Preset+Tutorial: Stop Motion Kit
This preset and tutorial have been inspired by true events …or to be precise – they are based on a project I did a short while ago.
In this tutorial I will show you how to quickly simulate stop motion aesthetic using my After Effects Stop Motion Kit. This collection of presets will allow you to easily add subtle imperfections to the movement of objects in your scene, emulating animator errors that are a staple of stop motion animation. Using 6 different expression sets, you will be able to apply and control glitches in movement, rotation and timing of your objects as well as simulate changes in camera position and exposure.
Running time: 37min
Difficulty: Easy
Required tools: After Effects
Preview video:
Tutorial:
Note: For some reason, Camtasia was quite uncooperative today and refused to capture the preview animations at a proper framerate. They should be played back at ~10fps, but show the video shows only 1-2 frames a second. The actual live result is much better!
Download the files associated with this tutorial below:
- QubaHQ Stop Motion Kit (presets and sample project)
http://downloads.qubahq.com/tutorials/QubaHQ_StopMotionKit.zip
You may download the tutorial video as MPEG-4 from its Vimeo page. The preview video can also be watched at YouTube.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
[...] If your interested, the kit and tutorials can be downloaded here: http://qubahq.com/2011/06/stop-motion-kit/#more-2976 [...]
thanks qubahq for new tuts
Thanks for sharing this Quba, one comment: It would be nice to have the option of applying the pos+rot glitch even to static objects (reducing Min Speed to zero doesn’t achieve this)
There is a way, actually – it’s a bit of a hack, but seems to do the trick (please note that I did not code the kit to support this so I am not sure how well it will work)
Trick is: set the minimum speed to a negative value. with minimum at -1 and maximum at 0 all the static objects will glitch (but of course you lose the fine control over the moving ones).
You can always keyframe the minimums and maximums though… or, alternatively just put a wiggle on the Anchor Point.
[...] Quba Michalski‘s new tutorial shows you how to mimic the old look of stop motion with After Effects layers. He’s also created a free collection of presets which you can download at his site. [...]
tachakorat afandem :D
thanx man for your nice kit ;)
Hi, Quba, excellent tutorial as usual, one important note though. I saw you had a slight problem with gray color. Choosing “neutral gray” was the right thing to do, which is 127/127/127, though you also need to consider a gamma you work in. So if it is 127/255=0.5, you have to divide the result by your gamma. Historically the value was 2.5 (CRT monitors), famous “18 percent gray”, though things changed lately, since we work with LCD/LED sRGB monitors and today you work in range of 17 up to crazy 33 percent gray (shitty PC gamma).
Eventually it really depends on your OS, your monitor and even your viewing conditions.Check this out !
Cheers
Andre
[...] Stop Motion Kit Light Wall [...]
Thanks alot Quba. I’ve been trying to do this effect myself but no good, i think i’ll give this a try.
REgards,
Heri
Thank you so much. ^o^
HI quba! I am sorry to that for some reason in my country I can’t see the tutorial in vimeo and youtube so I hope you can send the tutorial video to my mail box (zhenjueyimen2010@yahoo.cn) I really like the preset! thanks a lot!
Mate, I’m afraid he tutorial video is way too big to send by email. You gotta find some other way of watching it. Have you tried a Firefox plugin named FoxyProxy? It helped me with my ISP censoring portions of the Internet in the past.
Hi
I’m working with your Stop Motion kit, and whem i go to render the composition, and one window sid:
After Effects error: La opción Transformación no puede asignar un búfer de más de 30000 píxeles en cada dimensión. (516)
My composition is 1440*900
wich is yhe problem? you know?
Thanks for your kit is fantastic.
Regards
(Sorry for my English I’m spanish)
Hey chechu,
I can’t be 100% sure about your error, but I have a feeling I know what it is. After Effects has problems handling heavy blurs on text that is too close to the camera. Most likely your particles got distributed in such way that one of the dots is right on top of your camera, becoming huge (over 30000 pixels) when seen through the cam and thus resulting in render errors.
Try to randomize the dots differently – it the problem is what I think it is, it should go away.
Best,
Lol, wait a second! I thought this problem was with the Floaties preset…
I have no idea about any errors that could occur on Stop Motion Kit, sorry :(
Hello again
Finally I found the problem:
When I began the composition, i test with 3d layers, and with a camera, and my BG layers was very big, and after when i come back without 3d layer, i forget to do my BG layer small.
Now all is ok.
Thanks for all…. I,m waiting for more tutorial and for more preset.
You are the best
how and what you did effect the deployment of crumpled paper
how and what you did effect the deployment of crumpled paper?
Sorry to disappoint, but that’s not an effect. We shot the crumpled paper in stop motion.
[...] Running time: 37min Quba HQ » Preset+Tutorial: Stop Motion Kit [...]
Hy and Thank You for this tutorial but I have a question: Is it possible to do somehow Stop motion from a Footage? and how?
Hey Quba!
thanks for great plugin.. one little question… could this preset work on 3d layers Z axis for position randomness?
hi,
I try to put the effect glitchposition-layer solid. but nothing happens.
I just tried to apply your QHQ Glitch Camera to a camera in AE CS6, but it won’t “take”… I even tried making a simple comp with the QHQ Stop Motion adjustment layer (the preset apples fine to that) and a single-node camera and it still won’t take. =(
Am I doing something wrong or is there something about CS6 that has messed with your kit? Got any ideas how I might be able to get this to work??
I Can’t get that works in my projects
I wold like to know if the QubaHQ Stop Motion Kit works in CS6