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STOP MOTION ANIMATION ON A BUDGET Part 2
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Digital Image Capture and why I went there:
From the outset, I wanted to shoot the film utilizing as high resolution source. My experience with digital capture for animation started while Animation Director on MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch in New York, where we had used three-chip cameras built for medical operating theatres. The image resolution & color was great for standard definition television, but held no promise of great results when screened in a theatrical.
In addition, the body of the camera was tethered to a control box, gamma scope and computer via cables, power cords and whatnot, limiting maneuverability and placement options dramatically. The necessary antics to work around this assortment of cabling and hardware (on an already cramped set) often landed folks on a chiropractor’s table.
Our plan was to shoot The Pit and the Pendulum with Nikon D70s Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras, sending single frames of animation to Mac Mini’s and then to an external hard drive for storage. Animation referencing was handled with Frame Thief, a low cost, highly cool tool for Macs (apparently not yet available for PC’s). The high resolution RAW or NEF (Nikon) files were captured using Nikon’s remote capture software, Capture NX. This allowed for quick uploading and preview of each frame or single image. Capture NX was extremely helpful in making focus adjustments, saving much tucking behind the camera on set. This requires a little getting used to, rotating the focus ring on the camera while staring at the computer monitor, but it may prevent your having to perform diabolically difficult maneuvers to peer thru the camera’s viewfinder while crawling on the set to do so.
Here’s the low down on the equipment & software used for shooting The Pit and the Pendulum;
Equipment:
Apple Mac Mini computer
http://www.apple.com/macmini/
17” Flat Screen Color Computer Monitor
(we used flat LCD screens for portability & minimal footprint)
Nikon D70s DSLR camera w/ 18-70 zoom lens
http://www.nikonimaging.com/global/products/digitalcamera/slr/d70s/index.htm
Canopus ADVC 11 analog to video converter
http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVC110/index.php
500 Gig external hard drive, (non-partitioned)
Mini B&W security camera (for viewing thru the camera viewfinder)
http://www.cloverusa.com
Software:
Frame Thief capture program (low-cost animation frame grabbing software)
http://www.framethief.com
Adobe Photoshop CS2
(batch converting RAW files to TGA’s, JPEG’s, etc.)
Adobe After Effects with The Foundry’s Tinderbox 3 ‘De-Flicker plugin
(De-flicker is an excellent tool to remove inadvertent ‘image flicker’; see below)
http://www.thefoundry.co.uk
iMovie HD
http://www.apple.com
Final Cut Pro/ Express
(I prefer FCP/ E to Premiere or Avid for editing my own stuff.
Very handy for test comps on the fly, when shooting green/ blue screen animation or elements).
The D70s lacked live output/ video assist to review what you’re doing in front of the camera. We improvised with a miniature security camera serving as a video assist, which was plugged into a Canopus ADVC110 digital to analog video converter, then to the Mac Mini on which two programs ran simultaneously for image capture. Here’s a basic layout of the system;
As well as being easy on the wallet and even easier to use, FRAME THIEF has several very handy features built in, virtually negating the need for surface gauges, etc. One very cool feature of note allows the user to place digital markers on screen (crosshairs or hand drawn lines, circles, etc), replacing any need for physical pointers or markers on the set. There is plenty more to make us of in the program, so I suggest tromping over to the site and have a look at the offerings. PC users fear not, as there are several ‘frame grabber’ programs available as well.
The second software program is Nikon’s remote capture offering, CAPTURE NX. Capture was used in tandem with Frame Thief, requiring both software windows be open simultaneously for the duration of each shoot. Capture NX captured directly from the D70s to the Mac Mini then onto the external hard drive, while Frame Thief captured the mini cam feed to the Mac Mini for reference use, thru the Canopus ADVC. Essentially, 2 camera feeds, one computer. This of course necessitated we have separate files for the two programs.
The very high resolution images from the Nikon were stored externally on the hard drive, while the much lower resolution images from the mini camera were stored on the Mac. This process requires two windows open on the monitor, one showing a low resolution image preview (Frame Thief) the other a high resolution image preview (Capture NX).Additionally, each increment of animation, whether you shoot single or double frames, should be triggered equally on each of the two programs. Unless you’re a mathematical genius, then have at it you wild thing. Personally, it’s a lot easier for me to keep up if both counts are reflecting the same number of frames as I work my way through a shot. The fewer mental hijinks to think of, the more energy I have for the animation itself.
Go to Part 3 Now
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