Stop Motion animation w/ HVX200

[vt2la]

Hey guys, I'm about to do some tests trying out some stop motion stuff with the camera here at work. Do any of you have any experience doing stop motion stuff with the HVX200? I've heard bad things as far as flicker goes and compatibility with frame grabber software. I wasn't initially planning to use frame grabber software, mostly because I hadn't heard of it, but all the online resources seem to say it's absolutely necessary.

One fairly simple question I had is how do I turn on one-shot recording? Whenever I go into the Recording Setup menu the Rec Function option is blue as are One Shot Time and Interval Time. How do I fix this?

Anyway, thanks for any advice you guys can give, I've been having trouble finding answers to these questions.

[Filmbuff28]

Hi There,
I don't have any stop motion experience but I do know how to urn that bit on. The trick with stop motion and time lapse shooting on the HVX200 is that it can only be done when shooting 30fps or 60ifps(note: 30pn does not work). So I suggest shooting in 1080i30p if your shooting HD, since your not able to save space by shooting 720p30p. Also note that you can only use scene files 1-4 when using stop motion or time lapse functions. This should get you going, let me know if there's anything else.

[vt2la]

Thanks a bunch! I had found info somewhere else saying that the camera had to be in 60p to do stop motion and I almost freaked, that twice as many shots to create! Good to know it works in 30. As far as the 1080i vs. 720p idea, would it not be ideal to have a progressive image when working with stills? I've pretty much always stuck to shooting 720p on the HVX. Thanks again.

[Filmbuff28]

When using the HVX the 1080i30p is a progressive frame it is just put into a 1080i60i codec. Just so you know, the HVX shoots at 1080p and downres's to 720p and 480. You also gain a bit of res when you shoot in 1080 as well as a larger frame to work with. 720p looks great as well, almost as good as 1080. But since you are not able to utilize the 30pn mode in 720p to save some space, I would utilize the cameras full chipset and shoot in 1080 30p. But that choice is entirely yours. I've shot interval stuff on both 720p and 1080 30p and they both look great!. But I do notice less artifacts and more resolution in 1080 when I compare identical magnified shots. I don't you really need to worry about this either format will look superb. Unless your work ends up on film, in that case shoot in 1080.

[Jim2000]

I plan to do some stop motion with the HVX, but haven't as of yet.

I would think that any flickering issues would have to do with your lights not being voltage regulated. The electricity coming from wall sockets is prone to minute fluctuations that can be very noticable when seen over time. Your lights should be on a regulated, constant power supply.

[vt2la]

Thank you all for the advice. I'm going to shoot some test today and I'll let you know how they come out. Probably going to do one in 720 and one in 1080, depending on time constraints. Also, Jim2000, how should I solve the power supply issue, if it does turn out to cause flicker? Should I use a generator?

[ksteiger]

There will be no flicker. (Unless you have voltage fluctuations in lighting as JIM2000 said). It looks like stop motion film. ENJOY. You'll love it.

[puredrifting]

I have done a lot of stop motion with the HVX. I use 720/60p and the results are beautiful. If you see the Pluto pencil test animations in the Disney Treasures series DVDs with Pluto, I did all of those with the HVX. Works great and is easy. I did some more with the Oswald The Lucky Rabbit Disney Treasure Series that was released last month. Just small snippets since that is all that existed of the original pencil tests but it looked very cool to see portions of a lost Oswald cartoon come to life (cartoon doesn't exist, only a few hundred pencil test drawings). I got to be the first animator since the late 20s to animate these drawings.

Tip: trigger the camera with the wireless remote so you don't move it. I noticed no flicker.

Dan

[cordvision]

I did a little stop motion video just for fun. I always recorded two frames before I moved my "actors" to their next position. Shot in 25p (pal camera).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZDUMJfUUSg

[MDKfilms]

I use my HVX in conjunction with a frame grabber called Framethief. It works great. You can choose the compression level you want so if it needs to go to film that choice is there. All you use your camera for is to relay the video image to your computer you don't trigger the camera, you trigger the computer if you are using a frame grabber which I highly recommend. The frame grabber gives you the ability to see your previous moves so you can gauge how far to move the object you are animating. Check out this link, and have fun. http://www.stopmotionanimation.com/dc/dcboard.php