My LEGO Nexus Organization

I did not see a thread about this, so I decided to make one :)

Do you do stop motion? If so, what? What software do you use, what camera? How do you get your lighting? This is a place to discuss your stop motion movies!

To start it of, some of you may know I was working on a stop motion for quite some time. And finally, after 30+ hours of work, it is finished!
Lego - Your love is better than life (http://vimeo.com/27093790) (this was shot at 12 FPS using Logitech Quickcam Pro 4000, and edited with iMovie '11.)

Enjoy!  ;D

The link is not working for me... I would love to see what you did!

For the camera, is yours specific for filming stop-motion or it is just a normal photo camera?

There we go, Sorry about that

The camera I use is supposed to be a webcam, but works really well for stop motion, mainly because of its manual focus. (only downside is the 640 x 480 resolution)

Stop motion is one of my untold dreams, I know I have the patience, but I lack the tools. Some of the ideas I would do with Lego are pretty cool, but again, I need to practice some.

Jayko, Jarren, your video was awesome and very entertaining, and I'm not just saying that, I watch a lot of lego stop motion. It is a superior form of entertainment.

Good song and I really like how you made it look like a real music video. Have you considered sending this to the artists of the song yet, go for it, you just might be surprised.

Thanks for the kind words Legodac!
The webcam I used cost me $20 off of ebay, super cheap, and has a hole on each size, the same size as a technic pin, allowing me to build it directly into my set. I would highly recommend this camera for starting.

I had a friend actual tell me I should "@mention" the band leader on twitter, I did, and guess what? He responded less than 3 minutes later! And re-tweeted to his 5000 followers!

That's pretty cool Jayko, I bet it makes you feel great as well.
Thanks for your advice, soon as I recover from the BrickFete Convention (recover financially) I'm going to get myself a webcam and get started, I would really like to try it. When I do, perhaps I could enlist your services to help get me started?  :)

I've enjoyed stop-motion a lot over the past years, but I haven't been able to make a new video in almost a year. It's a real shame 'cause I know I'm more than capable of it and I can do lots of fancy visual effects that other people can't (or at least don't). I've had plans to make an episodic series, but it's only gone so far as a first draft. Since my last video I've also gotten a green screen and lego train tracks that can be used as a dolly, so there's so much I can do but just haven't had the time to. In the time between now and my last published video I have attempted to make more, but they never quite worked so they were never released. Maybe I'll post them here in an incomplete form.

I'm a bit nostalgic, in the sense that I like to make either nods or direct references to old LEGO themes. This is most obvious with my repeated use of the Brickster Bots from LEGO Island. I also like to use sound effects and songs taken straight out of old LEGO games.

Most of my videos were made for the LUCL in its prime, but that was years ago and now, looking back at them, I can see how far I've come. I mean, looking at my earliest compared to my latest (which is still nearly a year ago, mind you), I can see just how far I've come. Looking back at that first video, I'm actually completely embarrassed about the music - I randomly tried to make a rhythm on GarageBand, but because I was just using my computer keyboard it recorded it all laggy and I wasn't bothered to adjust the note lengths so it turned out horribly.

Here's the last video I've done, 'cause it was uploaded to the LUCL it has been disgustingly compressed.
http://universe.lego.com/en-us/community/creationlab/displaycreation.aspx?id=4fda2132-1bee-4578-858a-ac956975512f

And here's my first stop-motion video for comparison:
http://universe.lego.com/en-us/community/creationlab/displaycreation.aspx?id=f5f78c8a-b941-4505-baa7-aa6eb392783d

Making a video has several steps, and I use different things for each of them.
For the picture taking, I use a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28. It's not a DSLR, but I can still manually adjust the focus and take photos in 16:9 (widescreen), so I don't have to do it later.
After importing the photos into iPhoto, I split the pictures up into scenes, and individually create an image sequence and export it as a .mov in 1080p in photoshop for each scene. I normally use 12-15 fps (I think I've been using 15 lately), but the Brickster Bot video had some 24 fps parts in it.
I do the editing in Final Cut Express, it allows me to use a lot more advanced and technical things, and it's a lot better than just using iMovie.
Sometimes I try doing visual effects in Adobe Flash, but now I try and avoid it because it normally results in a lower quality image and exporting the flash animation as a movie file will always leave unwanted marks similar to a digital TV with bad reception. I usually use FCE for effects now, but the bouncing boom box in the brickster bot video is a flash movie with a keyed out green background. If you look closely enough, you can see that the speakers individually get bigger and smaller, just like in LEGO Island 2.
Once it's finished in FCE, I export it out in its highest quality and then use iMovie to export it again for the web.

Thanks Jas, I thought they were both really cool and I've already created a stop motion guide folder on my computer for future reference, I copied and pasted this whole topic, tell me, are all your videos in LU?

All of my released ones, yes. There are still a few that I never finished or intended to publish, namely tests and incomplete videos.

Perhaps they would fit here in this topic as educational guidance.

 Double posting is an option chosen by those who are desperate to keep a topic alive on the front page where everyone can see and benefit from the glory of Lego magnificence and share in the Glory eh  ;) :D

Whoa, Jayko, that is EPIC! Congrats!! I can only imagine how much time and thought you put into that awesome video. Did you have a music video for ideas and reference? That is just AMAZING. WOW.

GREAT job!!

(Sorry I couldn't reply earlier; I was busy finishing up a class).

Thanks! The group didn't have a music video for it, so I made one! xD

SWEET. I was just thinking about how much time it took you to make it. You said 30+ hours? Did you get tired at all of the actual song?

How many frames per second did you use?

Oh yes, the song got very borring. But it puts a whole new view on it for me now.  I shot it at 12 frames per second. There are some things I wished I would have slowed down more (make smaller movements) But oh well...

NOT MINE.. but way Kewl


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmAOZJloGGs

I used to make stopmotion movies. Good times... Okay, I give in. If someone gives me a good topic, I'll make a stopmotion movie about it and put it up here.

Fourth of July??

Car broke down on a mountain road on a hot day??

And 4th of July wins. I realized it had to be released on the 4th itself, so I rushed to get it done.
36 hours later...

http://youtu.be/ZR9G9js26JQ

Thanks for the ideas!

Excellent!!! The highjacker was a complete surprise!! So was the ending =D

Glad you liked it!