Ive been wanting to get into stop motion and this specific area of animation is what I've been assuming would be the hardest and most confusing for me, this proved my theory correct 😂
of all the 11 second club audios i was not expecting the one i used for my animation final last month, i thought i could go the rest of my life without hearing it again
Michael Parks, first of all, thank you very much for share your great knowledges... free of cost. Very kind of you. I don't know whether you have issued any one around the recommending software for pure StopMotion...and then for editting software similar for instance as Adobe After Effects, or Final Cut, Thansk a lot in advance, santi de vicente, from Madrid, España.
I use Dragonframe for stop motion, After Effects to do compositing and cleanup (like wire removal), and Premiere for editing. I'm on Mac, so before I could afford Dragonframe I used iStopMotion.
@@MichaelParks So, as I have android on Windows...I need to buy: DragonFrame for photos; Adobe Premiere for editing...first presentation and at last for credits; Adobe After effects for jumping, tips and so on. Thanks a lot for your help Michael. By the way ...the fond scenary with an unique green plastic...in order to put there any video...for insatnce o a landscape photo is managed with After Effects...??? Bye Bye...ans thanks so much
This is a great tutorial! Thank you! The only thing that felt weird where those frames with no eyelids before and after the blink. Because the normal resting face does have a little eyelids.
if i'm making a fight scene between two dinosaurs or monsters and in that one bites the other's arm off. what do you think could be used for blood and flesh in a stop motion like this?
I am just about to start sculpting a head as well. Too much sculpy will make the head too heavy. I first build up a "skull" with a very tight ball of aluminum foil. Then I put a layer of sculpy over that, making it as thick as needed to be able to get the shape and smoothness you want. About a quarter inch of sculpy.
Michael… I learn allot from your stuff! I think I’m getting abit ahead of myself with my plans for a short… I.m keeping it to a minute or 2… like you recommend… but my idea has water in it… specifically a stream from a hose… I’ve done abit of research and slime or hair gel looks good… but the stream idea is difficult… I’m thinking of using a pipe cleaner smothered in slime….. any ideas.. I don’t see you have done a tutorial on this yet. Cheers mark
I haven't animated running water yet, but if I were I think the first thing I would try is Cellophane/plastic wrap. It can be rolled into a cylinder and dragged out of the pipe. Droplets of hot glue make good water drops.
@@MichaelParks sounds good… I’m making a gross swamp like water… so would need to get coloured cellophane… also could put slime on to make more grotesque … thanks for getting back to me Michael … you have a spark about you and always really find a great way to explain things that really sinks in..I will have to show u what I do … I’ve just got stop motion pro … which I’m really impressed as the rig removal and set up is really easy … aswell as lip sync help … I know dragon frame is the usual one people go to… but I’d have to recommend stop motion pro… as I don’t have Adobe
I take the sticker pupils off when the eyes are fully shut so they don't get buried. After a blink, the eyeballs often need to get cleaned with a damp wipe, so the pupil needs to come off anyway.
@@ytwetethx Yes, it has more features. But the choice has to do with your camera and computer resources. If you're using a phone or device, you use Stop Motion Studio, but if you have a computer you can hook up to a computer, Dragonframe is used.
Yes, that works good, too. I like to use clay to get more variety of shapes and to get some subtle movement, but making a lot of different brow positions will get good results, too.
Ooooh the eye pupils are stickers man all this time I'm thinking if some Animators prefer baked Heads how would one make eye movement, saw another video these people also baked the heads, but where able to add foil to hold an eyeball so they baked hollow eyes, but Thanks this is easier for the moment.
Thanks for sharing this great tutotrial! I have a question: the baking clay for the head is Van Aken, Sculpey III clay ? Or that is for the rest of the body? That one says on the description it never hardens which confused me.
Hi there, great video. I'm new to stop motion and am experimenting with lip synching. I think my mouths look too busy though. Should I slow down or speed up the frame rate?? Thanks in advance
Busy lip sync is usually caused by having mouth shapes that are too dramatically different from each other, like always going to a tight pucker for an "oo" sound, and by trying to have a distinct mouth shape for every letter/sound they pronounce. If the character is talking rapidly, or even naturally, the shapes should be kept simple. Mouth shapes should only be changed every two frames MAX (that being twelve changes per second).
Thank you for an awesome tutorial. I have a question. Can I use Imovie on a mac in place of the istop program you mentioned? I also don't know what you mean by heavier than printer paper.
You can edit with imovie, but I don't think you can capture individual stills with it. I mean mean paper that is more like card stock rather than light-weight document paper typically used in a home printer.
That technique is used when the replacement mouth is sculpted. The mouth pieces, which often include the chin so it looks like the jaw is moving, are big enough to have a magnet inside. A flat magnet could be cut into a mouth shape, as well.
I think that would be more work unless you have a way to easily swap out the various mouths in your compositing app. Using After Effects, you would first need to track the head, then you'd need to switch between mouth shapes every couple of frames. Then there's the whole business of what to do when the character twists their head. I, too, would like to find a way to do this, but haven't come up with a way that would be easier than doing this under the camera.
also btw you should of mentioned how making the mouths seam to open from top to bottom( like a real opening mouth) could save it from being all over the place, and doesnt look like its just a cut out piece of paper, ya know, make it look more realisitic
3 years later i find this. How tall of an armature do you know how to make? I want to make an stop motion and it's gonna be two kids so I'm not sure how tall I would make them. Do you still go by the heights of heads?
You could use a head/body ratio to figure it out if you're going for realistic proportions, but I just go with what is right for the character and the style of the show. I prefer to work with big heads so they're easier to animate. Also note that a big head can help make a character look younger, which is something to consider with a kid.
+Bobby Neal If you set your stop motion software for 12 fps, you shoot one frame per move. That's the best way to start. As you get more advanced, you can set it for 24 fps, so that most movement would be animated shooting two frames per move, but you can occasionally shoot some action one frame per move.
+Shane4836 I'll see about getting that into a tutorial, but it's pretty simple to explain. You sculpt the eyeball out of sculpey making it as round as you can, and then poke a hole in or through it that is wider than a pin. That way the pin you use to animate will fit into the hole even when some paint gets into it.
+Michael Parks I was also wondering how the head is when the eyes are in it. The eyes seem to move around easily but I don't understand how the head is supposed to be.
Sculpy bakes at 275 degrees, and I have found that that doesn't hurt anything. I've baked the armature, cotton, foam strips, and cloth along with the Sculpy.
Ah. Math. At 24 frames per second, that would be 43,200 frames. Or at 12 frames per second (shooting in 2's) that would be 21,600 frames. Holds and cycles would reduce how much animation actually needs to be done, but I wouldn't plan on doing anything else for a few years.
Tip #1: keep it short! Like a minute. UA-camrs are far more likely to view a one-minute video than a half-hour video. It will also help you learn faster, since after spending less time making a video, you can look at it and learn and do better on the next short video. From there, I try to cram all the tips I know in the tutorials I have already made. I'm finally making a new one now about animating toys that has more tips. But in general I suggest keeping it simple and strive to make the action clear and easy to follow.
+Nathan Denson I use basic, cheap acrylic paint. For these puppets, I used color Fimo oven-baked clay so I wouldn't have to be concerned about scratching paint off the face.
Greeting frm Greece. Very good video. I'm doing my masters in animation and I want to use a few seconds clips from your video for my thesis as an example. Your channel and video will be mentioned. Can i have your permission? Thank you very much.
If the head doesn't move much, that can work. The adobe app of choice for that is After Effects. When animating Robot Chicken, mouths are often not animated on the stage and added later in AE. I haven't tried adding mouths that way myself, though, so I can't say much more about it.
Actually I've to do a little project with heads that move a few. And we've to finish the work (with scenographies, puppies and everything) in three months, that's why I asked. I try, in case it will work I let you know if you can have a similar result. Thank you so much!
If you're editing frames and effects, I like to use After Effects. But once you have shots that you just need to edit into a final video, it doesn't make that much difference. I like Final Cut Pro 7 and Adobe Premiere.
MacIsStrange, I use 52 or 53 individual mouths, and you say you've got a lot! But I use all paper cutouts like in the south park unaired pilot and used like, a few aposed to me so,
Wow. I never actually thought of using foil to build the models. Such a simple idea.
This is amazing. I give respect to all stop motion animation for such passion and patient they have for their artwork.
Now I’ve got “Well, I think I’m Right” in my head
Heh
The Merry Hacker I've seen u somewhere before..
well, i think you're right .
Ive been wanting to get into stop motion and this specific area of animation is what I've been assuming would be the hardest and most confusing for me, this proved my theory correct 😂
of all the 11 second club audios i was not expecting the one i used for my animation final last month, i thought i could go the rest of my life without hearing it again
Although I didn’t follow along it seems like a pretty good tutorial. Good to know I quit animation early on and don’t regret it!
*Well, I think I'm right.*
man, good job! I really like this!! thanks this helps!
This is life-changing! I'm going to try it for cut paper stop motion!!! Thank you!
WoooooWWW! Well done! Great!!!! Thanks for sharing
1:03 TORTURE!!!!!!!
xddd so true
Ikr
Germany
Well I think I’m right
Oh shit, well I guess Michael is a Nazi.
I'm a AAU student and this video helped me alot on my final project.
Thank's a bunch, mr. Parks!
Thanks for the idea. I tried out this idea and use the soft sticky velcro cutouts for sticker mouths on my pipe cleaner characters.
YOUR TUTORIALS ARE SO AWESOME!!
Also sorry for caps
These days I use Dragonframe. Back when I made this tutorial I was using iStopmotion for Mac, which has good features for a lower price.
Great job man, you do an awesome job at explaining the process (cant wait to see more).
Well done! You're definitely the go to guy for these kinds of things!
Michael Parks, first of all, thank you very much for share your great knowledges... free of cost. Very kind of you.
I don't know whether you have issued any one around the recommending software for pure StopMotion...and then for editting software similar for instance as Adobe After Effects, or Final Cut, Thansk a lot in advance, santi de vicente, from Madrid, España.
I use Dragonframe for stop motion, After Effects to do compositing and cleanup (like wire removal), and Premiere for editing. I'm on Mac, so before I could afford Dragonframe I used iStopMotion.
@@MichaelParks So, as I have android on Windows...I need to buy: DragonFrame for
photos; Adobe Premiere for editing...first presentation and at last for credits; Adobe
After effects for jumping, tips and so on.
Thanks a lot for your help Michael.
By the way ...the fond scenary with an unique
green plastic...in order to put there any video...for insatnce o a landscape photo is
managed with After Effects...???
Bye Bye...ans thanks so much
This is a great tutorial! Thank you! The only thing that felt weird where those frames with no eyelids before and after the blink. Because the normal resting face does have a little eyelids.
i was dying to find out this from [AS] and here you are! Thank you!
thank you for this precious explanations ! :)
This is so helpful ! Thank you so much ! Your channel is really great !
This makes me want to try stop motion animation some day 😄
One of the best....
Thx for the video! Now im nearly ready to start my Pat and Mat remakes in stop motion
Thanks for teling me this. Also what tools did you use for the eyes then Smooth in the eye then smoothing the whole face.
I use an assortment of sculpting tools that can smooth things out. For the face, I usually just use my fingers.
Wow, that was excellent! Thanks
if i'm making a fight scene between two dinosaurs or monsters and in that one bites the other's arm off. what do you think could be used for blood and flesh in a stop motion like this?
Great tutorials! Is there a Stop Motion program for Mac?
Dragonframe works on Mac. Before I could afford that, I used iStopMotion, which has a lot of good features for the price.
@@MichaelParks Thanks. It's not available for Catalina or Big Sur unfortunately.
Very helpful. Thank you for doing this tutorial.
wow this is so cool i just do lego stop motion but now i want to do this
A fascinating insight into animation
This video is so helpful
Typically, my blinks last for 3 or 4 frames at 25 fps fully closed. I think it usually depends on the size of the eyes and how close the camera is.
Thank you I just started sculpting my head and I was wondering how much sculpy do you use for the head.
I am just about to start sculpting a head as well. Too much sculpy will make the head too heavy. I first build up a "skull" with a very tight ball of aluminum foil. Then I put a layer of sculpy over that, making it as thick as needed to be able to get the shape and smoothness you want. About a quarter inch of sculpy.
Super satisfying
Michael… I learn allot from your stuff! I think I’m getting abit ahead of myself with my plans for a short… I.m keeping it to a minute or 2… like you recommend… but my idea has water in it… specifically a stream from a hose… I’ve done abit of research and slime or hair gel looks good… but the stream idea is difficult… I’m thinking of using a pipe cleaner smothered in slime….. any ideas.. I don’t see you have done a tutorial on this yet. Cheers mark
I haven't animated running water yet, but if I were I think the first thing I would try is Cellophane/plastic wrap. It can be rolled into a cylinder and dragged out of the pipe. Droplets of hot glue make good water drops.
@@MichaelParks sounds good… I’m making a gross swamp like water… so would need to get coloured cellophane… also could put slime on to make more grotesque … thanks for getting back to me Michael … you have a spark about you and always really find a great way to explain things that really sinks in..I will have to show u what I do … I’ve just got stop motion pro … which I’m really impressed as the rig removal and set up is really easy … aswell as lip sync help … I know dragon frame is the usual one people go to… but I’d have to recommend stop motion pro… as I don’t have Adobe
So awesome thank you for sharing 💖😊😍😍
Once again, Really awesome! How do you make sure that sticker pupils don't become buried in the eye lids?
I take the sticker pupils off when the eyes are fully shut so they don't get buried. After a blink, the eyeballs often need to get cleaned with a damp wipe, so the pupil needs to come off anyway.
@@MichaelParks thank you
@@MichaelParks Do you think dragon frame is better then using the stop motion app?
@@ytwetethx Yes, it has more features. But the choice has to do with your camera and computer resources. If you're using a phone or device, you use Stop Motion Studio, but if you have a computer you can hook up to a computer, Dragonframe is used.
Ping pong balls work well for a head base too. Great video fam :)
4:46 Can you do a tutorial on how to use and make those tables?
great work
so can you use stickers for the eyebrow to ?
Yes, that works good, too. I like to use clay to get more variety of shapes and to get some subtle movement, but making a lot of different brow positions will get good results, too.
thanks for your tutorials I actually made a clay movie :D
I always wondered about how they did this. I wanna try this. That app. was convenient.
Ooooh the eye pupils are stickers man all this time I'm thinking if some Animators prefer baked Heads how would one make eye movement, saw another video these people also baked the heads, but where able to add foil to hold an eyeball so they baked hollow eyes, but Thanks this is easier for the moment.
Thanks for sharing this great tutotrial! I have a question: the baking clay for the head is Van Aken, Sculpey III clay ? Or that is for the rest of the body? That one says on the description it never hardens which confused me.
Van Aken never hardens, Sculpey III gets baked to harden, and is used for the head.
i thought he said well i think I'm ready
Hi there, great video. I'm new to stop motion and am experimenting with lip synching. I think my mouths look too busy though. Should I slow down or speed up the frame rate?? Thanks in advance
Busy lip sync is usually caused by having mouth shapes that are too dramatically different from each other, like always going to a tight pucker for an "oo" sound, and by trying to have a distinct mouth shape for every letter/sound they pronounce. If the character is talking rapidly, or even naturally, the shapes should be kept simple. Mouth shapes should only be changed every two frames MAX (that being twelve changes per second).
Thank you!
Amazing
Very cool
Thank you! Great ideas :)
Thank you for an awesome tutorial. I have a question. Can I use Imovie on a mac in place of the istop program you mentioned? I also don't know what you mean by heavier than printer paper.
You can edit with imovie, but I don't think you can capture individual stills with it. I mean mean paper that is more like card stock rather than light-weight document paper typically used in a home printer.
amazing tutorial!
Michael parks what do you use for eyebrows?
Just a bit of clay so it sticks to the surface and can be shaped. Stoopid Buddy and other studios use a mixture of clay and wax.
@@MichaelParks thank you for all your help
I like to stop motion animate
Cool!
I was wondering if I could use stickers! thank you!
Thank you ☺️
Amazing work :)
Isn't there a software to animate or cg the mouths directly onto the model instead of having to use paper mouths?
I haven't tried it, but it can be done with After Effects, which is I believe the software Stoopid Buddy uses to add lip sync for Robot Chicken.
Perfect :D
great video!
dam that's pretty good bro
Do you think if you put a magnet under the clay where the mouth is then bake it. Then make the mouth out of a magnet. Would it be easier to animate.
That technique is used when the replacement mouth is sculpted. The mouth pieces, which often include the chin so it looks like the jaw is moving, are big enough to have a magnet inside. A flat magnet could be cut into a mouth shape, as well.
Thanks this is very helpful !
can i just shoot the mouths on Green screen then save them all separately as .PNGs and overlay them on the video or is this more work?
I think that would be more work unless you have a way to easily swap out the various mouths in your compositing app. Using After Effects, you would first need to track the head, then you'd need to switch between mouth shapes every couple of frames. Then there's the whole business of what to do when the character twists their head. I, too, would like to find a way to do this, but haven't come up with a way that would be easier than doing this under the camera.
@@MichaelParks Gotcha! :)
is it cornstarch or clay ?? and how do you fold them being q induresse ??
It's Van Akin non-drying clay. I don't know what q induresse means.
also btw you should of mentioned how making the mouths seam to open from top to bottom( like a real opening mouth) could save it from being all over the place, and doesnt look like its just a cut out piece of paper, ya know, make it look more realisitic
OMG new video!!
were did you get the metal armature?
stopmotionstore.com
This helps me so much😍😍😍😍
so coolll
where do you buy clothes for your clay figures? thanks this video is very helpful :)
3 years later i find this. How tall of an armature do you know how to make? I want to make an stop motion and it's gonna be two kids so I'm not sure how tall I would make them. Do you still go by the heights of heads?
You could use a head/body ratio to figure it out if you're going for realistic proportions, but I just go with what is right for the character and the style of the show. I prefer to work with big heads so they're easier to animate. Also note that a big head can help make a character look younger, which is something to consider with a kid.
@@MichaelParks Thank you very much!
For a moment I thought these were memes with the guy putting the thing with the thing to smooth the mouth I thought I was a horn lol
Is there an animation program I can purchase that can easily make a toy talk on the computer instead of having to do it manually? Thanks!
I don't know the best choice for that, but I'd see if the tracking in After Effects would do the job.
OK I'm confused now. if I shoot in 12 or 12.5 fps, I shoot in 2s for every move?
+Bobby Neal If you set your stop motion software for 12 fps, you shoot one frame per move. That's the best way to start. As you get more advanced, you can set it for 24 fps, so that most movement would be animated shooting two frames per move, but you can occasionally shoot some action one frame per move.
Michael Parks oh ok. So in 12 or 12.5 fps with lip sync, I shoot in two's of the mouth, and one frame for movement?
I need to learn more
what kind of software do you use for the Lip Syncing ?
1:03 how long or tempertare is here to heat the head?
20 minutes as 270° F.
@@MichaelParks when heated the head gets hard or still soft?
@@fabionoronhazampieri7639 Sculpy or Fimo will get hard after baking.
WELL, I THINK IM READY.
can you show us how to make an eyeball that you can move with sculpey
+Shane4836 I'll see about getting that into a tutorial, but it's pretty simple to explain. You sculpt the eyeball out of sculpey making it as round as you can, and then poke a hole in or through it that is wider than a pin. That way the pin you use to animate will fit into the hole even when some paint gets into it.
+Michael Parks ok thank you
+Michael Parks I was also wondering how the head is when the eyes are in it. The eyes seem to move around easily but I don't understand how the head is supposed to be.
does baking the clay harden it?
Sculpy or Fimo polymer clay will harden. Plasticine clay like Van Aken will melt.
your tutorials are great thank you
Its been a long time since you made a video!
+MyCity Stop Motion Sadly true. But nice to see I can return and get some views. If this one gets enough views, I plan to make more this year.
Really? great, i love your videos by the way!
+Michael Parks either you make then often or not, there good tutorials
could it catch on fire when put in the oven. if so what is the temperature to bake the head hard
Sculpy bakes at 275 degrees, and I have found that that doesn't hurt anything. I've baked the armature, cotton, foam strips, and cloth along with the Sculpy.
Excuse me, what app do you use?
Nice I'm on.a Hiatus on my channel so I can make something using clay this was helpfull thanks😊
You must get 100k Subscribers or 900k or 1M
How if you wented to make a stop motion animation 30 minute how many frams should you have?
Ah. Math. At 24 frames per second, that would be 43,200 frames. Or at 12 frames per second (shooting in 2's) that would be 21,600 frames. Holds and cycles would reduce how much animation actually needs to be done, but I wouldn't plan on doing anything else for a few years.
Michael Parks think you see I'm planning on creating my on stop motion animation show on UA-cam i would love some tips from you
Tip #1: keep it short! Like a minute. UA-camrs are far more likely to view a one-minute video than a half-hour video. It will also help you learn faster, since after spending less time making a video, you can look at it and learn and do better on the next short video.
From there, I try to cram all the tips I know in the tutorials I have already made. I'm finally making a new one now about animating toys that has more tips. But in general I suggest keeping it simple and strive to make the action clear and easy to follow.
What kind of paint do you use for your puppets?
+Nathan Denson I use basic, cheap acrylic paint. For these puppets, I used color Fimo oven-baked clay so I wouldn't have to be concerned about scratching paint off the face.
+Michael Parks Thank you!
Greeting frm Greece. Very good video. I'm doing my masters in animation and I want to use a few seconds clips from your video for my thesis as an example. Your channel and video will be mentioned. Can i have your permission? Thank you very much.
Sure, go right ahead. Thanks for asking first.
@@MichaelParks Thank you. I'll post the link when I finished.
@@MichaelParks ua-cam.com/video/sXxGkNc7Uq8/v-deo.html
Thank you
Good vid
Hi, what happens if I put png/jpg on premiere pro and not The physical eyes and mounth? Could it work?
If the head doesn't move much, that can work. The adobe app of choice for that is After Effects. When animating Robot Chicken, mouths are often not animated on the stage and added later in AE. I haven't tried adding mouths that way myself, though, so I can't say much more about it.
Actually I've to do a little project with heads that move a few. And we've to finish the work (with scenographies, puppies and everything) in three months, that's why I asked.
I try, in case it will work I let you know if you can have a similar result.
Thank you so much!
What editing/audio app do you recommend?
If you're editing frames and effects, I like to use After Effects. But once you have shots that you just need to edit into a final video, it doesn't make that much difference. I like Final Cut Pro 7 and Adobe Premiere.
Can you make a paper cutout video, like in the style of south park?
nice
I'm using 45 mouths for my lip sync do you think it's to much?
I don't think you can have too many choices.
Thanks
MacIsStrange, I use 52 or 53 individual mouths, and you say you've got a lot! But I use all paper cutouts like in the south park unaired pilot and used like, a few aposed to me so,
What software do you use?
Dragonframe for the stop motion, After Effects for compositing, and Premiere Pro for editing.
Michael Parks thanks
Would this work with wired armature ???