STOP MOTION ANIMATION ON A BUDGET Part 3
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Mini Cameras: Small, like Diamonds.
There’s much talk on and offline concerning the advent of mini camera’s used in stop motion animation, specifically when used in tandem with DSLR’s. Some folks love’em, some hate’em, but either way, they keep proving themselves useful, relatively inexpensive and hard to boot when faced with the alternative of shooting all day only to find yourself facing a re-shoot for lack of a decent preview. I’m a big fan of the mini cam and keep a couple in my toolbox all the time. Light weight, adjustable lenses and output to various devices (like television monitors, VCR’s, etc) make these things handy. Did I mention they’re pretty cheap, too? Low-light levels and high contrast tend to be good for the size as well. Some research is in order to find the right camera/ lens combo for your particular use. This is similar to the version we used;
I ordered a few different ones to test and returned them in mint condition for a full refund minus the shipping costs (with terms prior to shipping). Of course we were buying more than one unit, so this worked well for me. If you should grow weary of using the mini cameras for animation, they’re imminently well suited to monitor the front door for pizza deliveries.
Initially, we attached these mini-cams to the camera as a sort of parallax viewer, but found with a lens switch on the mini camera, we could attach it to sit directly against the viewing glass on the rear of the D70s. This would allow the animator to see the thru the D70s, providing a live feed from the set to the computer, via Frame Thief.
Several lenses are available for the Clover camera, providing a range of focal lengths. These are handy depending on individual shots, the DSLR viewfinder, preview requirements, etc. I bought a few sizes with to experiment, settling on the 16mm for the viewfinder / mini camera set up. You may need to experiment with a few of the lens sizes, to see what works best for you. These are relatively inexpensive and a solid investment. The 16mm offered the best focus and contrast thru the D70s/ lens at smaller apertures settings, while fitting snug against the viewfinder glass. We eventually had an aluminum plate cut and shaped to fit in to the flash mount atop the camera. The mini camera was then mounted onto the aluminum plate, holding it snug to the viewing glass at the back the D70s.
Here’s a breakdown of our workflow on the film;
1. Animate, Capture low-res mini cam image to Frame Thief.
2. Capture high-res frame with Nikon Capture NX.
3. Store each shot to proper file destinations (ext. hard drive or 2 G Flash card).
4. Import RAW images into Adobe Photoshop CS2 (I use Adobe Light Room).
5. Convert to targas, uncompressed jpegs, or whichever file format needed for post.
6. Save to a new file, do effects work, rig removal, compositing, etc.
7. Re-size the images as 1920 x 1080 pixels (the RAW files will be far larger)
8. Save the shot as a targa sequence.
9. Drop targa sequence in to FCP HD for editing.
10. Export as uncompressed QuickTime, or whichever format you desire.
Since Capture NX numbers incoming files sequentially, it was easy to batch convert entire shot sequences at a time, keeping everything in sequence. Of course, here is where you could use (low-res) versions of the shots for cutting into the animatic with iMovie HD. I find it useful to show everyone how the shots are cutting together by reviewing the animatic inter cut with approved shots. This helps everybody stay amped by gauging progress as animatic sketches are replaced with finished animation. It’s cool to see the film being built this way and makes shot approval fast and efficient. Equally handy is a 2 Gig memory stick to move shots from one animation station to another, allowing access to the completed shots for perusal. I’d wander around, load up the latest stuff onto the shooting stations between shots and voila! We’re all on the same page.
Another option is to use 2 Gig Flash cards to store the high-res frames in the camera body, unloading these from the card at end of day, or when it’s full, dependent on your output. I like the idea of the card storage on large jobs, with several shoots happening simultaneously (series television, for instance), but it can bog down an individual with much to do beside downloading cards during the day. My preference is to store the frames to the external hard drives, and burn a back-up DVD data disc at the end of the day when I wrap out the set. This keeps the hard drive in place, and you walk with the DVD. Pro’s and con’s abound either way, so see what works for you.Go to Part 4 Now
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