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Stopmotion BrickFilms Use YouTube to upload your Animations..
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| Software Listing And Reviews |
The whole area of what software to choose to animate can be a bit daunting a task especially if you are new to animating. However I hope I can at least give you some guidelines that you can use for whatever budget you have or whatever your needs might be.
There are two main areas or platforms discussed - PC Windows and Macintosh. This is not a complete list but more a mention of the ones we have tried (some to a greater extent than others). But it will give you an idea where to start hopefully.
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StopMotion Pro was one of the first players on the market for Stopmotion software for PC windows at a reasonable price. In fact they now have a whole range within the product from SMP Junior up to Pro version called HD Studio. So as you can imagine the features vary with the version used.
SMP has a audio lip syncing feature while not very useful at times with LEGO animation (lol) it can of course be used with most other forms of animation. It was written for the PC Windows environment and is compatible with the latest version of Vista as of mid 2007. SMP is currently on version 6.0 as of last quarter 2007.
You can use DV camcorders ,USB webcams and Analog camcorders, if you have an analog video capture card.
However its worth noting these days that USB is becoming the common or preferred standard on new HDD camcorders. Just make sure that your camcorder is capable of acting as a webcam. If it can then you will effectively have a super WebCam with very high quality images.
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Animator DV for PC Windows.
There are a number of versions in this product. They vary from the top end version called AnimatorDV Film Producer (1500 Euro) to AnimatorDV personal/Edu (199Euro). They also have a cutdown free (simple) version available.
To be honest this product is quiet complex and will not be easily mastered by first time users of stopmotion software so beware there is a steep learning curve with this one. It it however a very powerful program.
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StopMotion Station for PC Windows is a simple frame grabbing program. It has very little in the way of the sophistication of the other programs already reviewed. It sells for 50USD online. It may be worth considering for beginners on a budget. Its interface can take a little time to get used to however but once you get in to it it is easy to navigate. The online documentation for the program is extensive and detailed which is always good when you are learning to use a new product. Well worth a look at the free 30 day trial!
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There are two versions of StopMotionMaker for PC Windows. Stop MotionMaker Adv and Stop MotionMaker HDMI, (105 USD and 58 USD respectively). The second version HDMI is for the new HDMI (high definition) media interface standard used by professional animators.
Screenshot of StopMotion Maker.
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Copyright Legomation 2007 | www.Legomation.com Fun with Brickfilms