Joint Jumble
Channel: eilismurphy
Date: 2012-10-16

This stop motion animation was made by the participants of Grassroots Gathering 2012 in the Stop Motion workshop. We made it within the first 45 minutes of the workshop - most of the participants had never made a stop motion animation before! The music is a clip from Can Kickers tune 'Dingus Day Polka'.

Stop motion animation is an animation technique where a object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence. 

Here is a quick guide to creating Stop Motion animation:

1. Create a series of 12 photographs of a simple movement using an object/drawing/etc. Each photo is a continuation of the last photo but with the character/object moved slightly. 12 photos/frames = 1 second of footage.

2. Photograph using a camera and tripod. Make sure you position your set/objects in brightly lit area e.g. a windowsill or table beside a window.

3. Using MonkeyJam, iMovie or Windows Movie Maker, upload your photos to create your animation.

Instructions for Windows Movie Maker:
i. Import the pictures.
ii. Click "Tools" and then "Options". Do this before placing the pictures into the timeline.
iii. Click the "Advanced" tab.
iv. Change the picture duration to 0.03 seconds per frame (the lowest setting). This is found under "Picture Options."
v. Ensure that the pictures are in the correct order.
vi. Load the pictures into the storyboard.
vii. Add titles and credits if desired.
viii. Go to "Finish Movie" and click whichever option is suitable.

Instructions for iMovie:
i. Open up iPhoto.
ii. Import pictures: Plug your camera into your Mac and upload the photos into iPhoto. Create a new photo album with a specific name related to the animation and drag the pictures into it.
iii. Open up iMovie. Make sure you're in the "Timeline" view.
iv. Click on the "Photos" button. Choose the photo album you selected from the drop down menu.
v. In the photo selection window, type in a small time value. For example, 0:03 means 3/30ths of a second.
vi. Select all of the photos you want to add and drag them down into the timeline.
vii. Add music or sound effects
viii. Save your work and export video as Quicktime Movie.

Another good stop motion program is MonkeyJam. It is free to download and is suitable for PCs. Here is the link: http://monkeyjam.en.softonic.com/