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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

stop motion epic

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michaellines

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I've searched and not found any resolution on stop motion using epic with the redmote. has anyone been successful doing this? thank you
 
My wife directed this stop motion piece, shot on EPIC. No redmote. We just shot padded 10sec+ clips. My wife then built the animation. The redmote would have been a big help though, Im sure.

 
just map a redmote key to do the following..

Trent Lillehaugen said:
There are 2 ways to do this (in version 4.0.x and later)

1. In the Recording Dialog you can set the recording to a limit of 1 frame. When you hit record a recording will start, take 1 frame, and then end. This will create a new clip for each frame
2. In the Recording Dialog you can set the mode to "External Frame Trigger". You will then need to map a key to "Record: External Frame Trigger" (e.g. side handle key A). When you hit the record button you will create a new clip. Each time you press the side handle key A a new frame will be added to the clip. Press the record key again to end the clip. With this mode you can also have it take multiple frames per trigger (like a burst stills mode).
Click to expand...
 
Just curious, but what is your benefit in doing this with the Epic, versus say a dSLR shooting raw stills?

Don't get me wrong, I love my Epic to death, but seems like a dSLR workflow would be simpler, still allow you the benefits of a high resolution RAW workflow, etc. It's been years since I've done any animation work, but I remember there also being some great software available for tethered dSLRs that would allow you to sort of onion skin your previous frames, and even see playback of the motion up to your live frame.

Anyway, I'm sure you've got great reasons for using the Epic. I'm just curious.
 
Hey Skip
I have to match the overall look of stop motion to normal motion footage I've already shot with Epic. Want to be able to use same PL lenses and previously established look. I was about to go the DSLR route but I went with Epic after Chad's post about being able to trigger the frames within one R3D. very cool feature.
 
I think it would be easier, its all contained in one r3d. I like using our Epic for time lapse better than a dslr, much easier just to drag and drop one file into the timeline, no rendering or converting to a different codec.
 
Just for fun:

Perhaps a little bit too much on the numbers side, but if I take the max shutter cycles of my 5Dm2 (to my knowledge ~120,000), then I could not even do 90minutes (90*60*24fps=129,600). Of course if one shoots the typically "every second frame" for stop motion, it will do. ;o)

(Compared to the Epic a 5Dm2 is cheap, so it wouldn't really matter.)

:o)
 
yes its easy with epic. all contained in one clip, no transcoding. red mote makes it great
 
Hudson Tanimoto said:
This. Although I think Fantastic Mr Fox it was they shot with a Nikon DSLR stop motion. Although for a $40m film you can probably afford a couple spare DSLRs should you actually wear out a shutter mechanism!
Click to expand...

So far I was able to see on "Making Of" materials and articles, or FXPHD training, these movies are done parallel on many "sets", so the stress for each camera is acceptable ;o)
Newer DSLRs are capable of more cycles (at least what I was able to read about new top models).

I agree totally, that any stop motion in the $-million range isn't worrying about some DSLR. DSLRs are often even "crash cameras" on action movies, which certainly tells how a DSLR is rated in value. ;O)

As a side note: I think the Epic/Scarlet has a better heat management than any DSLR to my knowledge, so the image stability is perhaps much better anyway. I see more noise on my 5Dm2 when it gets really hot on the sensor.
 
I just shot a stop motion piece and considered using our Epic, but in the end using my 5DMK2 just made more sense. I used dragonframe, which is amazing software if you haven't checked it out. Even if you're shooting with an Epic, it has some really nice tools to make stop motion easier to shoot and get right the first time. We ran my 5DMK2 off AC for a solid 10 hours and it didn't have a single problem, no noise issues and the shot was perfectly consistent all the way through. One other benefit to use dragonframe is the incredibly fast turn around time. We shot all day and edited as we went. At the end of the day, we had the piece in FCP edited and ready to go.
 
Philip Lima said:
I just shot a stop motion piece and considered using our Epic, but in the end using my 5DMK2 just made more sense. I used dragonframe, which is amazing software if you haven't checked it out. Even if you're shooting with an Epic, it has some really nice tools to make stop motion easier to shoot and get right the first time. We ran my 5DMK2 off AC for a solid 10 hours and it didn't have a single problem, no noise issues and the shot was perfectly consistent all the way through. One other benefit to use dragonframe is the incredibly fast turn around time. We shot all day and edited as we went. At the end of the day, we had the piece in FCP edited and ready to go.
Click to expand...

You can use the dragon frame with the epic aswell, or "frame by frame" or any for free stop motion software, just plug in the video tap.

The epic actually does a nice thing and that is being able to play back the actual clip when you are done and 3rd is a fantastic format compared to a sequence of raw snaps that does not really play so well with any editing software without processing. So if you have an epic and you want to shoot stop motion then thats the way to go.

We have a hotwired button that clicks both the laptop and the epic for each frame so every frame is in the onion skinning as well as on the SSD in the camera... deleted frames in the onion skinning timeline is offcourse not deleted on camera but can easily be edited to match in a two layer timline later on.
 
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