Stop Motion 101

Stop-Motion Fun Stuff: T-Shirt War

2010-03-11T11:59:00.009-07:00

While browsing some animation sites I came across an awesome pixelation animation about two guys having a t-shirt war! It was made by the YouTube Entertainer duo

Rhett and Link. It's very creative. You can tell a lot of time and thought went into it. Check it out below.

After you've watch the vid, make sure to check out the behind the scenes here.

Stop-Motion News: Stop motion in the oscars

2010-02-11T11:51:00.011-07:00

It seems stop motion has done quite well for itself this year, coming out with two full-length movies (Fantastic Mr. Fox and Coraline) and a multitude of shorts, the most prominent being Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death.

Now that the Oscars have come around again, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Coraline, and A Matter of Loaf and Death have all been nominated! Both Mr. Fox and Coraline were nominated in the Animated Feature Film category. The Fantastic Mr. Fox was also nominated for best music.
A Matter of Loaf and Death was nominated as an Animated Short. It's going to be a hard win for Fantastic Mr. Fox and Coraline, going up against Up and The Princess and the Frog, but I think both have good chances. I have high hopes for A Matter of Loaf and Death. Judging from Wallace and Gromit's past record at the Oscars, I think there's a good chance they might win!

Stop-Motion How-To: Easing In, Easing Out

2010-01-31T17:30:00.011-07:00

Easing in and easing out is an essential method for making your puppet's moves look real!
Easing in and out is the technique of moving your puppet less at the beginning and ending of a movement. If you analyze the way people move, you'll notice that they do the same thing. For instance unless your The Flash, you probably don't start running as fast as you possibly can right away. Instead, you start off slowly, then move into full speed. And unless you have gas brakes in your shoes, you won't be making any immediate stops either. The same thing applies when someone picks up an object: he won't jerk forward and grab the object, then jerk back. Instead, his hand will start off slower, go into full speed, then slow down when he reaches its goal.

Marc Spess made a great video showing how easing in and easing out works. Check it out below!

Stop-Motion Fun Stuff: Arthur

2010-01-18T12:07:00.007-07:00

The animation below (animated by Guionne Leroy and inspired by the opera King Arthur) has become one of my favorite clay animations on YouTube. The way the character and sets have been sculpted and animated give it a unique and very whimsical feel! It is a truly beautiful piece of animation!

Stop-Motion News: Shaun the Sheep Series 2

2009-12-16T11:55:00.016-07:00

Shaun the Sheep, the unlikely hero from A Close Shave has done quite well for himself since then. He got his own show, which won numerous awards, and he's coming back for another round with the second series of his show.

A lot of changes have been made for the new series. The first thing most people will notice is that some of the characters have undergone makeovers, some as big as Bowser's new white splotches and some as small as the farmer's scruffier face.

A cart load of new characters has also been added to the show, and some of the minor characters from the first series have been given bigger parts.

The show is now being shot in HD, and the new crispness is definitely visible!

The show is already being aired in the UK and a few other nations, but I could not find any air dates for the USA.

For more information you can check out the Series 2 Production Blog on the Shaun the Sheep website.

Stop-Motion How-To: Failure

2009-12-08T13:07:00.016-07:00

Sooner or later, there's a time in our life when we come across something many people consider a terrible thing. Something they think life would be better without. That thing is failure.

Personally, however, I think failure can be one of the most useful things in life and in animation. A lot of you out there may be thinking I'm absolutely nutty, that failure is what brings us down, not the opposite. And that is true, it can and will bring you down. But it can only do that if you let it.

Failure is a teacher, the best one you'll ever get in this life. But you must learn to listen to it. When you fail at something, don't go into depression because you screwed up. Instead, look for the reason behind your failure, learn from it, and avoid it in the future. Often when someone has failed, he says, "I tried and failed, so now I'm just gonna quit." You can't expect to have success the first time you start something, and you also can't expect not to fail even after you've experienced success.

Trying again is often frightening. You may have put so much effort and heart into your project the last time, only to meet the grim face of failure. But I bet if you find what you did wrong and correct it, you'll do far better the second time!

I guarantee sometime in your animation career, you'll have more than a few failures. Puppet modeling, lighting, animation - none of us succeed at these things the first time. Keep your chin up, and remember that a failure isn't something terrible. It's just a stepping stone too becoming a great animator.

The video below isn't about animation, but everything in it can be applied to our craft.

Stop-Motion Fun Stuff: Wallace and Gromit Tribute

2009-11-10T15:23:00.011-07:00

Since this year is Wallace and Gromit's 20th anniversary, I thought I'd post something to do with them and the first thing that came to mind was Andreas Francis's animated tribute. Andreas animated this for his first Stop motion assignment. The assignment was: Have a white clay ball roll in from the side, do something, then roll out again. As you'll see, he went far beyond what was required for this project!

Check it out below!

Stop-Motion News:Stop Motion Magazine!

2009-11-09T17:55:00.010-07:00

Finally, someone has stepped up to the bar and brought together something I have only dreamed of coming to life: A stop-motion magazine! That someone is John Ikuma, and he's done a great job putting this magazine together.

There are currently two issues available, both of them containing a truckload of great information. The 1st issue includes four very inspirational interviews, a review of a new animation program, and a tutorial showing how to make a simple animation rig.

The second issue takes you on a in-depth look through the production of Titan Maximum, an interview with Stan Starwn, reviews of the programs Magpie Pro and iStopmotion Pro, and a tutorial on how to build a dolly for your camera.

As you can see, there is no lack of information in these magazines, and believe it or not, the magazine is totally free! You can download both issues here. Also, check out the newly launched Stop-Motion Magazine blog, which shows the behind the scenes and sneak peeks of upcoming issues.

Stop-Motion How-To: The Effect of the Sound Effect

2009-10-22T11:27:00.015-06:00

Something you need to seriously consider in the finished product of your animation is sound effects. Some animators may think sound effects are nice but not all that crucial to a finished animation. But in order to bring your animation to life they really are needed.

Sound effects can be just as crucial to telling a story as character voices. For instance, when your puppet sets down an object, the sound effect you choose helps identify what type of object it is. If it's a heavy object, it would probably make a loud clunk, or if it's metal, it would jingle. Portraying that the object is heavy or metal would likely be evident in the animation, but sometimes it's simpler to help the audience know what's going on through a sound effect or two. Our ears help us identify things almost as much as our eyes do.

How do you create these sound effects? Professional studios usually hire a sound-effect team to create custom sounds for the animation. But hiring such a team could get rather pricey, so I would recommend buying a prerecorded soundtrack. There is quite a selection to choose from. The biggest pack of sound effects I've seen is The Sony Pictures Sound Effects Series, which is a box set of 10 CDs with over 2,300 effects in a wide assortment of categories. The downside of the Sound Effects Series is that it costs $300-$400. If you're looking for something a tad cheaper, I highly recommend the 500+ Sound Effects mp3 download, which includes 6 CDs worth of sound effects. As of the date of this post, you can download it from Amazon for $1.99.
If you are using Windows Movie Maker, be aware that since it limits you to one audio track, you won't be able to add any music along with the sound effects.

Since audios and visuals are the only two senses that can be applied to the motion picture, you should not only use sight to it's full extent but sound too.

Stop-Motion Fun Stuff: Human Skateboard

2009-10-13T10:58:00.005-06:00

PES Film made a neat commercial, as an advertisement for skateboarding shoes, using pixelation.
check it out below.

Stop-Motion News: Frankenweenie

2009-10-04T15:35:00.007-06:00

It seems Tim Burton will be again stepping back into the magical world of stop-motion to make his third full-length stop-motion animated film Frankenweenie.

Frankenweenie will be remake of a live-action film Tim Burton made in 1984. The story, loosely based off the classic tale of Frankenstein, is about a young boy who brings his dog back to life.

Frankenweenie is being made by Disney studios and will be bringing back many of the animators and crew who worked on Corpse Bride.

Frankenweenie is scheduled to be released sometime in 2011

Stop-Motion How to: Taking A Closer Look

2009-08-29T16:35:00.011-06:00

Paul from StopMotionPro made a video showing a neat way to zoom up on your capture window using any program on your PC.

Zooming up on your capture window is much more useful than it might sound, especially when it's difficult to see your parts of your puppet, due to your lighting or set.

You can check the video out below.

Stop-Motion Fun Stuff: Legolibrium

2009-08-06T11:02:00.006-06:00

Keshen8 from YouTube made a neat animated Lego spoof off a fight scene from the movie Equilibrium. This is probably the best fight scene I've ever seen in stop-motion animation. Check it out below!

Stop Motion News: The Fantastic Mr. Fox

2009-07-31T13:52:00.010-06:00

20th Century Fox has announced they will be releasing a new stop-motion animated movie based on the best-selling children's book The Fantastic Mr. Fox by British author Roald Dahl (who also co-wrote the movie script with Noah Baumbach). The movie includes an all-star cast including Owen Wilson, George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, and many more. The movie will be released 13 of November.

In the movie Mr. and Mrs. Fox live an idyllic home life with their son Ash and visiting nephew Kristopherson. But after 12 years, the bucolic existence proves too much for Mr. Fox's wild animal instincts. Soon he slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and, in doing so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal community. Trapped underground and with too little food to go around, the animals band together to fight against the evil Farmers -- Boggis, Bunce, and Bean -- who are determined to capture the audacious, fantastic Mr Fox at any cost.

Check out the trailer below.

Stop-Motion How-To:The Power Of the Unexpected

2009-07-19T16:29:00.007-06:00

I'm kind of a dull person to watch movies with, since I really don't get too emotionally drawn into a movie. But I have noticed that the one thing that seem to provoke my feelings the most is the unexpected. When someone in a movie is sick and it's obvious he's going to die sooner or later, I rarely find myself saddened when he dies. But in a movie where the story seems rather predictable, and then suddenly one of the likable characters dies I find myself shocked and saddened by this new turn of events.

Or, to look at it from the other side of the coin, a gag can become much funnier when it's unexpected, such as in Aardman's short Aardman where a guy dressed up as a superhero walks up to what looks like a hole in the ground. He walks over the hole and nothing happens, but when he gets a couple steps past it, he falls through the ground, turning somthing that would have been a cliche into somthing that surpises the audience.

Of course, you can't use the unexpected too much, because it will soon become the expected. For instances, in M. Night Shyamalan's movies, people have come to expect a big twist in the end and often are disappointed because they wanted a epic twist when it was just a good one. Try doing something unexpected in your animations. If you do it right, you'll get some good reactions.

To illustrate my point, check out the video below.

Stop-Motion Fun Stuff: Super Mario World Stop-Motion Japanese Commercial

2009-06-27T22:38:00.009-06:00

A couple days ago I stumbled across this rare stop-motion Japanese Commercial for the SNES 1990's Super Mario World. I have been a fan of Nintendo's Mario games for as long as I can remember, and it was cool to see Mario do his stuff as a stop-motion animated figure. You can check it out below.

Stop-Motion News: Aardman Announces Two New Full-Length Animated Movies!

2009-06-19T20:19:00.002-06:00

Aardman Studios (the creators of Wallace and Gromit) have announced they will be bringing out two new animated movies. Arthur Christmas which will be done in CG, and Pirates will be shot in stop-motion animation. Arthur Christmas is about how Santa manages to get around the whole world in one night. Pirates is an adaptation of Gideon Defoe's book The Pirates! in which a hapless band of pirates compete for the Pirate of the Year award. Arthur Christmas is scheduled for release some time in 2011 and Pirates in 2012 . Both movies will be distributed by Sony Pictures. For more info about both of these upcoming feature films, check out this post from the official Wallace & Gromit site here

Stop-Motion How To: Making Puppets Talk, Part 2 of 2

2009-06-09T13:42:00.004-06:00

In Part 1 of this post we talked about the different ways to create the lip movements for your puppets. You can check that post out here.

Lip sync is the process of making the lip movements you have animated match up with the pre-recorded voice. When I originally started lip syncing, I thought I could just switch the mouths around while animating, and then after I finished try to match my voice to it by adjusting the speed of my speech. That process didn't work at all. It always turned out looking horrible. I later found out that studios record the voices before they do any animation with lip movement in it. Once the studio has the recording, they slow it down to discover how much of the sound takes place in one frame and then note it on x-sheet for the animators to use later.

Thankfully, programs have been created for just this propose. Magpie is probably the most popular lip sync program. It's been used in a number of professional productions, including Corpse Bride and Creature Comforts. It's a great program, stocked with great features. The single license download costs $250 USD, and you can check it out here.

If you're unable to spend that much money, you can download JLipSync, a sweet free lip sync program for the PC and MAC. This program can be really confusing to download (at least it was for me), but luckily Marc Spess made a video tutorial outlining the downloading steps. You can check that out here.

Making your puppets talk can be a long and hard process, but if you're willing to commit your time and effort, I assure you it will be well worth it!

Stop-Motion Fun Stuff: One of my own animations

2009-05-28T17:19:00.006-06:00

For this Fun Stuff post, I'm going to post a video I made while messing around with some blobs of clay the other day. Hope you enjoy it!

Stop-Motion News: StopMotionmagic.com's may animation challenge

2009-05-07T19:12:00.000-06:00

StopMotionMagic.com has been doing a monthly animation exercise for the past year. The exercises were started to help animators keep their animation skills fresh. Castlegardener (the director of the exercises) noticed that a lot of the people on the site were great animators but were in need of a good puppet. He made a neat alien puppet to be awarded to the best entry in this month's animation exercise. If you're a good animator in need of a little help with puppet making, check out the challenge here.

Stop-Motion How To: Making Puppets Talk, Part 1 of 2

2009-04-26T12:54:00.000-06:00

Over the years, many ways have been developed to make a stop-motion puppet talk. One of the earlier and more difficult methods is one in which the animator re-sculpts his puppet's mouth to the desired shape while in the middle of the animating process. Doing so doubles or triples the time the animator spends on a scene. This technique can look great if you're good at re-sculpting, but it isn't a good idea to have your focus on sculpting when it should be on animating.

Probably the easiest technique is one in which the animator creates a puppet whose mouth can be opened and closed and then animates his speech by just propping the mouth open and then closing it, without worrying about the lips, teeth, or tongue. This technique is easy to accomplish, but it usually makes the puppet look like a weird robot from a B horror movie. Unless that's what you're going for I would strongly recommend avoiding this technique.

The best technique I have seen uses the the replacement mouth method which has been adopted by almost all of the larger stop-motion studios. In the replacement mouth method, the sculptor cuts out the puppet's mouth and sculpts replacement mouths that fit where he cut out the original mouth. After he's finished sculpting all his mouths, he gives them to the animator, who then inserts the correct mouth shape in each frame in order to shape the words his puppet is saying. This way, the animator and the sculptor have plenty of time to add as much detail as they want. When I first heard of this method I thought it would take a tremendous amount of time sculpting 26 different mouths. But I was soon enlightened to the fact that the mouth only needs to make 8 basic shapes to speak fluently. Check out this paper, which shows which mouth shapes sound the same and how to sculpt them.

A technique similar to replacement mouths is drawing the mouth shapes on a piece of paper and adhering it to the puppet's mouth area. Surprisingly, this method tends to be quite cartoonish and funny looking.

One of the hardest things in the process of making puppet's talk is getting the recorded voice to match up with the lip movements. In Part Two of this post, we will look into some of the ways to archive lip syncing.

Stop-Motion Fun Stuff: The Animated Animation Tutorial

2009-04-16T18:21:00.000-06:00

Check out Battenball's cute very basic Animated stop-motion tutorial.

Stop Motion News: MorphMation Contest

2009-04-07T16:01:00.000-06:00

Aardman has teamed up with Firebox.com for a new stop-motion contest. The animation must be focused on the world of Aardman's Morph and be two minutes or less.The contest is open to all ages and will end April 30. Firebox will pick the five best animations, then post them on Aardman's YouTube page. From there Aardman will pick the best one out of the bunch.

First place prize is a framed, signed sketch by Peter Lord of a scene from the winning film. The second place prize is a copy of Stop Motion Pro6.5 High Definition software (as used by Aardman), and an Animation Station. The runners-up get an Animation Station.

You can check out the the official rules and the entries here.

Stop-Motion How to: Illusion and Delusions

2009-04-05T14:43:00.000-06:00

Animation is really all about creating illusions and even delusions. The illusion, of course, is the process of taking an inanimate puppet and making it an animated puppet. Creating the delusions is a bit trickier. What I would define as a delusion, at least in this case, would be when you're sitting in the theater watching an animated movie and, in the middle of it, you forget you are just watching an animated movie. You forget the person on the screen is nothing more than a sketch on a paper, a CG model, or a lump of clay. You forget that he doesn't even have any feelings or thoughts. You forget all these things, and, because of that you love, hate, abhor,despise or adore them. That is what i would define as a delusion.

Without these delusions, you would not care about what you're watching. Therefore, these delusions are just as important as the illusions. The delusions come from big things as well as small: the voice of your character, his facial expressions, his posture, his walk, his gestures, his twitches. Quirks are all these things smashed together to match your character's attitude. This is what creates the delusions.

Stop Motion News: Lewi Bolton's The Great Hat Heist

2009-03-23T10:27:00.000-06:00

While looking through KramerKlaymation's blog I came across a very interesting post about 15-year-old Lewi Bolton, who made a fantastic 8-minute short film entitled The Great Hat Heist. The animation and story are both extremely well done, and the whole article was very inspiring. I really recommend you check it out for yourself here. Also, make sure to watch his short either at the bottom of this post or on Kramer's blog.

Stop Motion Fun Stuff: Aardman's Weetabix Pirates.

2009-03-12T13:57:00.001-06:00

Done in 2D clay animation Aardman's Weetabix pirate commercial could possibly be one of my favorite stop-motion videos on YouTube. It features great stylized characters and a song that you will be humming in your head for the rest of the day. Check it out below:

Stop Motion How-To: Rigs

2009-03-07T16:30:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered how animators suspend a puppet in midair? The answer is a handy device called a rig. A rig works like a crane; it anchors the puppet in the sky. Most of the more pro rigs look and work like a large ball and socket arm that attaches to the back of a puppet. After shooting the required frames, the rig is removed digitally with a program like Photoshop.

Unfortunately, because most professional rigs are hand built, much like ball and socket armatures, they can be expensive. Armature animators, like me, who can't afford the pro rigs have to resort to making cheap home made rigs. These rigs will work, but you can bet you'll develop a headache or two while using it.

A good way to make a rig is to take a heavy weight plate (the kind found on a dumbbell), some kind of pole that fits securely in the weight's hole, and a long strand of wire strong enough to suspend your entire model. Stick the pole in the weight's hole and wrap about half of your wire tightly around the pole, leaving the other half hanging out.

The tricky part is finding a way to attach the wire to your puppet. A simple way to accomplish this is to create a separate model for the suspended shot using epoxy to secure the wire to the the back of your armature. Make sure you still have enough wire to suspend your model in the air. If you can shoot against a green screen, I would recommend painting the wire green also to make the subsequent Photoshop work easier.

Wallace & Gromit Win BAFTA Award

2009-02-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right Wallace and Gromit, the bread-making duo, have done it again, winning Best Short Animation at the 2009 BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Film Awards for their latest 30-minute short A Matter of Loaf and Death. Check out the post on Aardman's site here. Also take a look below at an interview with Nick Park just before the awards.

Stop Motion Fun Stuff: Western Spaghetti

2009-02-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

Pesfilms on You Tube posted a really neat stop-motion video in which they animated normal everyday things you find around the house.

Stop Motion How-To: Creating a Flip Book

2009-02-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to have your short animations in your pocket to show your friends and family? Boinx, the creators of Istopmotion (a capture program for the Mac), has posted a simple tutorial on there website, explaining how to make a little flip book. The tutorial was specifically made for their Istopmotion program, but you really don't need the program to use the tutorial. The only setback I can see is that your printer probably won't number the pics!

Follow all the steps on Istopmotion's website here, and you should end up with a great little flip book!

Stop-Motion News: Justin Rasch's New Stop-Motion Animation Short!

2009-01-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

Having completed Gerald's Last Day, Justin Rasch has now started work on a new stop-motion sci-fi short. Nothing as of yet has been revled about the story, and it is still to be titled. But judging from the pictures of the models that have been posted, it's going to be a stop-motion short to remember! You can check out the official post on Justin Rasch's blog "Stop MOTION Mission" here.

Stop-Motion Fun Stuff: "My Baby Just Cares For Me"

2009-01-18T12:52:00.000-07:00

In 1987, Aardman Studios made a music for the song "My Baby Just Cares for Me," sung by Nina Simone (in 1958). I hope you enjoy it!

Stop-Motion How-To: Books on Animation

2009-01-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

There really isn't an abundance of info on learning the art of animation out there (although I'm trying to do my part in improving that). The most useful info is usually found in books. Quite a variety of subjects are available to choose from, ranging from timing to the history of animation. Even books about cell or CG animation, still more than likely include a lot of information that is quite useful in stop-motion animation. Check your local library for books on animation. You can also check out Amazon's selection here.

Stop Motion News: Marvel's Ani-Movie

2009-01-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

I came across this cool product by Marvel called Ani-Movie. Ani-Movie is a simple all-in-one stop-motion animation studio. It was created for 2D stop-motion paper animation, but if you can get a 3D puppet to stand on it, it should work for that too. It comes with a camera capable of connecting to a TV for live feed, movable 2D paper models, an SD memory card slot, and two paper backgrounds. You can check out all the features at the official site here.

This stop-motion setup probably won't work the best for an experienced animator. But for someone who is new to animation I would recommend that they give this a try. Check it out at Amazon.com, or you might be able to find it cheaper on Ebay.com

Stop Motion Fun Stuff: Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas, Pt. 3

2008-12-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

Due to all the holiday festivities going on I had to really rush to get this post out on time, But anyway here's the last part of the Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas show.

I hope you all have a vary merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!

Stop-Motion How-To: Achieving the Chroma-Key Effect

2008-12-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

Chroma keying is the process of replacing a solid background with a picture or digital set. Colors like blue and green are most commonly used for chroma keying because they are the best contrast for the human skin, allowing the computer to better decipher the differences between the subject and the unwanted background. Chroma keying will allow you to incorporate more digital material into your movie, saving you from having to construct complicated and expensive sets.

Admittedly, getting the chroma key to produce a seamless product creates frustrations of its own.If you follow the tips Mark Apsolon outlines in the two vids below will help lessen some of the strains and headaches of chroma keying. You can check out the program VisionLab Studio that Mark talks about in his second vid here but If you don't want to pay $350.00-$450.00 for the full version, you can download Wax, a free chroma key program, but keep in mind that because it is free, it doesn't offer nearly the number of options that bigger programs do.

How to make awesome Chroma key!
How to use Green Screen Software for Chroma Keying

Stop-Motion Fun Stuff: Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas, Pt. 2

2008-12-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

Here's the second installment in Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas.

Stop Motion News: Wallace and Gromit Christmas Idents on BBC One

2008-12-15T16:50:00.001-07:00

Wallace and Gromit have recently appeared in a series of TV idents for BBC One, in honor of UK release of Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death on Christmas Day. Unfortunately for me and thousands of other Wallace and Gromit fans, Aardman has yet to schedule the US release. In the mean time, we can catch these W&G Christmas idents from BBC One.

Wallace and Gromit BBC One Christmas Idents Hanging the Christmas Lights
Wallace and Gromit BBC One Christmas Idents Going Caroling
Wallace and Gromit BBC One Christmas Idents Dusting Off Snow
Wallace and Gromit BBC One Christmas Idents Snow Angels
Wallace and Gromit BBC One Christmas Idents Sledge Walk

Stop motion How-to: Removing Rigs From Your Stop-Motion Videos

2008-12-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

Paul from Stop Motion Pro has put out quite a few short vids, showing how to use the stop-motion animation capture program Stop Motion Pro. One of these vids shows how to remove things like rigs or other unwanted objects from your stop-motion animated film. Luckily, you don't even need to purchase the Stopmotionpro software to use this method.

Stop Motion News: Coraline

2008-12-05T18:26:00.000-07:00

Lykia Studios new full-length stop-motion movie based off of Neil Gaiman's book Coraline. Coraline will release into theaters February 6. Directed by Henry Selick (who was also the directer for Nightmare Before Christmas), Coraline features absolutely eye-popping animation. It looks like it could be the best (as far as animation goes) stop-motion feature-length movie ever made.

Check out the preview and some behind the scenes stuff below

Behind the Scenes Of Coraline, Pt. 1
Behind the Scenes of Coraline, Pt. 2
Behind the Scenes of Coraline, Pt. 3
Behind the Scenes of Coraline, Pt. 4

Stop-Motion Fun Stuff: Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas, Pt. 1

2008-12-02T20:27:00.000-07:00

Well, it's one of my favorite times of the year again - Christmas! To help celebrate this wonderful season, I will be posting the entire Claymation Christmas show in this and the the next two "Stop-Motion Fun Stuff" posts. I hope you enjoy them.

Stop Motion How-To: Sculpting

2008-12-02T12:14:00.000-07:00

Sculpting is a important part of stop-motion animation because it allows you to portray your model's characteristics. For the most part brick film and toy animators won't need to know how to sculpt, but if you are planning on doing an animation with a clay, silicone, or plastic, sculpting is a necessity.

Sculpting is a skill gained more through experience than through teaching. Although you can definitely pick up a trick or two by watching experienced sculptors, you must work at sculpting until you have mastered the skill. If you have just started sculpting, you're probably still making crude blobs of clay. But don't be discouraged, because if you put your heart in it, you will get better. Every time you sculpt, challenge yourself to try something a little harder. And who says you can't make a great animation with a blob of clay?

Animateclay.com provides a very helpful DVD How to Sculpt Puppets 2 DVD Set, containing a ton of tips and tricks that I've used over and over again.

Stop Motion Fun Stuff: Star Wars EP3 Trailer, Lego Version

2008-11-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

Jedichris8 took Star Wars Episode III : Rise of the Empire, a Star Wars brick film made by Jay Silver, and mixed it with one of the Star Wars EP3 trailers. He did a great job piecing it together. The animation in it is quite good, and the special affects are superb! (Check it out below.)

Stop Motion News: Aardman's New TV Show Timmy Time

2008-11-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

Those of you who have been watching the Shaun the Sheep TV show are probably familiar with the youngest sheep in the flock, Timmy. Timmy is now staring in his very own TV show Timmy Time. Currently in production, Timmy Time will be released sometime in 2009. It has already been purchased by Disney channels worldwide, including the U.S. The episodes will run for 10-minutes (twice the length of the Shaun the Sheep episodes). Although Timmy Time is labeled for a younger audience I'm sure it (like most of Aardman's productions)will be entertaining to both adults and kids.

For those if you who unfamiliar with Timmy, here are a few clips from the Shaun the Sheep.

Stop Motion How-To: Eyes and Eyebrows

2008-11-16T14:29:00.000-07:00

The most expressive part of the body are the eyes and eyebrows. Gromit from the Wallace and Gromit series is arguably the most expressive and emotional character in the whole series, but because he can't talk, his emotions are communicated in his facial expressions, particularly his eyes and eyebrows. The eyes show where your model is focusing his attention, and the eyebrows indicate the type and intensity of emotion in the reaction. You must try to mesh the eyes and the brow movements so they work as one. If you can accomplish this, you will be able to create realistic facial expression for your model.

Eyes

There are quite a a few ways to create an eye. I would recommend the plastic Derlin eyeball (check them out here at Amazon). In order to animate it, you will need to melt a small hole in the ball. To do so you'll need the following supplies, in addition to the eyeball: 1. An old needle. 2. A hand-held propane torch. 3. A pair of pliers.

Start up the torch flame and turn the knob until you can see a little blue in the flame (be sure not to turn it up to high). Next grab the non-pointy end of the needle with the pliers and hold the needle's pointy end in the flame until the end of the needle is red. Then prick the needle into the eyeball, in approximately the location of the pupil, until it begins to melt a small hole in the plastic. Do this several times until you've melted a hole about halfway through the plastic eyeball. Afterwards, paint the pupil area, around the hole, (see pic above) with a non-chip paint.

Eyebrows

Eyebrows are actually very easy. Basically, all you need to do is carve a hair pattern in a small strip of clay and stick it on your models forehead.

Stop-Motion Fun Stuff: NoRabbits' Minutes

2008-11-10T12:26:00.000-07:00

NoRabbits' Minutes is a quirky short stop motion series made by I.Toon Studios in Japan for their 110th anniversary. Unfortunately, because it was made in and for Japan, that's about all I can find out about it. As far as I know, the dvd of the full short series is available only in Japan,
but I.Toon Studios has made the first episode available on YouTube (see below).

NoRabbits' Minutes Episode 1:

Stop Motion News: Wallace and Gromit New Short "A Matter of Loaf and Death"

2008-11-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

In just two months Aardman is about the bring the famous duo of Wallace and Gromit back in a all new short feature A Matter of Loaf and Death (previously titled Trouble at the Mill)

In A Matter of Loaf and Death Wallace and Gromit have taken up the cooking profession and started a bakery. But danger lurks around every corner when someone begins exterminating the bakers, and Wallace is next on the list! If you want to learn more about A Matter of Loaf and Death check out The Wallace and Gromit site here.

Also check out the vid at the bottom of the post showing Nick Park giving the first official announcement of A Matter of Loaf and Death.

Stop Motion How-To: Creating an Armature

2008-10-26T14:52:00.000-06:00

An armature is essential in creating a stop-motion puppet that is capable of animation. An armature is the skeleton that holds together the puppet. Not only does an armature hold the puppet together, it also keeps it in the correct pose. This is very important.

The best (and most expensive) armature is the ball and socket. These are constructed of (if you hadn't guessed) metal ball and socket joints, and they seem work quite well. Most pro studios like Aardman use the ball and socket type armatures. However, because each piece on a ball and socket is made by hand, they can get quite pricey. You can buy lower-end ball and socket armatures for pretty good prices here.

Brass tube armatures are made of wood, wire, metal, and bass tubing. These are really nice because they allow you to remove and replace certain parts of the armature, such as hands, feet, heads, and so on. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any retailers who offer these armatures. If you're interested in learning how to make a brass tube armature, check out Marc Spess's DVD How to Make Aluminum Wire Armatures.

Most amateur animators (such as myself) use wire armatures made from 1/16-inch aluminum wire. They work really well and are relatively easy to make! heres a picture that shows some of the parts on a stop-motion wire armature here . Marc Spess again made a nice vid (available on YouTube) showing the basics of armature making(Look below)

Fun Stuff: Tim Liebe's Eigendynamik

2008-10-21T12:05:00.000-06:00

Here's a creative short stop-motion vid I found on the Animator DV site. It was made by a guy named Tim Liebe, using the Animator DV software. Check it out here.

Stop-Motion News: Neverhood Movie

2008-10-18T10:29:00.000-06:00

The Neverhood, an adventure video game created totally in stop-motion clay animation, came out in 1996, and most people agree that it was the best clay-animation game ever. Now Frederator Studios are bringing the wacky world of The Neverhood back in a full-length feature film, premiering sometime next year. Luckily, Frederator Studios are producing the movie in clay animation, just like the game. Doug TenNapel, who designed and animated on the game. is coming back to work on the film. For those of you who haven't seen anything of The Neverhood, here is a cut scene from the 1996 game:

The Neverhood: Pulling of the Pin

Stop Motion How-To: Timing

2008-10-17T13:36:00.000-06:00

One of the biggest problems an animator will run into is getting the timing on his animation right. This will determine whether or not his puppet looks like it's moving at the right speed. Anthony Scott came up with a quick and easy method for finding out how many frames are needed for a movement that takes less than or exactly a second.

One-thou-sand-one is the key word in this trick. The amount of time it takes to say one thousand one equals 24 frames or a second worth of animation time. But the nice thing about the word is you can break the word into fewer syllables for timing smaller movements. For instance:

One equals 6 frames.

One-thou equals 12 frames.

One-thou-sand equals 18 frames.

And one-thou-sand-one is 24 frames.

If the animator requires a movement that takes longer than a second to complete, he'll need to film himself performing the movement and note how long the movement takes. I highly recommended Marc Spess's How to Animate Puppets 2 DVD Set It gives a more in-depth explanation on timing and also demonstrates many other neat stop motion tricks.

Fun Stuff: Stop-Motion Animation Frame by Frame

2008-10-05T13:36:00.000-06:00

I found this cool little video this afternoon. Someone filmed a stop-motion animator while he was animating some puppets and sped it up so that it looks like the puppet us actually moving while the animator animated him. Check it out.

Stop Motion How-To: The Different Kinds of Stop-Motion Animation

2008-09-30T11:16:00.000-06:00

Today, I'm going to talk about some of the different techniques that can be used in stop-motion animation.

Clay Animation

Clay animation (Which is personally my favorite type of Animation) involves sculpting and animating your model in mainly clay. Here's and example from the Cracking Contraptions Wallace and Gromit series:

Toy-Mation

Toy-mation uses a toy, such as an action figure or a Lego figure as the model used for animation. NathanWells made the following toy-mation/brick film clip for the 30th anniversay of the Lego mini figures:

2-D Clay Animation

In 2-D clay animation, a flat clay character is laid on a flat surface such as a table and made to look like he is standing. Here's an example from a short Marc Spess made using 2-D claymation.

Paper Animation

Paper animation utilizes the same concept as 2-D clay animation. The only difference is that the animator uses paper cutouts instead of a clay figure. Here is a great animation, made by Megan Brain for a United Airlines commerical during the Summer Olympics.

These are just a few examples of stop-motion animation. The limits to the models and settings are dependent only the animator's imagination.

Fun Stuff: Aardman's Morph Files

2008-09-24T15:52:00.000-06:00

For anyone who doesn't know who Aardman is (if there is such a person), Aardman is arguably the most famous claymation studio of all-time. They made huge claymation blockbusters such as Chicken Run, Creature Comforts, and the Wallace and Gromit series. The company was started by David Sproxton and Peter Lord. Their first big break they got was a clever animation known as The Amazing Adventures of Morph. Aardman recently brought Morph back for a short series they put on DVD. Unfortunately, it's only available in the pal [Regan 2] format, which means it will only work for those who live in the UK... So if you don't live UK and want to catch a glance at what morph is up to here are some vids Aardman posted on their YouTube page.

Morph - Magic Door

Morph - Messy

Morph - Card Trick

Stop-motion news: Justin Rasch's Gerald's Last Day

2008-09-21T21:11:00.001-06:00

My brother was searching the Web the other day and found this stop-motion short film that's coming out pretty soon. When he showed me, I was really surprised that I hadn't heard anything about it before. Its called Gerald's Last Day, and it's about a dog at the pound who has five hours left before they put him down. In that time, he tries to convince people to adopt him. It looks like it could be a really good film! I think almost all of it is being made by a guy named Justin Rasch, with a little help from his family and friends. He's been working on it for two and half years now, and I think he's getting pretty close to finishing it.

Here's a vid he posted about his film...

http://www.moli.com/p/moli_roller/1645/0

Stop Motion How-to: How Stop-Motion Animation Works

2008-09-20T16:01:00.000-06:00

Because this is the first post in Stop Motion How-To section, let's start with the basics.How exactly is stop-motion animation done?

Animators take a model made out of plastic, clay, wood, and even flexible toys. Anything that can hold its position will work. The model is placed in front of a still camera. If the animator wanted the model to wave its arm, he would move the model's arm a tiny bit, then take a picture. This process is repeated until the animator has completed the wave motion.

The amount of pictures needed to form the wave depends on how fast the arm needs to appear to be moving. Most animators shoot at 24 fps (frames per second), which is the same speed at which a live-action camera shoots. Some animators even shoot up to 30 fps in order to make the animation appear even smoother.

Stop-motion animation was the first type of 3D animation to come into the entertainment world. It was mostly used for the kind of special effects now accomplished through CG. King Kong (1933) probably features the most well-known stop-motion character ever. Stop motion has come along way from the crude animation of King Kong to huge blockbusters such as Wallace and Gromit, Nightmare Before Christmas, Chicken Run, and many others.

Introduction to StopMotion101.com

2008-09-20T14:34:00.000-06:00

Hi, I'm Jared Weiland.

Welcome to my website "Stop Motion 101," a website devoted to expanding the world of stop-motion animation. This site I will be spliting up into three different sections.

Stop Motion How-to: This is where I'll give some helpful tutorials and tips and tricks on stop motion.

Stop Motion News: This is where I'll fill you in on everything that is happening in the world of Stop Motion.

Fun Stuff: And last but not least a little bit of stuff just for fun.

I'm excited to see where this site is going to take me, and I hope you'll join me!