A storyboard of your stop motion animation
A storyboard is a way to organize and plan out your stop motion animation with a timeline of images representing the scenes you want to produce. How extensively you want to storyboard your animation is up to you, but it is recommended to storyboard your animation in moderate detail so that you have a complete graphic visualization of your project to refer to before beginning to shoot frames. You may want to shoot some sample frames or basic placeholder footage while you plan out your full project.
You can create a storyboard for your stop motion animation on paper, or right inside VideoStudio! VideoStudio has an intuitive storyboard editing mode that makes it easy to plan out your projects. Simply shoot and import a few sample frames or video clips and drag them to the timeline to begin storyboarding your video.
A basic stop motion animation set
Regardless of if youre creating a narrative, a cooking video, or telling another kind of story with your stop motion animation, you will need to set up the area where youll be shooting your frames. This may include scenery like grass, hills, miniature buildings, or simply a countertop. When choosing where to shoot your stop motion animation, you should think about how easily youll be able to move the characters in the space, and how consistently the area will be lit. You may want to avoid shooting the frames for your stop motion animation in a room with lots of direct sunlight, as a cloudy day is likely to completely change the temperature of the light.
Though its possible to adjust the white balance in your frames and transform the color in your images to match with the remainder of your project using the color grading controls in VideoStudio, you can set yourself up for success by choosing an easily controlled area to shoot in from the beginning.
You can add detail and interest to your stop motion animation set by using a printed image or fabric as a background, adding details like trees and plants, or by spending time creating a complete unique set for your video!