Posts Tagged ‘software’

MonkeyJam is a free digital pencil test program that runs on the Windows operating system. It lets you capture images from a webcam, camcorder, or scanner and assemble the separate frames into an animation. You can also import existing images and sound files from your computer. Although it is designed for pencil and paper, MonkeyJam can also be used for stop-motion animation. Once you have created your movie it can be exported as an AVI file.

MonkeyJam information panel (click pic to enlarge)

The MonkeyJam software downloaded and installed on my PC without problems. The program starts with a window containing an information panel and a frame list. There is a help file with a quick start section to give the basics.

The first step is to select a folder to store your image files. The nest step is to select a method of adding your images to the frame list. This can be from a video source such as webcam or from a scanner. Alternatively you can import existing image files that you already have on you computer.

For the purposed of this test I decided to use the stills that I had created for my bouncing ball demonstration. It was simply a matter of selecting the images from the computer and clicking the import button. To view the animation you select Preview from the Tools menu and the software builds your movie and opens another window to play it back. It is as simple as that. You can then export your movie to an AVI file for sharing with others, such as uploading to YouTube.

MonkeyJam preview window (click pic to enlarge)

You can add sound to your movie in the form of WAV or MP3 audio files. Once imported into MonkeyJam the audio file is displayed as a waveform to the right of the frame numbers. The audio can be scrubbed in the exposure-sheet by running the mouse curser along it, played with the animation in the Preview window and exported as part of the AVI.

You can’t adjust the sound file once it is in MonkeyJam. Only one sound file can be imported per exposure-sheet and it always starts on frame one. This is fine if you are animating to a pre-existing sound track. If you want to fit the sound to pre-existing animation you need to use another program to edit the sound.

I can recommend this program as a straightforward line test and frame capture program, especially as it is free. If you want something with more sound and image editing capabilities then I would suggest you look at purchasing something like Stop Motion Pro.

Visit the MonkeyJam website to download the free software.

If you found this review useful please let us know in a comment to this post.

Windows Movie Maker interface

Windows Movie Maker is software for creating and editing video movies and is included in Microsoft Windows. The feature that makes it a useful tool for novice animators is the ability to add single pictures and play them back as a movie. You can also add sound effects and music and export your finished work to a move in WMV or AVI format.

The first step is to open the program:
1. From the Start menu, click All Programs.
2. Click Windows Movie Maker.

Set the frame rate by going to Tools > Options > Advanced > Default durations. A default duration is assigned to each picture s it is added to the storyboard or timeline. The shortest duration that can be set is 0.125 seconds. This will give a frame rate of 8 frames per second. This gives a reasonably smooth result and is ideal for a novice to try their hand at animation.

The next thing is to import some pictures. For my first try I imported the sequence of stills that I took for my Stop Motion Pro review. This is a 30 frame animaton of objects moving around my desk taken on my digital still camera and imported into the computer using the leads supplied by the manufacturer. You could also use a webcam to add pictures.

There are two methods of working; storyboard and timeline. The storyboard setting is good for adding individual pictures. The timeline view can be used for adding music and sound effects to synchronise with the pictures.

You can drag and drop your pictures onto the storyboard. There is a large preview window above the storyboard where you can view your pictures as a movie. You can add or remove individual frames. For example, after my sequence of pictures I added the same pictures in reverse order. This made the objects return to their original position. I repeated the sequence a few times to make a ten second sequence.

Music can be added by importing a tune of your choice and using drag and drop to add it to the audio timeline. Then click the play button and you see your movie with music.

Windows Movie Maker enables you to do other useful things like adding titles with various effects. I called my test movie “Office Desk” and chose the “Typewriter” animation effect to add it one letter at a time.

If your computer runs Windows it is well worth giving Movie Maker a try, especially as it is available at no extra cost.

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The Animationizer in use

Stop-frame animation is a method Chris Neale has been using to create paper prototypes of website forms to explain them to his clients. To achieve this he has written some software for the Mac that will capture pictures from a webcam and convert them into a QuickTime movie.

Chris suggests that the software “might be helpful for artists looking for a simple tool to make animations with. And if you find yourself struggling to keep your kids occupied at Christmas, I can almost guarantee that this will save the day.”

The software is called The Animationizer and Chris has made it available as a free download from his Plain English Breakfast blog. There are also a couple of examples of the animations produced with it.

Stop Motion Pro interface.

Having mentioned the Stop Motion Pro software in my previous post about plasticine animation I decided to test drive the free version that  is available as a download from the Stop Motion Pro website. The latest Wallace and Gromit half hour special from Aardman, “A Matter of Loaf and Death” was filmed using Stop Motion Pro HD Studio. You would expect software of this calibre to be very expensive, but luckily for us home animators it comes in a range of prices to suit most pockets. The basic version is called “Stop Motion Pro Action!” and this does enough to satisfy the needs of a novice animator. It is compatible with Microsoft Vista, XP and Windows 7.

The first step was to download the software. It is a big file at 24,536 KB so took several minutes. Once downloaded it was just a matter running the file to set up the software. This went very smoothly and I was soon ready to make my first movie. When the program is loaded it pops up a box asking what you want to call your move and the name of the first scene. Having done this you are now ready to add some still frames.

There are various ways of feeding it with stills; a web cam, a digital still camera, a video camera or even a scanner. I had my digital still camera to hand so decided to use that. Some still cameras allow you to connect them to a computer, view a live image on the screen and record the still frame to the computer. Unfortunately my camera is not one of those so I had to settle for taking a series of pictures and then transferring them to the computer with the cables provided by the camera manufacturer. I set the camera to its lowest picture size of 640 by 480 pixels. This gave me room for thousands of pictures on my memory card.

For this test I rested the camera on my desk, held it down and clicked the shutter. I then moved a couple of objects and took another picture, and so on until I had a sequence of 30 frames. I transferred these to my computer ready to import into Stop Motion Pro.

You click on “Import” on the file menu and browse to the folder where you stored your pictures and select them. You then get an option to change the running order if you wish. When the pictures are loaded the first frame is displayed on the screen ready for you to run the movie. A click on the toolbar below the picture and the scene is played. No matter how long you have been doing animation it is always a thrill to see your work come to life on the screen.

Having got your pictures into Stop Motion Pro there is much more to do with them. A feature that caught my eye on the “Getting started” tutorial on the Stop Motion Pro web site was the ability to make a reverse copy of your action. You use a tool that copies the frames you select and pastes them after your first set in reverse order. The objects on my desk now moved forward and then returned to their original positions. I set the play to loop so that they went forwards and back continuously, what fun.

The basic version also enables you to paint on the frames so that you can create special effects such as explosions.

When your movie is ready you can export it to a AVI, WMV or MOV file and share it with your friends. The next version up called “Action! Plus” even has YouTube uploading built in.

The best feature of this program is the ability to preview your plasticine animation as you go along. To enable this you do need to have your webcam or digital camera set up to capture live frames on your computer. Stop Motion Pro adds you frame captures to your movie as you go along and you can play the animation created so far, at any point. This means that you can check on the speed and smoothness of your animation and adapt it if necessary. This feature makes it a great learning tool.

All in all it is a great piece of software and it is well worth trying the free trial version from the Stop Motion Pro website.

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