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Brief raw test of iStopmotion just for fun of it.

Boinx iStopmotion (http://istopmotion.com/) frame grabbing software is interesting, greater control in some ways over Framethief. Once I grubbed around like a monkey and figured out the way their onion skinning works (it has multiple frame overlay capability) I liked it better in some ways. But I know both programs too vaguely at this point to compare them properly.

My lighting array currently consists of two old reading lamps and I think I could get better effect from mini stage lights. I liked working with the new practice armature more than any so far, but as Mike schooled me, it is missing a top joint on the legs for kneeling and the character will need to move her shoulders independently.

The cinder block counterweight that held the Swiffertm hip rig wouldn't lower for a kneel either (so I made a "I'm outta here" leap). Oh, and the work table was 10 paces away from the keyboard again so shooting was like a blindfolded dart game in a cuckoo clock.

On a brighter note, I moved the whole workshop around yesterday (!) Now the main set for all future shooting is as close to the desktop computer as possible. Couple funny things about that, one is that now my "messy" art (crafts/animation) is integrating with my "clean" art (computer graphics) literally and figuratively for the first time. I'd previously kept these worlds apart, even in terms of separate work areas. When I slowly caught on to the need for the keyboard and monitor for stop motion, I had to meld them together in my head bone.

Secondly, I look forward to the day I grasp the software I'll choose to use and the frame rate, compression, et al, so that I will be able to know that I could, say for example, get hold of a laptop on a wheelie cart that I could maneuver around the set? And I look forward to knowing what camera to get (like Mike's?), what lighting, rigging, backdrop, editing software, and cheap backdrop material. The rest I already know. ÃLÃ
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A luscious day of animating awaits me tomorrow...yum.

See you then...