I've been trying my hand at stop animation lately (got tired of getting people together for a shoot, ) And I can't seem to nail it on the head.

I got movement down pretty good, but it still looks really choppy. How do the proffessionals get the motion blur effect? Obviously, when something is moving faster then something else, it should LOOK faster. the problem is, on my camera it looks like the faster moving object is choppier then the other.

Do the professionals just run filters over their video in post?

How many frames per second are you using?

If you are using 10-20 frames per second, the motion of the faster-moving objects will appear choppy just because of the larger amount of adjusting you are doing to them per frame.

I would determine your frame rate based on how many frames you need to capture your fasting moving object smoothly. It may take 35-40 fps, and the adjustments to the slower moving objects would be quite minute/minimal from frame to frame.

You might try placing more distance between individual positions, too. For example, if you have a jet moving across the screen, instead of capturing it in 8 different positions, try only 3 or 4. Combining that with some type of blur might look pretty good.

That information is being given without knowing what type of models or equipment you are using, of course. Professionals probably have much more...professional...ways of doing it. But, I know when I always wanted to make it look like something was being thrown across a floor quickly, I put more distance between positions.

Sorry in advance for the youtube link :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsIntXx7C6c

That's how its turning out. I have heard that proffessionals actually act the parts out, figure out how many frames it took, and then animate it.

This gives me that much more respect for this masterpiece.

It looks like you're not even close to 24 fps which is the speed most stop animation is done at. What speed are you using? How long does each frame last?

For motion blur, they use either a software filter later (after effects has a good one called Reel Smart Motion Blur or they actually take a longer exposure and move the model during the shot (which is very hard.)

However, most stop motion does not have motion blur. The trick is to just take 24 frames for every second, so that your movements are very small.

Yeah, you're definitely gonna wanna move that up to around 24fps. Which means you'll probably have to go back and make a lot more movements with your characters or otherwise everything will just look like it's moving way too fast and probably still a little choppy.

you HAVE to shoot it at 24 fps (or maybe 18)! the example you have was a MUCH lower frame rate....how are you making these stop motion films?

here is a super crappy stop motion i made a while back: http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1275155
notice how it is much smoother compared to yours? this is because it was shot using 30fps.. the more information ( frames) per second, the smooother the motion...the same goes for live action, though you must remember to play it back at the same frame rate you shot it at.

If you want to make really realistic motion, i might reccomend shooting a video of someone acting out whatever it is you want to shoot, and then mimic the position of each frame in your stop motion.....kind of like rotoscoping in three dimensions.

Well, I wasn't shooting at any frame rate, lol. I was trying to feel it out, and it (obviously) didn't work.

All I am doing is using the frame record option on the camera.

However, looking through the other youtube animations, I can see mine is a lot better then there's, so I am on the right track.

Also, the fact that I am using old GI Joe dolls doesn't help, because they can't stand up on their own and their joints are worn out, but, right now, I'm just trying to figure it out.

and brain: don't compare me to Tim Burton, yet. He's had a lot of practice

This topic reminded me that I really needed to get around to watching Corpse Bride...so I just finished it a minute or so ago. It was beautiful. I am stunned.

yes, that is a very good one! I hope to be that good some day.

Don't most stop motion pieces just double the frame rate so it's 12 movements/adjustments a second but then doubled to make 24. So move robots arm take two shots then move again.

No. That tends to look pretty jerky. 24 fps is what the pros do.