The Software

By now you will have found out what animation is, and how to set it all up. Now, you need to know what programs you need and how to use them. This tutorial will simply go through the basic software needed; there is really only three you need.

1. The Sounds

Whether you are going to have a car chase, or a simple comedy, you're going to need some voices or sound effects. The best free program to record voices and SFX is the ever popular Audacity. You may already have this on your computer, if not, then just go to the Audacity site then download and install Audacity. At first the interface may be intimidating but it is all very simple once you learn what everything is. The diagram to the right shows things in the interface.

To record a voice, first plug in a microphone and make sure it is on. Click the Red circle to begin recording. Simply say your lines that you want to appear in the film, or create a sound by using different objects. When you're done recording, click the Stop button. Push play and listen to the recording. If you like how it sounds, File > Save as WMV Then name it as anything you want, but try to keep it organized. If you want to redo the recording and make a new one, click the track and delete it, then start over. I won't get into the plug-ins and effects in this tutorial; this is merely for the basics.

2. The Animation

So you have all your sounds and voices saved and ready to go. Now you need to take your pictures. There are two generic ways to do this. The first is to capture all the frames like you would normally, by clicking the shutter button. When this is done, using your camera's software (Look at your camera's manual to see how to use it) import all the frames into a folder on your computer's hard drive. Download MonkeyJam and install the software. The diagram to the right shows what everything is.

To import all the images, File > Import > Images Navigate to the folder your frames are in, then select all of the frames by clicking and dragging. There is a small box that says Hold. This determines how many frames each picture will be shown for. Replace the default 2 with a 1, then Click Import, and OK. All your images will appear in the Exposure Sheet. The default FPS is 24, change that to whatever framerate you like (Remember, the lowest stop motion can be is 12 FPS). Click the small TV screen to preview the animation. Wait for the program to render, then watch your animation. If you want to speed it up, increase the framerate, if you want to slow it down, decrease. Exit out of the Preview button and repeat with experimenting with your framerates. Once you find a speed you like (Eventually you will be able to know what speed to film at so this will be easier)
File > Export .avi
Save the file as anything you want, again, keep it organized, but make sure the file extension is .avi! Now choose what size you want the clip at, and what compressor you want to use. I haven't had any luck with the compressors but your outcome may be different.

The other way is to remote capture. This involves having a camera that allows this feature. Look in your camera's manual to see if it supports this. Hook your camera up to your computer, then Download MonkeyJam (See above to read more about the interface and use)
File > New XPS
Then change the name and folders to what you want. Hit OK then click F6 to open the Remote capture window. From here choose what camera to use, then change the Hold. Use Video Settings to change the settings and Size to change the image size. Capture your pictures, and then minimize the capture window to get back to the Exposure Sheet. Preview the clip in the Preview window, and when you are done,
File > Export .avi
Follow the above steps to see how to use the saving window.

3. The Film

When you're done animating and you have all your clips saved and ready to go, you need to put them all together into your final film. Open up Windows Movie Maker, you should already have it installed; it is a program that comes with Windows PCs. The diagram to the right shows everything in the interface.

To import your animations, click the Capture Video menu, and choose Import Video. Search for your animation files, select them all, and then uncheck the box that reads, Create clips from video files. Import the video files, then from the Capture Video menu, choose Import Audio. From here, import all your sound effects. Now you need to change the Storyboard at the bottom, into a timeline. Click the small box that reads, Show Timeline, and a timeline will appear. Use the Collections drop down menu at the top to search through your clips. Drag the clips onto the timeline and arrange in order. To cut off some of a clip, hold down the mouse while at the end of a clip, and an arrow should appear. Cut off the desired amount and then continue editing. Insert your audio files by dragging them onto the timeline, the use the previous technique to assemble them as you like. After you finish creating your film, you can add titles and credits via the Edit Movie menu. After this step, you can save your film.
File > Save Movie File
Follow the steps provided by WMM to save your film.

Now that you have learned the basics, why not head back to the HowTo section and check out some more advanced techniques!