7 Stikfas Animation Tutorial - Behind the Scenes

[musebrat]

Thanks for the tutorial, bud. I am currently making stop motions for my MMK videos, and this helps a lot. Again, thanks.

[ihavnovids]

you sound like the narrator off of spider-man 2 the game!

[cubeproduktion]

Does Saizon.com exist? Because every time I click the link to the website, it says ONLY: Bad Hostname, and thats it.

[EElumir]

@cubeproduktion I don't think so. :(

[moocoweatgrass]

i live in the toronto area so could you please tell me where to buy stikfas NOT EBAY thank you

[EElumir]

@moocoweatgrass There was a game store along the underground PATH, I forget the name of it... it had STIKFAS. It was near Yonge and BLoor, or maybe Bay and Bloor. Sorry, I should have written the name down. I was there a month ago and they had stikfas...

[moocoweatgrass]

@EElumir thanks man i need a few more stikfas

[0Kevsta0]

You always say bad things about making animations, difficulty, worrying/stress, and even said you hate your hobby. Why do you still make animations?

[EElumir]

@0Kevsta0 *laugh* Don't take me too seriously. I don't hate the hobby. It's just hard and I am acknowledging that. :D

[Krazyweirdproduction]

that must take forever

[MrNaaki1201]

Dam silversnail soesnt seem to sell them anymore

[MilesRoseClaymation]

Good tutorial

i love your stikfas vids!

But why do you need to export the video from after effects,

and import it in adobe premiere?

Can't you just edit the whole thing with after effects?

Anyway, keep up the good work!

[cubeproduktion]

Thanks for the links EElumir! Finally I have After Effects CS5 and Master Collection

[cubeproduktion]

what type of adobe after affects version do you use?!

[EElumir]

@cubeproduktion CS3 I do believe.

[cubeproduktion]

@EElumir Oh, CS3 is kind of better than the other versions :D

[xXBlackFlamesXx]

where do u get the little stick guy

[EElumir]

@xXBlackFlamesXx They're called Stikfas. May be hard to find since the company is in limbo at the moment. But you may find them in comic book stores or hobbie shops.

[klaymationist2000]

@xXBlackFlamesXx amazon is where i am going to get mine

[DonVares]

i have a question, what stop motion software do you recommend because i will be getting the free trial, dragon or stop motion pro?

[dryspud]

hmm, And I just use Photoshop and Windows Movie Maker......

[ToaKoran]

what camera are you useing and where can i get one?

[Jason9992fromroblox]

*Sniff*...that was awesome! "so i Scowerd Walmart toy section to find those things and push away younglings who are prefenting me from fofilling my DESTINY"

[mrsnailguy]

damn u talk fast

[FunkyGranny9]

This inspired me to make a stikfas lightsaber video that I just posted as a response.

[notsocomicaltv]

can i do stopmotion with a standard camera in adobe premiere?

[chrisiscool575]

i live near toronto lol

[Callanizy]

where did proper 7 go??

[EElumir]

Proper 7? This was the 7th one instead of the 'proper' one. :)

[jquinlon]

all of your vids are nice also nice logitech 4000 quickcam

[WJC1981]

Can you do stop frame animation with a standard digital camera instead of a webcam

[EElumir]

Depends on the software. StopMotionPro can do it. :D

[thekingstonshow]

yea

[DeadGearHead]

You should feel ashamed of yourself getting Stikfas from Starstruck Scarborough...SHAMEFUL!

[EElumir]

They don't sell them there anymore, actually. :)

[DeadGearHead]

I know they don't, they only carried them when I was employed there, and for a brief time after i quit.

[EElumir]

Oh! Then you may know my friend Xu. Were you his manager?

[DeadGearHead]

Yeah I know Xu. And I was the manager they all really REALLY wanted to get rid of.

[djbase84]

hahaha, very cool :)

[ThomasDaDood]

lol random "mmm, prunes"

[lwa9001]

do you use chroma key to make the background black because at the start of the tut the background is the colour of the wall paper and in the vid its black *cufuzeled sigh* help!!!

[EElumir]

I actually have the lamps in close to give lots of light, and then I decrease the shutter speed, so that the background is almost black.

Sometimes I play with the contrast setting of the final vid too... but I didn't do that in this one.

[s3a3b3oor3ul3ha3ssn3]

i use Adobe After Effects 7.0 ?

[3danell3]

were cant i get that program and download it please send my the link please i am gona sub

[EElumir]

There are three programs mentioned.

All three I bought.

Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere you can get from Adobe themselves. The version I have is an old version.

[lusasmproductions]

Witch framerate do you use?

[EElumir]

24 fps.

[lusasmproductions]

cool :)

[stikfamaster]

could you use FXhome effects lab pro?

if so could you make a tutorial?

[EElumir]

Sorry, haven't ever used it. Sounds cool though.

[TheToadGuy]

You're hilarious really clever and brilliant at stop motion. But i can't find a quick cam 4000, only 5000 and 9000... Maybe they are not sold in england :@

[EElumir]

Thanks ToadGuy. The 9000 will do. It too has a manual focus, and it's HD I do believe. :D

[MADstarwars5500]

you know you used AE after effects did you download it did you buy it if you downloaded it where from if you bought it where and how much what version is it because i make stop animation videos and that technoligy will be very handy pleae reply.

[EElumir]

I bought it. I bought it straight from Adobe. I bought the full production package, CS3. But now that they are up to CS4 so my technology is old. :D

[jaybizz2000]

You're so genius, Errol.

And I did watch the whole vid, to see what songs you'd used! You sending me Geek Love Songs? Hope so!

[kimbrell619]

Awesome Video.  I come and watch these every week and am Glad that you're keeping it up.

[kingplutoxiao1]

so they can ship stikfas to my house

[MightyMaul]

awesome tutorial. i wish they made smp for mac because it's the best software for stop motion.

[orphanpixels]

What do you use on the Mac? I find Boinx iStopmotion pretty friendly.

[MightyMaul]

i have smp on my pc, but it's a desktop so i don't use it to often anymore. on mac i use a free app called framebyframe. im thinking of setting up bootcamp so i can use it on my macbook.

[orphanpixels]

Aaaaahhh Lego feet...

I use nail varnish on the ball parts of joints to fatten them out when they get loose. (sure there's something better out there...)

BTW are you using Quicktime Pro?

[EElumir]

I have used nail varnish in the past. It took me three coats to get them thick again so I've been lazy and haven't done it. :D

I don't use Quicktime Pro though.

[orphanpixels]

Curious, I use Animator DV on the PC in lessons but it won't let me export .mov files which would make my life easier as i edit on the Mac.

[EElumir]

Can you export DV or AVI files? The mac is fine with those. I export into raw avi to bring into AE or even into iMovie. (Funny thing, my Premiere doesn't accept raw AVI)

[orphanpixels]

Raw as in uncompressed avi?

Nah! Too Chicken

The only way to go seems to be the Panasonic PDV Codec and if it plays up it goes into Mpeg Streamclip Mac side.

[EElumir]

Too chicken? *laugh* Or is your Film editing computer a bit slow?

I will check out that PDV codec though. I'm not that familiar with codecs though... so it's hard..

[orphanpixels]

FCP likes it's QT DV Pal files and I have a DV camera for animation. The quality is lush no need for uncompressed! Why upset a good thing?

Plus, once i've reformatted the capture / edit drive it'll stop sleeping mid edit.

This... is what an OS upgrade can do for your workhorse.

[EElumir]

True... if it works, no prob. :) How long does it take you to do your animations? I should ask this in your comments...

[orphanpixels]

No worries!

At the moment it takes about 2 hours for 10-20 secs.

I have 2 more Stikfas fights i shot over the last week which need sound and comping.

My fault for not formulating any sort of plan! I really just want to be able to "feel" the right timing for things so when i teach i can shout timings off the top of my head!

There are so many other factors involved like the workspace, I'm trying to figure out how make mine more efficient and lighting a better key!

Next step.... Plot!

[tehbertl]

Awesome beyond words.