Stop motion has made something of a comeback since the days of Ray Harryhausen's Dynamation, made famous in movies such as the original Clash of the Titans and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. In modern cinema, stop motion animation using clay models, often called clay animation, or more simply, claymation, has produced some remarkable films from animators such as Nick Park, of Wallace and Gromit fame, and Tim Burton, who is responsible for the stylish The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Corpse Bride animations.
Contemporary claymation animators have a distinct technological advantage over their predecessors in the form of specialized stop motion animation software. These programs, used alongside a camera that takes still shots of each frame that viewed together will produce the illusion of movement, allow the stop motion animator to rearrange frames and alter the timing of a shot digitally. This enables a quicker production of an animation form that is traditionally an immensely time-consuming undertaking.
One such stop motion animator program is Hue Animation Studio. Marketed as an educational toy for children aged 5 and up, Hue Animation Studio provides both the software and the camera for making claymation animation. With a competitive retail price of only $79.95, this program provides everything a budding stop motion animator of any age requires to get started animating except for the sets, models and storyline, though the package does include modelling clay.
Stop Motion Claymation in Hue Animation Studio
Available for both the Mac and Windows operating systems, Hue Animation Studio has been designed as an educational device for children, and as a consequence, it is extremely easy to learn and use. The software is used to arrange individual images. Each image represents one frame of animation, of which there are typically 12 of per second for standard quality web animation, and 24 frames per second in television quality animation.
Hue Animation Studio includes a number of useful features that together allow the animator to produce polished claymation animated movies. These features include:
- Playing (or scrubbing) through the movie at any time.
- Recording sound effects, or importing music and audio directly into the software.
- Adding text, credits and special effects.
- Copying, duplicating, rearranging and deleting animation frames.
- Onion skinning for precise animation.
The stop motion software is supported by a user guide on the program. If any criticism could be made of Hue Animation Studio, it would be the lack of tutorials on their web page and no active forum support, though the former are currently under construction.
Also shipped with the clay animation software is a supply of modelling clay from UK based company, Stadium Crayons, along with a high definition webcam.
Stop Motion Animator Software Complete with HD Camera
the Hue HD USB webcam, with its flexible neck that allows for 360 degrees of rotation, its 1.8 meter cable and its stable base, is an ideal camera to support the Hue Animation Studio software. Capable of still-image capture and with an integrated microphone, the webcam is available in 6 different colors, is compatible with all major video chat networks and features UVC plug and play compatibility.
Easy to Use Animation Maker for Claymation Movies
While not as feature-rich as Stop Motion Pro, Hue Animation Studio remains the perfect entry-level stop motion animator package for anyone of any age with an interest in claymation. Out of the box, all the ingredients are included to begin animating in minutes, from the software to the camera to the modelling clay to make props, puppets and armatures to animate. As the complete clay animation solution, Hue Animation Studio offers extremely good value for money and a product that is second to none.
Nicolas McGregor - Nicolas McGregor studied English at Stirling University, and later, Information Technology. Amongst his interests are: independent ...
