As Film Gallery Directors, ^FallenRox, ^guruubii, ^meanbones and myself, we would love to see the participation of all deviants in the film community. However, we all know there is great talent out there, only waiting to be discovered! Maybe you have talent for the film gallery and don't even know it!


If you've never tried… or if you don't even own a video-camera…or know people who could act for you… If you have no idea how to animate 2d or 3d...how could you possibly submit to our gallery? Well you can! And all you need is a creative idea, patience and a digital camera (you can use an analog camera but that would increase cost and won't allow you to visualise the results before putting the work together). Welcome to the world of STOP MOTION!


Basically, Stop Motion consists in doing what all video cameras do, that is capturing one frame after another one of something or somebody in motion, only that you create the motion and you capture the frames as you go. This way you can animate anything you want: from a single object to a whole room!


First of all, work on an idea. Sketching it in the form of a storyboard could be very useful.

Set your camera in a steady position (having a tripod would make things easier, but if you don't have one, you can try placing it anywhere else). Remember you don't need high quality resolution for your stop motion frames.

Now both camera and the objects to animate are ready, pay attention to the lighting and the background. Make sure it's well illuminated and your object won't suffer very intense lighting variations. Also make sure there is nothing in the background that will distract from the animated object. Now, you can start shooting!

You will need to take at least 10 to 12 photographs per second of animation, to make sure the motion runs smoothly. That would equal 10 to 12 frames per second (12 is the standard for animations). Start with something short; no longer than 40 seconds, and make it longer as you get more experienced.

When you are done with your animation, you will need to process the photographs and put them together to create the 'film'. For that you will need special software. Here are a small list of freeware software or lowcost software for StopMotion?.(note that I haven't tested them, so you are on your own to find the one that best suits you!)

If you're a PC user:

Monkey Jam
Motion Mage StopMojo
Stop Motion Animator(for ClayMotion)
Stop Motion Pro Junior License

If you're a Mac user:

iMovie
iStopMotion

If you're a Linux user:

StopMotion 3.0
Motion Mage
StopMojo

Now have fun and let us see your experiments. Perhaps there is a director inside you too!



Stop Motion from our gallery Features:



More Stop Motionon deviantART Film...!

Enjoy the films and give it a try! We look forward to having your stop motion for review.

FAQ #842: How do I become a submitting member of the film community?