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How to Use Stop-Motion Programs for Digital Cameras

If you want to create a stop-motion animated film, you probably already have the video-editing software you need on your computer. Windows Movie Maker operates on Windows and Apple iMovie operates on Macs. For Linux, you can use the free program Stopmotion. Start the process by creating a short story and writing a script for a 10- or 15-second movie. Use your digital camera to take photos of the objects you're using to illustrate your story. Think of each shot as a frame in your film -- move the objects incrementally between each shot. When you're done, download the images onto your computer and create your video in a stop-motion program.

Things You'll Need

Video editing software

Instructions

Windows Movie Maker
- 1
  Open the Movie Maker program for Windows, click on "File" and choose "New Project." Import your pictures by selecting "File" and then "Import into Collection." Set up your Movie Maker time duration for each frame.
- 2
  Select "Tools" from the menu, then "Options" and choose "Advanced Tab." Set the "Picture Duration" at 0.125 seconds and click "OK." Each image should last on the screen for about an eighth of a second.
- 3
  Drag and release all your images in the storyboard. Change the speed to go faster or slower depending on your script. Export your film in AVI or WMV format and save it on your computer.
Apple iMovie
- 4
  Open iMovie. Start a new project and name it. Choose "Media" on the right of your screen and click on "Photos." Select the folder where you saved your stop-motion images and open. Your pictures will show on the screen in the right order.
- 5
  Create the stop-motion film. Select all your images by clicking on the first picture, pressing down on the "Shift" key, scrolling down to the end of the album and clicking on the last photo. Go to "Show Photo Setting" and a window will pop up. Enter 0:03 for timing. Select the "apply" option. Your photos will automatically move into the timeline section at the bottom of the window. When all the images have moved into the timeline, select "play" and your stop-motion film will start playing.
- 6
  Add music. Search your iMovie for the iTunes library and drag your music file into the timeline. Convert your stop-motion video in QuickTime and save it on your computer.
Stopmotion
- 7
  Create a new project. Add pictures by clicking on the "Add Photo" icon. An "Add Frames" dialog box will appear. Select the photos from your file and click "Open." All your pictures will be added to the project as frames.
- 8
  Use "FPS chooser" on the Stopmotion window to set the time for each frame. Use the "Play" panel to move between frames and scenes, adjust the speed and preview your stop-motion video.
- 9
  Add the sound. Import a frame from your hard drive. Double click on that frame to add music. Export your video. Go to "File," select "Export" and choose "Video." You can export your stop-motion video in an AVI or MPEG format. Save it on your computer.

Photography