HOW I DO IT


1. First, I make my clay character. I try not to make them too fancy, but durable.

2. I think up a story that's short and easy.

3. I get my stage, lights, and my camera ready. My stage is a big piece of cardboard folded in half. My light is just a study lamp.

3. I get into a program called Stop-Motion Animator (see Links) and start!

4. I set the frame rate to 12 frames per second. Then I move my clay figure just a little bit, and then I take a picture. Then I move my clay figure just a little bit, and then I take a picture . . . This can get kind of boring . . . here's where you'll need patience. When I'm all done, I save the movie. (In Stop-Motion Animator, press "Done".)

6. Once I've saved it, I get into Windows Explorer. I go to the directory where it was saved in and then double-click it. I use Windows Media Player to view movies.

7. Then I sit down and enjoy the movie!



Note: You can get a device, about $100, that transfers the movies from the computer to a VCR tape. I don't think it is worth it to spend $100 for getting a short movie transferred onto a VCR tape. There are digital video cameras that you can make claymation on and then just plug into the VCR, but it's hard to edit the movies that way, and digital video cameras cost hundreds of dollars. I think USB cameras are the best for making smaller, cheaper, at-home claymation movies.