Stopmotion Explosion

When people think of our family, they often think LEGO. So naturally, when we had the opportunity to review a Stop Motion Animation Kit, the kids couldn't wait to start creating video masterpieces with the one hundred thousand tiny bricks that we own. (Nope, that's not an exaggeration.) Of course, you can create a stop motion clip with absolutely anything you can think of, but since we joke that our kids bleed LEGO, it's no surprise that every video is based around those colorful bricks.

Our family was first introduced to Stopmotion Explosion a few years ago. My kids knew a little about how stop motion worked because their dad had dabbled in it a little, but they had never tried it themselves. All it took was receiving one of the animation kits for my kids to fall in love with the art of stop motion. 

Over time, their videos became few and far between until they stopped creating them all together. I heard excuses that they didn't have the proper location to film or that the camera was difficult to use. Somehow, they lost that enthrallment with the process. That is until I informed them that we might get the new animation kit. You see, my oldest son had already been eyeing the new kit with the upgraded camera and insisted that he wanted to get back to stop motion, especially since his dad had made a fancy table for a LEGO city last year that would be perfect to use. 

Here is everything you can find in the animation kit:

• Camera -- 1080p HD; Windows and OS X compatible; manual focus down to 3cm; internal microphone; full control of exposure, color, and white balance; fully-rotating head; multifunctional clip
• StopMotion Explosion Animate Anything and Make Movies book -- This 290+ page book contains everything you need to know to make stop motion films. It gives detailed step-by-step directions for screen writing, video editing, and audio recording. It includes tips on lighting, set design, composition, animation, securing objects, special effects, and more. 
• StopMotion Explosion software disc -- The disc contains necessary files for making a stop motion film. The SME (Stopmotion Explosion) software is used for capturing the images. Audacity is used for completing audio editing. There are also sound effects, clips, and extras included.
• Quick Start Guide -- This small booklet explains stop motion in simple steps to help you get started creating. It also contains answers to common questions and links to additional materials. 

Like I mentioned, this kit has been altered from the one we received three years ago. (You can read that review here.) I personally don't remember a Quick Start Guide, but my family does. Unfortunately, I do not know where our original copy of the guide is, so I cannot use it as a comparison reference. This colorful guide though is perfect for a brief overview that highlights the main points you need to know. There are also instructions for accessing the contents of the software disc, if you do not have a CD-ROM drive.

This Stopmotion Explosion, by Nate Eckerson, is the fifth edition of the book. It is nearly identical to the third edition from our other kit with a few small changes. The digital camcorder section has been replaced by information on mobile device options, the explanation for FrameByFrame software has been replaced with SME Animator software, the black-and-white pictures are a little brighter and easier to see, the format changes on a few of the pages, and other small difference can be found.

The camera is the biggest and best improvement in this kit. Many of the issues we had with the first camera are nonexistent with this one. The clip is easier to attach to objects to hold the camera. The previous dial was very difficult to turn and would shift  the camera in the process, whereas this one is much easier to focus while keeping the camera steady.

The quality of the new camera is definitely better now, too. This one has 1080p capabilities while its predecessor maxed out at 720p. The new one has a wider angle and adjusts to light better. In fact, you can observe some of those differences in the GIF below. The old camera is on the left; the new is on the right. Notice how the old camera doesn't show a picture on the screen without an extra light source, whereas the new one adjusts to either lighting option.

Here is another comparison of the two cameras. The top left shows the old camera without the light; the top right shows it with the light. The bottom left shows the new camera without the light; the bottom left shows it with the light. The pictures are straight out of the camera, completely unedited except to create the collage.

Making a stop motion film is a lot of fun, but it is work, too. Not only do you have to take multiple pictures of characters or objects in different positions, you have to make very small movements with them. Place your object (in our case, a minifigure), take a picture, move it slightly, take a picture, move it a little, take a picture . . . It can almost seem tedious, but those minuscule movements help the video flow at a normal pace without being choppy and confusing.

The video below was created by my 11-year-old. While the ending has a bit of that choppiness I referenced, it's not because of her movements, but more so because she chose a minifig with little legs which are stationary compared to the regular legs which move independently. Also, I love the faces she chose. Her character experiences happiness, surprise, and anger.

At that point, you can export the pictures into a video and leave it like that. Most of my kids are happy with this silent films, but my oldest likes to create complete projects. He follows these steps:

1. Take pictures.
2. Export the pictures as a video file. 
3. Open the video in Windows Movie Maker (or another video editing program).
4. Record audio and add effects (credits, fade in and out, text, color balance, etc).  
5. Process the file to save as a video.

There are many tutorials both in the book and on the Content Hub on the Stopmotion Explosion site. For instance, my 13-year-old son followed the directions in chapter 10 The Art of War to make his lightsabers glow. He remembered other tips from last time, like how to make a smoke cloud and how to add a combination of sound effects from the software disc and recorded by himself.

The company recently released their own iOS app called Stopmotion Explosion Animator. You can quickly create videos with a phone anywhere you are. My husband downloaded the app and was immediately taking pictures. He said that it is straightforward and easy to use. While the app itself is free, there is a charge to unlock the exporting of the videos. Without that option, you can view your videos only within the app.

Speaking of my husband, when the kids were brainstorming ideas for their films, he told them that they didn't always have to make long videos, but could create short clips also. He made this water drop as an example. He held up two blue studs under a tower of other colors. He would take a picture after removing each stud. Then he edited out the colored ones. All that remains are the blue studs falling and splashing into droplets.  I find it a bit mesmerizing.

One thing that I love about stop motion is the creativity involved. It's fun to see the different things my kids (and husband!) create. My 9-year-old has many Creator 3-in-1 LEGO sets that he builds and rebuilds. He used the Tropical Island for his video.

You can change the frames-per-second to slow down or speed up the video. We talked about how quickly it's built and camera placement. I love little details like the man waving and parrot moving.

Here is another one from my 7-year-old this time. My favorite parts are all the people running away and the house getting knocked down.

Since I did not make any videos myself (no fun, right?),  I asked my husband for some feedback on the kit. Here are some issues he mentioned:

"If you decide to delete a frame while taking shots, it does not delete it from the folder. 

This is affected when the program crashes and you have to import frames and select all. 

You then import all the frames you don't want back into the movie. At this point, you have 

to go back, find them, and delete them again. Also, I found that if I tried to resize the 

view window for the software, oftentimes, it would 'zoom' the camera and show only a 

part of the image on the screen. The only way to fix it is to close the program and restart."

One more thing to note is that this camera, like the other one, defaults to 480p, even thought it claims to default to the camera's highest setting. The kids have taken many pictures in poor quality because they assumed everything was set up correctly. You can see that in some of the films. Another thing they're working to remember is to focus the camera on the most important object and remember to change the focus as the object moves. We have some fuzzy pictures and others with the focus on a random part of the frame. There are a lot of things to remember for stop motion! Mostly though, my kids aren't too concerned with making a "perfect" video. They just know they're having fun and that's what's important.

I am so glad that my family has starting doing stop motion again! I love see their creativity and personalities shine through in their films. They come up with such fun ideas. Sometimes they follow through the entire process, but most times they take dozens of pictures and leave it like that. We bought them a green screen because they want to change out backgrounds, so I'm excited to see what they'll create with that.

The Stop Motion Animation Kit is a great resource for stop motion films. The book is a wealth of information for each step and the camera changes are a huge improvement. I know that Stopmotion Explosion will be a part of our lives for a very long time.

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You can watch more exciting stop motion videos by reading the reviews on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.