Professional graphic designers have expertise in a multitude of animations. However, if you new to the field and really want to brush up your designer skills, why not start with stop motion. It is relatively easy and quick to learn, and can enable you to create quality animations in creative ways with just a digital camera and a movie making software. So put your director talent to the test by creating stop motion animation with these steps.

1) Choose a digital camera

You should first opt for a digital camera that you can connect to your computer and allow you to preview all of the captured images. If you have already have a still digital camera, check if you can view the files and images via a USB cable directly. However, not all such cameras have this feature, in which case you can choose a motion picture camera that is ideally suited for stop motion animation. A 16mm camera will be useful; however, its high price will not be appropriate if you are a beginner. Therefore, consider your choices wisely.

2) Picture and shoot a scene

Once you have sorted out your camera, have a scene in mind by selecting a character or an object. It is very common to find people make stop motion animation with their childhood action figures. So using your transformers robots figures will be perfect for this.

Whatever scene you decide, take photos of your object using your digital camera at multiple angles according to the story in your mind. Your images should looks as if they are taken from an actual animation video. This will depend on the amount of frames you have chosen for your end video.
For example, if you want to show your action figure is talking a walk around your room. You will need to have the scene in mind and take pictures from your camera between its start and end.

3) Transfer images to your computer

Once you have taken all the pictures, download them to your computer. This will vary according to the type of digital camera you have chosen, which is why you may need to refer to your camera manual for more instructions. In addition, you will also need to transfer your images to the software you intend to use for making your stop motion animation.

4) Select a software

There are many software programs you can use to create your animation, such as iStopMotion, JPG Video, or Stopmotion. This will depend on whether you have a Mac, Windows, or Linux PC. For any software, import your downloaded images to your program and produce the animation by deciding how many split seconds there need to be between each interval. For instance, you can use 3 frames per second or more depending on how many pictures you have taken. Once you are done, click play to review the animation. Should you want to add special sounds, you can do so using the software and then share it on social media.