Creating animations with clay, or stop-motion, is as much a niche art form as it is fascinating. In the following steps, ten in all, you will learn how to turn a clay ball into a figure of your choice. Next, you will have the figure animate to create a small video. This type of animation is commonly referred to as Stop-Motion because in fact, it's exactly that: Making something move that can't move.
Steps
Step 1. Buy some modeling clay or plastic and wire, any size
Make sure that the clay you bought does not harden when exposed to air. Buy clay of any color you want but make sure you have gray clay available to use as a base.
Step 2. Cut about a meter of wire and fold it in half
After folding it, twist both ends together.
Step 3. Give the wire the desired shape
Do not finger the character because this is only the "frame" and it is on this basis that you will model the clay.
Step 4. Begin to model a thin layer of clay on the previously constructed frame
The gray clay works as a neutral base on which to subsequently apply the colored clay.
Step 5. Create a figure to use for animation
Start using the other layers of colored clay. For example, if you are creating a human character, model clay of different colors to create different parts such as the shirt or pants. If you want to create a zebra, use black and white clay to make the stripes.
If you can't find clay of a certain color, you can always create it yourself by combining clay of various colors. To do this, you just have to take multiple colors and mix them together
Step 6. Animate the figure
Begin to animate the figure. Place the digital camera in the desired angle. For a successful animation it is essential to use a tripod because all the images must be taken from the same point and at the same angle.
You can also use a video camera. Instead of taking pictures you have to start recording and then press pause. For each frame you want to take, take the pause and put it back immediately after. In this way, however, there is the possibility that the image quality will be reduced
Step 7. Place the figure on a flat surface
Carefully move the limbs of the figure so that it assumes a starting position and take a picture with the camera.
Since the figure has to be moved a little in each frame, it may be useful to make a mark on the starting point of the figure so that if you find yourself picking it up to fix it better you can always reposition it on the point where it was in the previous frame. You could mark the starting point with chalks, pencils etc …
Step 8. Move the figure a little to make him change position and take another photo
Each photo, in technical jargon, is a frame. Films, intended as film, are displayed at 24 frames per second (FPS), digital videos, on the other hand, at 30 FPS. Move the figure carefully and precisely. If you move it too much it will not only look less realistic on the video but it will look like the figure is jumping. Also, make sure that the figure is always within range of the camera, otherwise it will disappear from the video.
Note that moving the figure could bring out the wire, especially if the clay has hardened. To heat the clay a little so that it does not break, you can hold it in your hands or place it under a light bulb
Step 9. Keep moving the figure and taking frames until you have completed your animation
If you run out of space on the camera, leave the figure in place and save the photos on your pc, then delete the photos on the camera and continue spinning.
Step 10. Upload all frames to your computer
Use a photo / video-editing program to put all the individual frames together and create a movie. Enjoy your animation and show it to your friends!
Note that stop-motion animation is an art that takes time and effort. Plus, you'll still have a lot to learn and your first animations won't be perfect. Keep trying and you will get better
Advice
- The Paint Shop Pro program, distributed by Corel, ex-JASC, is joined by another program called Animation Shop. These two programs are great for working with photographs and animations, and considering the possibilities they offer, they are also relatively inexpensive.
- If you are looking for an easy-to-use (not cheap) program to create videos from previously created frames, you could use Macromedia Flash.
- Another easy-to-use and free PC program is JPGVideo. With this program, you can convert-j.webp" />
- iStopmotion is a great program for Mac that allows you to easily create stop-motion animations. It costs around € 30 and is also fun to use.
- Alternatively, you can use Windows Movie Maker. This program allows you to import photos one by one and then to adjust the time span between one and the other. The software is provided directly with the Windows installation but you may need to download a newer version.
- StopMotion Pro, for PC users, on the other hand, also allows you to connect webcams and other types of cameras directly to the program.
- Linux users can use Mencoder (which is a part of mplayer) to create animations directly from the command line using the command “mencoder 'mf: //*.jpg' -mf type = jpg: fps = 4 -ovc copy -oac copy -o output.avi”provided the command line is inside the folder where the images are located and the images are saved in ascending order.
- Alternatively, to create AVI files, you can use the free VirtualDub program. But make sure that the photos are numbered in relation to where they should appear in the movie and that all numbers are continuous. Then click on "import" and click on the first frame of the film. VirtualDub will do the rest.
- IMovie also offers the possibility to import a series of images and animate them.
Warnings
- If you want to speed things up, you can create animations using lower framerates (FPS) going down to 6FPS i.e. taking up to 4 photos for every move of the character. This way you will finish faster while keeping the animation quality convincing.
- Working with clay can become frustrating, so if you can't shape the figure well, the only solution is to be patient. Also, remember to use delicacy when modeling the clay, if you use too much force you could destroy the figure.
- Don't expect your first projects to be great. Don't expect the video to turn smooth either as normal movies and videos run at 24 or even 30 FPS. Therefore, stop-motion animation, as mentioned above, requires patience and effort. But when you are done, it will give you a lot of satisfaction.
- The wire is hard and pointed and could accidentally get in your eyes and damage your vision. Always be careful when handling it.
