This page is still in of the working process. It will be further updated with more info.
There are other terms people use; such as clay animation,
stop motion animation, and others. Claymation is a type of animation.
It has the same concept as other animation types, such as your saturday
morning cartoons. Although, most modern day cartoons are animated using special computer software. Then there are the 3D animated movies that consist of tons of special effects, layers, and several different rendering processes. Back in the day, Claymation use to be the special effect. Because of limited technology, many movies consisted of using Chroma-key blue to animate large animated creatures such as a huge spider, attacking the city.
Clay animation: it is the animation of clay. The animation process consists of
using a distinct object- your subject (such as a piece of moldable clay). Taking a
camera, you would take still images of the clay, every frame, moving the subject,
little by little. It is to move the object every frame, creating a consistent movement.
Take a picture, move it a little. these steps are repeated, in order for the subject to finish
it's task. Once the animator is happy with their work, then they will use the pictures in an
animation program to take the frames and speed each frame to a fraction of a second.
Animation is the movement of more than several frames, each shown in a slideshow manner
at a fraction of a second, therefore creating an illusion, that the subject is moving.
The standard TV frame rate is: 24fps (24 frames per second)
The standard Movie frame rate is: 30-fps
FOR BEGINNERS: I recommend you starting out with 15-fps
HERE'S MY FIRST CLAYMATION!
This movie obviously isn't the best example of a claymation to show to people that are
new with claymation. I've seen worst beginners animations on you-tube! But mine is diffidently
not the best! it shows the main concept though. At the time, I use to use a steady 15-fps for my animation.
Using computer software to edit, and add effects
to your movie
Just as other movies, it is also very key to add special effects and to edit your animation to your
liking. To make your movie interesting, you could add different scenery and music. You should also then create a theme to your movie, so that it isn't to random and odd.
Some animations actually use the classic effect of using chroma-key green as the background, so
they then can substitute the background with the two twin towers for example, to maybe set the date
of the movie, since the two twin towers don't exist anymore. Chroma-key green is a specail color of green that is really easy to filter out. bout you can do this with any color, of course. Some of the
movie editing softwares out there have the green screening option, so that it will take out your selected
color from the movie.
The animator has their right to choose. (unless they are working for a studio or company) They
can choose how they would like to present their background and how they would like the characters
to look like. They can choose what different transitions, effects, and filters to put on their movie.
Mouth dubbing
Mouth dubbing can be very important for some movies. Depending on what they are, some movies
just wouldn't be the same without the characters talking.
I recommend a beginner to not mess with mouth dubbing!!!
Mouth dubbing is very tricky work, to match up the mouth movements with someone talking.
You would have to be very knowledgeable about the different vowels, consonants and how they
are used. It takes math precision to match the frame rate up to the talking. it is better to record the
talking before you do the animation, that way you can use the recording as a reference tool as you
animate.
Below is the most common mouth movements
