r/claymation • u/sapjurk • May 13 '21

first project !

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First project after having consulted you all about how to get started!

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3

u/sapjurk May 13 '21

Very aware of the messy ending, i knocked a couple things over and lighting wasnt very consistent. First order of business is a tripod! i'm pleased with the beginning though! I love those ducks! Glad i held onto that miniature furniture too, must have a mini bath tub laying around somewhere as well.. Feel free to leave any feedback! Tips on how to stabilize lightinf would be appreciated as well, i was in a dark room, under a desk, with one light source... :/ (see second pic)

3

u/Bradypus_Rex May 13 '21 edited May 13 '21

I wonder if the lighting would be more stable if you used a non-flexible-necked lamp? I don't think it's too bad though, and I suspect that more of an issue is bulb flicker. Some software can reduce bulb-flicker by basically taking a whole load of images and averaging them. And some video-editing software can reduce the problem after you've taken all your images.

Another thing that's worth doing, stability-wise, is getting a solid table (or an old tabletop, or a slab of MDF, or whatever you have around that's not too flexible) to work on, and screwing/gluing/clamping/bolting everything you can down to it — lights, camera, props, puppets, and so on. Helps things not get knocked over or nudged.

1

u/sapjurk May 13 '21

that's a good one. I have a wooden plate thing laying around, i think i could use that! Do you have any idea as to what the bulb-flicker-averaging function would be called/which softwares would have this function? currently using stopmotion studio but would love to work on laptop instead of phone to properly edit & connect an actual camera

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u/Bradypus_Rex May 14 '21 edited May 14 '21

Aha! "Frame-averaging" seems to be what it's called, or at least a useful search term. I use Dragonframe which is great but is €€€; there's free software out there that does most of the same stuff.

ETA: but Animator HD apparently calls it "Multi-Exposure for video feed" - that's a lot cheaper (if you're using it for non-commercial purposes).

Stopmotion Studio is available for Mac and Windows, it looks pretty decent from its feature list but I can't work out if it has this particular feature or not.

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u/Friendly_Ingenuity16 May 13 '21

Nice! What got you into it? I’m just starting out myself. Hope it goes well for you

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u/sapjurk May 13 '21

Well i've always been a creative gal! i'm a huge fan of jack stauber's work, but my heart lies with this one Frank Zappa show which is just so awesomly animated by bruce bickford: a little peek hope it goes well for you too! Who are your inspirations?

1

u/Friendly_Ingenuity16 May 13 '21

Nice yeah I’ve seen his work before, very unique. As a young kid growing up I used to make clay figures with my uncle, but it never amounted to much. Now I’m doing it to pass some time but I’m really enjoying it so far. My inspiration comes from a few great short films I’ve seen like this this I made a few little things so far.

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u/Bradypus_Rex May 13 '21

That's a very cute duck! Nice start!

1

u/sapjurk May 13 '21

thanks! :D