What's the easiet way to make a short, stop motion film?

What's the easiet way to make a short, stop motion film? I have a digital camera or a webcam to work with? Which should I use and how should I use it?What's the easiet way to make a short, stop motion film?If you're just starting out and have never done stop motion before, I would suggest using the webcam. The advantages are that most animation and stop motion programs will be able to recognize your webcam signal and you'll be able to take pictures from within the program. This removes the added step of having to import images separately. This also means you can preview your images quicker and see your mistakes, and it makes it easier to shoot replacement or added images directly into your shot sequence. The downside is that mot webcams don't do that well in low light conditions, and you'll usually be restricted to shooting at a resolution 640 X 480 pixels.



The upside of shooting with a digital camera is that you can shoot in high res. However, most digital cameras can't be used with most animation software. You'd have to shoot blind, which means shooting your entire image sequence, then importing all the images onto your computer and compiling them into a movie. Only then will you be able to tell what your animation looks like in movement.



If you're doing old school drawn on paper frame by frame stuff or stop-motion, I'd suggest MonkeyJam. It's free.



http://www.giantscreamingrobotmonkeys.co鈥?/a>





You should lookover some of the basics of animation before you get started:



http://www.idleworm.com/how/index.shtml

http://www.awn.com/tooninstitute/lessonp鈥?/a>

http://www.animationarena.com/principles鈥?/a>

http://www.animationmeat.com/notes/notes鈥?/a>



As for what you can use, your imagination is really the limit. ANYTHING can be used for stop motion. There's a guy who goes by the name of PES who uses ordinary household objects to do animation:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFmnGULal鈥?/a>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM5_GVtIr鈥?/a>



You could use paper cutouts to do animation:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlWRwQ4dL鈥?/a>



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIvjVc7If鈥?/a>



You can even use fruit:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG-0_p_ye鈥?/a>



Sesame street used to do this animated short with characters on glasses:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8j565lLv鈥?/a>



Pretty much anything you can move in front of a camera can be used for stop motion. Even yourself!



http://www.generallyawesome2.com/videos/鈥?/a>



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UViocNqzw鈥?/a>



http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4rj9p_鈥?/a>



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAj0NvKt9鈥?/a>