Subject:
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Re: Lego Studios -- how to create Lego films
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.animation
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Date:
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Thu, 14 Aug 2003 19:40:59 GMT
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Viewed:
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4927 times
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In lugnet.animation, Henry DeYoung wrote:
> Lego Studios is done?!?
Based on Brad Justus' remarks at BrickFest on Friday evening that does appear to
be the case. It's sort of vague in my memory now but it seems like he made some
mention of the fact that LEGO basically supports the creation of animation with
its toys and there might be some kind of movie-making related projects from LEGO
in the future (does anyone else remember better what he said on this subject?).
> I would like to be able to make stop-motion animation films of my Legos and was
> considering buying the Spielberg MovieMaker set, 1349. However, the set is
> really only available overseas (even then it's still available only sparsely),
> and also I've heard negative comments about the camera's quality itself. Upon
> seeing many great films at the animation festival at BrickFest last weekend, I
> have a few questions:
>
> 1. If you have ever used the Lego Spielberg camera, what do you think of it?
> Fuzzy/blurry? Easy or hard to get clear close-ups? Light glaring issues? Are
> the editing/publishing tools useful? Overall, do you recommend it?
Definitely just skip the 1349 set. While I personally have never used the
camera or software, most folks who have and commented on them, seem to indicate
that they very quickly grew dissatisfied with the limitations of the set-up,
especially with the camera. A search through this newsgroup here on LUGNET will
probably yield some of those remarks. I think both general blurriness (or lack
of fine detail) and inability to focus on close-ups were among the standard
complaints. Having said that though, I think that the set does/did act as a good
introduction to animation for kids.
Many of the folks that are creating brickmation videos these days are doing so
with a variety of webcams - but of a higher quality than that found in the
Studios set.
> 2. What do you use to create Lego stop-motion films (hardware and software)?
This question - and most of the ones following - can be answered by spending
some time at the newly revamped BrickFilms.com site. The Resource page there is
a collection of articles and how-to guides from various members of the LEGO
animation community.
Articles are broken down into categories such as Tech Guides, Useful Software
and Editorials. There is a LOT of great information over there.
Here's a direct link to the page: http://www.brickfilms.com/index.php
> 3. I am considering buying a digital camera (probably 3.x megapixels or higher),
> regardless of making Lego movies. Would it be wise/feasible to use that to take
> still photos of Legos (or would I need more megapixels) and possibly composite
> them using certain software (e.g. drag 'n drop functionality, etc)? Note: I've
> used various Gif animating programs--obviously not what they're intended
> for--and have also briefly tried Windows Movie Maker on Windows XP Pro, but the
> frame rate can only go up to about 8 fps. Additionally, I've tried to
> photograph minifigs with a <1 mp Kodak digital camera (very low-end)--no luck,
> of course.
I think that there are several animators that use the method you're thinking
about. In fact, the winner of this year's Best in Show award at the BrickFest
animation was created with a digital still camera (Grand & Merry Race by
Shootin' Bricks and Mystic Studios). Doug at Shootin Bricks takes a series of
still shots and turns them into a video clip by using one of our favorite free
(for non-commercial use) programs - Virtual Dub. I've also been experimenting
with this method using my new miniDV camera that includes a DSC for regular
pictures.
I would think that megapixels of more than 3.x would be more than adequate for
some nice looking pictures.
Also, if the camera comes with some kind of USB connection/capture feature you
could probably use it to capture frames directly into another favored freeware
program - Stop Motion Animator from Anasazi (sp?).
> 4. How would I add a sound track to the visual element?
Again, Virtual Dub would be a great beginning tool for this. It does allow you
to add a soundtrack to video.
Plus there are programs from Pinnacle Systems and Dazzle that would allow you to
edit already existing video files, add sound effects, music, transitions etc.
and then render the finished project in MPEG and RealVideo formats.
> As you can see, I'm very new to all of this. Any comments or suggestions would
> be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time!
>
> Andrew DeYoung
Welcome to the fun! Hope this information was helpful to you.
Greg
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Lego Studios -- how to create Lego films
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| Hi, Lego Studios is done?!? I would like to be able to make stop-motion animation films of my Legos and was considering buying the Spielberg MovieMaker set, 1349. However, the set is really only available overseas (even then it's still available (...) (21 years ago, 14-Aug-03, to lugnet.animation)
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