2019-05-01_Linux_Format

54 LXF249 May 2019 http://www.linuxformat.com

TUTORIALS Stop-motion animation

you’regoingtobesnappingaround 24 framesfor

eachsecondoffootage,sohavinganareathatremains

undisturbedwhenyou’renotusingit isvital.This‘hot

set’shouldremainuntouchedbyothers,too.

Yourstudioareashouldhaveenoughspaceforthe

tripod-orrostrum-mountedRaspberryPiandCamera

module,alongwiththeobjectsyou’refilming.Inthe

caseof2D,paper-basedanimation,thisshouldbean

areaoftablebigenoughtofill,oralmostfill,thelens.

Alsousefulforoverheadshootingisa sheetofclear

plasticorglass.Thiskeepsthepapercraftpiecesin

placewhentakinga shot,aswellashelpingthemto

lookflatanduniformanddealingwithanycurlededges.

If it wasgoodenoughforTerryGilliam,it’sgoodenough

foryou!

Inordertoshootclaymodels,fruit,toysorwhatever

3Dobjectsyouplantoanimate,you’llneedanarea

largeenoughtobuilda set.Thereshouldalsobespace

aroundthetableforyoutomoveintoaidwiththe

animationofyourcharacters.Rememberthatstop-

motionanimationrequiresveryslightmovementsin

everyframeforeachofthecharactersorobjectsyou’re

shooting.Theaimistogetthecharacterfromone

positiontoanother,whilecreatingtheillusionofmotion.

Accesstothecharacterfromeveryanglewillhelpyou

toachievethis.

Whetheryou’reusinganoverheadcameraora

standardtripod-mountedshoot,theprojectneedsto

bewell-lit.See‘Lightingbalance’box(overthepage)for

somehandylightingtips.

versatguffawingatTerryGilliam’sbizarre

subversionofVictorian-eragreetingscards

inMontyPython’sFlyingCircus, oreggingon

unlikelyheroesWallaceandGromit?Thenchancesare

you’vespenta fewmomentsthinkingabouthowthose

animationsaremade.

Therewasa timewhenstop-motionphotography

wasbeyondthereachofmostpeople.Overhead

camerasmountedonrostrumswereexpensive,and

unlessyourschoolorcollegehadone,yourbestbet

wastotakesomephotosandmakea flick-bookinstead.

Aswitheverything,timeandtechnologyhas

revolutionisedtheproductionofstop-motion

photography,andnowmakinga filmwitha digital

cameraormobiledeviceischild’splay.

TheRaspberryPiCameraModuleoffersa superb

low-costdigitaloption.Whiletime-lapsephotography

ispopular,it’seasytooverlookitsillusorybedfellow.

Afterall,creatinga stop-motionanimationwithfigures,

householdobjectsorsimplytoysisintensivework.

Oftentheresultsaren’tverygood,andevengetting

tothepointwhereyouhaveenoughshotstocreate

a shortmovieclipcanbeprettyback-breaking.

Fortunately,therearesomeshortcutsyoucantake,

whichwe’llexplainhere.

Stop,it’smotiontime...

It’sa goodideatoallocatetimetoyourstop-motion

project– saya fewdays.Shootsarefamouslyslow;

BecarefulconnectingthejumperwirestotheGPIO– ensure the

RaspberryPiispoweredoffbeforehookingupthebutton.

PlanningtoanimateLego minifigs? Use base pieces or putty to

keepthefiguresstable for each shot.

Build a Raspberry Pi

stop-motion studio

Christian
Cawley
A RaspberryPi
ownersince2012,
he’snurtured 13
devicestodate,
seeingthem
blossominto
mediacentres,
retrogaming
systems,and
portableradio
broadcast
stations.

RaspberryPi

2 orlater

Raspbian

Stretch

PiCamera

Module

Dual-state

push-button

Breadboard

Monitor

Mouseand

keyboard

Tripodor

securemount

Something

to animate:

clay figures,

Lego, action

figures and

so on

PI CAMERA

OUR

EXPERT

YOU NEED

Christian Cawley plays with modelling clay and a Raspberry Pi camera

to make a movie – although it’s not quite that simple...

E