Raspberry Pi Stop Motion Machine -- Episode 395

Okay, this is awesome, and an incredible start!

As a professionally trained animator and film graduate, I have a number of suggestions for improvement which could take it from great, to a pro-grade tool that self-produced stop motion animators would actively want to use!

You've got a dolly which is great - from there, you would want a riser with a boom arm to put the camera on.

      x|________C

        |

        |

---O-------O---

So, you want the boom arm to move up and down on the riser. (Rack & pinion system?)

The riser mast should rotate to swing the arm around.

At the point x, where the boom arm meets the riser mast, you want it to rotate to crane up and down.

The boom arm should also be able to extend and retract to telescope in and out.

Point C is where the camera rests, and should have its own pan and tilt to rotate left/right and up/down.

I also think that instead of a smartphone interface, physical controls would be better - perhaps the wireless connection could be used to relay the viewfinder to a viewing monitor?

Most stop motion cameras I've seen have been rigged up to take the shot with a stomp switch, like you might use in a guitar FX pedals setup.

Also, regarding your setup of the framerates... technically, that's not how it should be done - you're always producing your animation at either 24fps (film), 25fps (PAL TV), or 30fps (NTSC TV).

If you see reference to "12fps" for example, that is a matter of duplicate frames - in animation, we use terms like "on ones" and "on twos" to refer to how many times a single unchanged frame is captured for playback at the target framerate.

Really, you want to have a choice of those framerates, and take duplicate frames manually, or enable options to take multiples by default, with the option to adjust multiples on the fly. (Since in animation, we don't just stick to twos for everything - we typically switch between twos and ones as the action requires.)

A really nice feature to have would be a way to define a start and end position for the camera mechanism (to block out your shots to the storyboard) then set an amount of time between the start and end points, and advance the position per frame along customised spline paths for each axis, to allow for easing into and out of the defined points.

It could even allow complex and beautiful camera motions to be perfected and defined before any puppet animation begins, leaving you free to focus on that aspect of the art when the camera is locked in and ready!

Hopefully this wall of text doesn't seem too nitpicky; again, this is a really awesome start, but I can see so much potential for an incredible professional-grade tool, here!

Okay, this is awesome, and an incredible start!

As a professionally trained animator and film graduate, I have a number of suggestions for improvement which could take it from great, to a pro-grade tool that self-produced stop motion animators would actively want to use!

You've got a dolly which is great - from there, you would want a riser with a boom arm to put the camera on.

      x|________C

        |

        |

---O-------O---

So, you want the boom arm to move up and down on the riser. (Rack & pinion system?)

The riser mast should rotate to swing the arm around.

At the point x, where the boom arm meets the riser mast, you want it to rotate to crane up and down.

The boom arm should also be able to extend and retract to telescope in and out.

Point C is where the camera rests, and should have its own pan and tilt to rotate left/right and up/down.

I also think that instead of a smartphone interface, physical controls would be better - perhaps the wireless connection could be used to relay the viewfinder to a viewing monitor?

Most stop motion cameras I've seen have been rigged up to take the shot with a stomp switch, like you might use in a guitar FX pedals setup.

Also, regarding your setup of the framerates... technically, that's not how it should be done - you're always producing your animation at either 24fps (film), 25fps (PAL TV), or 30fps (NTSC TV).

If you see reference to "12fps" for example, that is a matter of duplicate frames - in animation, we use terms like "on ones" and "on twos" to refer to how many times a single unchanged frame is captured for playback at the target framerate.

Really, you want to have a choice of those framerates, and take duplicate frames manually, or enable options to take multiples by default, with the option to adjust multiples on the fly. (Since in animation, we don't just stick to twos for everything - we typically switch between twos and ones as the action requires.)

A really nice feature to have would be a way to define a start and end position for the camera mechanism (to block out your shots to the storyboard) then set an amount of time between the start and end points, and advance the position per frame along customised spline paths for each axis, to allow for easing into and out of the defined points.

It could even allow complex and beautiful camera motions to be perfected and defined before any puppet animation begins, leaving you free to focus on that aspect of the art when the camera is locked in and ready!

Hopefully this wall of text doesn't seem too nitpicky; again, this is a really awesome start, but I can see so much potential for an incredible professional-grade tool, here!

Hi Dana, thank you very much fro your feedback!

The design currently supports two axis automated movement, you can choose whatever axis fits your need and just attach stepper and belts there(on any kind of crane, slider ,dolly or whatever you prefer)
I originally wanted to use a jib but a dolly seemed more relateable to most viewers.

I chose the smartphone controls because it is very flexible and free to position away from the camera. My first iteration had a stomp switch but I removed it to avoid ramping up the partcount (i want to keep the cam and RPI isolated to avoid damage)

On framerate: interesting insight into your realsm! thanks, I just added common framerates without much concern. (jsut looked up common framerates in animation on google)

I'd love to develop this project into a pro-grade tool, all the features you mentioned coan be implemented it is just a matter of adapting the code.
Please share the page with your peers in animation/film,
the code is free to download under the video and I will likely create a repo for collaborative developement.

Glad my info could help!
Really excited to see where this goes from here!

You may want to take a look at some of the Kessler equipment for ideas/inspiration:

e.g. Shuttle Dolly + CineDrive:

https://vimeo.com/237424857

Website at:

https://www.kesslercrane.com/cinedrive

thanks dave, there are a lot of coll devices out there that can give me ideas for features, maybe this project once turns into an OS alternative for aspiring filmmakers and enthusiasts

A feature-comparable camera system at a fraction of the price could really do a lot for independent filmmakers!

It might be worth going to a local independent film festival to share the project and get feedback.

thats a great idea! where would you point me in terms of forums or places to share this video to to get in contact with people who micght need such an option

I'm afraid I don't really know of any forums or anything like that; film work is usually kept under wraps, either to keep the final product a surprise, or due to studio NDAs. It's kind of a difficult world to connect in, and the best networking opportunities are festivals where people can show off their work.
I'd recommend searching for information about the film and animation festivals near you, and maybe getting into contact with any nearby film or animation schools - my old teachers were always really open to being approached by someone with something to share with the students, and such teachers also tend to be veterans who could have a lot of great ideas themselves.

There is *one* forum I know of which may be fruitful, and that's the 11 Second Club. I don't know how many stop motion interested animators you'll find there, but animation is a skill that transfers well from 2D, to 3D, to stop motion, to claymation, to cutouts, to whatever other form you can come up with, and at least a few people might be enthusiastic about an approachable entry point!