best path for stop motion hpx170

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buckeye

New member
Hi,
Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, I looked but didn't see anything from the titles...
What would be the best path for image capture for stop motion using the hpx170? The finished product will be a mix of live action and stop motion (not in the same frame!) so I didn't want to inherit the complexities of using a DSLR for the stop motion scenes. I have i-stopmotion (boinx) for live feed capture but could also do single frame capture to the p2. Computer is mac G5 8 core. What formats are available to me by each path?
Thanks!
Kevin
 
buckeye said:
Hi,
Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, I looked but didn't see anything from the titles...
What would be the best path for image capture for stop motion using the hpx170? The finished product will be a mix of live action and stop motion (not in the same frame!) so I didn't want to inherit the complexities of using a DSLR for the stop motion scenes. I have i-stopmotion (boinx) for live feed capture but could also do single frame capture to the p2. Computer is mac G5 8 core. What formats are available to me by each path?
Thanks!
Kevin
Click to expand...
I have been researching the stop-motion thing for a while. I used to do it with a bolex or a mitchell 35mm. I found that using adobe onlocation is the best. This is because it offers onion skinning. This makes it possible to view a live image over the top of the previous frame. Although i have yet to test it, i think tis will be the best way to go.

John V.
www.philrosefilms.com
 
Onion skinning is a very nice thing to have, that would be something to look into.

I used the HVX200 in 2007 to shoot a lot of stop motion, actually real cel and pencil test animation for Disney. They had stacks of pencil tests for some old 1930s cartoons where the finished animation was lost. We use the HVX200 on an animation stand and painstakingly re-animated several sequences. It was pretty cool, nobody had seen these sequences since the 1930s.

All of the original pencil tests had notations from animators about hold frames, multiple frames , etc. it was pretty cool but I could only get through about 4 seconds per day since we were not allowed to touch the fragile pencil tests themselves, a Disney archivist had to physically place and replace each drawing.

The end result was great though, the HVX/HPX are totally capable of creating beautiful stop-motion animation.

Dan
 
puredrifting said:
Onion skinning is a very nice thing to have, that would be something to look into.

I used the HVX200 in 2007 to shoot a lot of stop motion, actually real cel and pencil test animation for Disney. They had stacks of pencil tests for some old 1930s cartoons where the finished animation was lost. We use the HVX200 on an animation stand and painstakingly re-animated several sequences. It was pretty cool, nobody had seen these sequences since the 1930s.

All of the original pencil tests had notations from animators about hold frames, multiple frames , etc. it was pretty cool but I could only get through about 4 seconds per day since we were not allowed to touch the fragile pencil tests themselves, a Disney archivist had to physically place and replace each drawing.

The end result was great though, the HVX/HPX are totally capable of creating beautiful stop-motion animation.

Dan
Click to expand...
I wish I was there to see that. I used to work for David Allen Productions in the 90's. We would do all the stop-motion and miniature effects for the Fullmoon movies like Puppet Master and Robot Wars. I am working my way back to the traditional stop-motion using my hvx200. I'm just trying to develop the best work flow to get the best image.

I have also found that setting the shutter speed to as close to 1/4 sec exposure time as you can will eliminate any light flicker than can happen.
 
Hi,
Thanks for the responses. It seems that live feed to an image capture program is the better way to go (good news since I haven't bought a P2 yet). Anyone know what format that will turn out to be? I assume the format controls on the camera will have no effect on live feed. Also, on Dan's response; I don't quite understand how light flicker could happen when capturing live feed images one at a time?
Thanks,
Kevin
 
Hi:

You will get flicker shooting a single frame at a time with any ballasted light source. In the U.S. those ballasts are cycling at 60 times per second so depending on where in the wave cycle the light was when you snapped your single frame, there are inconsistencies in the light levels in each frame captured, hence, flicker.

Dan
 
puredrifting said:
Hi:

You will get flicker shooting a single frame at a time with any ballasted light source. In the U.S. those ballasts are cycling at 60 times per second so depending on where in the wave cycle the light was when you snapped your single frame, there are inconsistencies in the light levels in each frame captured, hence, flicker.

Dan
Click to expand...
Exactly. By having a longer exposure time of 1/4 sec it becomes less noticeable.

John V.
www.philrosefilms.com
 
Thanks, I understand now. I hadn't considered the effect of using ballasted (I assume flourescent type) light sources. My sources are incandescent (bantam spots) and so should be immune. I should have mentioned that I'm using a converted animation stand originally designed for cel work. On the live feed format it seems from the manual that only 4:3 will be available-no 16:9-anyone agree/disagree?
Thanks!
Kevin
 
Are you shooting HD? If you are, it will be 16:9 image. When I shot the pencil tests for Disney, which were naturally 4:3 from the 1930s, I just showed the edge of the animation stand on the sides, it looked cool but you could always crop it.

Dan
 
Thanks Dan,
I'll have the luxury of controlling the scene dimensions so should be fine. Ultimately recording onto DVD will hopefully retain the 16:9 format but I know the HD will be lost...
Kevin
 
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