Flamin' and Arcade Myself!

Major Diff. in Stop Motion & Computer Animation:-

1. Computer animation (or CGI animation) is the art of creating moving images with the use of computers. It is a subfield of computer graphics and animation.

2. Stop motion (also known as stop-action or frame-by-frame) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence.

3. Using Computer animation the rendering can take a lot of time on an ordinary home computer.

4. Stop Motion will move frame step by step so it smooth process.

5. Traditional Computer Animation is very hands-on process; 2D animation is accomplished by hand-drawing hundreds upon thousands of individual frames only to transfer them to clear plastic cels, hand-paint them, and then film them in sequence over a painted background image. This requires a team of artists, cleanup artists, painters, directors, background artists, and film/camera crews, along with the storyboard artists.

6. Stop Motion Animations, the cost and effort involved in the processes, and the quality of the final output is very good comparing to traditional computer animation.

Read Stop Motion – Replacement Method

Replacement Stop motion is a technique where each frame (or sequence of frames) uses a different object in place of the previous object. It was originally used in professional work by the very famous animator “George Pal”. One of his most famous stop motion sequences was in the 1962 “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm” He used a new hand-carved wooden puppet for each frame of film. It is said that they had over 1,000 puppets for one 4 minute sequence.

The example we give on our site (www.ikitmovie.com) is a little more modest that 1,000 hand carved puppets, nonetheless the result for those new to stop motion is very satisfying. With just 5 small pieces of clay moulded in to specific shapes a very impressive stop motion sequence can be achieved.

For new animators abstract shapes work best. It is a far more skilled job to have to create dozens of characters with small differences between each one. The human eye (your audience) is far more likely to amused by abstract shape shifting objects rather than picking holes in characters that are not quite the same between sequences. The other real advantage of using replacement techniques when starting out is that you get to know and become expert at “onionskinning”.  This is the most powerful yet easy to use feature for any animator to use.

So refer to our site homepage for the first example we give.

Want to know more about Stop Motion an art of making dream animation than visit ikitmovie.com.

Animation and CGI in Documentary films
Things have come a long way since “Walking with Dinosaurs”. 3d animation, motion graphics, CGI and visual effects are now a regular part of many documentary films. As well as historical reconstructions and informational motion graphics, computer animation and CGI is now routinely used in almost any situation where shot footage isn’t available.

What’s more, costs have come down and quality of visual effects has gone up in recent years, so even a documentary film with a modest budget can now afford to use compelling and stylish computer graphic animations.

But as a documentary filmmaker, how do you go about adding visual effects and 3d animation to your productions?

Motion graphics and animation tips

Don’t be afraid to approach a video animation design or visual effects artist early on in your production. They’ll be able to let you know immediately what’s possible and how to get your animation done in the most effective way.

Give your animators as much detail as you’ve got -. 3d animation studios are used to doing research, but if you can give them access to your research, experts or helpful interviewees, you’ll get a much more unified view of the subject.

Use animation shots that tell a story: animated sequences and visual effects shots tend to be some of the more expensive shots in your production, so choose them well. Nobody likes re-using shots, but with an impressive 3d animation for example, it often works well. If you have several visual effects shots that work together to tell a story, using them separately earlier on in the documentary can increase their impact.

Types of visual effects and 3d animations in documentary films

Explanation graphics: Motion graphics are a great way to explain a complex idea or present information, if shot video footage can’t do it. These can be 2d or 3d animated graphic representations and often include text, but equally consider presenting them as cartoon animations or sequences with animated characters. Whatever the style of your piece, the animation can fit in with it.

Animation for colour shots: Colour shots are general cut-aways that can be used almost anywhere you need them. They’re purposely generic but relevant. A 20 second 3d animation in which the camera rushes through the bloodstream of a patient as blood cells fly past can be used pretty much anywhere in a medical documentary without looking out of place. A couple of colour animations of this kind can save your skin in the edit when you run end up with more narration than shot footage.

Visual effects reconstructions: animated reconstructions are often the “hero” shots of a documentary. If you don’t have the footage of the most important events or moments in your documentary film, an animated reconstruction is often the way to go.

Title animations: An animated title sequence is a good way to open your documentary, and it will set the tone for your entire documentary film, so it’s worth dedicating a little time to making sure that tone is spot on for the style and content of what comes after.

How to reduce your documentary film’s motion graphics costs
The quickest way to reduce cost is to talk to the 3d animator or visual effects studio about how the production can be simplified without affecting its overall look. For example, to animate a camera flying through a static model takes a lot less time (possibly weeks less) than animating every detail of the model itself.

What if I really can’t afford animation and visual effects?
Go graphical: Reconstructing the siege of Troy with every soldier animated in authentic detail is going to be a big job. But animating the strategic turning points of the siege replacing battalions with chess piece style graphics on a stylised representation of the battlefield is within the budget of most productions. Thinking of a stylised motion graphics look rather than a realistic 3d animated one will you’re your documentary film tonnes of cash. Going for still illustrations rather than motion graphics will save still more.