|
What we Did |
On Friday
night about 40 kids and parents gathered for our second
Friday night meeting. The activity was doing stop-motion
animation using LEGO characters. The older group took 50
minutes and created an original sequence. The three younger
groups each did a fifteen minute segment to illustration the
three scenes of the story of David and Goliath.
Using a basic a home video program, Pinnacle Studio, Amy
put the videos together in about 10 minutes and we all
watched them before heading home. She then went back and
cleaned the up, added some additional effects, and here they
are for your viewing pleasure. |
|
How to do it. |
Using any
basic digital camera, you shoot a series of stills that are
combined into a movie. Commercial animation is done at 32
frames per second which is WAY to many for an exercise like
this. Four frames per second should be quite adequate. With
a little experimentation and patience you'll get a feel for
it. Key Points:
- Set the camera to 640x480 or the next higher
resolution. You don't need super hi-res pictures.
- Setup some basic, consistent lighting and watch out
for your own shadow.
- Setup a scene and make sure your elements can be
positioned so they will stay in place.
- You can animate anything.
- Have fun.
|
|
Software |
There are
numerous free programs that will combine your stills into
video, however, the Pinnacle Studio products are idea and
not too expensive.
All the effects and sounds in the final videos were
created with Pinnacle. |
|
Sample Videos |
Amy
demonstrated two animations she produced earlier.
 |
 |
| WAX: By Amy
Ciavolino Produced with wax modeling sticks.
|
Noah's Ark: by Amy
Ciavolino Created with a combination of wood
blocks and LEGOs using Adobe Photoshop element to
create the water sequences.
|
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|
Final Videos |
Then the
club members produced two animations. NOTE: Videos
are in Windows Media format and zipped. Download them to
play them.
 |
 |
| Swordfight: By Team
D
|
David And Goliath:
By Teams A, B, and C
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