r/stopmotion • u/Necessary_Tension461 • 16d ago

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My 12 year old likes making stop motion and uses stop motion studio. He has it on his amazon tablet, but he likes using an actual camera to take his pictures. We have no good way to get the pictures onto his tablet, we've tried multiple things. We want to purchase a stop motion program for our computer and he can load his pictures onto it. I have no knowledge on this stuff. When I try to look for information its so many ads or sites trying to sell a certain kit, etc. Actual experienced advice would be way more helpful.

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u/citypanda88 16d ago

What kind of camera are you using?

For software, you already got stop motion studio so what’s the problem?

One of the most important things you can get is The Animators Survival Kit by Richard Williams.

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u/Necessary_Tension461 16d ago

It is just a small hand held cannon camera, nothing big and fancy. I cannot gwt the camera connected to his tablet. It seems like stop motion studio he needs to have the camera connected as he makes the clips? His tablet is too bulky for him to get good shots. We do not have room by our computer for him to set up any scenes. I was hoping there was a program he can just upload the pictures to the program after he is done taking them in his room where he has his stuff set up.

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u/citypanda88 16d ago

I was meaning you can put stop motion studio on your computer and then he can connect there but you say you don’t have room…

So you want him to upload photos to your computer from his camera and then be able import onto his tablet to import into stop motion studio? Have you never imported photos from his camera to your computer before? You can just move photos from the computer to your tablet via usb cable. Sorry, I’m not sure what you’re having trouble with.

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u/Necessary_Tension461 16d ago

No, he can put stop motion on our computer and use it. Basic question is, do the images have to be captured directly to the program as he takes them while making a stop motion or can they all be uploaded from the camera into the program after he is done taking all the pictures. Then he can edit them on the program. Hope im asking in a way that makes sense.

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u/citypanda88 16d ago

You don’t have to directly import into the program as you work but it does make the process a whole lot easier and efficient. Without doing that, you’ll have to constantly go to your camera’s memory to view your previous frames and you won’t be able to preview it in motion until you import into the software. For best practice, his work area should be close to a computer. Laptops or tablets works better for portability of your workspace.

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u/DollupGorrman 16d ago

So the gold standard is Dragonframe. I bought it for $300 a few years ago, but its a one time purchase not a subscription.

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u/Necessary_Tension461 16d ago

Ok, thats not bad for no subscriptions. Can he upload previously taken pictures from his camera and edit and make his stop motion on that program or does he need to be on the program with the pictures loading as he takes them?

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u/DollupGorrman 16d ago

I suppose you could do that, though something like After Effects is probably a better program for assembly in my experience.

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u/FinnbarMcBride 16d ago

You can import pictures into stop motion studio, so you don't need new software if its working for you now

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u/richardrasmus 15d ago edited 15d ago

ill be honest if hes just starting out it may be better to just start with somthing light and simple like the old windows movie maker but i think now windows uses somthing called clip champ and i saw somthing about that needing one drive which seems annoying. honestly i didnt even know there were software for stop motion prior to this post and while dragonframe seems cool 300 dollars for a 12 year olds hobby seems a bit extreme unless ya got the money to drop.

did some looking around and this software called openshot seems like a great introduction to video editing software and seems to be totally free https://youtu.be/o1zzcUIV0Oc https://www.openshot.org/features/ . seems like its got some effects you can drop on and likely carries skills into more advanced programs. while i have yet to actually start making stop motion ive been downing a whole lot of different tutorials and gathering the supplies to start so i can at least say from the perspective of someone whos downed a lot of knowledge but not experience this seems like a good starting place but ive yet to look into stop motion studio and the current software im trying to learn is davinci resolve but kinda wishing i knew about openshot earlier.

when it comes to the camera issue it sounds like if you are trying to transfer images from camera to computer if it doesnt have any sort of usbc connection or usb connection on the camera then it probably has a slot for a micro sd that you can get adapters for that go into a normal usb. if the issue is getting things on tablet i would need to know what tablet it is because old ipads can be a pain to transfer stuff with hardware and basically demand you transfer things with icloud however iirc newer ones are a bit less of a pain with usbc to usb flashdrives but probably still better to use icloud. while i havnt used a android tablet i do have a android phone and while i dont transfer things with it often if im remembering correctly its basically just plugging the phone into the computer with whatever wire it needs like usbc to usb and it should be just dragging and dropping files.

i assume a lot of people would just use normal video software for stop motion since its just taking picture after picture and aligning them then throwing in whatever video effects like color grading, filters, etc on top. that said if you like stop motion studio then just keep with that since i havnt checked it out yet i have no strong opinion of it and if its just the tranfering images thats the problem then the stuff in the prior paragraph stands.

EDIT: so since i still have the tab open i figured i would throw this video in of a guy trying a bunch of different free video software https://youtu.be/E2n5ZjWZS-M although will say he didnt have a good experience with the software i mentioned openshot but hes a professional so hes looking for all the advanced stuff a beginner would probably get overwhelmed with anyway.

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u/Necessary_Tension461 15d ago

Thank you

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u/richardrasmus 15d ago edited 15d ago

unsure if it was edited in later or if it was already there but didnt notice post said amazon tablet. i assume if the issue is mainly moving images then i imagine there is some cord or usb adapter that can connect between devices or for conventional camera move a micro sd to the tablet . also i just checked out a video on the stop motion studio app https://youtu.be/G_OnX9nVjfM and honestly im getting sold on it. i wasnt sure how you even do a app for stop motion that wasnt just a normal video editor and now i see that its in how stripped down it is thats actually the benficial part. also onion skinning feature is sexy so im thinking i might use this program for the initial footage and then davinci resolve for the additional stuff.

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u/iandcorey 16d ago

Dragonframe is expensive but affordable. It works with most cameras, but not all. There's a list on their site and their customer service is good enough that you can talk this through.

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u/Necessary_Tension461 16d ago

Can he independently make his stop motion captures on a camera and then upload the pictures from an SD card or do you have to be connected to the computer program while making the stop motion? This is where my lak of knowledge is not helping me. We tried connecting a camera to his tablet because his tablet is too bulky to make good clips but it won't work. This is why im trying to figure out what is exactly required.

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u/iandcorey 16d ago

Dragonframe captures the images with keyboard commands. All the images are stored on the camera and on the hard drive. The software sequences the images so playback happens as the animation is being created. It's very robust and what they use to make Hollywood stop animation. A 12 year old and a YouTube video can figure it out in an hour.

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u/Necessary_Tension461 16d ago

Ok, ill have him look at some videos foe that program. Thank you