won’t have to keep running to the back of your camera each time you move your objects. In order to easily see your stop motion scene, consider using an external display. If you’ve got a sandbag handy, try clipping it to your tripod to add some extra weight. Make sure your tripod legs and center column are all locked down, as well as the tripod head. For a quick stop motion setup, and not a permanent installation, we use just a regular old tripod. Once you’ve locked down your table’s position, you’ll want to do the same with your camera. Then, we use clips to fasten the paper to the table. We grab a couple of light stands, a cross bar, and our paper color of choice. We’ll usually opt for the 4-foot paper roll as opposed to the 9-foot, since we’re working with a smaller video frame. Seamless paper works great for stop motion videos. Just watch out for any hotspots or reflections. You can use softboxes or key lights to achieve this effect, or a clip light can work just as well. A lot of times, one well-placed light with some diffusion will do the trick. Conference rooms work great too! Your goal is to have flat, even light, just like you would use for a talking head video. If you can find a closet that fits a table and your camera setup, you’re in luck. Light from the sun can change quickly, and the slightest shift (from a cloud or the sun changing position) will be noticeable in your video. Try to find a room where you can block out all natural light. This will make sure your setup and shot won’t move from frame to frame in your video. Get yourself a solid table that doesn’t have wheels (or if it does, make sure you can lock them in position). If you aren’t planning on building a more permanent stop motion studio in your office, here are a few quick tips to set up your own stop motion studio on the go! Find a stable table or surface Heck, you can make two bananas walk down a street and do a jig if you want to! At Wistia, we’ve mainly focused on small-scale handmade stop motion scenes (because they’re more manageable), and we’ve learned a few things along the way about creating a makeshift studio.

Stop motion works with all different subjects - people, cars, umbrellas… anything that can move is fair game. In this guide, we’ll be covering a few basic steps for making your next stop motion video or sequence.

We’ve experimented with this hands-on technique to celebrate the holidays, thank our customers, and even advertise Wistia. Stop motion is an animation technique that we’ve used to add quirky visual effects to our videos. Here at Wistia, we like to experiment with all different types of videos, including stop motion videos from time to time.
