Stop-motion animation software?

[bassteban]

My 10-yr-old son has been trying to make stop-animation shorts w/our digicam(& actually do pretty good considering the tools available), but I'd like to move up to some specific software. Anyone here have any experience w/this stuff?

[bassteban]

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[geeza]

Windows or Mac?

[bassteban]

Dunno- we're not even noobs yet, but we're beginning to surmise that a dedicated laptop might be good, depending on how elaborate we want to get. Wifey- who is far more computer-savvy than I- says Macs are good for creative stuff.

[geeza]

Have you tried googling "animation software"? There's a bunch of stuff out there at all levels.

[crispygoat]

For "Stop Animation Software" I would get a Mac and use iMovie (comes with all new Macs) and go from there. iMovie is really really easy to use, yet can do basically anything an amateur would want to do. You would also need a camera and a tripod.

If you are looking for "Animation" such has 3D modelling, I would go for Autodesk's 3D Studio Max. However, 3D Studio Max only runs on Windows, needs a very powerful computer, is frustrating and... is very expensive ($3,500 US).

http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/

and http://www.iherr.com/?page_id=6

Hopefully that helps

[i_got_a_mohawk]

You can do it with windows movie maker.

It all depends on how complicated you want to get I guess.

I used windows movie maker to stick a bunch of time lapse images together to produce videos. Easily enough done.

[bassteban]

Thanks much for the responses so far. Cheaper/easier=better at this point. IMO my son is very creative & I'm wanting to encourage that, but I don't want something so elaborate that we can't figure it out. I'd also hate to invest a boatload of money to find he's not into it.

[crispygoat]

I guess you could use windows movie maker, but from experience, iMovie works much better and is much easier to use. The cheapest Mac (iMac or Macbook) on the Apple site would do the job without any problems. And Garage band for your!

PS. If you know a student, or someone who works in education you can get a $100 discount on a new Mac.

[ehque]

If you're talking about stop-motion as in the claymation type work, then i think a still camera on a tripod would do much better than a digicam (if you're talking about a motion camera).

[hover]

http://www.stopmotionworks.com/stopmosoftwr.htm

interesting read. lots of links to freeware and trialware. enjoy.

[bassteban]

Pretty much that- I'm just clueless as to going from holding down the button on the camera(to scroll through a bunch of stills)to w/e the next step is for us. I'm hoping a TBer or 3 can suggest a specific route(ideally from experience).

Edit: Replying to ehque- thanks.

[ubone]

Go with the Mac. Use iMovie and Garage Band. Set up a decent camera and stand, and don't forget the lighting. When your ready to get more advanced purchase Photoshop and After Effects. Then you'll be using what 99.9% of the pros use. If your Son wants to model and animate in 3d then purchase Maya for Mac. It will take him a couple of days to get the basics of modeling, mapping, and rigging for animation as well as using the timeline correctly. There are plenty of free as well as subscription based tutorials to learn from.

[ubone]

Here are a couple sites to check out...
http://www.tutoriallounge.com/2009/0...cs4-tutorials/

http://psd.tutsplus.com/category/tutorials/

http://www.learning-maya.com/index.php